Ford Hall

This past Saturday I had the privilege of speaking to the Freshman Girls at Northwest Nazarene University!  It was so much fun to spend time with this great group!

The event was a breakfast hosted by the Resident Assistants (a group of sophomore girls, each in charge of a wing of freshman girls) under the direction of the Resident Director (the Head Honcho, over the RA's and responsible for the entire dorm of freshman girls).  These gals went all out with made to order chip-of-your-choice pancakes, bacon, mini quiches, muffins and such accompanied by an NNU original Peppermint Brick ~ a yummy rich frozen coffee drink invented by the Ford Hall RD Lindsay back when she was a student!

 

Here's Lindsay and I in the kitchen area...I admire and respect this lady so much!  She invests her life into these girls all while being a mom to her own adorable two kids...what a woman.  Sorry about the quality of these pictures.  My first born took them and they looked great until I tried to format them here...I am a bit technically challenged! :/

 

 

Here are the RA's...my firstborn is the second from the right in the back row.  Ford Hall is four stories tall...each level has two wings (north and south)...which gives us these eight great girls that give of their time to help the freshman adapt to life in the dorm.  Such a sweet bunch! Notice that most of them have their aprons on making this ApronGirl feel right at home! :)

 

 

Here's a little glimpse of some of the group.  As you can see most showed up in their jammies...too cute!  I spoke the Saturday after dead week and before finals so they needed to sleep in as late as possible that day. :) These girls were such a great audience...they laughed at all the right times, fully participated in my Q & A style of teaching and made me feel really welcomed and at home...love you girls! :)

 

If you look behind me and out the windows you can sort of see that we had our first dusting of light snow the night before...we were up on the third floor so it's not the best view from this vantage point...you'll just have to trust me that it made for a very pretty campus that morning.

 

Our topic that morning...Body Image.  I am no expert on that but I do know Someone Who is...so we deferred to HIM realizing that in order to have a healthy Body Image we need to know our Creator intimately...basing our self image on the truth of who He's created each of us to be...not on the world's relative truth of beauty that changes faster than we can keep up with.

We spoke a little about Marilyn Monroe and Twiggy...two very differnt women...from different decades...with different body types...and yet they were 'it' for beauty in their time...relative truth at it's best.



 

 

 

 

 

 

We also spoke about Fergie...not the Black-Eye Pea's version...Fergie, short for Sarah Ferguson, who was married to Prince Charles' younger brother....a long time ago...like when I was about the age of these college girls. We talked about how this Commoner turned Princess lost it all, including her Prince, because she felt like she wasn't 'good enough'...believing the lies told to her and about her...so sad.

And then we talked about how, if we have made Jesus the Lord of our life then we belong to KING of kings...which makes each of us a Princess.  It doesn't matter what other's say about us...it doesn't matter if we fit today's standard of 'it' for beauty...we are deeply loved and valued by our Father...created by HIM on purpose for His purpose.  We are 'good enough' because He created us and redeemed us! By Him we are 'skilfully and carefully handcrafted'...not 'squeezed together' - right NNU girls!?! (wink-wink) {on a side note ~ spell check wants to change NNU girls to Nun girls...which just isn't right since I'm pretty sure none of you want to be a nun...not that there is anything wrong with that...just sayin' :)}.

 

I left these girls with a saying that I used to write on my girls lunch box napkins when they were little...

 

You are a Daughter of the KING, so walk like a Princess!

 

A reminder that they can walk in the confidence of knowing who they are in Christ Jesus...that's a powerful thing...not only enabling us to feel accepted but empowering us to be Kingdom representatives bringing the love of Jesus to our areas of influence!

 

Thanks NNU-Ford Hall ladies for letting  me share with you and blessing me.  Each and everyone of you are beautiful, inside and out, and deeply loved and valued!

 

Serving Him and you,

~Michelle...ApronGirl

 

 

 

"Ten Mile" Retreat at the Ashley Inn

I'm back from speaking at a retreat for Ten Mile Community Church at the Ashley Inn in Cascade Idaho! I was blessed with this lovely room to stay in. It was so nice, on this rainy weekend, to spend my study and prayer time in front of this fireplace.

I was warmly welcomed by the sweet gals from this church. Shirley, (pictured with me above), made the adorable apron that I am wearing...what a neat gift. I had the pleasure of working with an incredible group of ladies who planned, organized and led worship for this event, (bottom picture).

The ladies of this church embraced me, making me feel like I was one of them. We laughed and cried together and sat shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart at the feet of Jesus. I believe that God did a reforming work in each one of us, to one degree or another.

It was an honor and privilege to serve the Lord and His daughters this weekend!

Speaking Engagement

This morning is all about getting ready to head up to Cascade Idaho for a speaking engagement at the lovely Ashely Inn...and I can't wait!

I am honored to bring the message, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, to the women of Ten Mile Community Church of Boise, Id. Meeting each and everyone of these ladies personally is one of the things that I'm looking forward to this weekend.

I am also looking forward to being up in the mountains, enjoying the fresh air and the beauty of God's handiwork. The fact that I've never been to the Ashely Inn, and that I hear that it's absolutely wonderful is another plus.

What I am looking forward to, most of all, is meeting together with sisters in Christ at the feet of Jesus. I can't wait to hear what God has prepared in advance for each one of us...don't worry, I have been in prayer and study and have my notes - I'm just always pleasantly surprised by what the Holy Spirit adds in!

I've got to scoot and do all the last minute stuff...I'll tell you all about it when I get back!