Enchantment E X P E R I E N C E
ISSUE NO. O1 | SEPTEMBER 2019
Prayer
Family
Girls Night
Why do we pray? How do we pray? Let's talk about it.
Starting Kindergarten: A new routine
Wine (or pop) tasting
page 06
page 19
page 22
Inside
YOUR GUIDE TO ISSUE NO.01
21 Faith 04
A NOTE ON FAITH
06
WHY DO WE PRAY
12
LEARNING TO TALK TO GOD AS A FRIEND
36 Family 19 STARTING KINDERGARTEN: A NEW ROUTINE
48 Fun 38 GIRLS NIGHT
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR This magazine is a dream that took several years to come true. I'm so grateful to all of our contributors. I couldn't have done this without them! I'm also so thankful for you, dear reader! I've been a mompreneur who works from home for 5 years now. It can be a lonely journey! I am so excited to create this magazine where we can come together and encourage one another. It is my hope that you will feel welcome here. Whether you want to hang out on our social media , on the website, or just in these pages, I hope you know you are not alone. Please feel free to reach out and say hi. This magazine was created for you so any feedback is welcome. Let me know what you want to see in future issues.
Sincerely, Kristi Verde CEO and Founder ExperienceEnchantment.com
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FAITH
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A NOTE ABOUT FAITH BY EBONY COLINA
However, as we grow older, Faith can become a challenge and something that leaves us as life happens.
My father succumbed to a heart attack and a stroke when I was 13 years old. I watched in silence as my mother and brother suffered tremendously from the loss. Don’t get me wrong, I was certainly devastated, but my father left when I was nine years old to move to North Carolina and my brother had the privilege of living with him. Later that year, I watched my aunt succumb to a heart attack as well. I learned very early on that God is omnipresent.
I could argue that my life from the outside could be something of interest; however, on the inside, I have learned that it’s in the moments of pain and suffering that we learn what we’re made of and who God really is.
In the midst of this suffering, there were so many opportunities that allowed me to continue on. I was accepted into one of the elite private schools in Michigan, I excelled at a rigorous curriculum and I was able to travel due to sports/church.
Faith has been a term that I always thought I understood. I always believed in God and I knew that He would guide me and protect me in all things. There’s something that is so sweet and innocent about believing this as a child.
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Things were great until I noticed changes in my mood. I spent the latter years of my high school gripped in fear and anxiety. I was fatigued, suffered horrible weight loss and I couldn’t remember anything. The symptoms of my thyroid disease were starting to appear, and it would take another five years before I was diagnosed. The stress from school, the suffering from losing loved ones and the constant worry wreaked havoc on my body. I remember being incredibly depressed. I asked God what was the point of my pain? Why me? What was the lesson here? I would learn that lesson soon enough. I decided to do a deep dive into my Faith. Every time something traumatic would happen, I would take it to God. Heartache, confusion and pain...He got it all. It wasn’t until last year when I thought that nothing else bad could happen…it did. I felt that someone pulled the rug from underneath me. Everything that I knew about myself would become questioned. From my marriage to someone that I look to as a father battling with two types of cancer, I was shaken to my core. Just when I thought that I couldn’t take anymore, something else would come up. I prayed constantly that God would renew my strength, my courage and my faith.
I remember being incredibly depressed. I asked God what was the point of my pain? Why me? What was the lesson here? You see, I realized that I became distracted. I stopped looking to God as my source of truth and sustenance over the years. I allowed others to dictate my value and my worth. Fear became my best friend and I didn’t know WHO I was and WHOSE I was. I had to travel to Chicago to attend an amazing retreat with one of my prayer buddies before I truly understood just how much God loves me and this is what I want to leave you with: God loves you so much! In the moments when you think that He’s not there, He’s working in the background to propel you forward. Sometimes, we have to go through the wilderness like Moses before we can be released from the captivity of our former self.
