When I decided back in February or March to take some time away from this ministry, I really didn’t realize the void I would feel in my life. Now, almost 6 months later I am well aware and ready to return from my sabbatical. After beginning this ministry in January 2005, I have never looked back. 6 months ago however I had to look around and take some time for my family.

I am glad I did, it allowed me to cultivate some of my friendships, as well as enjoy some new experiences. This summer I taught a summer school class to teenagers for four weeks in the public school that I graduated from in 1999.

When God gives you a calling, you know it and as I stood before those students on the last day of class to give them a presentation on internet safety, I couldn’t help but weave in a few “morsels” of wise Godly words of wisdom about those topics that are so important to me.

I knew standing there that I am called to speak to teenagers. Then, over the past few weeks I’ve been dealing with some things head on in my own life and with my own peers. Realizing more and more that though it isn’t my comfort zone, God wants me to speak to them as well. No, I’m wrong, he wants to speak to them and even though I like Moses feel “ill prepared” and “lacking”, God is prepared and he can and will equip me for the task.

He has quite boldly made me aware of those things, which He wants me to talk about, some of which are subjects that though I know all too well I find difficult to talk about, my own life-long dealings with anxiety and overwhelm. Even about God’s calling on my life and how I knew that is indeed what it was.

I am going to be taking it one step at a time as He reveals these new pieces of the puzzle to me. But, be on the look out for new topics here and new materials as well. I am thrilled to be back and I pray that you are glad to have me back in your midst.

Blessings,

PS.  Beauty by Design Weekly Ezine is back you will likely be receiving a request to “confirm” your subscription again if you were a previous subscriber so watch out for that!  Thanks so much!

This post was originally published by Sisterlisa Growing in Grace Magazine on June 1, 2009.  Sisterlisa is one of the speakers for our upcoming Back to the Basics of Life Seminar Series.  Please sign up for the series here. Enjoy SisterLisa’s article below:

Over the years we have seen friendships come and go and most of those times it has been painful. I have seen friends move on in ministry and move away to fulfill God’s plan for their lives and although I was happy for them, my heart grieved over the thought of not fellowshipping with them as often anymore. I have had times when I volunteered in church nursery with other women that I grew quite close to. Then a ministry change happens and that intimate fellowship gets interrupted. I have learned through the years that what we do for the Lord may not always be what He wants for us for a lifetime, but rather for a season.

Something that my family has come to understand in a deeper more intense way is that The Body is not a one denomination inclusive group. In the Rescue Ministry we serve the Lord in, we have had great opportunities to meet fantastic Believers in a variety of church fellowships.

My husband has surrendered to the Lord to travel with this ministry to help introduce the kind of help we offer at The Well Ministry of Rescue and The Sarah Home for Women. This journey for us has been an amazing one, to say the least. We are still just at the beginning of this journey, but watching the Lord open doors that were firmly shut for ten years, suddenly become wide open and has been triumphant!

Although this journey for us is exciting, I was made aware of the feelings that others feel about our decision. The Holy Spirit reminded me of what it was like for me when friends moved on in the past. A dear sweet friend of mine came to me in tears over us going in this direction, because this journey involves us not being in the same fellowship as often as before. She told me how she is sad, but happy at the same time and it became evident to me how much she truly loves me. I had not known she had such a deep abiding love for our friendship.

Yet, not everyone has come to us with those same feelings. Most people don’t like change, especially a change that comes between the frequency of those sweet fellowship times. I have seen over the years that many people don’t quite know how to respond. Some show angry emotions, some critical and judgmental, and some don’t seem to show any response at all. Perhaps they just don’t know what to think or how to feel about it.

The fellowship that we won’t be frequenting as often, is one that involves hundreds of people and there is no way we can adequately keep in touch with each family individually. Yet there are networking opportunities to all of us on the internet that makes it a lot easier to keep in touch.

There are some people who are reluctant to logging into a social network like Facebook or Twitter, but are two that we enjoy and know how to use in a safe manner. Some people choose to build blogs or message board forums to get all the latest updates on friends and family. I feel these are good ways to keep in touch with The Body all over the world.

Our family has been so blessed in so many different ways by our Father since we responded to the Lord in the calling He has given to us. While this is an exciting time for us we do not want to lose touch with the Body of Believers we fellowshipped with for fourteen years and we want to keep in touch with the other Believers we are finding along the way. Social Networking on the internet is NO replacement for fellowship in person, but it sure helps keep the lines of communication open and keep each other up to date on prayer requests and praise reports!

We have come to understand more deeply that The Body is not limited to one building in one corner of town, but rather all over the globe. I feel that many times we get tunnel vision, in our busy lives, and forget the rest of The Body that is living all around us. Denominations sure have come to build up brick walls all around us and have kept us apart for so long. I came to discover that there are no denominations in the Bible.

1 Corinthians 1:11-13, ” 11For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? “(KJV)

I think I knew that already, but it became very evident to me recently.

1 Peter 2:5, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (Geneva Bible 1599)

We may not like the same meals, but one day we will feast together with the Father around His table and the choices between enchiladas and cheeseburgers won’t even matter. Let’s not forget the rest of The Body. We are everywhere! Don’t forget The Body, we all matter in God’s eyes.

