Fruit

Recognition

by Marcia Reavely

We, as women’s ministry of New Life Church, have much to be thankful for this year. God has been gracious to us—giving us joyful gatherings as women, providing a wealth of teachers, using His Word to encourage and shape us, allowing us to meet one-to-one and over Zoom in spite of circumstances. We have been “striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27), and God’s Word does not return empty but accomplishes all that He intends (Isaiah 55:10-11). God is working among us as we lovingly labor in His Word and prayer in relationship with each other. It is God’s fruit, for His glory, and we do indeed have much to thank Him for!

There are also many people to thank for their labor of love for the Lord and for the women of New Life Church this past year. It is good and biblical for us to “give recognition to those who labor among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you, and to regard them very highly in love because of their work” (1 Thess. 5:12). So, I want to follow the instruction and example of Paul and extend some recognition.

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Thank you to the 2019-2020 Women’s Ministry leadership team—Michelle Glynn, Elaine Hochstettler, Layna Fullington, Toni Hedrick, Gay Haugen, Karla Thommen. They put in hours of sacrificial service, with love, and it has been a privilege to serve with them. Thank you to all who faithfully taught God’s Word to us this year—Meghan Haugen, Carolyn Rieger, Gay Haugen, Karla Thommen, Toni Hedrick, Sierra Edmonds, Debbi Robertson, Layna Fullington, Katie Maricle, Mallory Conley. What a group! What a blessing! Carolyn Rieger wrote a number of helpful Bible study questions for us to enjoy One-to-One. Thank you, Carolyn! Thank you to the many who contributed to the music—Leslie Estep, Kati Roberts, Alina Gauthier, Lauren Edmonds, and more. Hours of time went into videos and Zoom preparation, particularly from Lisa Reavely and Lauren Edmonds. Thank you! There were several writers who shared encouraging newsletter articles—Alina Gauthier, Kati Roberts, Lauren Edmonds, Sierra Edmonds, and Nancy Carlson, who also wrote Share the Joy devotionals. Thank you! Karla Thommen and Toni Hedrick organized the Panorama Retreat, and many of you helped pull it off. Sandi Saxe cut a mountain of onions wearing swimming goggles to provide food, and Gay Haugen graced us with her Panorama study. Thank you, one and all!

Kim Brandstetter printed reams of paper into handouts for us—thank you! Several of you were gracious to do the heavy lifting and come early and stay late to set up and clean up. You know who you are—thank you! Many of you cheerfully shopped, made soup and chili and cornbread and cookies and biscotti, brought flowers, decorated tables, washed tablecloths. It wouldn’t have been the same without you—thank you! Even the men got involved—Scott Haugen and Billy Ferguson and more. True service!

Numbers of you met with friends and neighbors and spoke truth into one another’s lives as you read the Bible one-to-one. Some welcomed new women in this way. Many discipled new Christians in this way. Others faithfully walked with a friend through the scriptures in this way. Some mentored younger women in this way. Your investment may not be known by many, but it is making an impact and the Lord sees. Thank you. Many of you are praying 5-for-5 for the women of New Life Church this summer. What a gift—thank you! God alone knows the fruit this will bear.

To each one of you, thank you for your participation and investment. As we met month by month, you served and loved and hugged and welcomed and encouraged and prayed and laughed and listened. You brought mascara, tied blankets, made and wrote cards. Even when our live meetings were curtailed, you continued to write notes and drop off food and call and text and pray and zoom and do all you could to encourage your sisters in the Lord. Together we are women’s ministry. Thank you for what each one of you has invested in the women of New Life Church and beyond this year. It is a joy to serve alongside you. Well done, my friends.

Spiritual growth is hard to quantify. There are no tick marks on the wall year by year to show our progress. Spiritual growth, like physical growth, can feel imperceptible day to day. But as we abide in Christ, receiving His life-giving and life-transforming love, He bears much fruit in us (John 15). The fruit looks like Christ, because it is the fruit of Christ’s Spirit that is slowly but surely remaking us. Life, with all of its ups and downs and victories and defeats, ticks along and in time you look back and realize you are growing. You are bearing fruit. We who belong to Christ are becoming who we already are in Christ, and that is the Good News! I hope, when all is said and done, that our lives will show that this was a year of marked spiritual fruit—for our joy and God’s glory.

It has been quite a year, as you can see from the photo review of 2019-2020! But God has been, is, and will be forever the same. Forever faithful to His promises, faithful to His people, faithful to His character and worthy of our trust. Let’s press on, sisters, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.

 
 
 

Panorama

Plans have changed for the summer study, Panorama: sweeping vista of God’s Word. Instead of meeting live, we hope to film the sessions in the next few weeks. We then plan to make them available on the church website and possibly as a live online class. Hopefully this will make the study more accessible for more people. We will let you know when it is ready!

The Panorama Bible reading plan, a 10-week survey of the major eras of the Bible, can be found under Summer 2020 on the West Linn Women’s Ministry page on the New Life Church website.

 
 

Links

Here are some links to articles or books or music that might be of interest or help on various topics. Resources are curated but may not always reflect the views of New Life Church. Enjoy!

Marcia ReavelyComment