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photo by Kristi Verde
Why do we pray? BY EMILY HENNING Prayer saved my life. Prayer saved my
I were part of would very likely be
husband’s life. Prayer brought us our
considered by most of the world to be a cult.
daughter’s life. This is the story of why I
They isolated us from people who were not
pray.
members of the denomination, scared us into attendance, and judged harshly those who
When we got married, I was full of arrogance
strayed from their teachings, including
and hypocrisy. My husband and I were part
forcing several young women into marriages
of a church that believed it was the only right
for which they were not ready. Yet, blind to
denomination, that anyone outside of that
those things at the time, and even defending
particular branch of Christianity was doomed
many of them, my husband and I proudly
to Hell, and I, like they, walked around
called ourselves members, despite the fact
secretly judging people based solely on
that by the time we got married we were
whether or not they attended a church in that
attending services sparsely and were living
denomination. Looking back now, truthfully,
rather secularly between Sundays. In our
the particular congregation my husband and
minds, however, we were living life the best
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photo by Kristi Verde that it could be lived in an imperfect world
to my very best friend. Then reality set in,
and we were going to have a beautiful,
and so did depression. I was the loneliest I
perfect, happy marriage because we were
had ever been in my life. I was completely
such great friends and had been together for
and utterly alone. Or so I thought. But God
so long. We were better than the rest of the
never leaves us or forsakes us, and He draws
world because we went to church, said kind
to Himself His own. His word does not go out
things (out loud and in public anyway), and
into the world profitless, and soon all those
prayed (at least, in a church service). We were
words began to make themselves clear to me
very much saved by works, and to us it
seemed we were doing all the works.
A few weeks after moving to our new home, I began attending a mid-week worship service
Then God humbled us. During our
at (gasp!) a church outside of “our”
engagement, a family dispute broke out
denomination- mostly because another med-
which ripped away everything in which my
school wife was attending and I was desperate
husband and I had placed our security. Then
for friendship. The funny thing is, she didn’t
after the wedding we moved in together in
even show up the first week I went. But the
the small town in which my husband was
pastor was preaching a series on forgiveness
attending medical school and I knew nobody.
and it felt like he was talking directly to me!
I moved there thinking it would be the best
And the way these people prayed...I had
years of my life because I was finally married
never heard anything like it.
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They were so genuine, the prayers so organic. It was like they really believed they were talking to God and that He was listening and that He cared what they had to say. I had never heard anything like it. Within a few weeks of attending this service, I knew that’s where we needed to attend on Sundays. There were only two problems: my husband would never agree to attend a church outside of our denomination, and I worked as a pianist for another church on Sundays. So I began to pray. I had no idea what I was doing, because every prayer I had uttered in the last 5 years at least had been out of obligation and completely without faith. But I prayed earnestly and over the next two weeks, my husband noticed God changing my heart. He noticed I was kinder and more patient. He noticed I was happier and more peaceful. He noticed me reading my Bible that had been sitting and collecting dust for who knows how long. I waited patiently on God, in prayer, for my husband to be the one to bring up attending this church. And meanwhile, his heart began to change too. He wasn’t praying yet, but he was picking up his Bible and asking the hard questions about what he believed and why. He was engaging me in conversation about what I was learning and why I was changing. Finally, he turned to me and said we needed to trust God with the finances, I needed to quit working on Sunday mornings, and we were going to attend this church together. Within six months, both of us had accepted Christ as the true savior of our lives. This obviously significantly increased my faith in the power of prayer, but there was so much that the Lord taught me in the coming months. After taking a 50% cut in pay (I worked Saturday nights as well), we had no clue how we were going to get through the year. We trusted God would provide and prayed hard for the finances. I kid you not, to this day, we don’t know where the money came from. In a year we should have been $6000 short of eating and making rent, yet we had enough surplus to give several hundred dollars to a family who was paying to go on a missions trip! Over the next months and years we continued to trust God in prayer with so many things. I could write a book about the miracles God has worked in our lives since I started praying with real faith in the One who desires to provide. One of the most amazing prayers He answered for us was for our daughter. I have Type 1 Diabetes, which is an autoimmune disorder
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that keeps my body from producing a digestive hormone called insulin. It is not impossible for me to be pregnant, but there are certain risks involved, especially if my blood sugars are out of control before and during pregnancy. My husband and I knew we wanted to start a family, but my sugars were so bad and it seemed like nothing I did helped. So we prayed. Every three months, I get my a1c tested (that’s like an average blood sugar over the last three months). Doctors want mine under 7, unless I am pregnant, then they want it under 6.5. My a1c was 9.2. It would literally take a miracle to get it under 6.5 between February and May, but that’s what we prayed for if God desired us to start a family at that time. When I got my results back in May, my a1c was 6.4 and we knew God’s plan for us was to have a baby! But that wasn’t the end of the road. It was one thing to get a good a1c prepregnancy, but a whole different obstacle to keep it there during pregnancy. Not once during my pregnancy was my a1c above 5.7 and our daughter was perfectly healthy and free of any diabetes-related complications! Praise the Lord!
