The Month of Turning 40

This month I turn 40. 4-0! There was a time that seemed soooo ancient to me. Not now. Today I can truthfully say that I feel as if I am just getting started on the course of my life’s purpose. I truly believe that the best is yet to come– and I am ready for it!

Something about turning 40 makes me feel like I should do some list-type posts, like “my top 40″ of something or other. But I don’t have 40 of any one thing (except maybe reasons not to exercise). So I am going to do 4 lists of 10. They may not be profound, but they may resonate with some of my friends out there in their various seasons of life. And if not, maybe they will, at the very least make you laugh a bit. And that is a very good thing! So for today:

Ten things I wish I hadn’t worried about so much:

1. What people in high school thought about me.
Seriously, it will not matter after you throw that cap into the air. Don’t get caught up in all the drama.

2. What I was going to “Do with my life.”
What I thought I would do isn’t what I ended up doing anyway. It’s best to keep learning and educating yourself. Be aware of the opportunities around you. Be honest and work hard. Be kind to others. You will be amazed at the doors these simple but timeless values will open for you.

3. My looks.
Jesus was right. You really can’t make yourself taller by worrying. Believe me– I tried.

4. If I would ever get married or who to.
Again, can’t make it happen, and worrying makes it worse–and gives you wrinkles.

5. Whether or not people approve of me.
Great quote from someone I don’t remember: “He who lives by the approval of others will dies by the lack of the same.” There will always be people who don’t approve of me or what I’m doing or the way I’m doing it. Worrying about it keeps me mired in people-pleasing and ineffectiveness.

6. Getting it wrong.
Whatever “it” may be, fear of failure keeps us from trying. Success almost always follows on the heels of multiple failed tries.

7. That I will look like an idiot doing that.
Worrying about looking like an idiot kept me from doing a lot of fun things–dancing, water skiing, playing in the rain with my kids, playing sports for fun, yoga. Everybody looks like an idiot at first –don’t worry about it and go have fun!

8. Getting the house too messy.
Ok, I still worry about this, but I’m a lot better.

9. Wasting time.
Being so time conscious has kept me from enjoying the moment many times. I’ve learned it’s better to be more present in fewer things and that the cram-packedness of my calendar is not a measure of my worth.

10. If I was pleasing God.
I know that might sound a little strange coming from a pastor, but in my early Christian years I spend so much time worrying if I was pleasing God that it robbed me of the joy of my salvation. Prayer time was basically repenting and confessing a list of all the things I thought I did wrong so God could be happy with me. I truly did not understand the fullness of God’s grace. Now that I do understand it, I spend my energy on loving God and learning more about Him. The focus is on HIM–not me!

Kerri
LB xo

Next Celebration Women July 17th!

Hi lovely ladies! This is Katie Sullivan. My husband, Darren, and I pastor Celebration’s Orange Park Campus. I am so excited to announce that we will be launching Celebration Women at Orange Park this summer. Our first one will be Friday, July 17th and Kerri will be speaking. So we hope that all the Celebration gals will join us for an evening of inspired worship and a great message from Kerri. Celebration Women will resume at Midtown on Friday, August 21. Check back on Kerri’s blog and the church website for more updates.

Love you all, and hope to see you at the Orange Park Campus on July 17 as we launch Celebration Women at the OP campus!

Katie

Going Quiet for Awhile

Hi, everybody! I trust your last few weeks have been great. All of you in school (or with kids in school) are no doubt gearing up for summer and maybe a little more relaxed schedule. I always look forward to that.

June is a re-calibrating month for me. I always use the summer to do long-range planning and studying. So I am going to take some time off from blogging for the rest of the month and refocus my mind and heart.

I am really excited about the upcoming months and what they are going to bring for the women in Celebration Church. I am working on some strategic developments for ministry to women an just want to position myself for a Holy Spirit download!

So, you won’t hear much from the blogging front for awhile. But just know that my Celebration girls are always in my heart and mind. God has good plans laid out for each of you, so spend this summer pressing into Him. And don’t forget to make room in your world for summer groups!

