Movie Night....Friday, Sept 12th

I hope that you all enjoyed a wonderful summer with all your family and friends. I don’t know about you, but I thought that the summer came and went way too fast. I can’t believe that those of us who have children are already getting up and getting the kids off.

One of the summer events for many of the women of the church this year was to head down to St. Louis for the Women of Faith conference. I believe that it was a fun weekend for all those who went. The messages were challenging and if you wanted to hear the Lord speak to you and were listening, then you would have heard Him telling you something.

This summer, my family and I had the joy of traveling east to Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and NJ. While in Lancaster we enjoyed watching Sights and Sounds wonderful production of “”In the Beginning”. I picked up a DVD of their past showing of the life of Ruth.

Ladies, bring your own drinks, popcorn, or snacks to the church at 7 PM this Friday night (Sept. 12th) where I will be showing this film for one an all to enjoy. I encourage you to bring your friends, nieces, daughters, and also any unsaved friends you may have. You will not be disappointed. The movie runs 130 minutes and so we will aim to be started by 7 PM. It will be over a little after 9 PM.

I hope you all will put this on your calendar and plan to attend.

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For other News: I am sorry to announce that after praying about it all summer long, I have decided to no longer head up the Women of Grace program. Instead I plan on working along side of Regina to sporadically plan some evenings throughout the year.

Due to Jamie’s families obligations, she was unable to run it either, and so we felt we needed to discontinue this ministries as it was at this time. It was my joy and privilege to be a part of this ministry and hope we can still enjoy some future fellowships together as women

May Meeting....

It was another wonderful evening with the ladies attending....we had 14 ladies present, including our special speaker from Bloomington.

We had a little mix up, and so we winged it a little....changing the original plans around a bit. We started our craft, had our speaker begin a little, got our meal and ate while she shared with us, and then finished the evening up with our craft. 

Fellowship around the table is always great, but it is an extra bonus when it includes delicious food.
What's with the look, Jessica?   Oh, okay, I will take the picture before you put your salad into your mouth. 

Well, look at that pretty smile.  Thank you, Jill!  
Uh, oh!  I got Sondra off guard and got a surprise look!

The food was great.  Thank you Sondra for the yummy artichoke chicken, Kari for the green salad, Curta for the Roma Noodle salad, Charity for the bean/carrot/mushroom dish, Mavis for the corn, and Sandy and Valerie for dessert.  It was so good!

Our speaker, Julie Ryan, gave us a wonderful message regarding mentoring.  She began with a question....What if?  What if you took the opportunity to mentor another woman, what would you be able to see in that person's life one year later?

She shared a story of driving in the fog, unable to see.   Suddenly a car passes you by, and now in your view are his tail lights.  Your speed can now increase from 15 to 25, because someone is going before you, leading the way.

Julie shared 4 truths with us regarding Mentorship:

1)  It is a type of spiritual parenting

2)  It is a Biblical mandate given to all women from Titus

      We were challenged to live a life that another woman could emulate.

3) It is best accomplished through modeling

     She shared the example of the mentor relationship between Naomi and her daughter-in-laws, but how Ruth insisted on staying with Naomi even if it meant leaving her own country.

    Another scriptural example of mentoring was Mary and Elizabeth.    Did you ever consider the impact Elizabeth had on Mary's life during those first 6 difficult months of being pregnant unmarried?

4)  It is not looking for perfection but availability and obedience.

She challenged us with the question, "Who needs your encouragement??????"

She shared an illustration from Carol Kent, who began her early days in wanting to impress her guest when they came for her house, but would get all stressed out on her husband and son.   One day she shared this struggle with a woman she was trying to mentor.  The mentoree's response was that because Carol was open with her struggles, she finally felt like she could relate since she too struggled.  

We don't need to be perfect to mentor others.  In fact, perfectionism leads to always being right, fear, anger, frustration, control, judging, doubt, pressure, destination, and taking not giving.

