{"id":7429,"date":"2013-01-15T00:47:45","date_gmt":"2013-01-15T05:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=7429"},"modified":"2013-01-15T16:28:50","modified_gmt":"2013-01-15T21:28:50","slug":"friends-are-important-and-so-is-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/01\/15\/friends-are-important-and-so-is-family\/","title":{"rendered":"GCH:decaf – Friends are IMPORTANT! and so is FAMILY"},"content":{"rendered":"

We have been having a most AWESOME<\/span> time getting to know each other these last three months.\u00a0 We began our Teen Ministry <\/span>with the hopes that we would be able to reach young women all over the world with the love<\/span> of God and for them to see how much they are worth to the Father<\/span>.\u00a0 In the process, we got to know many new hearts<\/span> and smiles.<\/p>\n

Yesterday Diane shared with us about her friend<\/span>, Jesus.\u00a0 How many of you truly think of Jesus<\/span> as a friend<\/span>?\u00a0 Does He have a place in your heart<\/span> like your best friend<\/span> does?\u00a0 When bad stuff happens to you, who do you run to?\u00a0 Is Jesus<\/span> first, or do you go to a friend<\/span>, or a parent?\u00a0 Sometimes Jesus<\/span> is the LAST person we go to \u2013 and only because we couldn\u2019t figure it out on our own.\u00a0 That\u2019s not cool.\u00a0 That is not how Jesus<\/span> wants us to think of Him.\u00a0 How long would we have a best friend<\/span> if we only talked to them when we were bored or in danger?\u00a0 Not long, I think.\u00a0 Friends<\/span> need to be cared for even when things are fun and good.<\/p>\n

It is a FACT that bad things will happen in our lives.\u00a0 It is a FACT that we need other people to walk along side of us for support.\u00a0 It is a FACT that Jesus wants to be that person that we go to FIRST\u2026even before our friends<\/span> or our parents.<\/p>\n

Through this teen ministry of GCH:Decaf I have met some pretty amazing women, teens and friends<\/span>.\u00a0 We have been introducing you to some of the girls that responded to our interview questions.\u00a0 Today, I would like to introduce you to a pair of sisters who I met while doing the first study and preparing for things to come.\u00a0 It is truly amazing how God works miracles in our hearts<\/span> and lives when bad things happen to us.\u00a0 Some things girls go through are just too awful to survive, let alone use that terrible thing as a ministry opportunity.<\/p>\n

These sisters reminded me of the scripture in Psalms 34:18, \u201cThe Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span>Through our online study group I met Trinicia and Carlia.\u00a0 They answered my interview questions very honestly, just like the other girls did.\u00a0 I love these girls so very much that I want to get to know them in person.\u00a0 I want to watch their ministry unfold as they walk out the path God has laid before them.\u00a0 The events in older sister\u2019s life affected the life of the younger sister.\u00a0 That is the way we were designed to be.\u00a0 We bear each other\u2019s burdens and joys.\u00a0 I love<\/span> that they are sisters and support each other.\u00a0 I love<\/span> that they have a heart<\/span> for God.\u00a0 Here is their story:<\/p>\n

\"Carlia\"<\/a>I first want to introduce you to Carlia.\u00a0 She is 13 years old and lives in Memphis, Tennessee.\u00a0 She likes the group One Direction (much like many of our girls here at :decaf) and this girls LOVES<\/span> LeCrae.\u00a0 I have to say that I am loving<\/span> me some LeCrae myself these days.\u00a0 I got a new CD for Christmas.\u00a0 J\u00a0 Her favorite movie is \u201cHome is Where the Heart Is\u201d and her favorite TV show is House of Payne.\u00a0 By these choices alone you can tell Carlia values \u201chome\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Carlia loves<\/span> to dress eccentrically and to do that she needs to SHOP with her friends<\/span>. When asked about food, she responded that all things \u201cRafferty\u2019s\u201d was her fave.\u00a0 I have eaten at a Rafferty\u2019s and I would have to agree that they have good food.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Now here is the answer to the question:\u00a0 What is one thing that changed your life?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe day my oldest sister told my Mom that my dad had been touching her in a bad way.\u00a0 It was hard because that was my dad and he was a part of me, but so was my sister and she was a girl, so I could feel what she was saying and it was hard for me to deal with.\u00a0 It still is sometimes.\u00a0 It did bring us closer as a family and it has made all of us stronger and more protective of each other.\u00a0 I love<\/span> her!\u201d<\/p>\n