Love you!
Kerri
LBxoxo

All Shined Out!

Wow - What can I say about Shine 09? It was our first sold old conference which is so exciting because to me, it says how many of you know and understand the importance of us all being part of the journey together and how passionate you all were about rallying all the women in your world to come along too!
The amount of women (and men for that matter) who volunteered throughout the conference to make it run so smoothly just blows me away! I love that I am part of a church who’s people love to serve. We truly couldn’t have done it without you all.
I loved having our old friend Priscilla back with us who is always so powerful and strong with her word of God, and our new friends, Holly and Vera - they blessed us with their warmth, spirit and testimony. And what can I say about Shane and Shane? Can those boys bring it or what! From the moment they strummed their first guitar cord on stage the presence of God was thick amongst us and I saw almost every women in the place with arms raised and eyes closed - God wanted to meet with us and He did!

Thank you so much to everyone who came and participated, who served, who set up, who prayed with, who prayed for, who drove, cleaned, fed, organized, sacrificed and so many other things to make SHINE what it was. It takes everyone of you beautiful girls in those seats to make it what it was.
I thank God for letting our paths cross in this time and space and look forward to all the things we will accomplish together!

Love Kerri xxx

SHINE Will Call This Weekend!

Just letting all of you wonderful ladies that have registered for SHINE after May the 3rd know that there will be a Will Call at all of our Celebration locations at the SHINE booth this weekend. This will enable you to pick up your wrist band (your ticket and entry into the whole conference) and not have to attend Will Call the day of conference.

For those of you that regisitered before May the 3rd we have send out another batch of confirmation letters and wrist bands just this week, so yours will be in the mail if you haven’t recieved it already.

Dont forget if you haven’t yet regestered for SHINE you are still able to this weekend at the SHINE booth and also online at www.shineinc.org

So looking forward to being with you all next week!!!

Q & A Luncheon Panel @ SHINE

Shine Luncheon Panel

Hi, everyone! I am writing to let you know about a little “add-on” to the SHINE schedule this year — one I am super excited about! On Friday afternoon we will be adding a Q & A panel/luncheon. This will be a smaller, more intimate enviroment designed to strengthen your inner world. Our featured guests on this panel will be three of my good friends from ARC (Association of Related Churches).

All of these girls, besides being pastors of thriving local churches, are amazing wives, moms, friends, and leaders. But like you, they are also trying to find their way step by step on this crazy journey of life. In my opinion, they have all done an incredible job of keeping it fun, keeping it real, and still setting high standards of excellence in their personal and professional lives. I hope you will grab a few of your friends and join us for lunch Friday to hang out and chat for a bit.

Finally, I could really use your help in making this panel as meaningful and relevant as possible. I could come up with some questions for our panel guest, but I’d rather hear from you — what questions do you want answered? No topic is off-limits. Let me know which topics and/or questions you would like us to address, and we will build the session around what you most want to hear. You can post the questions in the comments section of this blog or you can email them to me at info@shineinc.org.  Can’t wait to hear from you — thanks for your help!

Love,
Kerri xx

Servolution Recap

We loved partnering with Healing Place Church for SERVOLUTION during the two weeks leading up to Easter. I thought you might like to see what we, as a church, accomplished together. So I asked our Impact Director, Jenny Huang, to write a little recap. Here it is — enjoy!

SERVOLUTION story – Sharing the Love of Jesus Through Kindness

Sharon Frazier and her family have witnessed their fair share of violence. For fourteen years as residents in a Northwest Jacksonville neighborhood, the Fraziers have regularly seen or heard gunshots from rival gangs, murders, robberies, and drug deals in the area. Perched at the intersection of two streets across from Eugene Butler Middle School, the Frazier home often witnesses young students involved or hurt in the violence. On Saturday, April 11th, violence was replaced by kindness.

