If you are involved in leadership at your church we encourage you to stop by the CGGIRLS: INSPIRE! table at our event on Friday Night!   We’re developing a network of leaders that can share ideas and inspire one another!

Ever wonder what to do with those overstock flyers, postcards,etc. from your events?  Wonder no more!  Bring them to the next CG Event and drop them off at the CGGIRLS: INSPIRE! table.    Other leaders can learn from our bright ideas and notsomuch ideas.    We’re in this together!

My team feels it.   I feel it.  It’s coming.  We know its coming!

Anndddd…its not every day (like never) you would find this in my office:

A CGgirl dropped this off and so it begins… 

Excited?  YEAH!

We’re supporting our troops in Afghanistan and think it would be wildly fantastic if you would join us!

Details?  CommonGround is happening on Friday, January 27th at 7pm at Connection Church in Canton, MI!

It’s our first event of 2012 and we can’t wait!  CGGirls will be partnering with Care Packages for Troops Michigan Chapter and collecting the following items for troops in Afghanistan:

• Individual powdered drink mixes (kool-aid, crystal light,etc.)
• Socks for men/women: white or green crew socks
• Puzzle Books
• Healthy snacks (protein bars, nuts, beef jerky, crackers, etc.)
• Ramen Noodle Cups, Microwaveable Mac & Cheese Cups

Did you know that at each CG event, we have giveaways during the fantastic after party!  Please check out one of the giveaways that has been donated for the next commonground event on January 27, 2012:

Is that cool or what?  I am so excited to see which one of you wins this PINK camera and case!

I know you are yelling at the screen saying, “PICK ME! PICK ME!”  and I hear ya, I really hear ya. 

This is how you can really be in it to win it…

1.  Come to the event. (Yep, you need to be present to win your present!)

2.  Head straight to the giveaway table. (no pushing or shoving, please!)

3.  Fill out your form and place in the pink bucket. (Saying “HELLO” to Nora who runs that table is an okay thing, too!)

The greatest thing about doing CG is that all of you are in it to win it.   Finishing your race of faith — strong!

Have an amazing weekend!

I saw the snow and immediately missed my flip flops.
Only a few more months until we are reunited!  

CG Girls,

I’m enjoying some afternoon coffee with Casting Crowns piping through the speakers and realizing today is winding down quicker than I expected.  What are you up to?  I was thinking…and you know I like to think…if I could have you all over to my house tonight for coffee I would.  I’m in the mood to talk about my favorite subject: Jesus!

If you came by tonight ( admittedly that would be ALOT of coffee but we’d manage somehow!) I think I would tell you this:

• I’m stinkin’ excited about getting together with all of you in just a few weeks!   I want to celebrate what God is doing in CG with the women He is choosing to use to do it!  Yep, thats you!
• Over Christmas week, a CG Girl drove past the house where our Project Crazy Girl’s live and guess what she saw?  She saw a Christmas Tree in their window — with ALL of the note cards that you wrote hanging on the tree! Is that not totally amazing?  When I got the text with that msg on it — it absolutely made my day.
• Tomorrow’s to-do:  going through over 400 photographs that our beautifully gifted CG Photographer,  CaSandra Maynard took at PCL.    We’re putting together video to show you at January’s event.
• Which reminds me to buy waterproof mascara.  Why can’t I remember to do this?
• I’m really digging the fact so many of you are inviting your friends on FB to come out to the next event in Jan.
• Have you been flickin’ your BIC in the new year girls?   Because. Ignite. Consume.   Have I ? Yes ma’am.
• I hope you have January 27th inked on your calendar!   It’s our first event of 2012 and we can’t wait!  CGGirls will be partnering with Care Packages for Troops Michigan Chapter and collecting the following items for troops in Afghanistan:
  • Individual powdered drink mixes (kool-aid, crystal light,etc.)
  • Socks for men/women: white or green crew socks
  • Puzzle Books
  • Healthy snacks (protein bars, nuts, beef jerky, crackers, etc.)
  • Ramen Noodle Cups, Microwaveable Mac & Cheese Cups

Knowing how incredibly generous CGGIRLS are — I can’t wait to see God move through you!

