hearing from God

Women Getting Real Weekly Class

/ Lyschel / Leave a comment

Remaining class dates are: Oct 11 & 25, Nov 8 & 22, Dec 6 & 13

I am shooting for the moon. I am flinging open the doors and inviting you in.

We believe that God wants to share life intimately with us. Most of us have heard that. Some of us experience that. Many of us are at least open to the idea. So we try different things to move into this life with God.

We also believe that God wants us to share life intimately with each other. And that is… where we close the book; turn off the TV; hit delete.

But it is true. From my humble perspective, after speaking to many, many folks from different parts of the country, and even in Zimbabwe, it seems that we don’t really like each other and for sure don’t want to get too close. This is especially true of Christian women. We often feel the most shut down and shut out relationally.

However. This is the very miracle of “God among us.” When we come together, it isn’t just you and me and our drama. It is you and me and our drama and the Living God. There is a power and synergy and healing that can happen when the Spirit of God is given permission and freedom to live and move and breathe within us together.

We see things. We hear things. We experience things that we couldn’t see, hear, experience alone. I have amazing revelations with the Lord alone. But it is radically different from what happens when I am with other believers. I hear your story and it taps into my story and vice versa. Your breakthroughs strengthen me. Your weaknesses reveal mine. And our shared bond of Christ keeps us looking to the One who heals and restores all things.

So I want to extend a personal invitation to you. Through the WGR class we desire to create a community of authentic, honest, real relationships. We desire to dispense with the petty comparisons, the surface mindless chatter and go for real heart connections. We desire to journey and not judge, to strengthen and encourage instead of play denial or fix-it games.

Women Getting Real Class is beginning August 23rd and you are invited to come. BUT you are also invited to join in with some of your friends and be part of the the online connection.  Many folks can’t come in person but they still want the connection. So can you, will you, take the effort and invest in real community? Will you gather 1-4 of your friends and watch the class together and really participate, share and go deeper with Christ and with someone else? You sitting in front of a computer is still you looking from the outside in. It is safe. And sanitized. And comfortable.

Life with God and others is messy and marvelous. It is a rollercoaster and a haven. Real honest relationship is life-changing.

If you are playing the “I just need me and God” card, will you consider adding a card to your deck called  “sharing your God life with others”? If you are playing the “I don’t trust other people” card, will you add the “I trust God in those people” card? Even if you have been burned before, will you learn the lessons of what not to do and try again?

Whether you like it or not, agree with it or not, even know how to do it or not, we are a Body. His body. We need to be together in some way, to share His Spirit among us. The WGR community on Tuesday nights, live in person, or live in your living room, is one humble honest way for us to share that connection.

Pray about it. Look at the obstacles and excuses. Then ask the Lord for the courage and faith to do Real Life with Him and others.

Sweetly Broken – Abortion Healing

/ Lyschel / Leave a comment
Sweetly Broken

Finally find freedom with yourself, God and others about your abortion.

Play One Woman's Story

 

“I thought I was over it.”

“I’ve never told anyone.”

“I’m afraid God is punishing me.”

“How can I make this right?”

“How can I forgive….?”


We know how you feel. We have been there too. Through the fear, nightmares, denial, anger and regrets.

But we have passed through to a new place called peace, and true forgiveness. We are still sad about the fact of our past, but we are no longer held captive by it.

God has shown us there is beauty in our brokenness.

We invite you to a tender, honest and safe weekend to hear about how to walk forward in freedom.

What you can expect:

Time to process, time to worship, time to hear truth, time to be honest, time to sort out what’s next?

Teaching and materials by Jana Spicka. Assisted by Alexa Stephenson.
2 night’s lodging in a large spacious chalet.
Check in at 3pm. Check out at 11am.
Heated pool on site.
Four meals and snacks. Breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday morning. (Friday night dinner is on your own before first session.)

This is an intimate gathering limited to 12 women. Click here to register now or become a donor.

