Hands 4 Missions had its beginnings in 1998. A request was given to a class for needed items for a project at Baptist Village. Since that time a group of women has met the first three Thursdays of each month to create blankets, totes and gifts for our homebound members. The group works primarily by tying off lap quilts. Several of the members of the group use their time at home to make the quilts. The other members then tie the quilts off with colorful yarns.
September is Groups Month! Group life is an essential part of CRBC. As a church, we take an entire month to showcase the diversity we have in Connection Classes and Small Groups. An entire month should make us pause and wonder, why does CRBC care so much about this topic? Scripture has something to say about it!
I felt lost and alone in 2019 when I had to make the heart-breaking decision to find a new church because where we were was no longer safe for my daughter, Willow, and I. God had released me from a very painful and dangerous situation in my marriage and I had filed for divorce. What followed from church members who did not know the intimate details was hurtful judgment and condemnation. I have always had such a heart for family, but now I found myself in the middle of a terrible divorce and I was frightened about the prospect of more condemnation from the Christian community.
In 2020 I became a “plant mom.” This might not sound ground-breaking, but I promise you, up to that point, I did not have a green thumb on either hand, as I had never kept a plant alive. However, in the fall of 2019, I bought a couple of plants at The Gift Goes On, with a promise from the seller, “these are nearly impossible to kill,” so I decided to try my hand at botany. Turns out, they were indeed easy to keep alive and the seed was planted in me to keep growing my plant collection - which to date includes 31 plant-babies. The secret, I discovered, is threefold: healthy soil, correct watering, and appropriate placement.
What I love most about a new year is the opportunity to start afresh. I am old enough to remember the joy of getting a new paper calendar for the year, with blank monthly pages just begging for new plans. I still love to start the year with a new journal filled with empty pages of possibility. No matter what the year before held and how faithful I was with my time and opportunities, a new year reminds me that I can start again.
