Roll Call: WOWZA 37 Churches!

CGgirl, are you ready for this?   Final Roll Call from our May Event!  

Allen Park Church of Nazarene
Calvary Baptist Church
Church of Jesus Christ
Community Baptist
Connection Church
Crosswalk Church of the Nazarene
Fairhaven Church
First Baptist Wyandotte
Forest City Destiny Church
Free Will Baptist Church
Gilead Baptist Church
Grace Bible Church
Harvest Bible
Kensington Church
Life Church
Massachusetts Church
Merriman Road
Metro City Church
Morningstar Church
Northline Baptist
Northridge Church
Oak Pointe
Oakwood Church
Parkside Community Church
Praise Baptist Church
Redeemer Community Church
Rivers Worship Center
Solid Rock Bible Church
St Clement Orthodox
St Joseph Catholic
St Mary Parish in Wayne
St Raphael
St Simon & Jude
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Lakes
Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor
Ward Presbyterian

 

Come As You Are ... This Friday Night ... Really.

Five years ago (May 1, 2009)  we hosted our first CommonGround event.  Doesn't seem possible does it?   

We've seen God do UNBELIEVABLE things during the last NINETEEN events.    Remember...

• when God unleashed a spirit of generosity on CGgirls and you donated 1,120 Christmas gifts for 14 girls in foster care?


• when God provided an offering that supernaturally paid off all of our start-up costs?
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• when God nudged CGgirls to donate enough camp items for Royal Kids Camp to cover years of camps?
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• when God directed CGgirls to fill a church van (literally!)  with donated blankets and socks to help homeless men stay warm?
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• when God asked CGgirls to lay down our preconceived notions about women far from God who dance in strip clubs to collect items to fill gift bags for them?
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• when God knew CGgirls would meet the immediate need of a family whose Mom was diagnosed with cancer by collecting $2,000 in gift cards in two weeks?
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• when God knew a women who miscarried her baby two days before would come to a CG event (not knowing  our guest speaker would be a woman who delivered a still-born baby) and a time of intense healing began within her.
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• when God asked us to start a 60 day prayer challenge called Brave Girl Boots and 150 of you committed to doing it.  Drawing closer to God in the process.
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• and so, so, so much more.

Because of God's kindness and grace we're celebrating our TWENTIETH event this Friday night.  There will be live worship,  Heather Costa will be sharing her story,  we'll be collecting items (see below) for homeless Veterans,  20 prizes and a fantastic after party with women from 30 Detroit Metro Area churches.

Come As You Are.   It'll be a night you won't forget.  

We'll leave you with the same thing we wrote five years ago before our first event.

"The vision of commonground is one that we can’t claim as our own.  We feel very strongly that we are following His direction.   Jesus.  Period.  By Him, For Him, With Him.   Great efforts to serve our communities really don’t mean much if they aren't done for the Lord.   Only what is done for the Lord will last.  "

Ask God to prepare your heart for CommonGround.   If you are coming just for the music, the message, the prizes, the afterparty...you might miss Him.   Ask Him to prepare your heart.
He is extending the invitation.  We're just planning the party.

Brave Girl Boots -- Play it safe?

On March 4th, CGgirls launched a 60 day Prayer Challenge called Brave Girl Boots.   It's been so rewarding to see God move in and through women's hearts and hands.  If you've participated, you've been brave. Beautifully, brave.  It's hard to believe just over a week remains of this challenge.  We've been praying daily for God to plant a seed of vision.

Why are we surprised when He answers our prayers?  I believe He planted one in me on day three...turn this BGB challenge into a published devotional book.  I shared with my husband and we began to pray.  What we believe as confirmation came the next day and two more times over the next week.  Honestly, I feel the same mix of scared confidence that I felt when God asked me to start CommonGround (CGgirls).  ​At that time, I prayed Acts 5:39 "But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."  And God has shown His power in such huge ways through CG, I know in my heart-of-hearts He put the vision of CG in my heart and head.

Here I sit again.  A seed of vision planted with no provision for it. What do brave girls do?  Do we play it safe and ignore it?  Nope.  We get those boots out, put them on and move forward in the knowledge they have.  Yep, I'm praying Acts 5:39 again and drinking ALOT of hot coffee.

We plan on securing the funding for publication through a three-week fundraising campaign selling t-shirts online.  We need to sell 200 shirts to cover the cost of publishing.  The fundraising campaign starts on Monday, April 21.  The shirts will say, "Keep calm and put your brave girl boots on" with a cute pair of boots on it.   (Big shout out to Christa Alberts for making my idea come to life in graphic form).