Only a few more weeks and we will be having a Girl’s Night with a God Focus….we call it CommonGround!

Be there?  Me, too!

The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD.  Proverbs 21:31

I’ve been wondering how to capture what happened on Saturday at the Project Crazy Love (PCL) luncheon in such a way that those who weren’t there would “get it”… I’m not sure its possible, but let’s try.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”  Psalm 139:13

Our prayer all along has been that our PCL girls would walk away from this lunch with a deeper understanding that there is a God who knows them and loves them.   We believe, wholeheartedly,  God answered that prayer. 

CGGIRLS adopted 14 foster care girls for Christmas with a staggering 1, 120 gifts donated.

For those keeping score at home:  Thats approximately 80 gifts each.   Honestly,  the sight stopped us in our tracks when we would go into the “Reindeer Room”  gift holding tank.

The luncheon was amazing!   All of the CG Teams: Wrapping, Decorating, Food Prep, Drama/Worship Team, The Mighty ELF teams were absolutely amazing!   On site that day, we had women from Connection,  Life Church,  Open Arms,  Metro South Church, Rivers of Living Water, and Westland FMC!  Working side-by-side together…that in itself is a beautiful thing. 

“You mean I can have as much chocolate as I want??”   -  PCL Girl!

Oh and did they ever!  Cotton Candy was even dunked in that fountain! 

For me personally,  I was not prepared for how deeply the “encouragement tree” would affect our PCL girls.   Looking back now we see it was the Lord’s hand leading us to put that tree up.   Those notes of encouragement (168 in total) that several of you wrote during the last CG event deeply ministered to our PCL girls.    When I say deeply…I mean… DEEPLY.   Tears.  Lots of them.   The PCL girls could not believe that women who did not know them would care enough to write them.  They were sincerely touched.  Watching that unfold has profoundly changed so many of us who witnessed it.

“I never got a card before in my life.”

“I feel like they know me.”

“How could they know thats how I feel?”

“I’m keeping every single one of these cards and hanging them in my room”

All of the girls opened up the one gift under the tree with their name on it.  Thrilled to receive their “one” gift.  They jumped up and down and screamed!     Some of the girls, never took their robes off the entire time!  We loved how God worked it out for the PCL girl who loves Tinkerbell to receive the Tinkerbell robe and the two roommates and best friends got matching robes. 

And then the gift explosion happened!  One by one each ELF came in calling out a PCL girl’s name and all of their gifts came in like a flowing river.  It was amazing!  A few of the PCL girls were so overwhelmed they sat and cried before opening any gifts.  It was almost too much for them.   We aren’t able to post any of those pictures publicly (a complete recap video will be shown at the next CG on January 27, 2012)  but hopefully you’ll get the picture painted for you just by these comments:

“All of this is for me?”
” One would have been enough.”
“This is my favorite movie!”
“I get a bible with both the New and Old Testament?”
“Someone wrote me a note in the journal…see!”
“SpongeBob is my husband … I love this movie”

All of the girls received the book Redeeming Love and they would yell out, “BOOKCLUB!” when one would open it.

“How did you know I loved the color Pink?”
“This is my birthstone!”

CGGirls, remember those Old Navy Hoodies?

“Is this new? I can’t believe I got something new!”

“I love this smell.  It’s the store smell.”

God showed them in a very personal way they are not forgotten.  Not only are they not forgotten — they are loved and a treasure of great value.

I can’t thank you enough for all of your generous donations,  the tireless hours spent shopping, wrapping and preparing.

We wanted God to be honored with putting our very best effort forth and I believe that happened.   We believe PCL was completely authored by God.

So thankful that He chooses to use us when writing someone else’s story, aren’t you? 

The PCL girls came back to the Christmas Play at Connection Church that evening and gave me this beautiful thank you note:

“Dear CG Girls,  Thank you so much for the lunch and all the presents!  We appreciated it alot and it meant so much to us. I don’t think words can explain.  It really brightened our day and showed alot of us that there is a God.  And there are people who care about us.  Thank you so much!” 

