December 26, 2024

Crazy Love: Chapter 9 – “Who Really Lives That Way?” (pp 149-153)

March 4, 2013 by

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

~ 1 Corinthians 11:1

I have attempted 3 times to write this blog post to no avail and then BAM…in my quiet time this morning God showed me why.

YOU were meant to write this blog post, not me, dear sisters!  In today’s reading, Chan gave us 3 stunning examples of people on this earth who truly embody this life that God commands us to live—crazy in love and obsessed with Him. It’s not just about adoration, my friends, it’s about walking your love out in your life in every way possible…no matter what the costs.

We met Nathan Barlow, Simpson Rebbavarapu and Jamie Lang today. The rest of this week, you will continue to meet others like them. I pray they all have a huge impact on YOUR story!

How will you write today’s blog post? Well, I think it’s safe to say that most of us are not yet living up to the character God intends us to have to land ourselves as one of the names in this chapter. Please do not let that discourage you! What I would like you to do TODAY is to write out YOU as one of these people…. Write out your future, changed to be living out this divine life God intends. Write your story how it WILL be. CLAIM it here today with all of us as witness!!!! May God get all the glory!

Revelation 3:1, 2

…you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up!

Strengthen what remains and is about to die,

for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.

Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.

They will walk with me, dressed in white,for they are worthy.

The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white.

I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life,

but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.

This is my song for us today:

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Let’s Pray:

God, give us strength and courage to go against this world and live the life YOU have so divinely created us for.  Speak into our spirits today as we write our story of who we are to be—how we are going to take our crazy, obsessed love for You and walk that out in our lives to further Your Kingdom. Thank You for this provision, Father.  Help us to hold each other accountable and spur each other on to be our very best. May You get all the glory! Amen <3

Your Assignment:

Write  YOUR story today. If you feel led, post it as a comment below. If not, keep it in your Bible and pray over it daily. Claim this victory for God’s Kingdom as you begin to walk this new, narrow path for Him.

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If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

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Crazy Love: Chapter 8 Review – “Profile of the Obsessed”

March 1, 2013 by

My friends…. Week 8 is coming to a close, and this chapter has been necessary to complete our Crazy Love journey. This chapter was all about what it looks like to really be obsessed with God.

On Monday, you and I discussed being a lover and a risk taker in our faith. Martha had a wonderful blog post for us on Tuesday where she explored with us about being friends of all, crazy ones, and being the humble. On Wednesday, Jennifer had us consider ourselves as servers, givers, sojourners, and the engrossed. On Thursday, Donna shared with us about being unguarded ones, the rooted, the dedicated, and ones who sacrifice for God.

We were all forced to take a hard look at ourselves and see our lives through God-lenses as to how we are truly living out our faith and what it shows our culture about our Crazy Love for Jesus. What is your profile? Are you lukewarm…or are you OBSESSED?

Please take a few minutes and watch this video from Francis Chan:

http://youtu.be/VidzmquOi60

Since when does our culture dictate what we do and don’t do?

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Your Assignment:

It’s time to ask yourself “Why not?” What makes it so that we can/cannot live today the way they did in the early church…obsessed with God? Why wouldn’t we do this?

To live out biblical christianity in the biblical church is a very difficult thing. How is this an issue of trust?

How badly do you want this mission and are you going to live this way? Are you ready to make this commitment?

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Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord, I pray that You break our hearts in this area and I know it much break Yours. As we seek You today, help us see what You want us to see in how we are letting the world get in the way with living obsessed with You. Show us step by step what You need from us in this area and give us a boldness to live freely crazy in love with You with all of our actions and interactions. We love You and thank You for all You will work within us. Thank You for the message of this chapter and may it forever change us. Amen <3 

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If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

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Crazy Love: Chapter 8 – “Profile of the Obsessed” Lovers – Risk Takers (pp 129-133/ Kindle LOC 1673-1724)

February 25, 2013 by

obsessedwithjesus

Does this describe you? Are you a LOVER?

Now…when God prompts me to give, I give freely, I really do. But how open am I to giving without prompting?

This reminds me of a time in my life when God prompted me to do a very kind, loving, and selfless act to someone who I held much unforgiveness in my heart for. This person had hurt my family and my children for a long time.  But when God prompted me to extend kindness to them, I knew it was the right thing to do; but I also knew I would be unable to do it without His help and guidance.

