Women's Ministry

Meet the Sheep

This month we'd like to get to know Maureen McMahon a little better...
 
I was raised in a normal, middle class Catholic family. I have one brother and two sisters, and we all got along well (as I can remember). I went to Catholic grade school, but I didn’t learn that our God loves us and forgives our sins. I couldn’t understand mass, and confession made it feel like I had more sins that I really had.

We moved from Pasadena to Orange County, where I attended Villa Park High School. A couple years after I graduated, I met this guy named Randy. We were married a year later!

We wanted to find a church where we both felt comfortable, but we hadn’t found the Lord yet because we didn’t know where to search. Some friends told us about Teen Challenge, a ministry for people on drugs and alcohol…but we didn’t use either one. Once a week we would go there to hear testimonies at Teen Challenge, and one night we came home from an altar call at Teen Challenge and accepted the Lord together. Thank You, Jesus!

This all happened 3 months after we were married, and then we began going to Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. Instantly, we were in the Jesus Movement!

Two years later we had a beautiful daughter named Shawna, but she died 6 months later of a bad heart. You are never prepared for something like this, but praise the Lord we had Jesus in our lives. It was still hard, but we knew she was in heaven and the Lord had a reason for calling her to be with Him.

Not too much later, we lost a baby because of a miscarriage, but we tried again and the Lord gave us our son Noah. We were very excited, but soon after he was born, we found he had a bad kidney. Fortunately, surgery fixed the problem, and Noah is still with us and doing great!

We thought maybe the Lord was leading us to adoption for our next baby, but it was very hard to find a baby. Then one day we were approached by friends who introduced us to a pastor who was counseling a young pregnant girl who wanted to place her baby for adoption. Before we knew it, we had a precious little daughter, Tara.

Many things have happened in our lives, and if we didn’t know God’s love for us, our lives would have been horrible. But we have now walked with Jesus for almost 55 years, and I have been so blessed.

Now our lives are filled with four grandchildren…Landon, Sydney, Luke, and Shawna (named after the daughter we lost).

Prayer

Email us at livingword@calvarylivingword with any prayer requests. Our women's prayer team will lift you up in prayer. Women's Prayer currently meets Mondays from 11am-12pm at Jennifer Glenn's house in Costa Mesa (please contact her at 714-697-9413 for the location). Come pray, be prayed over, and be blessed!

Connect

Life can get crazy - If you need help or would like to speak with one of our women in leadership, please contact the church office. 
Additional information available at the signup table on Sunday mornings.
Homework for each week will be posted here.

Monthly Devotional

By Elizabeth Downard
From Living Daily in the Word: Devotions by the Ladies of Calvary Chapel Living Word (2013)

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:2)
"Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105)

My friends, Claudia and Allen, love to camp in exotic places. They also enjoy reading numerous books on how to stay safe while camping. On their honeymoon, they decided to camp in the Serengeti. They drove their Jeep about 100 miles into the park before stopping for the night and setting up their tent. In the morning they got up and unzipped the tent. Not ten feet away was a pride of lions sitting under a tree watching them! They talked about what they should do and decided they should make a run for it to the Jeep. They knew it would be the safest thing to do, but they would have to leave their tent and supplies behind.

Thankfully, they made it to the Jeep safely! Just like Claudia and Allen meditated on their camping books, we need to be meditating on the Word of God. We need to be "students" of the Bible. Scripture gives us clear guidance and direction, and it gives us wisdom in every area of our lives. We can be prepared for anything that comes our way. So when you have to run from that spiritual pride of lions, be confident that His Word will be "a lamp to your feet and a light unto your path."