Happy Mother’s Day

Yesterday, Bobbye and I spoke at a Women’s Tea in Manhattan Beach. Because it was the day before Mother’s Day, many women who are mothers were honored in the room. There were also many women in the room who were not mothers for a variety of reasons. Some of them said that they did not have the desire. I respect their convictions but it was so foreign to me. My identity tends to be wrapped up in my roles. I have always wanted to be a wife and mother so for some reason, I just assumed that was God’s will for me too. But what would it have been like to not have the desire and then find yourself in the role of a mother?  Every day, your dependency would have to be on the Lord or you would live a very frustrating life. Even for those of us who longed to have children, it is not an easy role.

One of the gals in our weekly Bible study is an extremely high functioning adult in an amazing job and newly married. She is past the years of child bearing. She shared that every mother’s day, she gives her dog a special meal and some extra treats. We all laughed and appreciated  her ability to bring humor into her hurt.  On the flip side, we also have women in the room who long for a restored relationship with their children. Funny how life plays itself out. Life comes down to trusting in the Lord regardless of the circumstances. God is faithful and at some point, we need to be ok with where we are today. It is in the surrender of trusting Him that we learn patience, self control and endurance. I have to also say that it is a choice to remain on His side through it all. Really…do we want to become better or bitter? Today on our radio show, Bobbye said that we need to guard against bitterness as each one of us is responsible to pull out its root when we sense it growing in our hearts. It is easier said than done but the key is recognizing it and asking the Lord to help you.

Again, Happy Mother’s Day to all who have a mother!

The Holy Week Experience: Sharing the Journey to Easter Together

My Masters Program post course project included hosting four sessions of services focusing on Jesus’ last week on earth. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and ends with the Crucifixion. The components of the week that I prepared included a foot washing service, communion, Peter versus Judas, a candle lighting services, the burning of our written out sins to become ashes and a lot of teaching. After praying and talking to Bobbye, we decided to have 4 consecutive nightly services. To all of our surprise, the last night included 3 of the gals getting baptized in a jacuzzi and one baby dedication of 8 week old little Luke. Praise God!

I approached the week with fear and trembling, unsure if anyone would attend four consecutive evening services. I was absolutely humbled to think that any of these working women would go out of their way to attend additional meetings. In appreciation of their attendance, I greeted each woman with a hug and a big kiss on the cheek, especially on Night 1.  Later in the week, the ladies commented that they liked being greeted with a hug and kiss. After all these years of teaching, I am planning on implementing Paul’s words in Romans 16:16 “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” First impressions even among friends leave a lasting impression.

The testimonials of the women who participated in Holy Week clearly had a life changing experience. I asked those women who did attend every night to send me an email evaluating the whole week. Most of them did and the overview evaluations are in the appendix.  The preparation and presentation of Holy Week also brought to me a life changing perspective on the role of the Pastor. Baptisms and baby dedications as well as candle lighting services and ashes were all new to me. As a Bible study teacher and previous worship leader, I have understood the gifts of service but I did not ever grasp the differences in skill sets and callings of a Pastor.  When someone is called to oversee all the ordinances of the church including teaching, worship, baptism and counseling, there is a different level of responsibility and accountability before the Lord as well as to His people.  I was completely stretched and I am completely honored to have served in this capacity for four nights. I also appreciated the words of my Professor, Dr. John Wright as he so humbly said something like, “Well someone has to be in charge of picking out the carpet color in the church.” His words about the Pastor’s role rang in my ears each night.

        As for an evaluation, the week was well received and the objectives were met. Lives were changed and the experience was positive. The women were engaged in the services and I had many comments of how they loved it. It is interesting to me that the Lord has given me an audience of women who want to be intellectually stimulated in their faith as the foot washing service was awkward and uncomfortable for them. This type of services covered many foundational Christian components and applications including reflection and communion, but they hungered for the Word. God definitely used this experience to clarify my gifts and talents as well as the desires of my heart. Women asked for me to consider presenting Holy Week again next year. 

As for a recommendation, I do believe it is best to host Holy Week consecutively the week before Easter. Those women who did not attend each meeting and those women who only attended the Thursday night meeting regretted not making the added effort after all the testimonials were shared. Baptisms and the baby dedication were a definite highlight but not necessary for the impact of Holy Week. Thanks to all who participated and your continual support!                        Tonilee Adamson

 

 

 

 

Well, I am not posting pictures right now but I do want to quickly write what’s been going on this past week. Our Bible study group has been participating in Holy Week. Holy Week starts on Palm Sunday but Monday through Thursday, we have been learning and experiencing what happened the week before Jesus was resurrected.