Have you ever been in this position? How did it turn out for you? For me, I completely gave the situation over to God, and He totally showed off in every way! It did not turn out how I ever imagined it would, but He certainly knew exactly what He was doing, and it was 100% the right thing to do. He is so good!

However, I know I would not have come up with doing this on my own. I had shown this person kindness in the past in other ways, but in ways that were far less extraordinary and disruptive to my life. Reading this part of the chapter really made me stop and think about how foolish this is if I am truly living with a Crazy Love for our Heavenly Father.

“People who are obsessed with Jesus aren’t consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else. Obsessed people care more about God’s kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress.”

Are you a RISK TAKER? I know I have been known to pray before trips for God to protect my family and keep us safe. But is that the best prayer? Chan suggests in this section that what we ought to be praying something more like this: “God, bring me closer to You during this trip, whatever it takes….”

Would that be hard for you to pray? I must admit, I love it.

It is what my heart believes…truly, it is. Whatever it takes, in whatever I do, I want to become a more fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ and become closer to Him…. Safety would be nice to have, but really, that is not necessary if it is not God’s will. What is there to be afraid of, really?  If we truly trust God to provide and we trust His perfect plan and provision for our lives, then this prayer certainly is most appropriate.

Blessings,

Megan 🙂

Let’s Pray:

God, we want to be obsessed with You in every way. We want every person who interacts with us to not just think we are “nice” but that we are crazy and madly in love with YOU!!! Help us be rid of any mistrust or unbelief we might be carrying and become more fully passionate and devoted to You. We love You, Lord, and we thank You for opening our eyes and hearts to Your Truth! In Jesus’ mighty name we pray, Amen.  <3

Your Assignment:

What aspects about your faith need to change in order for you to be a lover and risk taker as you strive to be fully obsessed with loving our God? Please share with us below 🙂

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If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

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Crazy Love: Chapter 7 Weekly Review – “You’re Best Life… Later”

February 22, 2013 by

Week 7 was probably not as in-your-face or convicting as the other past few weeks have been, but I do hope that you have finished the chapter feeling challenged to be more open to the fullness of what God promises to you in the Word as well as be more willing to submit all you have and all you are to Him.

On Monday, you and I talked about how we tend to “play it safe” with the situations and circumstances we are in. We were nudged to boldly get out of our comfort zones to live more passionately to please God in all we are and do. Martha asked us to explore with her on Tuesday about how our lives might change if we actually thought of each person we came into contact with as Christ. OUCH…. that slap was certainly needed. Then, on Wednesday Jennifer shared with us about trusting God to give faithfully. On Thursday, Donna explored with us about having the kind of faith in God that completely stretches us into situations that are totally uncomfortable if God does not come through.

At this point, I would love for you to watch this video of Chan with me…

http://youtu.be/dsTnQv-qexE

Chan challenges us to think about riches in a new light.  If we really believe in eternity and we really believe that there are eternal rewards that we can gain, then it’s not so much that it is sinful for us to buy these things but it would be silly because we are talking about eternal rewards. We are not here to judge or feel condemned for what we have…but I do think it is worth our time to devote ourselves to some thought and prayer here about our life on earth versus what the richness of our eternal life will be!

Blessings,

Megan 🙂

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Let’s Pray:

God, I ask that You help us search our hearts when it comes to things of this world and convict us of any ways that we might be storing up our riches on earth and not giving enough to our brothers and sisters. Show us the kind of stewards YOU need us to be to further Your Kingdom and help us to not be of this world, but be focused on our eternal life with You! Amen! <3

Your Assignment:

Rather than talking about the sinfulness of owning and buying things, let’s talk about the silliness of the things that we own in light of our eternal rewards. Please leave me a comment about this below….

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If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

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Crazy Love: Chapter 7 – Your Best Life…Later (pp 113-116)

February 18, 2013 by

World-doesnt-Need-crazy-love-francis-chan-T

 

“Christians today like to play it safe. We want to put ourselves in situations where we are safe ‘even if there is no God.’ But if we truly desire to please God, we cannot live that way. We have to do things that cost us during our life on earth but will be more than worth it in eternity.” ~page 116

There are countless examples throughout Scripture of people just like you and me who followed God with their whole hearts…faults and all. When we read about people in the Bible such as Abraham, Paul, Daniel, and Elijah it’s so easy to lose sight of the fact that their God THEN is the exact same as our merciful God NOW!

