We have a women's group at my church, SWAT Serving, Working, Active Together. Something like that. Anyways, there's a group of us that our leaders, maybe 5 of us and each month we put together a newsletter. Last month I was asked to write monthly editorial regarding singleness, since the leader of the women's group is our pastor's wife and she wanted there to be something for the married women and then remembered (thankfully) the single women in our church. So, I know I have been horrible about updating my blog but at least now there will be at least 1 post a month and here's the first one...


Hello friends!
I’ve been asked to begin writing a column for the women’s newsletter geared towards our single women. But, no worries ‘married gals’ I think you all will enjoy my thoughts, as well. I wanted to use this first editorial as a way of letting you all know who I am. Many of you know me so I’ll try to be creative and share things y’all probably don’t know about me. It’s always fun to play reporter, so here goes:

Who are you?
Bethany Michelle Croney.

What will you be sharing each month in the newsletter?
Well, I really started praying about it once I decided I’d write each month. I didn’t want to just randomly write stuff and it makes me nervous when I don’t have a specific thing to write about so thankfully, as I was praying God really gave me a vision for what my editorial would consist of each month.

So, what are you going to write about?
Hold your horses. You haven’t event asked me about myself.

Um, ok…How old are you?
I turned 24 at the end of March.

What are you doing here in Modesto?
I graduated from Fresno State last May and was led to move back here to my hometown to direct a ministry house on the West Side of Modesto. Right now I’ve been living with my mom to help her out but soon I’ll be moving back in. Right now the hope is that one day the house will be a leadership development program in which young people will move in for an allotted amount of time in which they will be developed as Christian leaders in our community.
For now I am serving at our church in the homeless ministry on Tuesdays as well as networking with different organizations and folks in the area, finding places where God is at work with the least of these.

What is your favorite verse?
I think my favorite verse changes often, depending upon my mood, my situation, etc. But for now it is Ephesians 3:16-19
I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
I LOVE the imagery of this verse. Rooted in love. Could you imagine that? That your very foundation is love, everything about you (your actions, words, what you buy, etc.) comes from those roots of love which comes from CHRIST! Good stuff.

Okay, now back to the editorial…what is your subject?
I LOVE to read. Last summer I read a book called Dating Jesus: A story of fundamentalism, Feminism and the American Girl by Susan Campbell. This book is my inspiration. Y’all should read it! Anyways, Pastor Chuck and I have this on-going joke about setting me up for an arranged marriage. Pastor is supposed to be searching for the guy right now and once he’s found him we’ll plan the wedding and voila! Despite our joking we believe that arranged marriages can work, especially if both are sold out to Jesus and willing to allow Him to work out any kinks, just like He should be allowed to do in a dating relationship and into a marriage. As I was thinking about my own relationship with Jesus I feel as if Jesus and I had a bit of an arranged marriage. I used to say that I was born and raised in the church. Whenever those doors were open I was there. So, in a sense I was “forced” * into this relationship with Jesus. (*I rarely complained about going to church and even if I did I would have gone anyways. My mom used to tell my cousin that he didn’t have to go to church, he got to.) There was no discussion about my attendance in church, just like there’s no discussion with the women and men in the Middle East who turn 16 and are married up. But I had to decide whether this was really for me. I had to decide if I was going to make my faith my own or live off my mother’s faith.
Jesus and I had a tumultuous relationship at times. I was always a good girl; didn’t complain about going to church, did what I was told, served in the youth group, led bible study, etc. but there were moments in which I was just going through the motions. Doing whatever it took to keep everyone happy. And then college happened. As I left I remember being told not to let them ruin me, don’t let that liberal college take away your religion. It did the exact opposite. After 2 years of resisting and continuing to go through the motions God pushed me into InterVarsity (IV), where I met a Jesus who became real to me for the very first time. I had spent so many years living with a man who I never really looked at. I knew him, I knew he was there but I had never really been intimate with him. I had never looked past myself to REALLY get to know him, just glimpses here and there. But IV revealed a God who cared not only about me but about the whole world and wanted ME to care about that world too. I’m sure I’ll share more about this journey throughout the next several months so I’ll stop here with this part of my story.
I was thinking about all of this stuff as I was considering what I could write about for you all and I ended up talking to a good friend who goes on dates with Jesus. She takes a day, or a few hours at least once a month in which she sets aside for her and Jesus. This isn’t supposed to take the place of your daily times with Jesus but as all you married gals know your husband (nor you!) would be okay with just seeing each other day in and day out without setting aside some time just for you and he to get away, catch up with each other, enjoy one another’s company without the distraction of everyday life. So, that is what I’ll be sharing each month with you all. You all will be a kind of accountability group, if you will. I’ll go on my date with Jesus each month and report back to you all how it went! And I pray that through my experiences you all (singles and married) will also begin taking time to go out with Jesus. There really is enough of Him to go around 
I’m excited about what God has in store for the women of MFWB! I pray that you will be challenged, provoked and moved by something I may share and please, please feel free to share your feedback with me. Trust me, you will not agree with everything I say. And guess what! That’s okay! We don’t all have to agree on everything. You may (ok, you probably will) disagree with me at times and that is really okay too. I love peaceful dialogue so feel free to come and talk with me about anything you have questions about each month. I look forward to being with each of you every month, so be sure to make a good cup of coffee next June as you sit down to read the women’s newsletter!
Shalom,
Bethany Croney