I hope you’ll plan now (if you are local) to join me for a night of contemporary worship just for women! Thrive Worship is Friday April 29th at 7:00 p.m. Thrive Worship will be held at Grace Church in Chino Valley in the main sanctuary.
This event is free!
Grab a friend or two and come worship The Lord with us through song! You have the opportunity to hear from Amber Leason as she shares what God has brought her to in life because of the act of worship. Amber is a woman of joyous faith! You will also hear from Donna Dominguez as she and I share together all that God is doing in her life because of her recent renewed faith! I am confident that these God Stories will be encouraging to your soul and spirit!
Check it out online at cvgrace.com under the Events Tab. This is a FREE event, no need to register! We want everyone to come out and enjoy this special once a year opportunity! Will you help us pack the house?
If you would like a digital invitation that you can share via text with your contacts, please email me at pursuingpurpose724@gmail.com and I will get one to you!
You may have heard about and seen my posts on the blog about the Thrive Event that happens in November! In case you haven’t caught wind of all that is exciting about Thrive, it’s not to late now to start planning to attend! You can read more about it by searching this blog for a post titled Reflections.
Thrive is an event for women, at Grace Church in Chino Valley that focuses on two kinds of CONNECTION. Connection in relationships with one another as valued women, and connection in vibrant relationship with The Lord.
I look forward to seeing you at one, or both, of the upcoming Thrive events this year!
Thrive Worship, Friday, April 29th or the fall Thrive event on Friday, November 4th!
Let me just tell you, God showed up at Thrive last month!
What a wonderful night we all had together at Thrive! We enjoyed some delicious, (mostly) handmade, Just For You Desserts. Next, we were enveloped by some incredible worship! And throughout the night we were challenged and inspired, hearing from different women as they spoke about faith, connections, challenges and growing spiritually.
Natually, there was spiritual opposition from the enemy, and we saw it played out many times in many different ways. It came for weeks ahead of the event and intensified throughout the week of Thrive. Each attack was designed to distract, discourage and steal our joy. But God always wins! Everytime. And even more so when we rally together and DECIDE to trust His plans and purposes!
The women in leadership for Thrive are amazing. One was taken out of comission the night before. She had spent months helping us plan and prepare for Thrive, and when sickness took her out, she stood in the gap for us all night! She prayed over our schedule and speakers. She knew where we were with regard to the program all night, and she prayed for all of us, and all of YOU.
Others on the leadership team stepped up when that team member was taken out, and they stepped in to fill her place. When women of God know that they are called to something, like Thrive, nothing scares them away. I saw nervous women become bold women. I saw already brave women, embrace and become empowered by the Lord. And I saw many women impacted for The Kingdom!
I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for Thrive 2022 on November 4th. I see Him moving hearts and changing lives already! I know that He used every single aspect of Thrive to connect women in their relationship with Him.
Whether or not you attended Thrive this year, my chalenge to you is the same. Keep Moving Forward with your relationship with Jesus. No matter where you are in your faith walk, young, old, or a “woman in the middle”, we aren’t finished. We have growing to do. Dig into scripture. Connect with a life group or bible study. Get yourself to church. Take that next step, no matter how small, and get going.
Keep Moving Forward.
Hebrews 6:1a “let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity…” It’s time to go from walking spiritually to running toward Jesus
!
Thrive 2021, taking the stage!
“Keep Moving Forward”
Conversations Of Faith with Laurie Schraml
I love this beautiful image of this young woman worshipping~
Just our awesome worship team practicing!
I can almost feel the presence of the Lord in this photo!
The Thrive Team gathering to pray before the event began~
Having some laughs with my friend!
The Team excited as it was almost time to begin!
Thrive Team (minus one) (missed you Lissa)
Plan now to attend Thrive Worship (for women only) on April 29th, and Thrive 2022 on November 4th! ~
@Grace Chruch 2010 S Hwy 89, Chino Valley Arizona~
Local friends! I hope that you will join me in anticipation of this year’s Thrive!
Thrive will take place on Friday, November12th at 6:30 PM. We will gather at Grace Church in Chino Valley Arizona, for an evening dedicated to Connections, Confections (or desserts), Worship and Soul Talk for women of faith!
You will experience a beautiful and delightful array of individual and mini “just for you” desserts. Next, we will gather in worship with some of your favorite current and contemporary worship music. You will hear from Jenda Ballard as she shares with us what is happening with her ongoing battle with cancer, in a section called “What If, What Is, and What’s Next”. This year will also include a new segment called Conversations of Faith. This year’s Conversations of Faith will include a visit from Laurie Schraml. She and I will share about the unusual way that the Lord brought us together 6 years ago, and how He continues to connect us in a friendship of faith and honesty. I am excited to share my message with you too, called Keep Moving Forward!
The roots of Thrive grew deep in the midst of 2020, during the pandemic. At that time in my life, I began to wonder if what I was doing with my life was enough. I questioned if the way I spent my time was all that God had for me, or was there more? I loved my job, the ministries that my hubby and I shared in at church, and I loved my social life. But, when the world “shut down”, I found myself at home with more time on my hands than I knew what to do with. Sounds like a dream come true, right? It was for a while, until it wasn’t. During that time, I really felt God speaking to me and pulling me into something bigger than myself. It took much time, prayer, seeking Him and conversations with those who love and know me best, before I understood what that “thing” was. And that “thing”, became the beginning Thrive!
Since then, many more ministries have begun to grow out of Thrive, the event. When you attend you will hear more about those exciting opportunities!