Mentoring is a life-on-life ministry.  It involves risk and letting someone see who you really are.  (1 Thessalonians 2:8)

She left us with a rock reminding us that when it is thrown in the water, it has a rippling effect and asked us to pray and consider whether the Lord is calling us to mentor someone, or be mentored.

We then worked on our craft.....which involved stickers, pictures, and a bit of folding of paper.
The women worked diligently and most were able to complete and bring home finished projects.
It was a relaxing evening, and there was a lot of good fellowship around the table while everyone was working.

I would personally like to give a thanks to all of you ladies.  It was a wonderful year, and I was deeply touched by the card, 2 rose bushes, and hands garden/bird feeder.  It was a complete surprise to me, and I am grateful for your kindness.

I wish you all a wonderful summer vacation and do visit here when you can in the summer.  I will try to let you know what to expect when we begin again in the fall.  I will also try to post about the group that heads to St. Louis for the Women of Faith conference in June.

May 16th Meal.....

Sondra has so graciously accepted the challenge of preparing for us her wonderful artichoke chicken.  If you have never had this before, this indeed, is a yummy dish.

Kari has volunteered to bring a mixed green salad with a tray for the choice selections of what you may wish to put on your salad greens.

Charity volunteered to bring a green bean, carrot, and mushroom dish.

We are in need of a fancy salad, two vegetable dishes, and two desserts.

Depending on how many sign-up, we may need more, but according to what we have seen all year, this would be adequate enough food.

Anyone out there who is planning on coming, able to help with the meal?

Pick up your newsletter!!

We have copies of our newsletter for you to have to invite others to our last Women of Grace meeting of this season, on Friday, May 16th.   We will have a special meal, special speaker, and special craft.  We will begin at 6 PM and conclude our meeting at 9 PM.  Pick up your copies ASAP.

The newsletter gives information regarding our meeting and photo and biography on our speaker, Julie Ryan.

Here is a more indepth biography on our speaker: Julie Ryan is a native of Keokuk, Iowa and grew up in the Bloomington Normal area. She is a graduate of University High School and Lincoln Christian College where she received her degree in Business and Ministry Leadership.

Julie met her husband, Tim, at a campus ministry at Illinois State University, where she was taking some classes, and later married him in June of 1983. Julie became a mother two years later to their first daughter, Heather.

Just before Heather’s first birthday, Tim and Julie packed up their small family and headed to Hawaii for missionary training with Youth With a Mission (YWAM). They spent three months on the big island in training and two months in the Fiji Islands, doing ministry among the Fijian and Indian people.

Upon returning from Fiji, Tim, Julie and Heather settled in the suburbs of Chicago and attended Willow Creek Community Church.. While in this area, Julie developed a passion for mentoring and encouraging other women, as she lead a women’s small group. After their second daughter, Beth, was born, the Ryans again returned to the Bloomington Normal area. A few years later, Tim and Julie’s third daughter, Amy was born.

Julie continued raising her children and valuing the process of raising them up in the Lord together with her husband. A deep value of homemaking, and being focused on her marriage and children continued to develop.  

Along with that, Julie continued to lead and develop ministry for women by establishing a women’s small group ministry in their growing local church. Being involved in various areas of leading women has been a pattern and passion for Julie over the past 20 years. She has also helped to begin mentoring programs for women in various churches, including the one she currently attends. Julie serves as the Director of Women’s Ministries at the Evangelical Free Church of Bloomington Normal, where she oversees eight major areas of ministry to women and over 200 volunteers. One of the areas of ministry to women that Julie has developed, along with her team, is the Single Mom’s Morning Out, an outreach event that has ministered to hundreds of Central Illinois single moms and their children in the past four years.
Julie also writes for an online newsletter called Mentoring Matters, and speaks passionately on the topics of mentoring, raising children to love and honor God, marriage, household organization, evangelism, and our identity and worth in Christ.

The Ryans have seen their children grow up and leave the “nest”. Currently all three daughters are serving and doing various ministry and missionary work in Indonesia and Taiwan.

*Remember a comment means a prize at the May meeting when you attend.