 If you've been encouraged by BGB or believe in the work God is doing through CGgirls, I hope you'll do three things:

1.  Pray.  This vision is huge. The purpose? Encourage women everywhere to be brave.  One page at a time.

2.  Buy a shirt.  $20 plus s/h.  (I'll send you the link as soon as its live on April 21st.  Not only for yourself, but for anyone you know that needs a reminder to be brave. Not only are you helping to fund this book, but you get a cute shirt, too!  Shirts will be shipped at the end of the three week campaign, if our goal of 200 is reached.  You will not be charged for a shirt if the campaign doesn't meet its goal.

3.  As soon as its launched, help us spread the word through FB, Twitter,  Email, YDTS (yell down the street!) I believe if we do our part by getting the word out, God will do His part.

It's a blast walking with Jesus, isn't it?   I can't tell you how much I appreciate each and every one of you.  You've championed the work God has done through CG from the start, we believe this is the next step.  We'll keep walking until we know differently.   If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

For Him,

Tami

Giirrrlll, are you coming?

(Photo Credit: Lisa Hildebrandt) 

Hope Clinic : Thank YOU!

At our last event, 80 women from 8 different churches came out in subzero temps to give Hope Clinic 657 items!  We received this THANK YOU today from them. This will warm anyone up on a cold day -- way to go CGgirls! 

WOW, you make miracles happen!  Thank you so much for your very generous donation of personal care items.  Our shelves are well-stocked with these very important items that are often forgotten by donors but so important to the recipients.

On a personal note, I had a great time at your event.  The women were so welcoming and warm.

Thank you again, and God Bless you and your mission.

Peace,

Mia Moyad, LLMSW

Patient Advocate
The Hope Clinic

I Didn't Know.

"I didn't know. "

As I continue to walk out my journey towards heaven, I'm learning a lot.   Mostly,  I'm learning that I have no idea what people are going through.   The quote,  " Everyone you know is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind to everyone."  needs to be sandblasted on my head and heart.

It's true.  It's so true.

Did you know that October is National Infant Loss Month?    Me neither.    "I didn't know."

Well, I'm discovering that many, many, many women DO know.    They have been asked to carry a working knowledge of a wound so deep that some days they think they may drown from it.     Chances are you have a woman in your sphere of influence that is carrying that wound.    In fact,  if I was a betting kinda gal, I'd put my money on it.

Just the other day, I was sharing with a volunteer at Connection Church about our next CG outreach:  Jack's Day The Giving Project.   She mentioned to me that many, many decades ago she gave birth to two stillborn twin daughters.   Her confession took me off guard.

"I didn't know. "  

So,  what do we do with this?   We do what we know to do and that's gather on our commonground.    God has been so gracious to bless each of our events with an outpouring of His generous spirit.  As we walk in unity with one purpose and for ONE LIVING GOD,  fantastic God-sized things happen.

CommonGround!  This is where you need to be on Friday, October 25th at 7pm.     We are going to take God's love from the pews to the pavement.   How?   We're going to bless and by bless I mean: LOAD, Emily Hughes  THE FOUNDER of Jack's Day the Giving Project UP with the following items:

• Disposable Cameras


• Journal


• Votive Holder with Votive


• Purse size Kleenex

Emily will take these items, box them up in pretty boxes and give them to local hospitals in Metro Detroit.   In the near future, those boxes will find their way into the trembling hands of  broken-hearted women.

Will you be an instrument that God can use?    This is a great way to minister to these broken-hearted women and in a real sense,  wash them from their foreheads to their feet with a cup of grace,  a cup of comfort and a cup of compassion.

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Need a reason to come to CommonGround this Friday?

Ok...well, here are some Reasons you should be at commonground this Friday...

1.  Gathering with  other Kingdom minded women to worship the Living God.

2.  Have you heard?  Kara Spence is bringing the word!

3.  We're celebrating our 15th CG with 15, yes F I F T E E N  giveaways!

4.  We're collecting shower curtains, cleaning supplies, and bed pillows for Faith Recovery Center in Lincoln Park!

5.  Baby, its cold outside!  We've got a coffee and cocoa bar with your name on it!

6.  We're announcing our April Outreach, Project 327,  you won't want to miss this launch!

7.   You'll meet lots and lots of women from 30+ area churches!

8.  We miss your sweet faces!

9.   Amazing Afterparty!

10.  Rumor has it...CG Hoodies will be on sale!

Friday, January 25th 7pm -  We can't wait!
Connection Church
3855 Sheldon Rd
Canton, MI 48188

Hope 4 Western Wayne County 2012

CGgirls!   Remember all of those school supplies you so generously donated and bagged?

