Hebrews 4:16 "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
Tuesday was a beautiful day and a very fun night at PEARLS! 19 ladies came to learn, grow, and laugh together! Felicia started our evening out with an ice breaker. We each had a bag of seeds and we were to use only words from the package to describe our self. Joy was a "dwarf". Tina was "packed for 2009", Pat was a "perennial". There was a lot of laughter as we each picked description.
Then Joy led us in a devotional on grace. She first reviewed what we have studied so far...Revival, Humility, Honesty, and Repentance. Then she defined Grace: act of showing favor; the love of God toward man; divine influence operating in man. She used a story from our book "Seeking Him". It is as follows and gives a great analogy of God's grace!If a young man is killed through some random act of violence and his father tracks down the guilty person and kills him, we would call that vengeance. If, however, the father calls the police and the murderer is arrested, tried, convicted, and executed, we'd call that justice. If, at the trial, the father pleads for the guilty man's life to be spared and the judge and jury consent, we'd call that mercy. Now imagine this: in addition to pleading for the guilty one to be spared, the father actually appeals to the judge to release the offender into his custody and care. Miraculously gaining approval, the father takes the young man into his heart and home, adopts him, and raises him and loves him as his own son...that would be grace!
Mercy is not getting what we deserve...Grace (God's Riches At Christ's Expense) is getting what we don't deserve. God's grace is what saves us, sanctifies us and carries us through suffering. It is undeserved, But it is conditional.
We had a guest speaker tonight...Josie, Tina's Mom. Josie came to give us some tips on floral arrangements. The biggest tip of the night was that you can spray hairspray on your fake flowers and plants and it will eat the dust!!!!!! I thought that was an AWESOME tip! She worked with artificial flowers, but also gave some real flower tips as well. 1. The materials are rather inexpensive...the arrangement she made was about $4 in cost.
2. Buy a variety of colors and types...a yellow mixed with purples and pinks really allows the arrangement to "POP".
3. When using artificial flowers, use hot glue gun to glue stems into the floral foam. It helps it to stay if the arrangement gets picked up.
4. In any kind of arrangement, start from the middle as your focal point and work out. Ending with the fake grass to set the arrangement off.
5. When making corsages or boutonnieres with roses, wrap a water dipped cotton ball around the stem and then the floral tape. This will allow the rose to stay fresh longer.
These are just a few of the tips that Josie gave us. Thank you to Josie who gave her time to share with us.
We finished up with some yummy desserts and great fellowship. Thanks to Hannah C for opening up her home to us!
What's happening next: Herbal Essence on Tuesday, June 2 at Mary H's home.