Monday night, we had a foot washing service. I can tell you that if I would have announced what the night was about prior to the women coming…I do not think many women would have attended! It was an experience. It was not as uncomfortable performing the foot washing for me as telling the women about it.

Tuesday night, we discussed the difference between Peter and Judas. The teaching time was very lively and I ran out of time. We also participated in Communion together.

Tonight, I finished up the teaching from last night. It led into the questions between Once Saved always Saved or Can you lose your salvation? We covered a lot of verses and had wonderful discussions. Then, we defined and talked about the history of Holy Week. One of the gals asked if this week was necessary today? Because the message of the Gospel was orally passed down for years, it is amazing to see how well the stories have been preserved. I also like how closely Lenten is to the Scriptures. We closed out by stating the 7 statements from the Cross and ending with IT IS FINISHED in total darkness. Each women left in silence! It was again, an experience more than a teaching. I am looking forward to hearing what the women thought of the night’s service.

Tomorrow’s teaching…”Why the Cross?” And then two of our girls are getting baptized. One gal just came to Christ at the Conference. The other gal was baptized as a baby and would like to make the confession of her faith public now.

Any questions? I would love to hear from you or your thoughts about the week.

Tonilee Adamson

Friend with God

It’s been one week since the Power of Friendship Conference. Every day since the conference, I have thought about writing a blog and every day my thoughts have been scattered and I have been tired.

Doing this event every year is like preparing for a wedding. However, there is no honeymoon and there are evaluation cards. Thankfully, the evaluations were wonderful. But we do the event to honor God not man. Was God pleased? Well, we had at least 45 first time commitments to Christ and hundreds of women came to the front to recommit their lives to the Lord’s will for them.

During the day, we highlighted two ministries to bring awareness, potential volunteers and financial support. We collected $4030 which was divided in half and given to each ministry.

I think this was the first year that immediately after this event both Bobbye and I both agreed to do the event again next year. We met with KPRZ’s team yesterday and they too agreed that they want to be our partner again for next year.

Please hear me because I really need to say a few things from “the behind the scenes” perspective to help those who step out. If you step out in obedience to God, the calling tends to affect others– not only you. As a result, the very task you were asked to do through the Spirit of God can cause huge disappointments and even confusion and frustration to you.

Why? Well, it’s like being a friend of God. Abraham did not realize he was a friend of God. Others told us like Isaiah and James, not Abraham. If anything, Abraham struggled with God’s ways like with the timing of Isaac’s birth and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Moses was called a faithful servant of God. He spent a lot of time with the Lord but it was about reverence and obedience, not really friendship.

Today, Jesus calls us friends. We are friends with God but that does not mean that the work of God seems very friendly in our lives at times. We love the Lord so we want to serve Him but serving Him can bring confusion, hurt, disappointment and tears. Many times, those emotions are generated by the very people you stepped out in obedience and faith to help. There were some friends of ours who could not come that day. It hurt. There were some members of our team who wanted more from us than we could give. That hurt.

I am saying…just because you know what God wants of you does not mean that He has given that revelation to others. We need to be obedient to God and leave the results to Him. We will stand before the Lord alone some day. We need to make sure we are living to please Him alone too.

Thank you to all who attended. Thank you to June Hunt and Ron Walters who traveled very far to be with us that day. June, you were wonderful. Thank you to KPRZ, Leah Gowin, Deanna Ramsay, Crimson Bridge and your honesty…Carol LeBeau. Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers. We could not have done it without you! And thank You Lord for giving us the strength, courage and tangible fruit as an encouragement to continue in doing this work.  In Jesus name alone, we pray…we hope… and we move on.

Next blog…pictures from the Event.

Long Lasting Friendships

Every year, the conference stories are amazing that I am surprised to be surprised by them again. This year, I have answered our secondary line a lot so I have had the privilege of hearing the testimonies from previous years first hand.

A woman called in to buy 5 tickets for the Power of Friendship Conference and told me how the previous conferences created long lasting friendships for her. She then told me this amazing story that 3 years ago she had attended the conference. At that conference, we were promoting a retreat at Forest Home the following month. The woman said to me that she was going through a horrible divorce and did not have the money to attend but definitely had the desire! So she walked to the retreat table in the lobby and said to the volunteer, “I want to go but I cannot afford it.” The stranger standing next to her said, “How much can you afford?”

The stranger paid half for this woman’s registration to attend the retreat and they roomed together. Now 3 years later, this same woman I am on the phone with  is buying her friend’s ticket to attend this year”s conference.

I have heard so many amazing stories about friendships developing, ministries beginning and people changing as a result of these conferences. I have to also say that if it was not for these stories, we would have stopped doing these conferences years ago. The road is truly narrow and our flesh is truly weak.