We collected 943 bags filled with school supplies.   WOW!  That is pretty amazing, isn't it?!

God came through with the difference.   I'll share that in a moment.

Serving at Hope4WWC was a tremendous blessing. 

Hats off to the early birds who met at 7am to load up all the school supplies!

We saw many other CGgirls serving at the event as well!   That was exciting to see...truly taking God's love from the pews to the pavement.  Amazing!

It was a beautiful day filled with beautiful people. 1, 100 guests came through and it was wildly fantastic!

When you choose to serve something wonderful happens.   You think you are going to help others but what happens is we change when we serve.  God is brilliant isn't He?   It's a beautiful thing to serve God by serving others.

Here's what some of the CGgirls had to say about Saturdays event.

"It was the most touching outreach I've ever served in, and each of us were there for the very same reason - to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Little did I know how much each guest would bless me! Hearing their stories and to see how thankful they were for what we were doing.... truly an unforgettable experience."  Beth Woodard, Connection Church served in the Grocery area.

"We serve a mighty God. I met a lady that was so pleased with her family portrait, she wanted to came back to the welcome area just to show me -- tears filled her eyes as she explained how she never had been able to afford a photo like this -- as she was walking to her car, she continued to look at the portrait -- I asked the other ladies to look as she was walking --- tears filled our eyes as I told her story --- her children were teenagers -- priceless -- it was my honor to serve with Harvest Bible Church --- Thank You Lord"   Cheryl Jones, Allen Park Nazarene Church served in Guest Services.

As for me, one of the highlights came when a young man visited our School Supply area and said, "I heard you were short some bags from your goal of 1000"  quickly followed by, " Tell me what you need and I'm going to get them for you."   This young man (in his 20s) went out and bought items to fill our remaining 57 bags.

Ladies, we got the 1000 --  we got the 1000!  Praises to God from whom all blessings come -- what a day!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all of you who brought items to donate, who came and served, who prayed for this wonderful outreach.  100 people gave their lives to the Lord on Saturday. 

Life is beautiful.  Isn't it?

Extraordinary life? Yes, please! Pick me!

Hello CGgirls!

We have some catching up to do...so grab a seat and let's do what girlfriends do...

How are you?   I hope you are reminded today what a wonderfully made woman you are.   Even if you don't "feel" it... you are.    Who says?  He does.   In fact, God says that you are fearfully and wonderfully made.    Maybe you needed that reminder today.   I know I did.

You know what I've been thinking lately?   I've been thinking about how God invites us into a story (His by the way) that is so stinkin' more exciting then the one we would have created for ourselves.   I saw this and thought... yeah.. that's perfect!

I'm so thankful  God calls us to do things that are "other focused" and  "out of our comfort zones"  it makes life so much more of an adventure.    Who needs normal?  :)

Here are some highlights of what's going on in and through CGgirls:

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  I had the tremendous honor to serve and speak at a Women's Retreat for the wonderful ladies of  Allen Park Nazarene.  What a fantastic group of women!    I've never seen such an atmosphere of bonding and great community.  It was so great to share God's Word with them.  Upon arrival I was told, "These ladies won't run from Truth, so if you bring Truth, you'll do just fine."  WOW - they were not lying.   I love this group of ladies -- and to top it off - they are coming to the next CG on Friday, July 27th!   They said their goal is to bring 27 ladies on the 27th!    Meet my new friends:  
  Speaking of our next CG event (can you believe, its our 13th!!!)  So excited to be partnering with Hope 4 Western Wayne County.   CGgirls are walking by faith and have committed to bringing 1000, (yes, you read correctly - don't rub your eyes you'll ruin your makeup) O N E T H O U S A N D school supply kits.  We've got a big God and we believe very strongly that where you find unity, you find power.   Women from all over Metro Detroit will be coming to the next CG event (Friday, July 27th 7pm)  and bringing with them the following:  Glue sticks, No. 2 pencil packs, 24 pk of crayons, pack of washable markers and 2 pocket folders.    Wanta join the fun?  Who doesn't!  :)    Apparently we aren't alone in this:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A big shout out to the fine folks at Ask-Services for collecting school supplies for our outreach!