CGgirls donated 1,120 gifts.   Amazed?  Speechless?  Touched?  Yep…us too!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat and looked at all of these wrapped gifts thinking… only God.   I’ve said it before and I think the statement is still true:

Project Crazy Love has unleashed a powerful move of generosity that could only be authored by God.

As I was trying to quiet my mind last night so sleep would come — this reality hit me:

We’ve said from the beginning we wanted these 14 girls to be so overwhelmed by the goodness of God that when they are 60 years old they would still be talking about Project Crazy Love.  ”There was a group of women who didn’t know me but they loved God and blew my mind for Christmas when I was a teenager.”  Can you picture it?

The reality hit me last night that its going to be US talking about this decades from now.  How we watched a group of women who loved God, gather in unity and strength with a giving spirit.  And how we watched God move on behalf of the broken hearted,  lost  and forgotten.

Girls, it’s us that have been marked by this.  It’s us.   I haven’t talked to one person who has been involved with PCL who hasn’t been deeply moved by the generous spirit in CGgirls.

Two more sleeps! 

CaSandra Maynard, CG Photographer,  wraps gift number 1, 120.    The final gift for Project Crazy Love 2011.

This will be at each place setting for Project Crazy Love!

It’s starting to come together…

The outpouring of generosity towards these young ladies in fostercare that we are adopting for Christmas has really blown us away.

I really hope we don’t ever lose the wonder of seeing the activity of God move in and through CG Girls.

• CGGirl’s coworker made scarves for all of the PCL girls and her husband decided they needed gloves too and bought 14!
• CGGirl decided we shouldn’t have to buy anymore shirtboxes and got Kohls in Canton to donate 100 of them.
• When our CGGirl shopping for hoodies at Old Navy with our donated giftcards could only get 12 of them, her Mom stepped in and purchased two more to make it a beautiful 14!
• Our gift total so far: 1,004.

I once read this quote and I’ve never forgotten it, “Mercy saves us but grace throws the party” –  and in a few weeks we are going to throw an amazing party for 14 young women.

14 young women who have no idea:

• They have been planned for and thought about for 17 months.
• We teared up when we finally got their first names.
• They have captivated the generous hearts of women all over Metro Detroit.
• Their names are going before the Creator of all life in prayers daily.Aren’t you so glad you are a part of a movement of women who are taking God’s love from the pews to the pavement?

Me, too!

PS – There is still time to contribute to this outpouring of love…contact  Tami (at) Connectionchurch (dot) info or leave a comment below!   We would like to get all fourteen girls pedicures or manicures and are collecting toward making that happen!

Celebrated the wonderful, fantastic awesome people who served in 2011 at a CommonGround Event.  

We can’t do this without them is a true statement.  We wouldn’t do it without them is a truer statement.   

We showed this recap video last night and wanted to share it with all of you, too.

Last night wasn’t just about an enormous Mexican Buffet,  Pie Table, Brittany Ball leaving us speechless with a song, or the gameshow, “Deal or No Deal, CG Style” where we gave away a bunch and I mean a bunch of gifts.    Ok…yes, it was all those things…but it was the laughter and the conversations that people who are united with a common purpose can only understand.

Wanta get involved with our January event?  We’ve got openings on our Set Up Team (Friday 9am - 12noon day of event),  Inventory Specialist Team (helps count and pack up the items that are donated),  or the Clean Up Team (Friday, 930pm -11pm night of the event.)

We received this note today on FB:

I am moved each time I’ve come (to CG) and floored with everything from the band (AWESOME!), to the treats, to even the details of counting the gifts and churches who attend.  (I’m a cheeseball, I know) Thank you for hosting this event and allowing me to be a part.  I can’t wait for January to be floored again.  LOVE LOVE LOVE Commonground.

Awww…    That made our day!

Guess what?  We are cheeseballs, too! We love seeing the impact that God is making through our collective effort.  Stats are important to us…big KUDOS to Kim Ryan, our CG Inventory Specialist, who tackles the enormous job of counting all the items as they are brought into each event.   Give that girl a calculator and clipboard and just stand out of her way…