Carlia loves<\/span> her big sister, Trinicia.\u00a0 God truly came close to these brokenhearted sisters, daughters and friends<\/span>.\u00a0 He has begun to heal the wounds that have crushed their spirits and out of these precious hearts<\/span>, a ministry has been born.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"Trinicia\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Let me introduce you to 19 year old, Miss Trinicia.\u00a0 She goes to college in Nashville, Tennessee.\u00a0 Her favorite singer is Beyonce and her favorite Christian artist is also LeCrae.\u00a0 Oh, yeah, and he is CUTE, too.\u00a0 Trinicia said that Disney\u2019s Pete\u2019s Dragon is her all-time favorite movie and she likes to watch Criminal Minds and Cold Case on TV.\u00a0 Don\u2019t mess with her, she\u2019s analytical.\u00a0 LOL\u00a0 Trinicia likes to be casually dressy.\u00a0\u00a0 She sounds pretty classy to me.\u00a0 Her favorite thing to do with friends<\/span> is go out to eat and her favorite is Chinese food.<\/p>\n

\u00a0So here\u2019s the kicker for me; when Trinicia was asked about one thing that changed her life she responded:<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 \u201cMeeting my best friend<\/span> Devin at a time when I had to disclose to my mom that my stepdad\u2026 had been molesting me and raped me.\u00a0 God has used that horrible time in my life to help other girls and women get through such a horrific moment in their life.\u00a0 God has really given me a ministry!\u00a0 He has used something bad and is using it for His good!\u201d<\/p>\n

Trinicia could have said that the action was the thing that changed her life, but what really changed her was the friendship <\/span>of Devin who stood by her when she needed support to talk to her mom.\u00a0 Do bad things happen to good people?\u00a0<\/strong><\/em> Absolutely.\u00a0 Is it fair?<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 I don\u2019t think so, but life isn\u2019t fair.\u00a0 The thing that matters is how Trinicia responded to the bad thing that happened in her life.\u00a0 She gave it over to God to use as He saw fit and now Trinicia has a ministry helping other girls and women recover from these crushing blows of life.<\/p>\n

Did you notice that not only did the bad stuff affect Trinicia, it affected Carlia?<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 Did you notice that Carlia said that their family is \u201ccloser\u201d now than before they found out about the \u201cbad stuff<\/strong>\u201d?\u00a0 How can that be?<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 I can understand how these sisters were reluctant to join us in our study \u201cA Daughter\u2019s Worth\u201d, but getting to know them I see that they know the Father<\/span> loves<\/span> them and they return that love<\/span>.\u00a0 They have turned their pain into ministry to others who are hurting.\u00a0 I truly love<\/span> these young ladies.<\/p>\n

In Matthew 22:37 it says, \u201cJesus replied: \u2018Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 That verse sums up what we were trying to learn in our last Bible study.\u00a0 We want to seek God with everything in us, make HIM a part of us that we cannot live without.\u00a0 We would be lost without our HEART<\/span><\/strong>, our SOUL<\/strong> <\/span>or our MIND<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 Make it a point to get to know Jesus<\/span> this year like Trinicia and Carlia have.\u00a0 Make 2013<\/span> <\/strong><\/em>the year you become a true FOLLOWER<\/em><\/strong> of Jesus<\/span>!<\/p>\n

I love<\/span> all my girls,<\/p>\n

Mama T<\/p>\n

\u00a0““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““<\/p>\n

\u00a0If you are interested in sending a private message to Teresa in regards to this blog, please email her at: Teresa@girlfriendscoffeehour.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have been having a most AWESOME time getting to know each other these last three months.\u00a0 We began our Teen Ministry with the hopes that we would be able to reach young women all over the world with the love of God and for them to see how much they are worth to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21],"tags":[68,109,144,147,218,370,379,393,394,411,415,425,436,486,554,620,645,1440,723,724,1439,879,979,1039,1043,1047,1052],"class_list":["post-7429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-teens","tag-a-daughters-worth","tag-ava-sturgeon","tag-bible","tag-bible-study","tag-christianity","tag-family","tag-fellowship","tag-friends","tag-friendship","tag-gch-decaf","tag-gchdecaf","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-god","tag-heart","tag-jesus","tag-love","tag-mama-t","tag-mind","tag-online-bible-studies","tag-online-bible-study","tag-rape","tag-relationships","tag-soul","tag-teen-girls","tag-teens-2","tag-teens-online-bible-study","tag-teresa-bolme","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/gch_phil1_62.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-1VP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7429"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7441,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7429\/revisions\/7441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}