SVCC Women's Breakfast

Last Saturday I had the pleasure and honor of speaking to the women who attended a women's ministry breakfast at our church. I had so much fun speaking to them about what the Lord has done in my life, and I mentioned some practical things they could do to put themselves in a better position to soak up God's love. I also mentioned some practical ways we can serve in love. Many have asked for that information, so here it is.

1. Read the book of 1 John - It's nickname is the love book. : )
2. Download these christian songs onto your ipod or get one of these CDs:

• "By Your Side" - Tenth Avenue North
• "Your Love is Strong" - Jon Foreman
• "Give Me Your Eyes" - Brandon Heath
• "Made to Love You" - Toby Mac (this one is Hip-Hop music)

3. Make a "Manna Bag" for someone that's hungry. If your heading downtown to the zoo or running errands ask your kids to help you make a few and then you'll be ready to help someone in need. If you'd like you can print some info about downtown church, our church, Hope Works, food pantry locations and clothing locations. You could also just write them a note about how much God loves them and that's why you and your kids put this bag together in love. Here are the contents of this "Manna Bag". If you do hand these bags out while your kids are with you be ready for a great conversation about serving others in love.

Place the following items in a gallon size Ziploc bag:

• small bottle of water
• ready to eat tuna lunch box (lunchable, PB&J sandwich, etc.)
• individual bag of chips
• individual bag of cookies, sucker, etc.
• Peanut butter crackers

If you are going on a picnic anyway, just pack an extra lunch and hand it out to someone in need. This is such a great learning opportunity to show your kids that we love others and they get to help. All you have to do is pass it out your car window.

If you are the type that sees hungry all over the place and don't have the chance to keep all that in your car, here's an idea. Buy water bottles in bulk and just keep 20 of them in your car at once. The bible says to give a cup of cold water in his name - all you have to do is pass it out the window. You'll never be caught feeling like you could have helped if you just had the money or food on you. You were proactive about serving the needy and planned to serve when the opportunity arose.

That's what I mentioned during the talk, but there are lots of ways to soak up God's love and by doing that my prayer is that our gut reaction to anyone standing in front of us will be LOVE.

- Kayci