 A team of more than 100 volunteers from Celebration Church in partnership with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office spent the Saturday morning painting and repairing the Frazier home, along with three other neighborhood houses. The outreach team also painted over graffiti in the area and picked up trash along the streets. The outreach and beautification effort renewed hope for Sharon Frazier and the Eugene Butler community.

 “It takes a good-hearted person to volunteer their time, even on a Saturday, to come help someone else,” Frazier said. “It’s a blessing.”

 Frazier was one of many who experienced the love of Jesus during SERVOLUTION, a weeklong campaign April 3-11, leading up to Easter weekend. Spearheaded by Healing Place Church, SERVOLUTION called on churches from around the world to initiate a radical change of a person’s life through simple acts of kindness and generosity.

Celebration teams from across all campuses and ministries joined in by serving in areas throughout Northeast Florida. Outreaches included a Special Needs Easter Egg Hunt, Jax Beach Homeless outreach, and various other activities serving women in crisis, homeless, and at-risk youth. Celebration Kids and middle school students also joined in by collecting hygiene pack items and socks/underwear for the homeless. It was amazing to see the church rally to share the love of Jesus to those in need!

 A big thank you to all the volunteers and teams for serving! For more info and the full story of the impact of SERVOLUTION, visit www.celebration.org.

 The impact of SERVOLUTION will continue beyond the campaign week – we have regular and new outreach teams who are serving the homeless at Jax Beach, nursing homes, at-risk youth organizations, and the Eugene Butler community. To join in local impact opportunities, visit http://impact.celebration.org. Come be a part of the revolution through serving!

 

Stovall Speaking @ CW This Friday

Hi everybody! I just want to remind you about Celebration Women this Friday, April 17th @ 7 PM in the Midtown Annex. This is the last time we will gather before SHINE, and I am so pumped to have my very own hubby, Stovall Weems, as our guest speaker.

Throughout the course of the year we have looked closely at the message behind the words “Beloved, Chosen, and Entrusted.” This Friday Stovall is going to finish off the series with an incredible message about empowering women within the context of the local church.

It’s obvious that at Celebration Church we are big believers in empowering women to lead with the strengths that God has placed within them. The impact of this value is felt throughout our local body, from top to bottom. I believe there will be something VERY freeing in hearing our senior pastor speak about the unique contributions that women in each and every season of life bring to the landscape of the local church. I hope I will see you there–don’t miss it!

Love,
Kerri

Happy Easter Weekend!

I love Easter weekend, and I’m so expectant about what Jesus is going to accomplish through His church over the next few days! Tomorrow is good Friday, and in the midst of planning to connect and celebrate with family and friends, I can’t help meditating on Isaiah 52:13-53:12. This is the prophetic account of how Jesus would suffer on our behalf. And although I believe that we should not have a morbid fascination with the brutality of His crucifixon, there are seasons and times to meditate on the severe penalty demanded for our sins. How much more are we moved to passion for Jesus when we realize the punishment He bore for our freedom, for our redemption.

So, in that vein of thought, Church, let’s set our hearts this weekend on the One who took our place. Let’s rise up, each in our own way and in our own place, and prepare the house for the arrival of those yet-to-be-redeemed sons and daughters who are thinking of possibly coming home this Easter. Let’s pray, and serve, and love. We will love him best by loving those He sends our way.

Love to all of you,
Kerri
LBxo

What do You Want to Know?

About fasting, that is. I am beginning the process of writing a companion guide to fasting for next year’s Awakening fast. The purpose of this little guide is to give those who wish to participate some super-practical guidelines, tips, and tools on fasting. I want to make this guide book as useful as possible to everyone, so I thought I would start by asking the folks I am writing it for this question:

What do you want to see in a practical guide to fasting?

What kinds of questions do you want answered?

Would you like more recipes? 

Would you like for me to define different kinds of fasting?

Would you like for me to address fasting in specific circumstances more thoroughly? (i.e. fasting while nursing, fasting while pregnant, etc.)

You tell me, and I guess we  could say that we are writing this book together.

I am SO looking forward to hearing your feedback and getting started. Love you guys, and thanks in advance for your help!

Kerri

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