We are also excited to announce that this year we will have some beautiful and amazing merchandise for you to purchase! Many of these items will be available to pre-order during registration. We have beautiful Thrive T-shirts in a wide selection of sizes. We also have a gorgeous canvass Thrive Tote Bag! You may purchase them individually or together at a discount. There will be many more items for sale at the Merchandise Table at Thrive, BUT those items will remain a surprise until that night! Let me just tell you, I am over the moon excited about them! Purple is the theme color for Thrive, the color of royalty in scripture. When we belong to Him, we are royalty, daughters of The King!
You will not want to miss this special evening of Connections, Confections, and Soul Talks. Buy your ticket now, and while you’re at it, invite a friend! A fun and meaningful night like this is better shared with a friend! Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at cvgrace.com under the events tab. Seats are going fast, so don’t wait!
This past Friday I had the joy and absolute privilege of witnessing the fulfillment of a dream!
You’ll recall that life changed drastically for most of us in the early spring of this year. Covid took the world by storm, and not at all in a good way. Most of what we consider “normal life” came to a screeching halt.
I work at a school, and since that was shut down like so many things, I found myself with more free time and quiet than I normally like. At first I enjoyed being in my beautiful craft room as much as I wanted, walking and hiking every day, and painting furniture! But after a while, I started to wonder if I spent my time, (even before covid) in a lasting and meaningful way. Basically, was my life good the way it was, or was there something else I should be doing?
I remember waking up one morning with a heaviness in my heart. Not sadness, or stress, but unrest. I started to really feel that God was calling me to something important.
The trouble was, I had no idea what that important thing was!
I spent months talking with my hubby, my closest and dearest friends, my pastor, and the Lord. And in time, I understood what I was feeling to be a calling from Him to host a faith based event for women, filled with connections, worship and a message.
Now, that may seem pretty basic to you, but I knew that that message was to come from my own lips! And I was honored and terrified at the same time!
I had never given so much as a “talk” at a church event, let alone prepared a message. Microphones don’t scare me, being in front of a group doesn’t scare me, but sharing my heart and a message that I felt was from the Lord? That was completely different!
But honestly, once I had some clear direction, the support of my husband, the encouragement of my closest friends in life, and the backing of my pastor, there was no stopping me!
A team came together, filled with the most wonderful women to help fulfill this dream, this event. And I could not have chosen a better group to work with! We planned a night full of worship, gorgeous decorations, a beautiful dessert bar, a coffee bar, wonderful gifts to take home, and a thousand other details!
And when that Friday came, and we saw all those women start to arrive for the first ever Thrive event, there was strong emotion flowing through our veins! The night we had been preparing for, for months, had finally arrived!
And what a night it was! It was so fun and so exciting to see God move!
One thing I do know; I cannot do justice to the pride and joy I feel over Thrive in this blog post. God used me, a sometimes mess of a woman, searching for meaning and purpose in her life, to bring together women and encourage them in the Lord!
That face!
The key verse from Thrive is John 10:10b “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” We talked about relationship and connection to the women in our lives who God uses to encourage and support us. And we talked about being connected in relationship to God. How these two relationships are vital to enjoying a full life.
Naturally, the enemy of our souls tried to steal the day. During all the months of preparing for Thrive, I had relied heavily on the counsel and encouragement of my husband. He’s always been a solid steady voice in my head and heart. And I took for granted that he would be there to cheer me on, to run the sound board and lights, and basically to fix anything and everything that went wrong that night. So when he (very unexpectedly) had to leave the church early in the day on Friday, and couldn’t return, I felt my foundation shake.
He would not be there to finish the day with me, would not be there to witness the event that we both been praying over and working toward for so many months. And I felt my stomach drop, like when you lean to far back in a chair…..
But in that time of struggle, God had already provided a “Titus” for me! 2 Corinthians 7:6 says “God who comforts the down cast, comforted is by the coming of Titus.” My Titus that day was the friend that I had asked to stand by me through Thrive. For some time, neither of us was exactly sure what her true purpose was for the event, but we pressed on knowing the Lord would show us. And He certainly did!
When my ground became uneven and shaky, she came along side of me, held up my arms, prayed with and for me, and together we purposed not to let the enemy win that day! She reminded me that God was all that we needed, and we pressed forward. And you know what, God showed up at Thrive big time! He was there ensuring that the lights and sound and details all came together. It was nearly flawless!
Thrive was a dream come true! I am blessed down to my socks, that God used me for something long lasting! That He allowed me to be part of something meaningful for His kingdom!
Today I have a full heart, and a more full life because of Thrive. The purpose of Thrive is to deepen the connections between women with each other, and to deepen the connection between those women and the Lord.
My own connections with the women who partnered with me for Thrive grew deeper than I anticipated. And as I relied on God to fulfill what I felt was His purpose for me through Thrive, I experienced a full life! A deeper connection to Him.
Now, prepare to be photo blasted!
Spring Thrive is on the calendar for April 30, 2021❤ I already can’t wait to see what He’ll do!
I interrupt your regularly scheduled blog post to bring you, Thrive! This is an event for women to gather and connect!
To Thrive means to grow or develop vigorously; to flourish.
To Thrive is to realize abundant life. To not simply “get by” or merely survive. But to Thrive!
This is what God wants for us. John 10:10b says ” I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
I am confident that relationships and connections play a role in how we Thrive.
I am inviting all local friends to join me at Grace Church in Chino Valley on November 13th for an evening of celebrating those connections! Come enjoy a delicious dessert bar with all the fancy, yummy, sweet things you can imagine, participate in heartfelt worship, and be challenged through a message from God’s word.
Tickets are $15 and space is very limited! Until October 18th (or until all seats are sold) there is a $5 Thrive Launch and Early Registration discount! This makes your ticket to Thrive just $10! Seats are going very fast!
So grab a friend and sign up today! It will be a wonderful evening of “girl time” and connection~~~
Pursuing Purpose 