photo by Kristi Verde
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So what is my point? I wholeheartedly believe in the power of faith-filled prayer to a God who loves us, desires the best for us, and will meet us where we are. I am far from perfect at this, but He was able to take two extremely proud, lukewarm sinners and meet us where we were in our imperfect, but earnest, seeking of Him. Through prayer, He completely transform our hearts, minds, and faith. He was able to provide for us some very real temporal needs, and change our priorities so we can trust Him whenever a “felt” need isn’t met. Prayer is not a duty to be checked off a checklist. It’s not a quick-add wish list. It is a living, breathing relationship with the God who loves us, gave His son for us, and communes with us through His Spirit, who is very much alive and working in this world today. We are now in a new city for my husband’s OB/GYN Residency. How we got here involves miracle after miracle from God, but to be honest I’ve been in a dark place and having to remind myself of that truth over and over. We are in a completely different state, living with a toddler hours away from any friends or family, and I am once again facing the loneliness I faced at the beginning of our marriage. But there’s one major difference. I have God. I have faith. I have prayer this time. And here is why I pray now. I have seen prayer produce humility. I have seen prayer provide temporally. I am currently experiencing prayer create friendship. I am in a new place and have not yet had much luck forming friendships. But there is an everpresent God with whom I can be so real, with whom I can share my deepest thoughts, my tears, my joy, my
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FAITH
concerns, who I know placed us here, has a plan that’s always better than my own, and wants to see us thrive. Prayer is how we communicate. Prayer is how we love Him and feel loved by Him. Prayer is our greatest weapon against doubt, fear, depression, loneliness, and anger. Prayer is our greatest form of worship to a God who I now know will NEVER leave me or forsake me. So why should you pray? Because it works. Because it’s powerful. Because there’s a God who knows you fully. Loves you perfectly, Delights Himself in you. And desperately desires fellowship with you.
photo by : Kristi Verde
Emily J. Henning EmilyJHenning.com
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THE POWER OF PRAYER
LEARNING TO TALK TO GOD AS A FRIEND BY MELODIE BOONE
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Talking to God can be intimidating to new
So I committed to talking to God, every
believers. Learning the proper way to
day. I felt it was expected of me and that I
approach God, can stop a new convert from
needed it if I was going to grow in my
making a serious commitment to daily
relationship with him. So every day I set
prayer. You may ask yourself, what do I
aside a specific time to pray and talk to
say? How do I say it? Do I have to be super
God. But as life would have it, when I
spiritual to approach God in a serious way?
missed my daily communion with God or if I slept late, I allowed disappointment to
These questions challenged me when I
overwhelm me. I, then, began to judge my
decided to recommit my life to Jesus
relationship with God. When I missed
Christ.
those benchmarks, I felt that I was
When I rededicated my life to the Lord, I
shortchanging my relationship…and more
joined a local church, I committed to
importantly, I felt as if I was a “bad
attending Sunday Services and weekly
Christian”.
Bible Study, but I didn’t have the confidence to pray like those around me in
If you are a new convert or you want to
church.
build a more intimate relationship with him, you may want to invest more time in
As I attended services, my Pastor often
prayer with God. These simple guidelines
spoke on the importance of prayer. As a
may help you spend more time in
young woman who wanted to invest in her
conversation with God, which will allow
relationship with God, I was determined to
you to grow a more personal relationship
build a prayer life. I read scripture on the
with him. But in building your relationship
importance of prayer and when to pray.
with God, the important thing to remember
Men ought always to pray, the scriptures
is to begin. God will meet you right where
stated (Luke 18:1) and we should meet God
you are. Don’t allow yourself to feel that
in the early hours of the morning. (Psalm
you are a “bad Christian, when you miss
63:1)
your prayer time or you don’t pray as eloquent as others.
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Hopefully the following guidelines will be
Talk about the affair or the betrayal...or the
seen as simple steps that will set you on a
time you felt as if you disappointed your son
path of growing closer to God through your
or daughter and the guilt that you feel about
daily conversations with him. I hope that will
it.
help you build a more intimate time of fellowship with Him.
Share the highlights of your week and how you saw his hand throughout your day. The
Talk to God as if he were a close friend…
important thing is that you talk. If it helps,
someone you can trust to keep your darkest
pretend you are sitting across a table at
secrets.
