Archive of ‘Resources’ category

Busyness Overload? | Here are 35 Ways to Connect with God

How to connect with God? We are busy women with long to-do lists. How often do we cut time with God out of our day to make time for everything else on our lists? Sadly, this happens a lot. This is not just a problem women deal with, men struggle with this too. Let’s read what a man has to say about this problem.

Sam Eaton, guest blogger, always adds humor to his posts. Sam created a list of 35 ways we can connect with God. Women aren’t the only ones who often place God on the back burner. Read what Sam has to say about how we can start connecting with God today. (more…)

How to Write Your Testimony

Write your Story

Every Christian has a powerful redemption story. God can and will use your story to bring him glory. Your story is your most powerful resource for sharing the gospel with the people around you. That is why it is so important to write your story in a way that is easy to understand and that explains the gospel. This post will help you do just that.

I’ve heard people say that their story is not powerful because nothing “bad” happened to them. I want to encourage you that every story is powerful. You went from death to life when you accepted Jesus as your Savior. When you made that decision, the power of the Holy Spirit was given to you. This is the same power that resurrected Jesus from death. Now, that power is inside of you, and because of that fact your story can change lives and bring others from death to life.

Every time we tell our stories we give honor and glory to God. Our story is the story of how God rescued us, saved us, redeemed us, and forgave us. Our story is a story of hope. It’s our first person account of how our lives have changed. And retelling of your redemption story reveals God’s character. Sharing our stories glorifies God because we are giving Him the credit and acknowledging His work in our lives.

We have to be ready to give our story at any moment. The Bible tells us – to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have (1 Peter 3:15). How can we be prepared? We need to write out our story and practice sharing it. In the moment, it is easy to get jumbled up, flustered, distracted, and off point. This could distract, bore, or confuse the person you are trying to share the gospel with. We have powerful stories, so we want to maximize the potential and give God the glory.

To help you write your story and  to prepare you to share at any time, answer the questions below. Work through each question and then combine them into your story. Add transitions so your story flows. The best stories have conflict, plot, climax, and resolution – your testimony of how Jesus changed your life is no different. (more…)

Live on Purpose + Make it Happen Book Review

Lara casey

In Make it Happen, Lara Casey shares 5 ways to create a life of purpose and make it happen. What is your “it”? Maybe you have a goal that you have never been able to reach or a dream you have kept locked away – now is the time to make it happen.

Lara’s steps towards making it happen are not only practical, but very encouraging and thought provoking. I want to share with you her 5 steps and then a few of the thought-provoking questions that I loved most from each step. Believe me, her book is filled with hundreds of other questions that you will want to process though. (more…)

Introducing Jumonville Christian Camp – Our Newest Ministry Partner

Jumonville Christian Camp

Can you spot me in the photo above? I’m rocking the tie-dye shirt on the right. This throw-back photo is almost 7 years old. 7 summers ago I spent a week at Jumonville Camp and left forever changed. That summer would be my 4th and last summer going to camp. Now, I would do anything to be able to spend another week at summer camp.

Jumonville Camp has impacted my life and faith in many positive ways. That is why I am so excited to have this organization partner with JP Ministries. In this post, I want to introduce Jumonville and share their heart and vision. Once a month for the next 6 months, we will share stories about how Jumonville changes lives, why you should send your child to camp, and why you should consider working on staff for Jumonville.

For more information about Jumonville, check out their website and Facebook page or watch the videos below. (more…)

To the Praise of His Glory! FREE Art Print Download

FREE Art Print Download

Hi friends! You made it through half of the week! I think this deserves a little celebration. To celebrate, I’m giving you free downloads for art prints I created in teal and gold. I couldn’t decide on a color, so I’m giving you both!