$40 per Woman Attending Retreat

$100 Donor/Prayer Partner

We want every woman who needs to come, to be able to come but they need your help spiritually and financially. We want every women who comes to have a prayer warrior standing with her in spirit, and to help her bear the burden of the cost. Will you invest your prayers and your funds in another woman’s freedom?

Join us for this unique retreat held at Smoky Mountain Christian Village, a beautiful complex out of the traffic zone of Pigeon Forge, TN.

Yes and Amen Retreat

/ Lyschel / Leave a comment

“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.“
2 Corinthians 1:20

Friday, April 13 through Sunday, April 15, 2012

We are going to use this “get away from the world time” to talk about:

What are God’s dreams for us?

What does He see for our lives, and our futures?

What has He already said, “Yes and Amen” to that we just don’t know about yet?

How do women get Un-stuck?

False expectations and demands around food, sex, beauty, and love (and the Lord only knows what else…) What lifts women up?

Rest and release in the love of God.

Freedom to use our voice and heart.

Letting go of the need to control.


Join us for this unique retreat held at Smoky Mountain Christian Village.  A beautiful complex out of the traffic zone of Pigeon Forge, TN

Weekend Package Includes:  Cost is only $80!

  • Five sessions of Teaching and Materials with Jana Spicka
  • 2 Night’s Lodging in a large and spacious chalet.  Heated pool and nature trails on site.
  • Four Meals and Snacks. Breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday morning. (Friday night dinner is on your own before first session.)

This is an intimate gathering limited to 18 women. So don’t wait to register.

Reserve Your Spot Today

 

Click here to hear a testimony from one of last years attendees.

Women Getting Real Weekly Class

/ Lyschel / Leave a comment

This  is a great place to go deeper into relationship with Jesus and  other  women. Both seem scary we know. But this is a place where we talk  about  real life topics and look for God to show up in the middle of  our lives.

The class is for all ages and does not require perfect attendance. Or homework.

Join us in person at Fellowship Church on Middlebrook Pike,  Knoxville,TN every Tuesday night from 7:00pm – 9:00pm (childcare is  provided for those who register).

For specific details around the class please feel free to email us at info@womengettingreal.com.

We meet three weeks on and one week off. Dates of class are listed below. We are planning to Livestream at least once month. So stay tuned for those details. Be sure to sign up for RSS or Facebook alerts so you don’t miss out on “Monday Snack Time with Jana”, its a weekly vlog.

Class Dates for Spring Semester 2011: April 5, 19, 26; May 3, 17, 24, 31
(new class location coming soon, stay tuned for details)

To hear audio from classes up until now check out our archived classes

Playing in the Sand

/ Jana / Leave a comment

I do it a lot. Act like God is not with me. I get myself in wads and then whine, complain, quit or cope. Instead of simply turning to Them and asking for truth, or help, or just understanding.

I don’t simply stop very often.

But yesterday I did.  The wind was blowing fierce on the beach and I sat beside a storage shed to get some shelter. As I was sitting there, I started running my fingers through the white, sugar-like sand.  I realized, though, I was still running the autopilot list in my head of stuff to process, fix and resolve.

It was a paradox. Child-like playing in the sand. Grown up stressing in my head. And the Lord asked me, “Write in the sand.”

“What should I write?”  I asked.

“How about all that stuff in your head?” (Yes of course He already knows it.) So I wrote out a short list of the needs I had. 

“Great. I got all that. Now wipe that away.”

One movement of my hand, it was erased.

“Now, do it again.”

This went on for several lists. Physical needs, material needs. People I was praying for, events coming up. Each time, the reassurance came that He had this taken care of, each time came the instruction to wipe it away.

Then there was a quiet calm. As I sat there for a few minutes and JUST played in the sand, two powerful things happened. One was a simple reflection. Wonder what I wrote last year? He had indeed wiped all those things away. He had over time resolved, provided, and advanced each the issues that pressured me last year. Would this year be any different?