A box of school supplies mysteriously showed up in my office last night.  CGgirls are wildly generous!  Love, Love, Love seeing God's activity in your lives!

If you are available on Saturday, August 18th and would love to serve during this crazy good day of outreach called HOPE 4 Western Wayne County - they could use your tender hearts that day.  Or maybe your heart could us some tendering?
Over 5000 families are being invited to participate in a day (in Westland, MI) that includes: groceries, health fair, Kids Zone, a BBQ Lunch, family portraits, hair cuts, school supply kits, and live entertainment.  

Sign Up to serve that day!

• 
  
  Remember our PCL girls?  Project Crazy Love?   We adopted 14 girls in foster care for Christmas last year and God absolutely blew our minds with providing over 1,100 gifts for them.   Well, we're continuing the conversation with our monthly PCL Birthday Club.  We go to their home bringing birthday love each month:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  We would love for you to get involved with this monthly outreach!  You can stop by the CGgirls: Serve! table at the afterparty to find out more info!
  
  
  
  
  Who wants a normal life?  Not us!   
  
  
  
  
  We're excited about Friday Night.  I hope you call a girlfriend or two and bring them along with you.  We'll have dynamic live worship, giveaways, an afterparty with great appetizers, coffee/cocoa bar - all free!     We call it a Girl's Night with a God Focus.  Be there?
  
  
  
  
  With deep appreciation & affection,
  
  
  
  
  Tami
  
  

Generous. You are!

Something really cool starts to happen the week of CG -- a spark of generosity occurs within the women known as CGgirls!  I just spoke to a CGgirl and she said very excitedly, "I went a bit crazy on the crafts and the princess barbies!  They should be delivered tomorrow from Amazon!"

Another CGgirl, dropped these off this morning:

I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be tomorrow night then here! 

Invite your girlfriends and let's have a party!  Connection Church 3855 Sheldon Rd. Canton, MI 48188 7pm

Pink Toes optional!

 

January Event Recap: Project Troop Care

Were you at the last CG in January?   Here's a chance for you to relive it or see what you missed!   Our next event is on Friday, April 20th!

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April Spotlight: Royal Family Kids Camp

Ideas usually start as an answer to a question.

In 2009, we asked this question:

What would happen if women left their generational and denominational differences at the door and just became girls who love God?   We would find our common ground. On our common ground, we could harness that unity and take God's love from the pews to the pavement and change our world!

No longer just an idea, it's happening.  See how God is doing remarkable things through CGgirls. Up for an adventure?

Our next event will be on Friday, April 20th 7pm at Connection Church in Canton, MI.   Our outreach spotlight will be Royal Family Kids Camp!  We are collecting the following items that night for children attending this year's camp!

• Barbies & Clothes (all ethnicities)


• Sports Balls (footballs, basketballs, and nerf sets)


• Craft Kits (Jewelry making, art kits, play doh)


• Building Toys (Legos or Kinex sets)

Here is a quick video showing a glimpse into Royal Family Kids Camp!

Heart 2 Heart

Yesterday, we surprised our PCL girls with some special love on Valentine's Day!    Our hope is that these precious young ladies would stay connected to CGgirls and this is just one way to remind them they are loved!

Each bag was filled with some valentine goodness for each PCL girl!   Big Pink High FIVES go out to the CGgirls who donated the items!   We think the staff at GirlsTown is pretty special too, the tray of heart cookies went to them!

Each PCL girl got a special note to remind them how much they are loved.

We love what God is doing in and through CGgirls.    Don't you??!!

Love is in the air...

and in our mailbox!  We received several thank you notes from our Project Crazy Love girls in the mail!  What a tremendous honor to know those sweet young ladies.

    Here are some of the highlights:

* I loved the lunch - especially the chocolate fountain!
* The gifts were awesome!
* I have never had that many gifts or that  much love.
* I felt like I was with family; something I have never had.
* CGgirls made a big difference in this time of my life!
* I appreciate so much what you did for me, there aren't words.
* You could never know what you did meant to me.
*  I don't know you, but I love you!
* CommonGround gives me hope.  Thank you!
* I love everything I got!  Thank you so much!
* Thank you so much for the slippers, I really needed them!
* You people are wonderful!  God Bless you all!

Don't you love it?  I am so amazed at how God works.  We're excited to continue the conversation with these wonderful young women.   So much potential.   The world overlooks them, but God sees them.

Love is in the air...

