We are only two months out from our PREMIERE event!
There is so much to do but so much that has fallen into place already. We are busy, busy, busy putting together the details for an awesome time together. One of the major changes that we have made is to add a younger generation track for middle school, high school and college age "girls".
We have some wonderful women that have joined our team and are excited to share their hearts with our younger girls. These young girls are the next generation of amazing women of God and we just couldn't leave them out. When we thought of adding all the ages we were worried about all the planning involved and then we heard a voice from heaven saying... Think Big and...
DON'T PANIC!
So, young girls you are in for a weekend to remember! Suzanne Legg, Founder and administrator of Dayspring Academy is heading up a leadership team that will deliver messages that will speak directly to the unique challenges that come with being a young woman of faith at this time in history. You will be encouraged and inspired and will have a blast all at the same time. Of course there will be fun and surprises!!
For the adult women, Cynda and I are excited about the word God has given us for this gathering. We have sessions planned that we know will reach in and touch the deepest part of your heart and others that are pure fun! We have a worship team in place that will lead us into the throneroom of heaven and a team from Dare to Dance that will get us moving!
Throughout the weekend we will be exploring all the different aspects of what it means to DIG DEEP, GET REAL, THINK BIG and DON'T PANIC. Together we will discover (and for some of us rediscover) the dreams that God has planted in our hearts and equip ourselves with the tools and the inspiration to reach our full potential and as a result reach a hurting world with the love of Jesus.
Heaven is watching and waiting for a generation of warrior princesses that will rise to do the work of the kingdom to bring hope to the hopeless and heal the brokenhearted.
Are you ready????
Can't wait to see you in January!
Love,
Tracey and Cynda
THINK BIG!!
It may seem like we have disappeared into blog-space but we have actually been very, very busy! So much has happened in just one month.
This is not a small vision that God has given to us. There are a lot of people in need in this world and a lot of women (and men of course) that can help provide the solutions. We meet women every day that are ready to join forces to make a difference in this world we live in and we are so encouraged by them.
The date is set, the venue has been secured, hotel rooms have been blocked and plans are well underway for the PREMIERE of For the Girls International. We can promise you that this conference will be inspirational, motivational and full of fun and surprises! We have put together a conference team that is ready to make it happen. The other big piece of news is that we have a WEBSITE up and running. Check it out at http://www.forthegirlsinternational.org/ The front page takes a minute to load so be patient. You can register for the conference on line and all the dates and times are listed there. In the middle of all that, we managed to fit in a trip to California to attend the GODCHICKS conference which was incredible!
So, in order to make all these things happen, we have had to...THINK BIG!!
This is not a small vision that God has given to us. There are a lot of people in need in this world and a lot of women (and men of course) that can help provide the solutions. We meet women every day that are ready to join forces to make a difference in this world we live in and we are so encouraged by them.
Ephesians 3:20 says "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us..."
God is ready and waiting to blow our minds. All we need to do is excercise the power of His Spirit that lives within us and stand back and watch Him exceed all of our expectations.
In Isaiah 58: 7 -11 (NIV) God promises that He will hear our cry and heal us when we are doing His work.
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
God is ready and waiting to blow our minds. All we need to do is excercise the power of His Spirit that lives within us and stand back and watch Him exceed all of our expectations.
In Isaiah 58: 7 -11 (NIV) God promises that He will hear our cry and heal us when we are doing His work.
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
You will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
We can Think Big but God can Think Bigger!!
Lots of Love,
Cynda and Tracey
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
You will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
We can Think Big but God can Think Bigger!!
Lots of Love,
Cynda and Tracey
GET REAL
There is only one person who knows the REAL you.
And that is the One that created you.
We as women have many identities in this lifetime....we are daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts, grandmothers, friends, mentors and the list goes on...but at the end of the day who are you really?
You are a daughter of the King that is loved and treasured beyond measure. No one loves you like God loves you. He made you! Nobody "gets" you like God does. He knew you before you were born. So why is it that we look to so many other people and things to define who we are?
And that is the One that created you.
We as women have many identities in this lifetime....we are daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts, grandmothers, friends, mentors and the list goes on...but at the end of the day who are you really?
You are a daughter of the King that is loved and treasured beyond measure. No one loves you like God loves you. He made you! Nobody "gets" you like God does. He knew you before you were born. So why is it that we look to so many other people and things to define who we are?
We get caught up in thinking that if we just had the right husband, house, job, children we would feel better about ourselves and be happy, but the truth is that until we can find our identity in our Creator we will never have that inner joy that we all want so very much.
I am married to one of the most patient, supportive guys around. Really. (It's borderline sickening because he makes me look bad!) I'm not kidding. My sisters even take his side when we're at odds. The thing I love about him is that he would go out of his way to do anything he could to make me happy and most of the time he does. But life has come at me hard at times, as it does to all of us, and there came a point several years ago that I realized that he could not make me happy no matter what he did or was willing to do. I realized that if I looked to him to be my source of joy that he would eventually fail because he is only human like me.
