November at THE GARDEN had us exploring the different ways we all connect to God based on the way God uniquely made each one of us. Based on the book "Sacred Pathways" by Gary Thomas, we explored 9 different spiritual types and how they connect to God, our creator. The types included the naturalist, the traditionalist, the contemplative, the caregiver, the activist, the visionary, the intellectual, the worshipper and the socialite.
Linda Brier and LeeAnn Dauito got the October gathering at THE GARDEN with laughter as they explored what it means to suit up with the armor of God. Costumes aside, they both got serious and shared what inspires them both to take the challenge laid out in Ephesians to take up the full armor of God as we encounter life's challenges!
Julie Putnik introduced the ladies of THE GARDEN to a vision for our third season of this beautiful women's ministry at Advent. All season long THE GARDEN will present programs and events that NOURISH our faith, cause our spiritual lives to FLOURISH and sometimes both! We will focus on a portion of scripture for Isaiah 37.31 -- "God's faithful will flourish again sending deep roots in the ground, and bearing luscious fruit above." Sunflowers were everywhere and reminded us that ....
Ladies from THE GARDEN came out in full force to harness the mighty power of prayer as they spoke blessing over Advent schools! Praying for the protection, health and safety of our students, teachers and staff during this historic re-opening of the campus to in-person learning was an important and necessary call to action. These prayer warriors also brought school supplies and donated an additional $250 to the purchase of more school supplies to be distributed to needy families who participate in the weekly Advent Lantana/Boca Helping Hands food distribution program.
Our July pop-up brought us to beautiful Atlantic Dunes Park in Delray Beach for an evening of connecting to our creator in one of His most beautiful created spaces -- the ocean. Unique birds who make their home among the trees greeted us and the sea grape-lined, boardwalk path invited us on to the wide open expanse of sand and sea. A distant rain storm, salt air, gentle breezes and cascading waves on the shore provided an experience for the senses. It was the perfect setting for the created to have a conversation with the Creator.
Four simple prompts guided our prayer walk. We observed what we saw -- people, places and things -- in our first petitions. We considered what we know about ourselves, our current situations and the things heavy on our heart and brought those concerns before the Lord. Next, we allowed ourselves the space to listen to the Holy Spirit for the nudging of our hearts and minds toward a particular area of need. Finally, we used scripture to listen to what God is saying to us in that moment and turned those words into our heartfelt offerings. Thanks to all the prayer warriors who joined us for this beautiful evening of worship and wonder. In June 2020, THE GARDEN gathered for it's first summer pop-up event -- an outdoor prayer walk around Advent's campus. We might have been socially distant but not spiritually distant as these prayer warriors walked to ten prayer stations prompting prayers for our world, our nation, our community, our vulnerable, our schools and our church. We found peace and hope in knowing that God hears and answers the prayers of his beloved.
We ended Season 2 of THE GARDEN with a look back at all our ROOTED evenings. Several women shared video, audio and written reflections of each of the evenings and how each message impacted them and help root their faith. Special thanks to Jackie Dingle, LeeAnn Dauito, Linda Brier, Susie Porro, Mickey Dingle, Kristina Buccholz and Leah McSwain who shared so powerfully the truth of what it means to be rooted in Christ. Dana Schneider, Susan Hagen and Julie Putnik hosted the wrap up that was presented as an online, live stream event.
Although our April gathering may have looked different on the outside, the heart of The Garden remained the same. Nearly 200 women rooted in Christ Jesus came together around the Word, celebrated in worship and recognized the wonder of Jesus's power to resurrect dead things in our lives and bring them back to life. In the midst of a worldwide pandemic and global stop, we live streamed an evening hosted by Susan Hagen and Julie Putnik and centered around Romans 6.4 TPT which says, "Sharing in his death by our baptism means that we were co-buried and entombed with him, so that when the Father's glory raised Christ from the dead, we were also raised with him. We have been co-resurrected with him so that we could be empowered to walk in the freshness of new life." Deena Nunes shared a heartfelt and poignant testimony of her own personal story of death to life through the power of Christ Jesus alive and working in her life. The Garden's very own website was introduced as a resource for garden recipes, past event recaps and give back opportunities in the midst of the crisis.
Our March gathering at The Garden had us rooting in rhythms. We talked about about how spiritual practices often serve as beautiful rhythms for our spiritual life and can create deep roots in our spiritual lives. We experienced a rhythm called "Examen" lead by Cari Gallagher. Examen is a 5 step written or mental reflection on our thoughts and actions. We also took another labyrinth walk around our sanctuary to live rhythms provided by Amber Spurgeon providing a beautiful musical backdrop for the evening.
February brought the opportunity to gather and get rooted in knowledge! We explored high tech tools and old school ways to continue to grow deep roots in Christ. Proverbs 18.15 says "An intelligent heart requires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge." The verse encourages us to approach knowing the Word and knowing God for the purpose of gaining wisdom and understanding of who God is and we are in Christ. We suggested podcasts, smart device apps and streaming services that point us to Jesus and help us grow deep roots. We also held our first-ever devotional book exchange where more than 125 found new homes!
At this special Christmas gathering at THE GARDEN, we found wonder in the amazing stories of the women in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus! Sheree Wright, Linda Brier, Leanne Welch, Tess Keegan and Deena Nunes brought the stories of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary to life. Christmas went PINK at the Garden as we were reminded how God used women to point people to Jesus and how He is using us women today to do the very same thing!