The second thing was a very, very real awareness of His presence. As I played, the wind lifted and shifted the sand smoothing and scattering my doodles. I looked to my right, and the wind was lifting and shifting other little mounds of sand.

“I like playing in the sand too.”

Sometimes you have to stop the noise to hear the roar of the ocean. Sometimes you have to sit and play to remember that you are His child. Sometimes you have to give stuff to Him and let Him blow away all the distractions and just be with Him.

Oh to sit in the delight of the One who thinks of us, more than the grains of the sand.

How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
   How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
   they would outnumber the grains of sand—
   when I awake, I am still with you.
Psalm 139:17-18

Follow the Sun

/ Jana / 1 Comment

I have this way of doing life. It has its similarities and routines. I go through motions without even thinking sometimes. I can do my God life like that too. Do you know what I mean? Reading, listening, even praying in a kind of auto pilot sort of way? I can do life without absorbing the beauty around me.

This morning the Lord ever so sweetly turned my attention to Him. I was driving in my old familiar route doing errands and I kept noticing the sunrise. It was amazing with its pinks and purples. When I got back in my car to head home, the same way I always go, I kept getting this urge to look at the sky. As I was driving, I had this moment to choose to go home the same old way, or to go a different way and enjoy the sunrise. In a split second I chose the new way. When I pulled onto the interstate, the sun came up as a vibrant orange red ball on the horizon.

It was breathtakingly beautiful. Like out of body, awestruck, don’t know how to process this much beauty, kind of beautiful.

As I was soaking in the wonder, I heard, “Always follow the beauty of the Son.”

My prayer for you today is that God will show you the new choices you can make. And I pray that you will have the faith, courage, and desire to take new paths that will enable you to see the beauty of the Son. Amen.

Delight in Us

/ Jana / Leave a comment

Have you ever noticed that when you love someone, you also love to surprise, delight and “bless” them?  By bless, I mean to bring joy or make happy, to bestow gladness of heart.  It’s fun for them and that makes it fun for you.

So when God says all throughout the Bible that He loves us and delights in us, it means that HE gets pleasure out of making us happy, bringing us joy, bestowing gladness upon our hearts. He wins, we win. I love the way God does math.

Yesterday I was reflecting on the word “delight” which is what He gave me at the beach. And within one hour I received three random God stories to give evidence of His delight. Three different women, one loving God.

One woman was having a hard day and just shot up an arrow prayer. “I just asked Jesus for a kiss,” said my friend. She got this a few minutes later.

And her response?  “Oh how I love Him!”  Blessing bring devotion. Delight makes happy the heart, especially His delight poured into our hearts.

My other friend had been stressing about a party she was giving. She was relating to the Lord her concern about the cost of the gifts, favors, and the restaurant. And what did she get in her email inbox ten minutes later?  A coupon that would drop her meal cost by 50%.  Wow. She was thrilled at His provision for a place she had reserved weeks ago. “He’s so intimately acquainted, so sweet!” was her delighted response.

My third story is about a friend who “went looking for God” and thought she came home empty-handed with just a shell and few photos.  “I was a little disappointed” she told me on the phone when I asked about her date weekend with Lord.  But then the pieces started coming together. Here it is in her words:

“I have been thinking about this shell and talking to HIM about its meaning and I’m just undone.  I had asked, “How do you see me”?

He said, “Most people see a closed heart with barnacle scars. But I see a huge heart and beautiful colors just waiting to be revealed.”

I asked HIM to show me He loved me and He gave me this heart- this broken heart.  HE reassured me that HE knows my heart is broken.  HE knows I feel rejected, unworthy, alone and forgotten.  He revealed His beauty to me, kissed my cheek and reminded me of all the wonderful work HE is doing inside my clamped shut, sand-filled, barnacled scarred heart.
He is so good and I am undone.”

Delight is a two way street.  There is both a giver and receiver. And both hearts are made glad by the connection. Delight yourself in Him for He greatly delights in you. Selah.