That is when God required me to Get Real. I needed to recognize that my identity is in Christ alone. I needed to know that it didn't matter what the rest of the world thought of me, or did, or didn’t do for me. I had to let it really soak in that I was made in the image of the living God and He alone is my source of joy.
There is freedom in Getting Real and discovering who we are in God. When we stop comparing ourselves to others and get busy discovering what we were created for (because He has a specific purpose for each and every one of us) we find true fulfillment.
When we find out who we are in Christ everyone benefits! We stop putting unnecessary pressure on others to affirm us and as a result our relationships flourish. We start putting on the mind of the One in whose image we were created, and we become more compassionate and kind, more humble and patient, and we live with so much more power to overcome all that life throws at us! (Read Colossians 3:5 – 14 the whole thing is great!)
Verse 10 says: “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him”
These are the things we will be talking about in depth at our conference in January. This is just a teaser!
Get ready girls, to Get Real!!!
Lots of Love,
Tracey and Cynda
DIG DEEP
So here we are...MUG #1 - DIG DEEP
Many years ago, during a particularly difficult time of my life, my pastor said to me, "Tracey, when you come out on the other side of this trial you will be so much stronger." My very spiritual answer to him at the time was, "I was happy being weak".
But now, I'm on the other side...and I am stronger.
Years later I came upon another difficult time. My friends would tell me, "This is going to make you even stronger." I'm not sure what my response to them was, but it was probably along the lines of... "I don't care". (and they are still friends with me!)
Nobody willingly signs up for difficult times or heartache. I don't know anyone that has jumped up and down at the opportunity to grow through pain, but the sooner we embrace the concept, the sooner the healing can begin. God does not just want us to grow, He wants us to thrive! He wants us to be complete.
James Chapter 1 verses 1-4 (Amplified Version)
Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort, or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.
Sometimes, in the wake of suffering or adversity, we are willing to settle for recovering just enough to go on. We underestimate the degree of recovery that we can have! God doesn't want you to just be ok with what you've gone through. He wants to use it. He wants you to be fully developed! Then, we can grab the hand of someone facing similar troubles and walk through it with them, encouraging them along the way.
But how do we get there? That's where the digging comes in. We have to reach down deep inside of us and discover what it is that holds us back. What past hurt we are harboring? What lies have we bought into that make us feel unworthy or not good enough? Is there someone we need to forgive? (whether they want to be forgiven or not!) Have we done something that we are ashamed of, and although we've received God's forgiveness, we haven't forgiven ourselves?
I know what my battles are and have been, but only you can answer the question...
What holds you back?
Let patience have it's perfect work so that you may be FULLY DEVELOPED!
Once we identify those things that have caused the most pain in our life we can identify the very things that will produce the most growth for us (and for others) if we allow them to.
The exciting news is that we are in the process of finalizing details of the PREMIERE of For the Girls International. It will be a conference in January of 2009. We look forward to an amazing time of learning how to grow and THRIVE together! We will be putting all the details on the blog under SCHEDULE as soon as we have everything firmed up.
NEXT MUG...GET REAL!
Lots of Love,
Cynda and Tracey
God speaks in Pier 1!!
Just a quick update and then I'll explain the title...
We have had our paperwork ready to send to the IRS since a week ago. It's quite an involved application. We will be applying to be recognized as a 501 (c) 3 corporation. There is a significant fee for that application, so we have been holding off on sending it. Well, today we found out that, through the support of some wonderful people, the fee in total has been donated and we will be able to get it in the mail by Friday! It's so exciting to see people catching the vision for For the Girls International and we're doing a little victory dance for another step forward.
Now on to Pier 1... Let's just say, when God is looking for me... He knows where to find me! Did you ever have one of those moments when God completely caught you off guard and spoke to you through something seemingly insignificant? I had one of those moments back in May. We were preparing for our first Board of Directors meeting and Cynda and I had been meeting and talking about the vision that God was revealing to us. As we met and prayed, we would talk about some of the foundational elements of the ministry that God was birthing. We talked about how we wanted to go "deeper" with our faith. How we are only interested in what is "true" and "real" about the nature of God and what He requires of us. We would get excited about the "big" vision that He was giving us... sometimes it would seem so big that we would even get a little scared.
One day, while all this was going on, I took a little shopping break. One of my favorite things to do is wander in Pier 1. (It's one of my husband's least favorite things that I do) As I was shopping, I came across a display of four cute mugs. They were all hanging in a row and as I read them I felt something inside me leap. Everything we had been talking about came together and was outlined on those four mugs. Here is what the they said...
