By Terri Blanchard

Busy lives and hectic schedules seem to be the norm. There are tasks that insist on an immediate action and people who required a response from us yesterday. Emails, texts, appointments, and meetings, all vie for our attention. And when we just can’t fit one more thing into our already hectic schedules something happens that demands all of our focus and everything else comes to a screeching halt. Crisis comes uninvited.

Recently, I encountered several such critical situations. We grieved an unexpected loss. We moved. My husband was in a car accident then a motorcycle accident. He changed jobs and went overseas. We experienced injuries and illnesses. There was financial strain and marriage tension. In the span of five months time we went through seven of the top ten most stressful life events. It was a stressful season.

I wish I could say I handled it well but I did not. There were days I found myself sitting with my hands over my face sobbing and asking, “God, where are you?”.  But there was no response, nothing, just silence. The only thing I could hear was the sound of me crying. But I really did not want to hear what He had to say anyway. I was too busy having my own poor me pity party instead. And I admit I was a bit angry. Instead of running to Him, I turned from Him.

Eventually, I collapsed. I was physically exhausted and emotionally depleted.  So I prayed again, this time with less anger and more willingness to hear a response. “God, where are you?”. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and waited.

Listening for His voice lead me to His Word.

The verse, “Be still and know that I am God” came to my mind (Psalms 46:10a). “Be still?”. I had not been still in His presence for far too long. “…and know that I am God”. I needed to be reminded that although my life felt out of control, He was still in control.

I dusted off my Bible and opened to the Psalms (my ‘go to’ book during tough times). There I found,“Those who dwell in the secret place of the most High shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). I realized I had not dwelled or abided with Him like I used too.

I knew what I needed to do.  I made time again to be still with Him and to dwell in His Word each day. I found that each day a new verse would give me new strength. Strength enough for where I was that day.

Crisis may not be avoidable but surviving it is attainable. It may not feel like it at the time but I know it to be true. Spending time with God by praying and reading scripture was the comfort I found in my time of crisis.

What verses do you find helpful in times of crisis? Feel free to share ones that others may find helpful too.

By Kristin Bonham

We have all been through a lot the past few weeks anticipating and guessing where Hurricane Irma would make landfall and what impact it would have on our Tampa Bay Community.  As we watched and waited and realized that while our city would not take a direct hit, our state would. And prior to that, Barbuda, St. Martin, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Cuba.

I describe the anticipation as emotional whiplash. Chris and I are in the middle of a move and were focused on protecting our home for the new owners. Some friends with young children were concerned about fear and anxiety in their kids when the storm hit. One of the guys working on our house moved his mom to Tampa General Hospital for the storm. She has been battling cancer for many years and is now in Hospice care. Everyone had their own concerns and as we’ve heard each story, we have gained perspective.

While we were spared the worst of the storm and our discomforts of no power or air conditioning are nearing an end, some people have lost everything.  As things get back to “normal” around here, things for them will never be normal again. Rebuilding lives for folks in the island nations, the Florida Keys and other parts of our state will take years.

I have been overwhelmed. I have been walking in circles several times over the past week and I know if I am, others are even more. I find myself waking up praying for my friend’s dad who is the Mayor of Key West. For Matt who is about to lose his mom to cancer. For my cousin in Houston while she and her family clean up and start rebuilding after her home flooded. I pray for those who are picking up the pieces trying to save anything from their life before Irma and who are trying to figure out their next step.

While I have the ability to spend time with family and friends, there are folks working tirelessly to restore power and bring healing to communities. They are sleeping on floors and missing important family moments to be here for us. I gain perspective when I think about their commitment and sacrifice.

Beyond those I’ve texted with and called, I have relied on Social Media to see where my community is and how they are doing. I have loved seeing the stories of people coming together, opening their homes for other families (some they didn’t even know prior), and serving neighbors and strangers following the storm. I gain community when I take time to really see those around me.

While Hurricane Irma has passed, there are many individuals, communities and countries who are still in the storm. I’m asking, Jesus, fix it. Come and bring all of You into every situation, every individual, every nation in upheaval. Bring peace. Bring hope. Holy Spirit, bring comfort and bring practical help. Let us take the opportunity to see You in the midst of chaos and gain more of You.

“God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him. We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in sea storm and earthquake, before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains. Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God of angel-armies protects us.”  Psalm 46:1-3

By Kristin Bonham

Beautiful Girls Night Out was this past Monday night and it was amazing to see so many ladies come out! We had a fun night with Paige and Ashley opening with The Pew. Our theme this year is Choose Beautiful and the message was all over the room via our section leaders!

Hearing 1000 women worship Jesus together is something I look forward to and honestly, it wrecks me! What a Beautiful name it is, Jesus! I love that we get to come together for just a few hours and be encouraged and receive.

The dilemma came as we arrived and we were choosing which door to walk through, Average or Beautiful. How do we see ourselves? What do we believe about ourselves? Suzanna Garcia gave a powerful message of believing in the Beautiful in our lives starting with the Beauty of finding Jesus. She was vulnerable and funny and challenging.