Project Crazy Love: Success!

The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD.  Proverbs 21:31

I've been wondering how to capture what happened on Saturday at the Project Crazy Love (PCL) luncheon in such a way that those who weren't there would "get it"... I'm not sure its possible, but let's try.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb."  Psalm 139:13

Our prayer all along has been that our PCL girls would walk away from this lunch with a deeper understanding that there is a God who knows them and loves them.   We believe, wholeheartedly,  God answered that prayer. 

CGGIRLS adopted 14 foster care girls for Christmas with a staggering 1, 120 gifts donated.

For those keeping score at home:  Thats approximately 80 gifts each.   Honestly,  the sight stopped us in our tracks when we would go into the "Reindeer Room"  gift holding tank.



The luncheon was amazing!   All of the CG Teams: Wrapping, Decorating, Food Prep, Drama/Worship Team, The Mighty ELF teams were absolutely amazing!   On site that day, we had women from Connection,  Life Church,  Open Arms,  Metro South Church, Rivers of Living Water, and Westland FMC!  Working side-by-side together...that in itself is a beautiful thing.  :)

"You mean I can have as much chocolate as I want??"   -  PCL Girl!

Oh and did they ever!  Cotton Candy was even dunked in that fountain!  :)

For me personally,  I was not prepared for how deeply the "encouragement tree" would affect our PCL girls.   Looking back now we see it was the Lord's hand leading us to put that tree up.   Those notes of encouragement (168 in total) that several of you wrote during the last CG event deeply ministered to our PCL girls.    When I say deeply...I mean... DEEPLY.   Tears.  Lots of them.   The PCL girls could not believe that women who did not know them would care enough to write them.  They were sincerely touched.  Watching that unfold has profoundly changed so many of us who witnessed it.

"I never got a card before in my life."

"I feel like they know me."

"How could they know thats how I feel?"

"I'm keeping every single one of these cards and hanging them in my room"

All of the girls opened up the one gift under the tree with their name on it.  Thrilled to receive their "one" gift.  They jumped up and down and screamed!  :)   Some of the girls, never took their robes off the entire time!  We loved how God worked it out for the PCL girl who loves Tinkerbell to receive the Tinkerbell robe and the two roommates and best friends got matching robes.  :)

And then the gift explosion happened!  One by one each ELF came in calling out a PCL girl's name and all of their gifts came in like a flowing river.  It was amazing!  A few of the PCL girls were so overwhelmed they sat and cried before opening any gifts.  It was almost too much for them.   We aren't able to post any of those pictures publicly (a complete recap video will be shown at the next CG on January 27, 2012)  but hopefully you'll get the picture painted for you just by these comments:

"All of this is for me?"
" One would have been enough."
"This is my favorite movie!"
"I get a bible with both the New and Old Testament?"
"Someone wrote me a note in the journal...see!"
"SpongeBob is my husband ... I love this movie"

All of the girls received the book Redeeming Love and they would yell out, "BOOKCLUB!" when one would open it.

"How did you know I loved the color Pink?"
"This is my birthstone!"

CGGirls, remember those Old Navy Hoodies?

"Is this new? I can't believe I got something new!"

"I love this smell.  It's the store smell."

God showed them in a very personal way they are not forgotten.  Not only are they not forgotten -- they are loved and a treasure of great value.

I can't thank you enough for all of your generous donations,  the tireless hours spent shopping, wrapping and preparing.

We wanted God to be honored with putting our very best effort forth and I believe that happened.   We believe PCL was completely authored by God.

So thankful that He chooses to use us when writing someone else's story, aren't you? 

The PCL girls came back to the Christmas Play at Connection Church that evening and gave me this beautiful thank you note:

"Dear CG Girls,  Thank you so much for the lunch and all the presents!  We appreciated it alot and it meant so much to us. I don't think words can explain.  It really brightened our day and showed alot of us that there is a God.  And there are people who care about us.  Thank you so much!" 

That's a wrap!

The last present was wrapped today for Project Crazy Love.

CGgirls donated 1,120 gifts.   Amazed?  Speechless?  Touched?  Yep...us too!

I can't tell you how many times I've sat and looked at all of these wrapped gifts thinking... only God.   I've said it before and I think the statement is still true:

Project Crazy Love has unleashed a powerful move of generosity that could only be authored by God.