DIG DEEP...GET REAL...THINK BIG... and...DON'T PANIC
It may sound crazy, but stay with us here and I promise it will make sense. In the next few posts we are going to share the concepts behind these four foundation blocks of For the Girls International as we move forward with this vision.
Get ready to DIG DEEP!
Lots of Love,
Tracey and Cynda
P.S. Has God ever spoken to you in an unexpected way. Click on the comments below and tell us about it! We'd love to hear from you!
We have had our paperwork ready to send to the IRS since a week ago. It's quite an involved application. We will be applying to be recognized as a 501 (c) 3 corporation. There is a significant fee for that application, so we have been holding off on sending it. Well, today we found out that, through the support of some wonderful people, the fee in total has been donated and we will be able to get it in the mail by Friday! It's so exciting to see people catching the vision for For the Girls International and we're doing a little victory dance for another step forward.
Now on to Pier 1... Let's just say, when God is looking for me... He knows where to find me! Did you ever have one of those moments when God completely caught you off guard and spoke to you through something seemingly insignificant? I had one of those moments back in May. We were preparing for our first Board of Directors meeting and Cynda and I had been meeting and talking about the vision that God was revealing to us. As we met and prayed, we would talk about some of the foundational elements of the ministry that God was birthing. We talked about how we wanted to go "deeper" with our faith. How we are only interested in what is "true" and "real" about the nature of God and what He requires of us. We would get excited about the "big" vision that He was giving us... sometimes it would seem so big that we would even get a little scared.
One day, while all this was going on, I took a little shopping break. One of my favorite things to do is wander in Pier 1. (It's one of my husband's least favorite things that I do) As I was shopping, I came across a display of four cute mugs. They were all hanging in a row and as I read them I felt something inside me leap. Everything we had been talking about came together and was outlined on those four mugs. Here is what the they said...
DIG DEEP...GET REAL...THINK BIG... and...DON'T PANIC
It may sound crazy, but stay with us here and I promise it will make sense. In the next few posts we are going to share the concepts behind these four foundation blocks of For the Girls International as we move forward with this vision.
Get ready to DIG DEEP!
Lots of Love,
Tracey and Cynda
P.S. Has God ever spoken to you in an unexpected way. Click on the comments below and tell us about it! We'd love to hear from you!
Another Milestone!
So the big news this month is that For the Girls International, Inc. was incorporated by the State of Florida as of June 9th 2008! Even though we are not officially meeting yet, there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes. We have assembled a Board of Directors and have an incredibly talented team of women excited about developing FTGI into all we envision it to be. Over time we will be introducing them to you.
Some of the things we have in the works are Quarterly Meetings, Yearly Conferences and Home-based Community Groups around the tri-county area. (Pasco, Pinellas, and Hillsborough in Florida) We are excited about discovering the needs of women in this tri-county area and putting all you talented girls to work to help meet them. With your help we can change the lives of women right here in our backyard for the better and show them God's love in a very real and tangible way! With an eye on future projects, we have made contacts with orphanages and missionaries in several countries that are looking forward to our help, and we believe this is just the tip of iceberg.
As part of our preparation for FTGI, Tracy Weber and I (Tracey Metzger), traveled to N.C. to attend the She Speaks conference put on by Proverbs 31 Ministries.
Lysa TerKeurst of Proverbs 31 Ministries played a major role in confirming the vision for this ministry. You can read about it on my blog. One of the highlights of the conference for me, was during one of the worship segments. The worship leader, a young woman named Lindsey Kane, began to sing an acoustic version of the song "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield… you know the words…you can bop your head while you read them…
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you (my favorite line)
Only you can let it in (my second favorite line)
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten...
It just hit me... here we are…just "staring...at the blank page before us" just waiting to see all the incredible things God is going to do through FTGI.
Some of the things we have in the works are Quarterly Meetings, Yearly Conferences and Home-based Community Groups around the tri-county area. (Pasco, Pinellas, and Hillsborough in Florida) We are excited about discovering the needs of women in this tri-county area and putting all you talented girls to work to help meet them. With your help we can change the lives of women right here in our backyard for the better and show them God's love in a very real and tangible way! With an eye on future projects, we have made contacts with orphanages and missionaries in several countries that are looking forward to our help, and we believe this is just the tip of iceberg.
As part of our preparation for FTGI, Tracy Weber and I (Tracey Metzger), traveled to N.C. to attend the She Speaks conference put on by Proverbs 31 Ministries.
Lysa TerKeurst of Proverbs 31 Ministries played a major role in confirming the vision for this ministry. You can read about it on my blog. One of the highlights of the conference for me, was during one of the worship segments. The worship leader, a young woman named Lindsey Kane, began to sing an acoustic version of the song "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield… you know the words…you can bop your head while you read them…
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you (my favorite line)
Only you can let it in (my second favorite line)
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten...