Bobbye and I would appreciate your prayers if you cannot attend and we are more than willing to help anyone in need who want to attend. How else will you find long lasting friendships if you do not step out to meet new people?

I have met many of you now over the phone. Thank you for being you! You are all so kind and wonderful. Can’t wait to meet you this Saturday and connect the voice with the face!

And we do not have a retreat set up for this year. I am welcoming suggestions before Saturday if you have any.

Tonilee Adamson

“What’s the Point?”

Last night, Bobbye and I had the Power of Friendship Volunteer meeting and then we went straight into Bible study. Sometimes we teach together and sometimes we teach apart. I had a message prepared for Joshua 3 but knew during the homework question and answer time that the message was more for me than for the group. So during testimonial time, I passed Bobbye a note and said, “I have nothing to say.”

Bobbye is a great friend and after doing radio side by side for years now, she understands the implications of such a “last minute, on the spot” note. Bobbye will need to pick up the ball and go with it. After all these years, we have learned some fundamental prinicipals about our gifts and calling. She is clearly a motivational speaker who can teach and I am a indepth teacher who can motivate. But even though I can teach, I will not until I know what the Lord wants me to teach. At this point in the study–LIVE-, I had nothing to say.

Bobbye began teaching Joshua Chapter 3. She did an amazing job as she spoke on obstacles. Everything she said helped me tremendously and I knew that I needed to learn from her. Probably 20 minutes into her explanation, I knew what I needed to teach. The message became very clear and I had an outline in my mind that did start with Joshua and would circle back to Joshua.

So as a group we go from Joshual 3 to Isaiah 43:1-2 to Romans 11 to Isaiah 43:3-5 back to Joshua 3:7-10. When we turned to Romans, Bobbye whispered to me on the front of the stage, “What’s your point?” Even after 12 years of hearing comments like that from her to me and me to her, I still felt the blood drain from my face. Have you ever felt that way? In the middle of stepping out, someone you respect asks you to “get to the point” or even worse “do you have a point?”

Well, when I was done, she got it which did not as nearly concern me as being obedient to step out in teaching because of the Lord . Praise God, the fruit was evident immediately. And right now I just received a text from Rosalynda that said, ” WOW, amazing teaching. I just had the revelation that we (Christians) have become like  Israel, so it was awesome confirmation.”

Sometimes you have to go with the prompting of the Spirit within you. Sometimes you have to be obedient to the Lord regardless of the comments or challenges of people you love, respect and/or honor deeply within your heart.

Be encouraged. Keep stepping out. God knows the thoughts, intents and motives of your heart. It will be ok…

Tonilee Adamson

Seeking the Face of God

It’s been 2 weeks since I heard Pastor Norm Shoemaker give his devotional on seeking the face of God and yet, I cannot stop thinking and praying about it. It’s funny how a 10 minute devotional  can penetrate my heart for days when I might forget the point of an hour message by lunch time (and I might have been the person who gave it). The Spirit works in mysterious ways…

Back to seeking the face of God: Moses asked God to behold His glory and see God’s face. Then over and over in the Psalms, the writers asked to see the face of God like in Psalm 24:6, “For such is the generation who seeks Him, who seeks Your face oh God.”

Do we see the face of God? We can sense His eyes watching over us. We can sense His mouth  as He whispers to us through the Scriptures and in prayer. We know that His ears are attentive to our cries as He intervenes in our prayers. And Revelation says that His nostrils smell our prayers as a pleasing aroma of incense. Yes, we can sense the face of God as we seek His face.

But how does the Lord actually answer that prayer so many of us for generations have prayed? Pastor Norm gave a wonderful story about his early days in the ministry. He was sitting in a chair, downcast and deeply hurting. He was struggling so intensely that he had trouble lifting his head. At that moment, his young son jumped on his lap and said, “Daddy if you smile at my face, I will smile at yours.” He realized right then, as he lifted his head, he saw the face of God. We behold the face of God in others. How beautiful.

I just finished reading Danna Demetre’s blog about her friend, Sylvia. The story again reminded me that we see the face of God through the lives of our families and friends who make an effort, who reach out, who go out of their way at times and who are just there. We see the face of God in those people we hold closely to our hearts and in strangers who are sometimes angels in disguise. We see the face of God in the children and the elderly. I saw the face of God through so many women at the friendship conference two years ago which is part of the reason why we are having part 2 this year!

Psalm 27:8  My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.

If we are not beholding the face of God on a daily basis, it’s not because He is hiding.

If you need encouragement or a little extra help to lift up your eyes, please see all the women attending the friendship conference on Saturday, March 9. We put this event on to unite us as we see HIs face on the face of each woman there!

http://thepoweroffriendshipconference.com

Tonilee Adamson