God answered BIG prayers back then and He is the same God that answers BIG prayers from us NOW…we only need to trust Him with our prayers and with our very best life. Have you ever thought about this before? We limit ourselves and God when we do not dare to give up our life to Him and BOLDLY live our life by faith in what He will do with it!

Blessings,

Megan 🙂

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Let’s Pray:

God, we come to You humbled and with repentant hearts if there has been any way that we have been steering clear of situations or circumstances that might make us uncomfortable for Your glory. Please forgive us, Father, and show us today how to make it right and to be bold enough to live in such a way where we are not afraid to do things that cost us in this world. Thank You, Lord, for showing us grace and for guiding us closer to You through this. In Your Son’s matchless name we pray, Amen. <3

Your Assignment:

How are you “playing it safe” in your life right now? Pray for God to show you where and how He needs you to kick your life up a notch and not be complacent to “play it safe” for Him any longer. Leave me a comment about this below.

 

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If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

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Crazy Love: Chapter 6 – When You’re in Love Weekly Review

February 15, 2013 by

It is so hard to believe that we only have 4 more weeks left of this study! Oh, what a journey it has been and this week really forced us to take a deep look at our relationship with Our Lord and Savior.

On Monday, we discussed two different types of love…reverence and intimate love. We asked ourselves a pretty tough question about our relationship with God and moved on to Tuesday where Martha urged us not to try to hard! On Wednesday, Jennifer boldly claimed with us that there is nothing better than giving up everything and stepping into a passionate love relationship with God. On Thursday, Donna pleaded with us to let go and show God the real YOU! That kind of complete disclosure will help break that barrier and give us the intimacy with the Lord we so desperately crave!

Please watch this video from Francis Chan with me now:

Chan tells us that our relationship with God is not like any other relationship in the world, but we spend our whole lives trying to figure it out. We don’t need to figure it out, we need to surrender and trust God with all of who we are!  THIS is the most fascinating relationship in your life….  I hope you believe that and crave it now more than ever!

Blessings,

Megan 🙂

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Let’s Pray:

God, we love You! We want to know You more intimately than we can even dream of! Help us to surrender everything today that might be hindering us to have this passionate closeness with You. We pray we are forever changed in how we have a relationship with You, Lord! Thank You for this provision! In Jesus’ name we pray, amen!

Your Assignment:

Does your relationship with God resemble an “in-love” relationship?  Please comment below <3

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If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

 

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Crazy Love: Week 6 / Chapter 6: “When You’re In Love” (pp 99-101)

February 11, 2013 by

life-measured-by-love-crazy-love-francis-chan-T

I love love.

Seriously…. I really do! I love being in love, thinking about love, matching people up I know will fall in love…I love everything about LOVE!  I’m one of  those insanely passionate head-over-heels-in-love-makes-you-sick-to-your-stomach-to-watch-in-movies kind of characters who would rather DIE than be apart from my true love.

I know, I know…. it’s enough to make you vomit, but THIS is how God made me so I’ve decided to embrace it! I really am this way about anything I feel strongly about.  I’m one incredibly passionate person and THANK GOD that also translates to my love of Christ…although I have been in seasons where I am sad to say this wasn’t always the case.

As a Christian life coach, I have seen firsthand how intimacy issues here in-the-flesh on earth can greatly affect our relationship with God. Typically, if we keep people at arm’s length and not ever let them in, this also translates to how we interact with God in our relationship with Him. This causes us to not want to spend every waking moment with Him, or crave our time with Him.  But rather only to go to Him when we have no other option and then pick and choose the areas of our life we want to open up to Him.

As dangerous as this is for our in-the-flesh people relationships, this will 100% keep you from the type of intimate relationship God calls us to through being a Christ Follower. He calls us to Crazy Love. In my passionate life, I have held things I “loved” in 2 categories…

1. Reverence

  • A feeling of profound awe and respect and often love; veneration.

2. Intimate

  • Marked by close acquaintance, association, or familiarity. Relating to, or indicative of, one’s deepest nature: intimate prayers. Essential.

This week’s chapter is all about examining the love we have for God.  I really like this thought-provoking quote from John Piper that Chan shared in today’s lesson:

“The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—is this:

If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth,

and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed,

and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted,

and no human conflict or any natural disasters,

could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?” 

