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Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Greener Grass?

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” ~Epicurus

What a delusion it is when we continue to look at other people’s lives and wish you had what they had! It is so easy with human nature to peek over into the lives of other people that we admire or perceive are living the life we wish we were living. Whether it is a better marriage, children, the house you live in or your status in life.

In 2 Corinthians 10:12 it says, “But, they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise".

This is such a powerful scripture! When we begin to focus on the areas of our life we are unhappy with, we have a tendency to zone in on people who have what you truly desire. The Bible says this is unwise. As you keep looking at someone else, everything in your life will become distorted and you find yourself very unhappy with your life and you cannot see the wonderful blessings you do have, because you are blindsided by what you wish you had! It is important to have desires in your life, but keep your eyes focused on Jesus the "author and finisher of your faith"

Philippians 4:11 says, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content”


To be content means to be satisfied. Have you ever heard the saying "I may not be where I want to be, but thank God I'm not where I was" I encourage you today to take off your distorted glasses, stop looking at others lives and begin to look in your own life and see the wonderful blessings that are there. Here is a simple assignment that will really help you!

Number 1: Get a notebook and every day sit down for a few minutes and look into your life and write down the things are Thankful for, the things you can appreciate! It can be from the smallest things to the biggest. As you begin to focus on the good, you will see just how blessed you really are!

In Psalms 100:4 it says “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.”

Number 2: Begin to thank God every day! As you have a thankful heart, you will be covered by the anointing and love of God! It will remove the sorrow of your heart and you will begin to see how wonderful God is and how wonderful your life really is!

Number 3: Let others around you know what you are thankful for. Share with your family how blessed you are, how thankful you are! This will be contagious to everyone around you and will create a positive, happy atmosphere in your home!

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.” ~ Frederick Keonig

~Barb

Monday, April 19, 2010

Esther's Court Part 2



H3: Health Healing & Hormones

We are very excited to launch our Health Series as a part of Esther's Court. Our heart and passion is for woman to have Beauty from the inside out. We truly believe for woman to be the success they are called to be; they have to experience good health, strength and energy.

We believe woman are to walk in the fullness of who God designed them to be!

May 3rd, 10th & 17th at 7:00 pm FREE CHILDCARE

For more information and to register click HERE!



Thursday, April 15, 2010

My HERO: My MOM!


I have seen a lot of contest going on for people to write about their “hero” and see if their story would win. Well, there is NO contest in which person is my hero. She is my mom! She is truly the most amazing, self-sacrificing woman I have ever met. She has been such an amazing example to me even as a little girl.

LOVE: Her LOVE for God is the first quality that you could never miss when you meet her. She has such a deep love for God and a commitment to the Word. She has never wavered knowing how much God loves her or how much she loves Him. She lives out the scripture.
Luke 10:27 “Love God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind. Love others as you love yourself."
Because of her love for God, she has such an amazing love for people. Everywhere she goes, you will find her sharing the love of Jesus every chance she gets. She has a passion for the lost. She is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ!

SACRIFICIAL: She is willing to do whatever God calls her to do no matter what sacrifice it requires. I have seen her leave everything she loves twice in her life to follow the calling of God and to push and encourage the dreams of her husband. She has left family, houses, ministry and everything familiar to her; to launch a ministry in Beloit, WI and then to do it all over again in Phoenix, AZ. I have seen her sacrifice financially over and over to build the Kingdom of God. She has lived out the scripture.
Luke 18:29"I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."

SUBMISSIVE: She is a strong woman, anointed and powerful and yet knows that beautiful boundary of submission to her husband. If he say’s it, she will stand by him forever. You don’t dare come to her about her man, all 5’ 1” of her will go nose to nose with you to protect and honor him. She loves him with an amazing unconditional love. Will never see or hear her disrespect her husband with her words or actions, it is first instinct to honor and respect him. I know this comes from her LOVE for God and her ability to submit to the Holy Spirit in her life.
Ephesians 5:22- 24 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church,
his body, of which he is the Savior.
Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should
submit to their husbands in everything.


LOYAL: She is a loyal friend and she is my best friend. If you are in her life, no matter who you are or what status you are; she will ALWAYS protect you first. She will not let others talk about you to her; she will stop you dead in your tracks and say “you will not talk about them without them here too”. I love that about her.
Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loves at all times"

MINISTRY: She has the most beautiful call of God on her life. She is rich with the word of God and full of wisdom! She is a woman that has lead the Proverbs 31 life, without question! I am blessed as her daughter to have been able to watch her, learn from her and model who I am today because of her. I would NEVER be who I am if it wasn’t for her!
Proverbs 31 "Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised"



I Love you mom, YOU are my hero!!