2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; 9 but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”(Geneva Bible 1599)

Sisterlisa is the owner and Editor-in-Chief of Growing in Grace Magazine and owner of AGMinistries, a devotion blog for women. She is married and homeschools her four children while remaining active in serving the Lord in her community.

The power of the Internet allows us to do amazing things these days. More and more I am getting excited about the ways that it allows me to be involved in ministry that I would never have been able to do without it. This includes the ability to speak to women and girls all over the country from the comfort of my living room using my computer.

I have recently spoken at two online conferences, A Woman Inspired and The Ultimate Homeschool Expo. The creators of A Woman Inspired have now created a teen version for girls called God’s Girls Online Conference which is absolutely FREE for the girls to attend. All they need is their computer and some speakers to listen in.

I’ll be speaking on the topic of prayer journaling. The conference will be Friday, August 21st in the evening and Saturday, August 22nd. I don’t know my exact speaking time yet, will let you know as soon as I hear! I hope you will share this with the teen girls in your life and encourage them to attend.

I have wondered and wondered how to get press coverage for my ministry. Sure, I’ve written or had written a press release or two, but I have not had much come from them.  But tonight I was checking my website stats and found some great coverage and results from my Press releases as well as my Article Marketing.

Find my press coverage here and here and an article of mine here.

By the way, I am gearing up for Vacation Bible School here, I’m directing it at my church this next week, June 15-19.  I’m also beginning a Live TV show over at MomTV.com.  Watch the big announcement here.  Then, it’ll be time to put all my thoughts towards my next event, Christian Charm School Workshop to be held Friday, June 26 – Saturday, June 27 in Kosciusko, MS.

Dear Readers:

I am looking to guest blog on the blogs of other Christian women whether your blog is a mom blog, a business blog or a ministry blog I’d love to come and make a guest post for you.

I would like to volunteer to blog about the following topics:

Faith
Family
Ministry
Mom-Daughter Relationships

If there is something you’d like to see me blog about on your blog that isn’t listed just suggest it and I’ll see what can do. To have me guest post on your blog simply leave a comment with your information below or contact me by email at alyssa @ beautybydesignonline.com (no spaces). I look forward to hearing from you.

Every once in a while I forget to update my readers about news and happenings going on in the ministry. This is the case at the moment so I decided to do an “update” post. Here are a few of the things going on with us at Beauty by Design Ministries.

I will be traveling to Hartselle, Alabama next weekend, March 6-7 to do a girl’s retreat for the girls of West Hartselle Baptist Church. I am looking forward to it.

I am also actively working on a new training program “Faith Leaps: Training for Taking the Leap of Faith into Speaking, Writing or Ministry”. If you think this might interest you go to FaithLeaps.com and read more about the program.

I also have plans to release in the VERY near future, (by April 1st) a complete package for the Christian Charm School Workshop. Currently the workshop only includes a workbook itself, I have had many requests for a separate Leader Guide, which I plan to release as well as the workbook and leader guide in hard copy. You will actually be able to purchase a “hard copy” book form of these to be mailed to you, rather than just the ebook form.

There will be package deals available so that you are able to purchase enough for your whole group to have their own workbook. I’m looking forward to its release. Want to be put on the waiting list for this great Christian Charm School Workshop Pack to be the first to receive info when the product is released? Sign up here.

To purchase the Christian Charm School Ebook go here.

I often enjoy the opportunity to blog about the “overwhelm” I am feeling, that’s because that overwhelming feeling is usually due to God’s love and blessings in my life.  Today, the sense of overwhelm is quite different.  This weekend, I spent some time with a group of 7th – 9th grade girls as I helped out at a Disciple Now Weekend in a local church association which involved several churches.

It was a last minute thing.  I received a call on late Thursday afternoon and ended up volunteering for the weekend.  It was a divine appointment as some might say.  God said, “you need to go minister to these girls.”  I really didn’t know what He was up to, but I knew it was a “God” thing.  And even though the weekend is over, I feel like I ministered to the girls, but I still don’t exactly know what “God was up to.”  There is one thing I do know however, I came away a different person.  I am burdened, my heart is  heavy and I feel a “need” a “need to do something“.

I have been in ministry for years now. I have felt burdened for teens before, but nothing like this.  I cried tears, tears of overwhelm as I said my closing prayer with them during the last Bible study session.  I know that God is much bigger than their problems, but at that moment I felt so small.  I know that I am weak and HE is strong.  And as the sense of overwhelm still hangs over me a few days later, I have to say once again to myself “Jesus loves them this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little Ones to Him belong. They are weak but He is strong.“ 

Dear Jesus,

I know that you love me and that you love those girls I had the opportunity to share with this weekend.  I know that those 7 girls represent just a small part of your children.  And I know that you love each and every one of your children.  Your children, especially teenagers today are weak Lord and they are hurting.  I am so glad that they belong to you and that you are strong enough to carry their burdens like I wish that I could, but I know that I can’t.  I lift them up to you right now Lord.  You know WHO they are.  Carry them Lord.  Protect them.  Reveal yourself to them.

In Jesus Name

AMEN

Photo Credit: Bracelets by Linda