Well, could you?

This certainly has the potential to be a very convicting question for us to ask ourselves….

Blessings,

Megan 🙂

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Let’s Pray:

Lord, help us today to yearn to be with You as often as we can and not ever want to live without You! Some of us are struggling with obtaining this passion love for You, Father, but we do want it! We need Your help and we thank You in advance for wooing us closer to You and helping us to finally be free of anything that is keeping us from having this deep passion for You! We thank You in advance for all You will do. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen <3

You’re Assignment:

Balance in our relationship with God is important so that we don’t “humanize” God to the point that we infer the failures of humans on God.  How often do you think of God as more of a concept rather than a real person?  Which is more of a struggle for you:  intimacy with God or reverence for God?

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If you are interested in joining this amazing online Bible study for Crazy Love, click HERE to sign up. Once you are registered, you will receive an email with further details.

If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

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Crazy Love Week 5/ Chapter 5: Serving Leftovers to a Holy God Weekly Review

February 8, 2013 by

Chapter 5…. WOW!!!

On Monday, you and I talked about leftovers and how we give them to God. It was rough, but we were honest with ourselves and Him and we made it through to Tuesday.  We were challenged with Martha as we asked ourselves some tough questions about which areas in our lives our hearts might be hardening. On Wednesday, Donna journeyed with us as we were challenged to re-think what we are offering God and how much of it is really leftovers. Yesterday, Jennifer worked through with us about being willing to say to God that He can have whatever He wants…no longer being complacent with giving Him our leftovers, but instead giving Him our best with a joyful heart!

Thank you for browsing this menu of leftovers with us.  I pray we not be able to continue to give God what’s left any more, but to give Him our very best…of everything!

Please watch this video from Francis Chan:

http://youtu.be/c0dXmWMwSb4

I’m not going to muddy it up by saying any words except to echo those of Chan….

“The solution to living a lukewarm life is not trying harder…it’s falling madly in love with Jesus Christ.”

Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord, we praise You for not letting us finish this chapter the same way we started it. Thank You for working your supernatural power through each of us! Transform us, Lord! Help us be different and more complete in You! We love You, Lord, and we thank You for the boldness you have given us through this study! May what we have through Christ be contagious! If we have any fear or anything holding us back from the fullness of your unfailing love, rid us from it NOW in Jesus’ name! AMEN!!!!!!

Your Assignment:

After reading this chapter, do you have any doubts about your salvation or your relationship with Jesus? Where does this chapter leave you? Please share with us below….

Blessings,

Megan 🙂

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If you are interested in joining this amazing online Bible study for Crazy Love, click HERE to sign up. Once you are registered, you will receive an email with further details.

If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

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Crazy Love: Chapter 5 – “Serving Leftovers to a Holy God” (pgs. 83-88)

February 4, 2013 by

Something-is-Wrong-crazy-love-francis-chan-F

Ok ok…so chapter 4 was pretty convicting and, if you have made it this far with us, that means that you have made the boldly intentional decision to be moved to ACTION, repent, and move forward full speed ahead to live as a Christ-follower the way that God has ordained you to! I applaud you and know that you are not alone in this! God is with you every step of the way…and we are, too!

Now,  for chapter 5….

A few Thanksgivings ago, this story was relayed to me (and I don’t even remember where I heard it…) and it was the first thing that popped into my mind when I read the title for Chapter 5.

At one point, the Butterball Turkey Company set up a telephone hotline to answer consumer questions about preparing holiday turkeys.  One woman called to inquire about cooking a turkey that had been in her freezer for 23 years.  Can you imagine!??!??! Turkey and stuffing is Craig’s favorite meal and that would NEVER happen in my house. Anyway, the representative told her the turkey would be safe to eat, but did not recommend eating it because the flavor would have deteriorated over this much time.  The woman caller replied, “That’s what I thought.  Okay then, we’ll just give it to our church.”

Um…. uh…. er…. (yes, pick your jaw up off the ground and let’s continue….) 🙂

Serving leftovers to family and friends can be one of the best things we can do.  In my family, when I make dishes like lasagna or spaghetti, they always seem to taste a little better served as a leftover.  Mmmmm…and  homemade soup served again on the second day: YUM!  However, there is nothing good about serving leftovers to God, which has become the norm for far too many of us Christians.

It is nothing less than idolatry.

