"Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String..."

 
 
 


(To the tune of "My Favorite Things")

Kisses from husband, boat rides on lake,
Soft blankets, thunderstorms, candles and cake,
Football and coffee, flip-flops and jeans,
these are a few of my favorite things!

Of course the list could go on and on and on...,
but I wanted to share with you a little of what I was able to share with some beautiful women last evening at Trinity Baptist Church for their Women's Ministry summer event called "Take-Away-Tuesday".

 

 

The icebreaker kicked off the theme of the evening. Each lady was given a small bag with a small piece of paper tucked inside.

 

They were asked to write 5 of their favorite things on the small piece of paper and then tuck it back inside the small bag. 

 

Next, they were asked to place their bag into the brown paper package tied up with string, which served as the centerpiece for the table.

 

 

 

 

 

As each table's designated "Bag Lady" pulled out one small envelope at a time, the ladies were to guess who belonged to the "List of 5" after it was read aloud.  Laughter filled the room as friends, old and new, became better acquainted.

My goal of the evening was to lead the women from their favorite things to helping them discover some of God's favorite things.  Through some personal stories about me and my dad, I shared how my dad was my earthly visual of my Heavenly Father; a loving father, a forgiving father, a just father, a singing father, a fun father, etc..., all characteristics of God, the Father.

Just as my dad considered his girls (his wife and two adopted daughters) among his favorite things, God has us, His "adopted" daughters, on His list of favorites.  How awesome is that?

I love weaving my physical adoption story into the teaching about our spiritual adoption into the greatest family ever- God's! Because of the blood sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, we're grafted into the family tree of Christ.  He is the Vine and we are the branches. (John 15) His life blood runs through our veins.

"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." (Romans 8:15-17 NKJV, emphasis mine)

All Christians have a story of adoption they can share.  But the point of adoption is not the end of your  story. Your story continues as the details unfold revealing how you live out your faith in Christ. It's our response to the daily grind of real life that entices people to read more of the story;
His story.

What a fun evening we had!  A little "Sound of Music", brown paper packages tied up with string, celebrating our favorite things, and the best thing of all...

 Giving God Glory; His MOST favorite thing!

My Pleasure,
Melanie