Guest Devotional - Alexis Albright

“The Me I Want To Be” Hmmm…. What does that look like? In my head, it’s many things that are probably similar to what you have in your head when you ask yourself that question. First of all, I want to be a God-fearing and God-loving woman. I want to be a wife that respects her husband above all else. A mother who has patience and genuine interest in her children’s every-minute activities. But I also have this trivial side. Like, I want my hair to be this shade of blonde because I feel it accents by skin tone best. And I want my toes to be perfectly pedicured at all moments, especially in the warmer months as they are constantly on display. I want my house to be ordered and my car to be clean and my dinners to be “Yummo,” “BAM” and “Delicioso.” (that’s for you Food Network junkies).

Is that the ME I really want to be? Do I want to be like that because my friends are like that or society tells me this is what makes me a super-woman? I have been reading (very slowly as I am usually caught reading with one eye open trying to get through at least one page before falling asleep because my three boys have done me in) through a book with this very title, “The Me I Want To Be,” by John Ortberg. The book is discussing how we get to that ME.

There is a part in this book where the author discusses finding who you are in Christ, and learning to grow into that person. Yes, there will be change, but not change in who God originally designed you to be but rather change towards it. So in other words, as you move closer to the person God thought about when he made you, “you don’t just become holier. You become you-ier.” I love that!!! I want to be me-ier.

I am on a journey to discovering who it is that God had in mind when he thought of me. Who did he want Alexis to be when he knit me in my mother’s whom? What did he want me to accomplish? I’m guessing it was a lot larger than the color of my hair or the cleanliness of my home. I imagine it had some to do with being a mother who shows her children love (in a way that only I can) and teaches them about who God is. I bet it has some to do with the way I love my husband and support him (in a way that only I can), so that he is free to go to work during the day and does not have to worry about our children or the daily tasks that (while not super important) do have to get done by someone. I do know it has to do with being ME, just the way He made me. The Bible tells me, “I am His masterpiece” and since I was hand-crafted by Him, there is no one else quite like me.

Psalm 139:13-16 “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”

Guest Devotional - Stacy Heckman

Why is it that every time I think I've really got a good grip on what it is that I need to be focusing on during my quiet time - WHAM! - out of the blue God says, "No, no, no my love (God sometimes has a British accent in my head)... that's not where you need to be focusing... here is what I want you to be working on." And what do you know? It truly is something that I am struggling with... I just didn't want to acknowledge it.

Recently, God has shown me that he wants me to work on my issues of pride. I had no idea this was something that I struggled with. Most of the time, I feel like I struggle with just the opposite - coveting. So often I think everyone else is more content, happier, prettier, more financially stable, a better cook, a better mother, a better wife, oh I could go on and on. But then God pointed out to me that I have a real issue with pride. For example, I can compare my marriage to someone else who is struggling with infidelity and boast that "I can't believe they are going through that - I would never make those mistakes." It's so easy for me to become prideful and judge someone else's situation when it's something I've never personally struggled with in my life. But that is so very far from how God wants us to react.

I read in my Bible study this week, "God hates pride because it dethrones Him and puts ourselves at the center of our universe. I believe god's hatred of pride expresses His love. Pride slights Him, but destroys us." Wow... that is powerful! God doesn't want us to destroy ourselves - he loves us - he wants to protect us. That is why he hates pride so much. He wants us to have our priorities straight and have Him at the center of our universe - not ourselves.

So, the next time you feel a prideful moment approaching, just remember that until we have walked a mile in that person's shoes, we have no idea what they are going through. Instead of criticizing, try caring. Instead of condemning, try compassion. Instead of pride, try prayer.

"When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." - Proverbs 11:2

Please read!

Hey Ladies,

Unfortunately, we had to cancel the Ladies' Breakfast scheduled for this Saturday, May 22. Thanks for your interest!

Please try to make the church's Lunch at the Food Court! We're heading over to the Citrus Park Mall's food court after service this Sunday, May 23. It'll be a great time of hanging out and getting to know each other some more!

Check out upcoming summer events with women's ministry at www.catbladies.com.

God's Best!

Summer Events

Here's a look at what's going on this summer with Church at the Bay Ladies: 

June 5-- Service Project with Metropolitan Ministries-- 
We need 5 more people for this project
9 a.m.- 12 p.m.
We'll be moving furniture, laying mulch and setting up for a BBQ for the residents at a transitional housing complex. Email catbladies@churchatthebay.com for directions and to confirm you're going!

June 18--Girls' Game Night
7 p.m.-9 p.m. @ Sue Gossett's house
Email catbladies@churchatthebay.com for directions and to confirm you're going!

June 26-- Dinner & Devo's
6:00 p.m.
Starting on June 20th, you'll receive a brief devotional in your email inbox each day leading up to the dinner. This Dinner & Devo's theme is Beauty. Then, on June 26 we'll get together for a fabulous dinner, fun games and conversation around the week's theme. You need to sign up by June 18. Sign up by emailing catbladies@churchathebay.com.

