March 2013

A woah, mama experience…that’s how Julie Boyd so aptly described the “Cups of Kindness” event in the February Women of Compassion newsletter, and volunteers, your tables were exquisite! Thank you FBCH staff! Many, many thanks to everyone who had a part in this very special day!

Look at the big mountain my husband never imagined he would do mountain climbing. This picture reminds me to PRAY BIG, to ask for God-sized dreams that I could never imagine on my own!

GOD SIZED DREAMS“God Sized Dreams” is our theme for next year, and Holley Gerth will be our speaker on February 7, 2014. My daughter, Stephanie who is also a WOC, wrote a recent blog postabout this theme that I want to share with you.

Through my work with students, it is always interesting to hear the students’ response when I ask the question, “What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?” Many have never been asked this question. A lot of us have been taught from a young age to be practical and follow a prescribed trajectory. When we’re freed from these confinements it can be liberating – but also daunting.

The awesome reality is that we can dream big because we have a God who is big. When we live timidly, it is often because we have a small view of God who doesn’t seem quite powerful enough to handle all parts of our life.

Instead, dreaming big requires that we rely on God because yes, we will fail without him working through us. It requires that we listen to him when he says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

We are sent into the world on a God-sized mission. Jesus prays to his Father: “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified” (John 17:18-19). The word mission comes from the word missio, meaning “to send.” We are made holy as we go and are sent.

We see this truth through God promising Abraham that he will be made into a great nation. As soon as God tells Abraham that He will bless him, he also immediately says that it is so he may be a blessing to others. And to live into this blessing, Abraham must “go.” For Abraham that means leave his country, but in more general terms it means that to be on a mission we must be willing to leave our comfort zone.

We must make ourselves vulnerable. And through being sent, we are a blessing to others.  By being called to be a WOC, your faithfulness is already providing blessing upon blessing to the children at FBCH. Because of your generosity as a WOC this year, the vocational portion of the LIFE program is now funded, and have employment opportunities at age appropriate levels. Through work experience, they can watch as God shows up to guide them on a career path for the future.

So I ask you: What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?  Where is God asking you to trust in a God-sized dream?

Let’s keep praying for God-sized dreams,

Kristi Wells and Stephanie Shackelford

PS… I just heard some incredible news that I want to share with you!  We received a pledge for $50,000 towards the new WOC Tanzania Girls Home.  One of our WOC members left our meeting fired up, and. This means we only have about $8,000 – $10,000 more to raise.  (As of this writing we don’t have the exact dollar figure but we are working on it.)  This is amazing!  Who would have dreamed at our meeting in February that by the next month we would already have almost enough funds to complete the home. Another example of a GOD SIZED DREAM!