He Loves to Talk

/ Jana / 2 Comments

I got to run away to the beach for a day and a half. Yes, it was worth it the drive time because that provided great talk time in the car with Chuck.  No, we didn’t take the kids, thus the talk time. Smile.

I went there to hear from God, to catch my breath. I went there to recharge and to get a fresh deposit. I needed my Spirit tank refilled. And boy did He ever fill my tank.  On top of my own, I have three powerhouse God stories that I got today from others. The bottom line for their stories and mine? We love the God who speaks and He lives. He speaks anywhere,  all the time, in the craziest of ways.

Here are the billboards that God drew my attention to on the way to and from the beach. Little did I know that with the first “that’s odd” sign I saw that He was continuing  a conversation. He was pleased to answer my prayers about “Lord, how do I trust You more?”

His instruction to me:

Rest and Relax

What He said about Himself:

Tree of Life
Strong, Stable, Proven
Inspire to love is what I do
(Red) Cross equals Hope
Makes for a new way of thinking
How Beautiful!
Victorious

What He said about me:

Got Faith?  (With a picture of water turned to wine)
Be passionate.
Keeping kids on course.
Be Great.

This did something deep in my spirit. He is all these things and more. And He calls me all these things and more in Christ. And to top it off…there was a heart in the center of my slice of onion at our last restarant. How is that for a punch line!  He’s crazy about us. Look for Him. Ask Him. Listen for Him. Believe that Small Still Voice when it says to  “Look here.”  Tomorrow I will tell about the God stories I got today!!

Criticism and Praise

/ Jana / Leave a comment

I heard a story a long time ago about a train conductor who would walk up and down the train punching people’s tickets.  He came upon one grouchy lady who complained and ranted and loudly criticized his every move.  As he punched her ticket, he raised his eyes and said, “You hear that, Lord?” And he moved on.

The people in the that box were astounded by his gracious response. So a man several rows back praised him on how well he handled the difficult moment. The conductor raised his eyes again and said, “Did you hear that, Lord?”

Which voice would have rattled you more? The criticism? The praise?  Funny how some people languish over one word of criticism. Others are spun around by one word of praise.  How loud is the voice of God in your life?  Is His voice enough to silence the voices of criticism and praise from others?

Do You Get Tired of Hearing “I Love You” ?

/ Jana / 1 Comment

I now have a God Box. I had to. My dresser and my desk were covered with all these sweet notes, kisses, hearts or butterflies from the Lord. As I was lovingly putting them in the box, I thought about how I have a box for my kids, and a box for Chuck.  Little remembrances of moments, notes, emotions, memories of our lives together.

And now a God box.  At first I felt foolish. Or insane.

But then I went to the mountains with Chuck.
In our favorite jeep with the top down.
On our favorite kind of day, crisp and cool.
With our favorite music playing loud.
Holding hands and breathing deep.

We were aware, invested, immersed in being together. Nothing foolish. Nothing insane. But instead it was the most normal, delightful thing in the world.

Then we went to our favorite spot in the mountains. But actually it was Our spot before it was our spot. I had been running away to that spot to cry or dream or vent long before Chuck came into the picture. When I got there, it was just as as sentimental with Him as it had been with him. Butterflies were everywhere. The sand was warm, the water loud and laughing. The trees nodding and bending in the almost-autumn breeze. I gasped in surprise when a cool gust of wind swept across my skin as walked in the chilled water. And there it was…

A little pink heart lying on the river’s bed.

No doubt discarded by a visitor tubing down the river. But there. Not carried away. But there. On that day. At that place. For me.

I picked it up and laughed out loud. My voice and tears burst out, “I love You too!”

What else could I say?

No, I will never get tired of His love notes. Because I can never get enough of His love.

Lord, you delight in us. In me. You are ever, ever trying to tell us how much You love us. Give us eyes to see, and ears to hear. And boxes. We all need God boxes so we won’t forget. Oh yes, and Lord…We love You back. Amen