It just hit me... here we are…just "staring...at the blank page before us" just waiting to see all the incredible things God is going to do through FTGI.
Please be praying with us for the lives that will be touched, the friendships that will be made, the inspiration that will be given, the healing that will be received, the freedom that will be experienced, the love that will be felt and let's not forget... the FUN that will be had!
Lots of Love,
Tracey and Cynda
P.S. We would love to hear from you! If you have never “blogged” before (we’re just learning too) you can add a comment for us by clicking on COMMENTS. It walks you through how to do it. If you have questions about For the Girls International please ask! We welcome your feedback. If you’d like to subscribe to this blog, look at the top right of the page and under Subscribe to this Blog click on Posts.
And we're off...
For the Girls International Inc. has officially gone from a dream to a reality! 2008 has been a busy year of preparation for us so far. We are so excited about the response we have been receiving from the women we have shared the vision with. We took our first trip to New York City to join a team of women at NYSUM (New York School of Urban Ministry) in ministry. 
Cynda and I led worship for the team as we prepared to go out to homeless shelters and women’s shelters in Queens and Brooklyn. The majority of our ministry time was participating in an “Ulitmate Makeover” event at a women’s shelter in Brooklyn.
The residents there were so happy to have us there and we got to individually encourage the women while doing make-up and manicures for them. Who doesn’t love a little pampering? The women soaked in the pampering but also eagerly received our encouragement to them. We wanted to let them know that depsite the circumstances that may have brought them to this place, God has a purpose and a plan for their lives. 
We got to hear about their dreams and encourage them to pursue them. We did a little singing and one of the residents even joined in! It was a great time for them and for us.
Thanks for visiting FTGI. Feel free to scroll down to read our mission statement. For more information about For the Girls International and for booking you can view our profile and keep a lookout on this blog for upcoming events.
God is on the move in a big way in the lives of women and we are thrilled to be part of that movement!
Lots of Love,
Tracey and Cynda
P.S. What's a trip to NY without a little NY Pizza??
For Tracey's personal blog visit http://www.traceymetzger.blogspot.com/
UPCOMING EVENTS
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For the Girls is going INTERNATIONAL for our Girls Night Out! Join us for a stroll through Little Italy. Enjoy the tastes, sights and sounds of Italy as we get together for our quarterly gathering. As always we will have a variety of segments to touch you…body, soul and spirit. You will leave feeling refreshed and ready to move into all that God has for you...!! Also as always you will LAUGH which does your heart good!!
Highlights of the evening will include:
•Great music
•“Everything is All Right!!” message by Tracey Metzger
•A little shopping with Girly Girl Accessories
•Delicious food – Viva Italia!!
•Makeup and Fashion consultant Wendi Braswell of WB Cosmetics
•Fun and surprises!!!!
•Special gift
•Chocolate (goes without saying )
Cost: $20 per person (includes light dinner – Mangia!!)
Bring your mom, your sister, your friends and neighbors and
come out for an inspiring autumn evening with the girls!!
MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE @ http://www.ftgi.org/
For more information contact Tracy Weber
@ 727-243-7198
ABOUT US...
For the Girls International’s mission is to grow a company of women of all ages and walks of life that are not willing to settle for anything less than EVERYTHING that God has for them. We believe that at this particular time in history God is calling women to step out of their comfort zone and relentlessly pursue the dreams that live deep in their hearts. We aim to unlock the power that is fueled by women’s innate capacity to love and nurture, and channel it into a revolutionary movement of women meeting the needs of a hurting world.
We are committed to doing everything we can to awaken women to the amazing potential for greatness that is in each and every one of them. We want to quiet the voices of the media and the culture that define beauty and success by the world’s standards, and shout the message that it is through our relationship with God that we obtain our self worth and discover our destiny and purpose.
We are determined to bring women together in an atmosphere where the focus is on moving forward, not looking back. We are determined to break down the barriers that women sometimes build around themselves and create a sisterhood of women passionate about becoming all that they were created to be, inspiring and cheering each other on along the way. We are determined to finish the race that God has set before us with determination and grace and pave the way for the next generation of amazing women of God.
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
We are committed to doing everything we can to awaken women to the amazing potential for greatness that is in each and every one of them. We want to quiet the voices of the media and the culture that define beauty and success by the world’s standards, and shout the message that it is through our relationship with God that we obtain our self worth and discover our destiny and purpose.
We are determined to bring women together in an atmosphere where the focus is on moving forward, not looking back. We are determined to break down the barriers that women sometimes build around themselves and create a sisterhood of women passionate about becoming all that they were created to be, inspiring and cheering each other on along the way. We are determined to finish the race that God has set before us with determination and grace and pave the way for the next generation of amazing women of God.
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
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