Use this art print to remind you to take the time to praise God for the good and the bad. If you’re having a hard week, praise God for how he is molding and shaping you. If you’re having a hard time at work, praise God that you have a job. If you have relationship conflict, praise God for all the people that love you that he has placed in your life. (more…)

Creating a Social Media Mission Statement

Addicted to social media? This past week I spent an average of 7 hours and 48 minutes a day on my phone. 19% of that time I was on social media – which is about 1 hour and thirty minutes a day. (Below I’ll share how you can calculate this number for yourself.)

I need social media for my ministry and to stay connected with friends and family. But I do not need to spend over an hour every day on social media, and honestly, that number seems low. I bet I spend closer to 2 hours a day on social media because I also check it multiple times a day on my computer.

In order to live a life of purpose, I want to create a social media mission statement.

(more…)

Women’s Ministry Craft Night: Shattering the Lies We Believe

Women's ministry craft

Looking for an activity for the next women’s time at your church or in your college ministry? Here is a great topic, activity, and craft that is perfect for a women’s event! No matter the crafting ability of each attendee, this activity will be empowering and turn out beautifully. We all believe lies, and we all need to shatter them.

Crafting brings women together and provides an opportunity to introduce Jesus to non-believers. (more…)

Shattering the Lies We Believe (Part 3): How Can We Break Free?

JoyPedrow.com In this series, Shattering the Lies, we have defined lies and located where they originate. Now we are revealing what the scripture says about freedom from lies.

How can we break free from lies?

Truth. Truth is our weapon against lies. Truth is an agreement with a standard or original. Where do we find this standard? Jesus. Truth is Jesus Christ and His word.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6 (ESV)

Jesus is the definition of truth. Jesus is the perfect standard.

How do we break free from lies? We return to the truth. We return to Jesus and his word. The world feeds us lies. Here are two: “do whatever you want as long as your happy” and “everything is all about you.” Our world is self focused. We have to use scripture to retrain our minds. Scripture tells us that its not about us. It’s about God.

One practical way to do this is to find verses that counter the lies. Here is a free resource I created to help you: (Lies and Truth Chart pdf) To use the chart, write out every lie that you believe and then find scripture to disprove the lie. In the column on the left, write the lies. In the column on the right, write the truth. Below is a glimpse at the resource. (Click the photo to download.)

Free resource!

My freshman year of college I did this activity. Then months later, I went back and re-read my list of lies. I was able to see which ones I still struggled with and which one’s God has given me freedom from. This is a great activity for your quiet times. And will help you abide in Jesus’ word.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:31-32

Discovering the truth will set us free!

Additional scripture reading – Psalm 5.


Check out the other posts in the series!

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Every Bitter Thing is Sweet Book Review

Every Bitter Thing is Sweet I love being able to read books, and share with you all how this book could help your walk with God. I get to do the work for you, and you simply decide if the book fits with your needs.

Every Bitter Thing is Sweet by Sara Hagerty moved me to tears. Sara wrote stories about struggling to know and understand God’s love in a real and vulnerable way. Each page was so beautifully written. As I read her words, I pictured myself there in Sara’s shoes. Her descriptions were perfect.

In this book, we get to go on Sara’s journey to really finding God during the bitter times of her life.

This book is great for anyone who: (more…)

Even Jesus Spent Time with God + Book Review

 The more you know God-2

Spending time with God is the answer to most of our problems, especially our trust issues. I realized, that the days I struggle trusting God most are the days I don’t spend time with him. Do you trust in God’s plan for your life? Do you spend time with God on a regular basis through reading the Bible or praying?

You will begin to trust God more and know God more, the more you spend time with him.

Often, we wonder why our plans for our lives are different from God’s plans for our lives. We question, “Why hasn’t God given me ___?” Then, we begin to think that God doesn’t love us because he has not given us what we want. This happens because we think our values are the same as God’s values. We think we share the same channel of thoughts as God. But If we don’t spend time with God, we don’t know his channel. This lack of time together creates miscommunication between God and us. And a lack of trust.

To know God and understand why he does things, we have to spend time with him. Even Jesus had to spend time with God, and he is God! It is that much more important that we spend time with God!
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