Need some examples of how we serve leftovers to God???

  • In our worship when we consistently show up late and pray for the preacher to finish up quickly so that we can beat the Presbyterians to Cracker Barrel.
  • In our careers when we give less than our best effort, thinking, “Well, I haven’t had a raise in 3 years, what do they expect about my performance?”
  • In our relationships when we find more satisfaction in our earthly relationships with others than we do in our relationship to God.

The menu of leftovers is endless.  When we consistently remove God from first place in our lives, it is not long before He has virtually no place there.

We are designed by God for God, and we are to make Him our first priority.

His purposes are to be our purposes.

His plans are to be our plans.

His passions are to be our passions.

1 John 2:3, 4 (NIV)
We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.

I don’t know about you, but I read there that if I profess to know the Lord but my actions are in contradiction to His Word, then I am a liar and I do not have the Holy Spirit living in me. God deserves our best. Is that what you are giving Him…with intent, or are you just haphazardly going about your day each day giving Him whatever is left over? If the latter is more of a valid statement, repent TODAY and begin to truly follow God and give Him the best of everything you have and are…after all, it’s all His anyway. <3

THIS is how we make sure we are giving God our best…and not just our leftovers.  God demands exclusivity, and that is exactly what He deserves—not so much for what He does for us, but simply for who He is.  He is God, our Abba Father, and He is worthy of our absolute best.

Let’s Pray: 

God, show us clearly today how we have been giving You leftovers instead of our very best, fresh self. Convict us of this, Lord, and make today a new day for us in every way! A brand new beginning where we see our relationship with You and our life as a Christ-follower in the light You intended for us to see it in. This is not a right but a privilege, and it takes intentional work and devotion on our part. Help us, Lord, as we cannot do this on our own. In Your Son’s amazing name we pray, Amen. <3 

Your Assignment: 

So . . . where in your life have you been serving leftovers to God? Share with us here today; let us lift you to the Lord and encourage you to GIVE YOUR BEST for His glory!!!

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If you are interested in joining this amazing online Bible study for Crazy Love, click HERE to sign up. Once you are registered, you will receive an email with further details.

If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

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Crazy Love- Chapter 4 “Profile of the Lukewarm” Weekly Review

February 1, 2013 by

Francis Chan has this video for us this week… Please take some time right now to watch it:

http://youtu.be/xufREJzzuxo

Yes, this was a heavy video…and chapter. But I believe it is a wake up call that we ALL need as Christ followers. If you felt any condemnation over the last 5 days…GOOD…but let that be a catalyst for change, not to give up! God needs us all to get HOT HOT HOT in our faith from this moment on…and He needs us to be contagious in order for His will to be done on this earth.

luke 14 33

God has been speaking loud and clear to me my 4th time through this book. I think He said similar things to me when I read it before…but my eyes and ears are wide open…and I am willing to be obedient. One of the things Chan talked about in the video was how in other countries, baptism has a much different meaning than it does here in the USA.  We see it as a “sanctification” and that we grow in our faith when we let God take over more and more aspects of our life. In other countries, it is a “prerequisite”…they have made the choice to be willing to lose it all for Christ and literally die to themselves in making this decision to follow God.

There is nothing lukewarm about that.

Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord, please leave us forever changed after reading this chapter and give us a hunger and thirst to be more like Jesus through turning up the heat on our faith. Lord, we want to go from a 5 to a 10 in being on fire for You! Help rid us of ourselves and be willing vessels to be obedient to Your call like never before. We love You and thank You for this provision, Father. In Your Son’s mighty name we pray, amen <3

Your Assignment:

I think it is important to take time to reflect on this chapter…. Then it’s time we put feet to the pavement and start walking it out! How has God changed you through this book so far? For real…I want to hear all about it and know how I can best be praying alongside you as you are taking this BOLD stance for God’s Kingdom! If God has spoken to you but you are afraid to move forward, please, please, please reach out…even if you would be more comfortable doing so in private. My email address is listed below and I would love to encourage you and help guide you through this. This is too important to stop now, ladies <3

Blessings,

Megan 🙂

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If you are interested in joining this amazing online Bible study for Crazy Love, click HERE to sign up. Once you are registered, you will receive an email with further details.

If you would like to email a private message to Megan in regards to this blog, please email her at: megan@girlfriendscoffeehour.com

 

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