~Barb

Carrie Underwood



This was a production done at our Church called "Heartbreak Hotel/Hotel Hallelujah" We do about 30 look-a-like acts, with explosions, videos, Motorcycles, dancing! It is packed with fun and entertainment. It is one of the most incredible outreaches our church does www.faithbuilderschurch.org Every production, we see hundred's of people committing their lives to Jesus! It makes it so worth all the work, but as you can see, it really was fun too!
There is a surprise at the end, so watch all the way!

Blessings~

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Changing the World: Me?

One of my TRUE stories:
First time ever written

I have always had such a deep passion to make an impact in the world by reaching the hearts of people with the Love of God. Even as a young girl, I would imagine reaching out and helping someone in need.


I attended high school with this young girl named “Rachel”. She was a very quiet, withdrawn girl. Me, always being drawn to the un-popular, I began to reach out to her and befriend her. Hidden under the exterior of fear was this beautiful, lively girl full of dreams for her life.



One day as we were talking she began to open up to me and share about her living conditions. She was living in this “community” where no one was allowed to have friendship outside of their community.



She was not allowed to have a job, they told her who she had to marry, no one was allowed to have their own bank account; all assets had to be turned into the Head Leaders. I’m sure you can see where I am going with this; “Rachel” was born into a “cult” environment.
She desired so much for her life and because of the control and manipulation she was under and gripped with fear; she could see no way out.



It became a regular conversation of ours, her expressing more and more unhappiness with her life. We were only 17 years old at the time, but my heart was so heavy for this girl and I wanted to help her in such a desperate way. I felt every girl should have a chance to have a beautiful, fulfilling life.


We began to talk more about her family members that were outside of the “cult” and she mentioned she had an aunt that had broken away many years ago. This perked my interest. I told her to find out if she could locate her number. She immediately rose in fear, saying if she got caught horrible things would happen to her; well, only being 17 years old I told her to try anyway.

She was not allowed to make any outside contact herself, so I knew once I had the information I was going to have to take matters in my own hands.

“Rachel” came to school one day with the phone number in her hands shaking with fear. I took the number and placed it in my wallet and told her “not to worry, everything was going to be okay” “you are going to be free to live your own life, just trust me”. As I write this, I’m thinking to myself, “what the heck were you thinking?”


I now know, only the leading of the Love of God could get me to do what I did next. I met with a girlfriend at the school, Carla McKinney, who I could trust and told her the entire story and asked her for her help. She was on board immediately.



We contacted the aunt of “Rachel” who was so excited to hear about the news of her niece. We told her the entire story that she desired to live a life of freedom. So we came up with a plan.



The last day of our senior year “Rachel came to school with all the things she knew she could take with her; which was only a simple backpack. Throughout the entire day we were so nervous and anxious hoping and praying that everything would go as planned.


After lunch, I parked my car at the other end of the building; where students were not allowed to be and as soon as the final school bell rang, the three of us took off running through the hallways of the school, out the back side of the building and into my 1968 Chevy Nova named “Rusty Ann”. We drove as fast as we could out of the school parking lot, wondering what are we doing, but feeling it was so right; kept going.




Our adrenal was running so strong, that I cannot even remember if any of us said anything in the car. I wonder what was going through “Rachel’s” mind at the time. I never asked her. We had set up a location outside of the school to meet her Aunt. We pulled up to that meeting place and were able to reunite the two together. We all sat and talked for a few minutes, introduced “Rachel” to her Aunt and then pulled away.



I honestly never knew what happen to “Rachel” after we left her with her Aunt. Years had gone by and I went to go grocery shopping at a store I never go into, on a side of town I never go to. As I was being checked out by the cashier, the girl looked at me and said, “you are Barb Pruitt, aren’t you” and with a puzzled look on my face said “yes”. She said, ‘you don’t recognize me do you?” No, I didn’t know her face. She smiled brightly and said my name is “Rachel” the girl you rescued from the “cult”.



Wow, now in my 20’s I immediately saw the gravity of what us naive high school girls did that last day of school. I found out she had continued to be safely out of the cult, she went on to marry and have 2 kids and was extremely happy. With a bright smile, I will NEVER forget, she thanked me as he bagged my groceries.



I have never seen her again, but what a gift to give my heart to know I was a part of helping change her life!



Proverbs 31:25 "She is clothed with strength and dignity; and she smiles at her future"