Note from Jennifer Kaburick

I don’t know about all of you, but 2013 just flew by for me and my family! In looking back, though, it was a very big year for me, in terms of my faith development and trust in God. I started reading the Bible faithfully again (hadn’t done that since my freshman year in college!!), praying a LOT more, and reading more faith-based books. As a result, I really want to continue growing in my faith during 2014 – specifically learning about Jesus more. Loving him and others more deeply. How to witness to others, etc.

Kent did a sermon a few months back where he talked about how, often times, people expect Christians to be perfect. Or they hesitate to go “all in” b/c they think they’ll have to be perfect. But we are far from it! He likened Christians to a Garden Club, where we all want really nice gardens and flower beds (aka, lives), but sometimes things outside of our control make it hard to have pretty/well-manicured ones. However, we can look to other gardeners (ie, fellow Christians) for support, and so we can come together to talk to other gardeners about struggles we’re having with keeping the weeds out or the moles away. We don’t judge one another when someone’s flowers look pitiful (thank goodness!)  – but we look for suggestions, guidance, and support from others.  (Note: I’m actually laughing as I use “we” b/c I am far from a gardener! But I DO want to learn from others with my walk with Christ!)

This idea of a Garden Club got me thinking about a group of us who started meeting this summer on Wednesdays to discuss an amazing book, Experiencing God, by Henry Blackaby. These “meetings” led to some great discussions (and in turn, new friendships!). But, sometimes I think it may be hard to have a group that’s based on having to read something. We are all busy and sometimes just don’t get the reading done – it can almost feel like homework, and just adds more stress to our lives. So, what if we remove that added pressure, and just come together as a “Garden Club” of sorts? To share what’s going on with each of us, or just listen to others; offer support, suggestions, or just share how God’s been working in our lives. If you’re reading a book that is impacting you, share it, or if it’s Scripture that’s really touched you, tell us about it. How does that sound? I’d love to see more people get involved (regardless of membership at PCF)! To have this be a night of the week that we really look forward to and want to bring friends, family, neighbors, etc to.  Are you in?

Let’s meet this Wednesday night at 6:30 PM at Esic Baptist.

Hope to see you there!