July 17-- Dinner and Devo's

August 14-- Dinner and Devo's

Please Pray with Us on this National Day of Prayer

Please join us in prayer today...

Prayer for the President:

Father, we want to ask you to give our President, Barack Obama wisdom. Would you give him leaders and counselors who will speak truth and wisdom into his life. Protect his family and cause them to grow in their love for You as they follow you. Help him to stand up for justice and truth every time it is challenged. And, Father guide President Obama with your wisdom. We ask in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen

For civil servants and educators:

Father, we lift up to You the educators and civil servants in our nation. God, we pray that You would give them strength of character as they influence our children and our culture. Empower them with wisdom and resolve to carry out the implications of truth and justice. As they make decisions that impact our nation, may they seek Your counsel. Grant them endurance and encouragement as they tirelessly work to serve their communities. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

For Pastors and their families:

Lord, I am praying today for the men and women who are pastors and spiritual leaders in this nation. God I'm asking for a shield of protection over their lives and the lives of their families. God I lift them up to you asking for your divine discernment to be imparted to them. Would you make their every step so clear that as they lead so many of us God, that even more would be drawn to You and that this nation would be restored to one that stands truly as "One Nation Under God." In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Prayer for the Military and their families: 

Heavenly Father, Thank You for all the men and women serving
in our military at home and abroad.  Draw them to You and may each one
come to know You as their Savior.  Help them to rejoice in You always
while going through the good and the bad. Let their gentleness be evident to
all; may they always be aware that You are near. We pray that they would
approach You with all of their fears and concerns and that they would
experience Your peace , which transcends all understanding. Please comfort
their families in their absences and give their families wisdom and strength in
dealing with their personal challenges when they assimilate back home. Protect
them and help us to be aware of their needs and so we can provide when
possible. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Prayer for Families in this country:

Dear Lord, we want to thank you for the incredible gift of family. It is a huge responsibility in today's world to raise children who know you and love you, but we thank you for the opportunity to do so. We lift up all the broken families in this world who are hurting or struggling. Please help them feel your love and your presence in their time of need. Please help us all to remember what an incredible honor it is to worship you and pray together as a family. We seek your wisdom daily as we go about our lives with our families. Thank you for all that you do for us. In your holy, precious name, Amen.

Ladies' Brunch May 22

Come join your friends on Saturday, May 22 for a Church at the Bay Ladies' Brunch! 

We'll be meeting at Mimi's Cafe on Dale Mabry at 10:00 a.m. Bring a friend! 

Email catbladies@churchatthebay.com to reserve your spot!

Basements and Jesus and the Ugly-Things, by April McCullohs

 I've got a bright green door.

The kind of green that makes a great, big contrast with our yellow house. 

And when you open that green door (if you were expected), you'd most likely see a tidied up entryway and a dining room which leads into a kitchen with counters wiped down and then you'd see the living room, with no toys not too many toys strewn across the floor.

The guest bathroom won't have its usual potty seat attached to the toilet and the shower curtain should be pulled shut to conceal the buckets and boats and balls that litter the bathtub floor.

What you won't see is my bedroom, with its unmade linens and laundry-still-in-baskets and you definitely won't be touring my closet or bathroom. 

Because that's the way we live.

And it's not bad, or hypocritical or full of pretense. 

We only have so much time to clean, and we prioritize what we want others to see and what we don't want others to see.

It's really okay--with our literal homes.

The problem occurs when we live like this in all of our relationships. 

When the only thing we let our close friends see are the tidied-up areas of our hearts, the places of success and happiness.

When we only allow our friends into the "guest areas"-- the ones that are presentable and under control and ready at all times for a realtor to show potential clients.

I just spent three hours with a friend who's been invited into my life, regardless of the conditions of the many rooms of my soul. The kind of friend who answers the question, "So, how's your heart?" without the obligatory superficial crap. 

This friend ever-so-boldly invited me into her own basement--the kind of human basement with cockroaches and cobwebs and things we as humans don't want to confess we own. It was with fear and pain that we walked down those steps as she shared her story with me. She brought her ugly-things into the light--the light of heart-felt confession to another human--and it wasn't easy

at all. 

Since her courageous invitation-- to know even the most regretted and broken parts of her story--I've been able to reciprocate. Today, we walked down into my basement and I showed her some of my ugly-things. Together, we flipped the light on, acknowledged the fallenness of our human condition and then turned our eyes to 

the Only Light we know. 

It's not just the confession and the invitation of another person into our brokenness that causes the life-resuscitating healing we so desperately need. 

It's the turning toward the Light of Jesus-- One who doesn't down-play our screw-ups and at the same time grants us a purity and wholeness--a freedom from shame-- we could never achieve on our own. 

Fear and shame and guilt make for stunted relationships and hearts that can only give so much. Only when we allow Jesus into our closets and bathrooms and basements 

(and he often invites another friend)  

will we discover the uninhibited freedom to love and be loved the way we were meant to. 

That's the power of the invitation. It requires much, but for those bold enough to risk it all, the rewards are immeasurable. 

Who have you invited into your basement? Is Jesus welcomed there?