I don’t know why I’m so surprised at what happens when we have a Panel Discussion at our events! I think it’s because they are not scripted, these ladies have said yes to something that is not comfortable for most of them, and God exceeds any expectations I could ever have. This panel was my favorite! (They are all my favorite until the next one  😉 )

Chrissy, Deborah, Becca, Sharon, Toni, Natalie, Indera and Sharon… Wow! The messages that were delivered through their vulnerability are things that will stay with me. Each one coming from their life experience brought the message of Choose Beautiful to life.

If you are not connected to a group of women, you can get involved at your campus by going to Beautiful Monday Nights! Every campus is launching on Monday, September 11th with the exception of South Tampa. They are meeting once a month and launched 2 weeks ago with 140 women!

Beautiful Moms meets on the Van Dyke campus twice a month starting Thursday, September 7th at 10:00 AM. If you are looking for a daytime connection, come to the Van Dyke campus for Beautiful Tuesday Mornings starting September 5th at 9:30 AM.

We have lots of opportunities to connect to a Group and you can see them all at GFConline.com/groups.

By Becca Christensen

This summer I took a break from writing and am overwhelmed by all that the Lord has done in that time.  Let’s catch up.  So meet me in the aisle of our Ybor campus on a Sunday morning where I have my hands raised and tears streaming down my face as the worship team leads us in a song that is new to me: Hills and Valleys by Tauren Wells.

On the mountains, I will bow my life
To the one who set me there
In the valley, I will lift my eyes to the one who sees me there
When I’m standing on the mountain aft, didn’t get there on my own
When I’m walking through the valley end, no I am not alone!
You’re God of the hills and valleys!
Hills and Valleys!
God of the hills and valleys
And I am not alone!

Father, you give and take away
Every joy and every pain
Through it all you will remain
Over it all!

It has been a summer of high highs and low lows.  This summer has included a three-month cancer scare and achieving one of my loftiest goals ever, 4 months early.  My sister is realizing her dream of adopting a child and was matched with a birth mom. Meanwhile, my friends lost a child.  It has been a summer of triumph, pain, loss, joy, celebration, and mourning.

It has been a summer of hills and valleys.  So what do I have to offer up from the top of the mountain and the depth of the valley?  I am overwhelmed in this season by the faithfulness of the Lord. I often worry that in really vibrant spiritual seasons the Lord is preparing me for hard things.  As it turns out, I wasn’t wrong.  This summer was tough.  It was tough but it was also beautiful and rewarding.

I can honestly say I have seen the Lord’s goodness as sweetly in the heartbreak as I have in the celebrations.  The peace, the love, and the grace He has shown me in seasons that have humbled and broken me have shown me just how good and faithful our God is. As I lay in a doctor’s office facing my fear of very large needles (in my neck!) to have my thyroid biopsied I was praying for other people – believing already that God is God over my own health.  There were a few tears and some serious nerves, but my heart and soul were at peace.

From time to time I like to half jokingly ask my Dad, ‘Does being an adult ever get easier?’  As you would expect, the answer is consistently, no.  It doesn’t.  The same holds true for the Christian walk, it never gets easy.  There’s no coasting.  There will always be valleys.  What does change is how you handle them.  For me, I have pressed into the Lord in the hard times and I have celebrated the best of this summer knowing they were a gift from Him.  He has answered so many prayers during the good and bad of this intense summer.  He gives and He takes away – but He remains through it all.

So as this fall promises to bring new celebrations and challenges with it, how will you press into the God of the Hills and Valleys?

By Amy Hafner

“I spend my time with God at 4:30am,” a wise pastor once said to me. “Well, mornings just aren’t my thing,” I replied. I went home thinking, “I want to give God my best and my best is in the evening.”  When I did study his word, pray, or worship Him, evening would be the time.

About a year later I was feeling empty in my relationship with God.  I wasn’t absorbing His Word.  Sure, I was reading but I didn’t feel His Word was speaking to me. My heart wasn’t changing.  To be completely honest, time with Him was boring and I was doing it to check it off my giant to-do list. I didn’t enjoy it at all.

One morning, while getting ready for my day, I prayed, “Father I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, I want to know you better, I just don’t know how.” A few weeks later, I went to a conference with my husband.  The theme that kept popping up to me was, if you really want to know God, you need to know God’s word.

I heard a woman speaker there, who was also an author.   She had something about her that I wanted.  She could quote more scripture than anyone I had ever met.  She had so much confidence, so much joy, and so much energy and I wanted it too.

I went to her breakout session and she hammered home reading the Bible and reading it in the morning.   She talked about the One Year Bible Plan and I felt God convicting me.  Committing to this was something I needed to do and I needed to do it in the morning.

“Seek first the Kingdom of God” Matthew 6:33

Remember, I don’t like mornings. I didn’t want to wake up earlier.  Mornings are “ugly” for me. Then something hit me, God’s unconditional love for us.  He doesn’t care what any of us look like in the morning, if we have messy hair or if even we are grumpy.  And personally, that was probably why I should be hanging out with Him first thing!

No matter what side of the bed I roll out on, if He is on my side, my day is better and my day has more meaning.  Hopefully, if I don’t fight Him, I will do His will, not mine, which I’ve learned is such a better plan.

When God is on my mind first thing, He tends to be on my mind all day and I am continually in prayer.  I’m able to be a better, wife, mother and friend.

If you have been struggling with your relationship with God, pray.  This has been a journey for me and the beauty of it is that He has a unique journey for you! He wants to know your heart. He loves you, and He is waiting.