As I was trying to quiet my mind last night so sleep would come -- this reality hit me:

We've said from the beginning we wanted these 14 girls to be so overwhelmed by the goodness of God that when they are 60 years old they would still be talking about Project Crazy Love.  "There was a group of women who didn't know me but they loved God and blew my mind for Christmas when I was a teenager."  Can you picture it?

The reality hit me last night that its going to be US talking about this decades from now.  How we watched a group of women who loved God, gather in unity and strength with a giving spirit.  And how we watched God move on behalf of the broken hearted,  lost  and forgotten.

Girls, it's us that have been marked by this.  It's us.   I haven't talked to one person who has been involved with PCL who hasn't been deeply moved by the generous spirit in CGgirls.

Two more sleeps!  :)

CaSandra Maynard, CG Photographer,  wraps gift number 1, 120.    The final gift for Project Crazy Love 2011.

It's beginning to look alot like...

This will be at each place setting for Project Crazy Love!

It's starting to come together...

The "Wonder"

Girls, I hope this doesn't ever get old.

The outpouring of generosity towards these young ladies in fostercare that we are adopting for Christmas has really blown us away.

I really hope we don't ever lose the wonder of seeing the activity of God move in and through CG Girls.

won·der : to be filled with admiration, amazement, or awe; marvel

Some of our Project Crazy Love stories that have added to the wonder:

• CGGirl's coworker made scarves for all of the PCL girls and her husband decided they needed gloves too and bought 14!


• CGGirl decided we shouldn't have to buy anymore shirtboxes and got Kohls in Canton to donate 100 of them.


• When our CGGirl shopping for hoodies at Old Navy with our donated giftcards could only get 12 of them, her Mom stepped in and purchased two more to make it a beautiful 14!


• Our gift total so far: 1,004.

I once read this quote and I've never forgotten it, "Mercy saves us but grace throws the party" --  and in a few weeks we are going to throw an amazing party for 14 young women.

14 young women who have no idea:

• They have been planned for and thought about for 17 months.


• We teared up when we finally got their first names.


• They have captivated the generous hearts of women all over Metro Detroit.


• Their names are going before the Creator of all life in prayers daily.Aren't you so glad you are a part of a movement of women who are taking God's love from the pews to the pavement?

Me, too!

PS - There is still time to contribute to this outpouring of love...contact  Tami (at) Connectionchurch (dot) info or leave a comment below!   We would like to get all fourteen girls pedicures or manicures and are collecting toward making that happen!

CG Girls are generous.

Yes.  Yes, you are!

In the last 24 hrs alone,  CG Girls donated to Project Crazy Love:

•  Bunch (and by bunch I mean a WHOLE LOT!) of wrapping paper, boxes and scotch tape!


•  Lipgloss, Kohls, Target, and McDonald's gift cards!


•  Money!

I just opened a note with a Target gift card in it from a dear CG Girl whose husband is out of work,  they are living with her parents and they just had a baby!    Is that not one of the most tender reflections of  God's love through giving that you've seen in a while?  We are blown away by God's provision for these young women in foster care.   God is stirring us up!

Girls who love God? You Bet!

CG Girls!

I know some of you are getting ready for your children to start school in a very short time from now.   Or maybe you've been ready for a while?? :)    My nephew goes away to college next week and my sister has already unashamedly said, "I'm going to be a wreck!"    :)

Whatever camp this blog post finds you in -- its time to get our 10th COMMONGROUND event on Friday, October 21st on our radar screens!    The CG outreach team is meeting tonight to discuss the details and start putting the plans into action!

If you were at the last CG event you know the exciting news that two women gave their lives to Christ that night!  This has been a source of such joy for us.    We are also excited that Camp Kesem received:

• 75 Sunblock


• 59 Bug Sprays


• 166 Coloring Books


• 5,169 Crayons


• 2, 037 Individual Snacks

CG girls are some of the most fantastically generous women we have ever met.   You continually blow our minds!

Also announced that evening was our support of Laban Ministries.  Laban Ministries is bringing life-changing hope of Jesus to the Congo!  They run a Women's Literacy Center in the Congo - teaching women to read using the Bible.  48 out of the 94 female students accepted Christ last year!    We are committing to send a portion of our offering from each CG event to this ministry.   Very Exciting!   Check it out for yourselves:

We are really excited not only about the focus of our October 21st event Project Crazy Love but also we'll be celebrating our 10th commonground event that night!

To add to the celebration that night, we'll be having 10 giveaways!  

Yep, 10!!!!! 

We can't wait!  Invite your girlfriends -- this is going to be a blast!!!