Our new church here has something I love called "Secret Sisters". Maybe some of you have heard of such a thing, but I hadn't and I think it's a great idea! Everyone who wants to be involved fills in a little "all about me" form and that form is given to another woman in the church. That woman becomes her secret sister and throughout the year sends her anonymous notes of encouragment and promises to pray. Gifts can also be given for special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries or dates that have certain meaning. Neat, eh? Then, once a year, there's a wind-up where all the secret sisters are revealed.

Alison and Lisa T. - our hostesses and the head honchos of this secret society. Hmmm........I think I worded that poorly....... ;) They've worked hard to organize it, labour tirelessly handing out cards and gifts on Sundays (so as to keep the givers a secret...) and they pampered us all to a nice evening out last night.

No get-together of church ladies is complete without a baby or two. Here's sweet little Gaven - held by one of the many ladies fighting for holding rights :) Lisa N. - looks good on you! ;)

Lots of time to chat, play games and then came the handing out of the envelopes. Everyone had to write a card to their sister, revealing who they were. Exclamations, smiles, and many hugs followed. It was neat to watch. Will be even neater to be a part of it all next year!



Somehow Miriam seemed to be in the forefront of many of my pictures, hugging various people.....;)


Alison and Lisa T. presented a very unique devotional, enlikening the fellowship and friendship between Christian ladies to a recipe. A chocolate chip cookie recipe, to be precise. Each ingredient represented something that enriches our lives through Godly friendships. For example, like sugar adds sweetness to cookies, so fellowship with Christian woman adds a sweetness to our lives; as salt adds flavour, so our fellowship keeps our lives from being bland. Chocolate chips indispensable; nuts optional ;)


I didn't manage to ge a picture of Gavin with his own mom - I think the only time Jessica held him was when he needed to be nursed........ Here's Sharon taking her turn :)
Another new addition to our church family - Levi - what a doll, eh? I gotta get my hands on that one yet...... :)
Need I say anything here? What get-together is complete without food? :)
I'm so thankful for these ladies here. They've been the arms and feet of Christ to me, drawing me into their friendships, reaching out in love to the newcomer. I look forward to years ahead of deepening our friendships and encouraging one another in our walks with the Lord!

4 comments:
hi Cher! it's so good to read how you've all been welcomed with such a warm and loving embrace! I didn't doubt they'd love you guys.
I LOVE this idea about the secret sister... I don't know how it'd fly in a big church, but I think it is so healthy to have things like this one! I also would love to get my hands on that devotional! It sounds like a good one. Would that be possible?
Just realizing it sounds like i'm implying your church is small. Whoops! I have no idea how big your church is, to clarify. :)
love you!
Charlene
Hi Char :) Our church is approximately 2x the size of Hope. So, it's not a small church, and certaily bigger than I'm used to! Like with most things, not everyone participates, but a good bunch of the ladies do. I don't know why a larger group wouldn't work - there would need to be more ladies doing the organizing/handing out of encouragement cards and gifts, but other than that, it should work exactly the same (the revealing evening would need to be in the church rather than someone's basement, I guess :)
I'll ask for the devotional for you - I think she found it online, so I'll get the website.
So nice to hear from you! I love checking your blog from time to time, too - so fun to see your girlie growing up and see what you guys are up to :) Love you, too, Char.
Cher, I was wondering if you had a copy of the questionaire that you had to fill out. I've been wanting to do something like this with my church but wasn't sure how to get it started (the prayer partners thing didn't work out the greatest). Also, we have mail slots that are handy for putting cards, notes, small gifts in (so that no one has to do all the handing out of the gifts and maybe even keep it more of a secret).
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