Candice Schroeder spoke to our group this month and what a blessing it was!
Candice, along with her husband Stephen, are in their final semester of the Bible-portion training with New Tribes Bible Institute. This training is preparing and equipping them for their upcoming goal to plant a church amongst an unreached people group. Not only is Candice bravely trusting God for her future on the tribal mission field, she shared about her experience giving birth to her two year old daughter, Eliana, which proved to also be an exercise of her trust in Him!
Exactly two years ago on January 9th, Candice gave birth to her precious daughter Eliana after a very hard 30 hours of labor. Candice faced the complication during delivery of her daughter being stuck in the birth canal and having to be forcefully pulled out. Upon arrival Eliana was not breathing and went 12 minutes without oxygen. After finally being resuscitated, she was quickly rushed off for medical treatment. The outcome did not look good for baby Eliana. The fact that she lived was a miracle, but her not having brain damage would also take a miracle. It was very, very unlikely. The weeks following were very rough. However, after an outpouring of prayers, medical tests showed that Eliana had NO BRAIN DAMAGE!! Truly another miracle! Eliana did experience a birth injury from the rough delivery known as Erb's Palsy. Put simply, this injury is a paralysis of the arm resulting from damaged nerves.
Candice's story of Eliana's birth, as well as managing their daughter's life with Erb's Palsy, led into the challenge she presented our MOPS group. How do we handle suffering and trials? When we experience feelings like worry, bitterness, or guilt--how do we approach those thoughts? Will we trust God? Or do we default into a different way of thinking?
Below I have included Candice's handout, which summarizes many different ways of thinking, as well as Scripture we can use to address various feelings we may experience as we face different trials and tribulations in life.
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Epistemologies (“uh-PIST-uh-mologies”) deal with the way we think and process information to determine what is “real” and what isn’t. Every epistemology isn’t necessarily “bad.” But our foundational, #1 epistemology needs to be the word of God, the Bible.
*If our epistemology contradicts God’s written word (the Bible), then we should always trust the Bible instead, because it is infallible, or totally trustworthy!
- Biblical epistemology – “I know it is true because the Bible says so.”
- Mysticism/Existentialism – “I know it is true because I experienced it.”
- Empiricism – “I know it is true because one or more of my five senses have validated it: I saw it with my own eyes, I touched it, I smelled it, etc.”
- Subjectivism – “I know it is true or okay because it feels good, or it makes me happy.”
- Pragmaticism – “I know it is true or okay, because the end justifies the means,” or “whatever works.”
- Agnosticism – “You can never know anything for sure.”
- Rationalism – “I know it is true, because it conforms to the scientific method” or “to science.”
- Post-Modernism – “Your beliefs can be true for you, and my beliefs can be true for me.” Creating reality/truth based on social context.
Guilt—Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Regret—Philippians 3:13, “…one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead…”
Bitterness—Hebrews 12:15, “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled…”
Shame—Hebrews 4:16, “ Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Overwhelmed—II Corinthians 12:9, “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”
Worried—Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Brokenhearted—Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Somehow, Not Good Enough—Ephesians 1:7, 10, 13, “…In Him.” Believers are in Christ Jesus!
-The information on epistemologies is being borrowed with permission from New Tribes Bible Institute. Class EV123, Evangelism in a Postmodern World.
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Candice also had a give-a-way for one lucky mom and I think many of us were interested in it. If you were wanting to check out the book she gave out, it is "The Lamb" by John Cross.
Our Creative Activity this month was "Mini-Masterpieces" and who doesn't love grabbing a hot glue gun and letting their creative juices flow?! They all turned out so cute!
Another fun and successful meeting! It was a great way to kick off our 2015 MOPS year!!
And don't forget our MOPS Movie Night on Friday, February 6th at 6:30pm!! See you then!!
