GirlfriendIT

Are you celebrating enough?

Today as we are living in a place of division and cynicism - we decided to talk about celebrating it!

Celebrations are great reminders in marriage, as parents and as girlfriends!

Great tips for Celebrating:

1. Finding Joy in those unexpected places!

2. The surprise element!

3. When people are thinking “I want What She is Having” then you know you are celebrating well!

The events of 2020 have left us struggling in ways we cannot articulate. These are the times we most desperately need prayer, but they can also be the times we simply don’t have the words to form a prayer.

Maybe even at times, you ae thinking, “God are you listening?”

Listen in!

What are you afraid of? What do you fear? is it actually robbing you of opportunity for growth?

We have tips and tricks for YOU on how to conquer those fears!

Three Tips to Fight Your Fears:

We have to learn how to face our fear like going to the dentist office or unplugging a drain in your sink. If we don’t face it and you keep avoiding it and ignoring it - it can turn into anxiety and become debilitating.

1. Breathe 4-4-4 (prayer and gratitude)

2. Change up your brain chatter. (Use a scale for your anxiety. 1-10 How much fear or anxiety are you dealing with?) Your fear and anxiety arise out of a certain part of your brain, which allows emotion to overcome rational thought.

3. Pink-Wonder-Woman-Power-Pose can help!

“What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth. They share it.”

― C. S. Lewis

Have you ever had a crisis of faith?

Perhaps YOU are in a space right now feeling like doubt is squeezing the faith out of you.

You are feeling overwhelmed, struggling with doubt and wondering where God is - in the daily.

Maybe you are even doubting your Christian doctrine.

TIPS:

1. What we listen to affects what we believe

2. Spend as much time as you can with people of faith.

3. Great books: The Reason For God , Making Sense of God by Timothy Keller.

4. The Case For Christ- Lee Strobels

You were wired for amazingness!

You have a unique something -something that no one else has!

Not only were you wired for it . . . You have to keep growing -refining and sometimes reinventing it all together!

We hope you like story time, because that is what today is about.

OUR stories of how

God has grown and morphed our ITS!

There are few things that can make us feel as helpless as living with a story we don’t like. Life is rarely fair, and things happen beyond our control that impact our lives in negative ways. Maybe our story involves the loss of a loved one, an unwanted transition, a difficult diagnosis, or a dream that fell through. At one time or another, we all deal with disappointments and feel that we are being punished. For women searching for a glimmer of hope . . .Listen in!

“When I pray for God to take the darkness away, why doesn't He answer my prayers?”

“How come my parents got divorced?”

“Why is God letting Covid kill people?”

“God are you in it?”

So many questions . . .

These are the kinds of questions that you might hear - and they make you sweat.

It’s so significant for not only children, but all of us to ask it -check it -and live it!

How many times in our faith - we don’t question, we don't dig deeper? WE move forward and get caught up in man-made rules, rather than checking it out ourselves?

Somewhere between “Jesus Loves Me” and high school cynicism, the childlike acceptance of pat answers about faith is lost— Listen in . . .

C.S.Lewis: I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

Common statements from people:

• I don’t have time for this

• I push snooze in the morning constantly

• I have lost my zest for life as I get older

• My kids are overwhelming me

• I feel stuck in this pandemic - I can’t plan anything.

The core of these comments, comes down to what we value.

What you’re really saying is - I don’t value it enough to make time for this. We all have the same 24 hours.

When we take the time to know our core values it helps us better understand what drives us. Where are compass is - so we don’t get so veered off the road.

Are you facing a problem in life that you just can't fix, no matter what you do?

Perhaps you've heard the phrase "Let go and let God." But it's easier said than done.

Is it possible that giving up on what you can't change is God's path to peace for your life?

Rather than identify steps, identify 4 questions in the “Letting Go Loop” that equip control-lovers to not only identify their control-loving behaviors but also identify God-honoring and life-giving next steps toward letting go and living like Jesus:

• Awareness – Am I trying to control others or outcomes right now?

• Arrest – What do I need to stop trying to protect, fix, or force to make happen?

• Acceptance – Where do I need to acknowledge the reality that I do not have control, but God can handle it?

• FaithFULL Action – How can I show love, kindness and wisdom without control-loving behaviors?

As the questions are answered, the Letting Go Loop reveals where we need to open our hands- and

LET IT GO!

We are living in a time where there is no stress. A stress – Free - Zone!

No anxiety. We all feel like we’re in control of our lives.

Total control!

No health stress

No economic stress.

No emotional stress.

No political stress.

We are all happily waiting for our vaccines - wearing our mask and excited to vote for our next president!

OK, maybe not so much. The majority of us are experiencing some form of extreme stress-

So, where does the stress come from?

From YOU.

Today - we are inviting you to sit around the table with us as we unveil our mask and chat about “Masking it.”

What are you masking today?

Let’s take off the mask.

Let’s get real!