Our November gathering at The Garden gave us the opportunity to unpack what it means to be rooted in gratitude. Our theme verse for season 2 reminds us of God's desire for us to be grateful people with a call for us to live lives that overflow with thankfulness. We talked about how university level research now confirms amazing health benefits for those who make gratitude a daily practice. Every women left with a gratitude journal that evening and the challenge to write at least three things she is grateful for every day!
Leah McSwain introduced us to Susan Hagen and Debbie Dingle, Advent members and Freedom Challenge climbers/advocates, and the idea of dreaming big! Susan and Debbie talked about how their dream to join the battle to end human trafficking grew from a tiny seed of an idea. Debbie shared how her dream led her to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, raise an incredible amount of money and how it changed her life forever through her ongoing involvement with Operation Mobilization and the Freedom Challenge movements. Susan shared how we as women can get involved in making a difference in this global issue and shared stories and photos of programs and shelters organized by Operation Mobilization. These inspiring ladies encouraged everyone to ask God to plant "God-sized" dreams in their hearts by reflecting on our own passions!
An evening at The Garden in October 2019 with the fellowship of friends reminded us that it is not only good for the soul to be surrounded by friends, the Bible encourages us all to be rooted in friendship. Ecclesiastes 4.12 reminds us the "By yourself you're unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope issn't easily snapped." We celebrated that scripture by learning how to macrame together with nothing less than three-stranded cords! This evening at The Garden we welcomed everyone to a vision of THE GARDEN for season 2! On this night we shared our desire to be not just rooted but, deeply rooted in Christ. We explored what rooting means and why growing deep roots can make the difference between surviving and thriving. We introduced our theme verse for the season from Colossians 2. "And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness."
Summer 2019 brought a much-needed rest for our traditional time at THE GARDEN AND it gave us the opportunity to gather at great summer pop-up events that kept us connected and growing together in faith! In July, we met at Delray Dunes Beach Park in Delray Beach, Florida for a beautiful, sunset prayer walk. In August we gathered at Mane Coffee in Boca Raton, Florida for an evening of gourmet coffee, tea, sweet treats and an even sweeter time of fellowship!
The butterfly effect reminds us that everything we do matters. God can take our small moments of obedience to be His light and to reflect who He is to others. We looked to scripture and found that God used people's small moments to bring about big change which ultimately pointed us to Jesus. Thanks to Holly Urie, our own butterfly whisperer, who helped filled our space with chrysalis.
We celebrated the first anniversary of THE GARDEN with a beautiful celebration! We invited our Pastors at Advent -- Andy Hagen and Jacob Mack -- to bring us a special message on John 15 where Jesus makes the bold statement, "I am the vine, you are the branches." We also invited local artist, Kristine Lucco, to create a live representation of that scripture with paint on canvas. We watched and listened to this amazing story in John come to life during this very special anniversary evening.
Our faith life can be compared to a lovely plant. When we water that plant with things like prayer, meditation and scripture, it grows and even blooms. A spiritual practice can be considered a tool -- like a watering can is used to water plants -- to be used to help grow our lives of faith. Jessica Ballas, Amy DeVries and Carri Gallagher introduced us to three spiritual practices -- palms up, palms down prayer, Lectio Divina and a prayer labyrinth -- as a path towards spiritual growth during this beautiful evening at The Garden.
The Garden's first ever "accessory swap" began with a beautiful reminder that God's love for us is never on the same level as our earthly loves. God not only calls us loved, He calls us His beloved! In scripture, 1 John 3.1 (TPT) says, "Look with wonder at the depth of the Father's marvelous love that he has lavished on us! He has called us and made us his very own beloved children." As God's beloved, we believe that His desire for us is to share love, to show love and to extend love. The accessory swap included hundreds of pieces of beautiful, gently-used costume jewelry that were shined up and repackaged. Our desire was for everyone to leave feeling beautiful and beloved. The remaining jewelry pieces were donated to AVDA, Aid for Victims of Domestic Abuse, in Delray Beach, Florida.
The Garden never looked more beautiful than at Christmas. Framed by twinkling lights and under the smell of fresh evergreen, the busyness of the Christmas season was put to rest for a few hours as we focused on the wonder of Christmas. We shared the Christmas story together and discovered our place in the Christmas story. We saw ourselves in fellowship with other women like Mary and Elizabeth, we focused on obedience shown by Joseph and Mary, we found the worthiness only God can provide just like shepherds AND the longing of all our hearts -- Jesus -- just like the Magi.
In a one-of-a-kind evening at The Garden, Amy Dingle shared a powerful testimony of how God placed a deep desire in her heart for scripture. She shared her story of faithfulness in receiving and sharing that calling AND living it out each day. Through visions of angels, life verses and the dying bedsides of friends, God never left her and never left her without a need for His Word!
On this night at The Garden, we discovered that being still wasn't a command to freeze but rather an invitation from God to stop striving and enjoy His presences, His peace and His power. Julie Putnik invited us to use the opportunity to rest in our "reframed stillness" and craft some beautiful, homemade Christmas ornaments that became a part of Christmas tree gifts for the residents of our senior care facility, Advent Square. What a blessing!
Prayer can be a daunting for anyone. In September at The Garden, we explored a mosaic of ways to pray. We prayed at a garden wall, we prayed for our identity in Christ through grains of sand, we confessed, surrendered and watched those sins washed away before our eyes, we marked moments where we see God at work, and we prayed to see God's heart for the world.
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Garden RecapsMonthly Garden recaps to remind you what we planted! |