Lawton First Assembly

4 spring/summer 2017 Lawton First Assembly Women's Magazine Women's Pastor Debbie Pratt Assistant Bethany Kuehny Art Director Heather Chatterjee Editorial Assistant Sallie Koll Editorial Assistant Ashley Ghrayyeb Publishing Consultant Laura Clevenger Contributors Shannon Carter, Sarah Roberts Sarah Everitt, Michaela Dowen, Samantha Austin, Patricia Helton, Deborah King, Bridgette Tomlin, bettycrocker.com, kidsgardening.org Advertising Opportunities (580) 536-9325 E-mail: girlfriends@lawtonfi rst.org G-Life Magazine Lawton First Assembly of God 2201 N.W. 82nd Street, Lawton, OK 73505 G-Life magazine is published by Lawton First Assembly. It is distributed free of charge throughout Southwest Oklahoma. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without written permission. G-Life magazine is not responsible for statements made by advertisers or writers. We make every eff ort to ensure the accuracy of information we print, but cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from omissions or errors. All photography and letters sent to G-Life magazine will be treated unconditionally, assigned for publication and copyright purposes and are subject to unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially. For information on where to fi nd G-Life magazine, or how to become a distributor, call (580) 536-9325 or e-mail girlfriends@lawtonfi rst.org. Copyright 2017 by Lawton First Assembly. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is forbidden. Comments and suggestions are welcome. Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchaser, user, or patronage. ©Lawton First Assembly 2017 All Rights Reserved Volume 11, Number 1 girlfriends@lawtonfi rst.org lawtonfi rst.org/girlfriends facebook.com/lfagirlfriends twitter.com/lfagirlfriends Connect With Us W elcome to GLIFE! If you are reading GLIFE for the fi rst time, WELCOME! If you have been a faithful reader of GLIFE, THANK YOU! e article that I have written for this GLIFE issue, called Four Eventful Decades of Marriage, gives you a glimpse into the story of how Gary and I met and the fact that we have enjoyed 40 years of marriage. We are certain that without God's intervention in both of our lives, our story would have ended up in a very diff erent way, and we could have been part of the growing statistics in our world today of failed marriages. About 10 years ago, God began to work in our hearts concerning a more concentrated ministry to marriages. For over 20 years, our ministry focus was to the Single Adult and Single Parent Families. For years, we witnessed the breakdown of the family and saw the fragments of lives shattered by divorce. We began to pray and ask God to show us what He wanted us to do to help couples navigate their way through their struggles and bumps in the road. In our research, we came across the NAME Center, which stands for National Association of Marriage Enhancement, an organization that is internationally recognized. To make a long story short, with the vision of our Senior Pastor and the Board of Deacons at LFA, we opened the LFA NAME Center on March 4, 2013. Since then we have seen marriages restored, families reunited, and foundations laid for stronger, healthier marriages. To GOD BE THE GLORY! If you or someone you know needs help navigating through some marital diffi culties, please feel free to call our offi ces at 580.536.9325. LFA NAME CENTER: Restoring, building, and saving marriages. e National Association of Marriage Enhancement (NAME) Center is a network serving in the United States and globally to address a serious problem— the breakdown of the family. e LFA NAME Center joins this cause, restoring, building, and saving marriages through FREE couple to couple coaching sessions with our trained, volunteer NAME Certifi ed Marriage Specialists. Visit http:// lawtonfi rst.org/name to fi nd out more about what the NAME network is doing for churches, communities, and our nation. Living and Loving Life! GRATEFUL! ■ welcome Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ~ 1 John 4:7-8

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