Starbucks or sitting on a bench in a park, and
Don’t worry about the language or how it will
share your heart. Be comfortable with him
be perceived…just talk. You may have heard
and know that he is listening.
of different models on how to pray and those models can be useful in helping you
Talk to God anywhere…you don’t have to be
established a prayer life. And later, I will
in a special place to talk to God. We are
share a simple one with you. But if you are
often taught that we need to have a special
just starting out, and you want to look at
location (what we in Christian circles call a
your prayer life in a totally different way…
prayer closet…Matthew 6:6) when we pray.
don’t get bogged down with formulas or
And if you do have a special place where you
schedules. Just begin by talking to God as if
meet God, that is wonderful. But don’t let
he were a friend.
not having a special consecrated place for prayer stop you. You can talk to God
Allow yourself, to bring down the walls of
anywhere…in your car…on the beach…in the
secrecy and shame and tell him. Talk about
bathroom…in the gym while walking on the
what you did, what happened to you, the
treadmill…or while you are washing your car
thing that embarrassed you, or the thing that
or washing the breakfast dishes. It doesn’t
brought you the most joy.
matter where you are…the important thing is keeping the communication lines open.
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I am on the road a lot traveling up and
Don’t get caught up in whether you can
down the East Coast. While I am in my car,
hear God talk back…because you probably
I talk to God. I normally start off by
won’t. We have to have confidence that
playing the radio or listening to a business
God is listening…that is the whole purpose
podcast…and then I can feel the need to talk
of prayer. He is there listening, concerned
to God about an issue or concern that often
about everything that concerns you. So
wells up while I am being still. So I quickly
don’t beat yourself up, when you don’t get
turn off all the distractions and talk to him.
an immediate answer about what you are praying about…remember, often God doesn’t come in a loud voice, or the rushing
It is in those moments, while I am driving
wind…he often comes in a still small voice.
those five and six hour commutes, that I
The problem is we are often too busy that
release all that weight that I carry around in
we miss the still small voice when he
my heart and mind. I dump those issues at
speaks.
the feet of Jesus and allow him to hear what is bothering me about them. Sometimes I find peace about an issue…and sometimes,
So many times we get mad at God because
just getting it off of my mind helps
we can’t hear him or we don’t see the
tremendously.
manifestation of an answered prayer. When this happens, my advice to you is to keep on praying. Remember, you are
Sometimes, he ministers to me about it…
talking to your friend. Many times, friends
where it is no longer a major concern…
just listen. Many times, friends wait to
other times, he releases the pressure and I
respond, because they know you can’t
can deal with it another day. Wherever you
handle what they need to say or share.
are, know God is willing to listen to every care and concern. So just keep talking to God about the major and mundane things in your life. He will give you the response you need when he thinks you can handle the responsibility that comes along with it. That response may be to wait on him.
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Know that this time is your time with God, no one else’s. So don’t allow friends or family to criticize your prayer time. We all have opinions on how we should pray, when we pray and specifically what to pray. But this is your relationship, your private time with God where you are sharing yourself, your concerns and your prayer requests. Don’t allow anyone to make you feel bad just because you don’t get up at 5am and you don’t pray for an hour. That is a wonderful goal to have but if you are just beginning your spiritual walk, meeting God where you are is more important. And only you know what that looks like. Decide what you want your prayer time to look like. Do you want to have a special place to meet God every day? Do you want to have a specific time when you pray? Will you give God a certain amount of time so you can talk to him? Lastly, as you begin to build your prayer time with God, consider using the ACTS model. This is a simple acrostic to follow as you get comfortable with praying. The ACTS model leads you down a simple path of prayer as you (A) adore God, (C) confess to God, (T) give thanks to God and (S) supplicate ( means to ask) for yourself and others. As you begin to talk to God, talk to God about how you feel about him. This is a good place to adore God and tell Him how wonderful he is…but what if you don’t feel that way? What if you consider God as a bad spirit that has allowed bad things to happen to you? That is okay…tell him exactly how you feel. He can handle anything you share with him. Hopefully you can get to a point where you can adore him, or just try saying something nice about him. Next, confess the things you did, the thoughts you had, the bad things you have done and those areas in your life where you feel you came up short. The great thing about prayer is, these confessions are safe with God. The important things about confession is, when you confess what you have done, you have gotten it off your chest and out of your heart. Give these all over to God and let these failures and disappointments go…and simply begin again.
