My Latest New Life Women's Event

Hi ladies it's me again and happy Lord's day! I hope and pray that each of you ladies and your families are doing well. I'm happy to present another blog called ''My Latest New Life Women's Event''. For those of you that may or may not know I've been attending ''New Life Assembly Of God Church'' since Covid and have been a member there for the past five years. We've been hosting many women's events since February this year and we meet every two months. Now I wasn't the one that hosted it but I got to participate in it though and by God's grace, I've gone to every last one of those meetings! The food was free and I got to eat some fruit, some chips, and ate some good old fashioned fried chicken! I know, right? The speaker was a lady from our church, a ''matured lady'' if I can put it like that. She shared a topic that's near and dear to my heart about ''Healing From PTSD''. That's something ladies that many of you know doesn't get addressed enough in the Church as a whole like it should and I'm sure that many of you know that. She talked about how it impacts childhood, present, our future, current relationships, and even to the point of our walk with the Lord. Ladies I know that hearing that touched my heart deeply as it did the hearts of many other women. It left room for discussions and I know that after that meeting, the Holy Spirit and I had some deep conversations about that. As many of you ladies know, I've always been transparent about mental health almost throughout the year and why it matters. Another thing the speaker said and maybe some of you can relate to this, sadly in the Church as a whole Christians alot of times ''spiritualize trauma'' and that absolutely drove me and the speaker crazy! To be brutally honest ladies I believe that's what my upbringing was like despite the fact I grew up in a Christian home and despite the fact I got saved at eleven years old! I'm not badmouthing my upbringing but one big problem was mental health much less trauma was not talked about in the house. To make matters worse, encouraging to get help outside of one's parents or pastors was completely not acceptable either! Another painful reality about my upbringing too was it was encouraged to use ''religious words'' instead of addressing the deep wound. It also creates shame causing me to feel guilty for being sad, angry, and traumatized which also delayed healing! (Side note that could be why I've had some additional challenges because of the reasons that I just mentioned! But I'm happy as an adult that the Lord is continuing to help me heal and giving me practical tools to heal from my past trauma which is on an ongoing basis!) Do you ladies see why that session on Saturday August 15th meant so much to me and why it matters so much to me in my meetings especially my virtual Bible studies? (We also cover it in prayer on Tuesday nights or occasionally Monday nights depending when we meet. We pray for both the physically and mentally ill too.) The speaker did encourage the ladies to not be afraid to get practical help in addition to spiritual help. Ladies, that was music to my ears! I'm going to encourage you ladies with this, don't be afraid to get practical help if you need it! Ladies that's something that I do quite a bit! I go see a Christian counselor maybe not every week but quite a few times during the month! I tell her when I'm not okay while keeping the Lord in the center of everything! Ladies this past week when it was time to pray for those who lost loved ones, it fell on me to pray for them. One thing that I prayed for was besides them not getting bitter towards the Lord but I prayed at the virtual prayer meeting for them to get help through grief counseling if they need it! I know, right? Another thing about trauma is it impacts the emotions, the mind, and even to the point it can impact one's physical health! Ladies, I know that from experience! Any of you who have been around me long enough know some of the things I went through and how traumatizing life has been to me and how I've had to lean on the Lord. Ladies again let me emphasize if you're dealing with this, don't hesitate to reach out to your pastors or hesitate to reach out to a Christian counselor to help you through life! As a matter of fact, the very next day I shared with my new pastor Pastor Bowen just me and him after church some stuff I never told my parents about some abuse from my past without naming names! Ladies, perhaps in the future I may reveal more details about it but my pastor did pray with me about it without anyone in the congregation knowing it! I believe it wasn't a coincidence that ''New Life's Women's Event'' took place on Saturday August 15th which is where the Lord continued to do deeper work in me in order to heal. Maybe not at the meeting but certainly afterwards! The truth is none of us can change the past but we can change the future. We can learn to forgive others and ourselves, be honest about the hurt, pray,and talk to trustworthy people (especially a counselor) about it. I want you ladies to know that if you share something personal with me, especially prayer requests I'm extremely confidential with them! I want y'all to know that! I know especially when it comes to prayer requests after virtual Bible study I take it seriously what things you ladies share with me and take it to the Lord immediately. Going through trauma is alot for anyone to endure and I want y'all to know that I understand that firsthand! God is still healing me from trauma past as well as present! There are some things going on presently that I'm not at liberty to talk about right now but I trust that in time I'll reveal some more of what God has brought me out of in the time to come! That's what I wanted to share with you ladies. I don't always talk about what goes on at my local church ''New Life Assembly Of God Church'' but if it's a life impacting event I make sure to share with you ladies so y'all know that I do submit to a pastor even though he might be completely aware of this women's ministry yet! I believe that a woman leader needs to submit to a male covering in order to better fulfill her assignment. (That's for another blog for another time to better explain that!) Also ladies I'll be hosting my third virtual Bible study tonight and hope y'all join me for that. Blessings, happy Lord's day, and hope y'all have a blessed week everyone.