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Thanksgiving is a place in prayer where
When we use the ACTS model as a
you can share your gratitude with God…
stepping stone to enrich our prayer life,
thanking him for any and everything.
we realize it is a powerful road map that
Whatever you are grateful for, allow God to
helps us navigate new avenues in prayer.
know just how thankful you are. Being
Consider using the ACTS model as a tool
thankful shows God you acknowledge his
that will help you draw closer to God.
goodness and kindness towards you. So be grateful and tell God thank you for all that
Prayer is a powerful tool that will enable all
he has done. And if you can’t think of
of us to connect with God. Commit to
anything you are grateful for, do like the
spending time with him in your own
mothers of the church, and just exhale.
unique way. As clichéd as this sounds,
Being grateful for the ability to breathe is a
know that God is waiting to hear from you.
great place to start.
He wants you talk to him and to use prayer as a key that unlocks the door to building
Last, but not least, is supplication. This is
intimacy with him.
where you ask for yourself or you ask for someone else. What do you need? What do
But as you begin, remember, you are
you want? How can God help you? What
simply talking to a friend. Nothing could
does a friend or family member need?
be easier than that.
When we supplicate or ask God, come expecting God to help you. That is a bold assumption, but when you ask God in faith, the Bible tells us that we can believe that we will receive it. (Matthew 7:7) The wonderful thing about supplication is, we CAN ask. We can ask God for anything. Where many struggle in asking is, God may not give us what we are asking for, when we are asking for it. And it is that place where we can build patience. Learn to wait on God and for your answers in prayer.
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Melodie Boone is a minister, vision strategist and executive leadership coach. She has a passion for church administration and loves coaching Pastors and Church leaders how to transform ministry, improve congregation engagement, and to build membership retention. For more information, please contact her at melodieboone.com
Starting Kindergarten AÂ NEW ROUTINE
by: Kristi Verde
FAMILY
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My daughter started Kindergarten. This means so many changes for my household. My husband and I both have a flexible work schedule and our family is used to staying up late and getting up later than most. The last few months of summer were all about starting a new routine.
Making
A
new
routine.
1. Routine Magnets- amazon link 2. Bento Box- amazon link 3. Mac & Cheese - love this blog's idea on how to use the leftovers 4. Spaghetti- I just use spaghetti noodles and prego sauce 5. Meat, Cheese, & Crackers- My daughter prefers cheese sticks and pepperoni
FAMILY
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We picked up these magnets for the fridge so my daughter could see her schedule and understand it from a glance. On the left you have her every day routine. Then across the top we change out what we are doing on a daily basis.
I’ve had Veronica practice making her own lunches. She loves being miss independent and the idea of picking what goes in her own lunch has her ecstatic. My husband and I have given her a few guidelines. Each lunch must include a: - fruit - vegetable - main entree Here are some of her favorite main dishes: 1. Mac & Cheese 2. Spaghetti 3. Meat, Cheese, & crackers I’d love to know what is your child’s favorite lunch? Leave a comment on our Facebook page and let us know.
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GIRLS NIGHT BY KRISTI VERDE
One of the best things I ever did was make a monthly budget for girl's night! If you are a mom there is a pretty high chance you either neglect your needs to make sure everyone and everything else is taken care of or it's something you used to do. The problem is when your needs go unmet it adds up! You get overwhelmed, stressed, and not really fun to be around. At least that is what happened to me. I was working from home and had my daughter with me 24/7. I needed some adult interaction! Once I figured this out I enlisted my favorite gal pals and told them I wanted to get together once a month. We could meet at each other's houses or go out. I didn't care which!
I just needed more time with my friends and I was determined to make it happen! Sometimes I let my daughter tag along. When this happens my husband usually comes to play babysitter. Girl's night for me is all about getting away from my responsibilities for just a little bit so I can come back fully recharged. Our favorite place to head for the fall is Cherry Republic in Ann Arbor, Michigan! They have all kinds of yummy samples. The reason we go is for the wine tasting. They even have a pop tasting so kiddos and pregnant friends get to be included!
see our favorites
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Favorite samples of the day: Ghost Pepper Sauce & Mild Cherry Salsa
Favorite pop of the day: Black Cherry Cream Soda
Favorite wines of the day: Balaton Cherry Wine & Spiced Cherry Wine
Photos from this article by: Experience Enchantment LLC
Enchantment E X P E R I E N C E
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