The Delight of Loving My Husband

Love is _
This was the question that Felicia started our evening off with on Tuesday night. How do you define love? Some of the answer were...
Love is...
a verb
blind


unconditional
patient
Love me tender (From Julie M. who shares the same b-day as Elvis!)

February is the month of love, but we did not purposely plan the devotional theme of the month. We just fell on chapter 2 of Feminine Appeal which is "The Delight of Loving My Husband".

Julie M. led us in the devotional about loving our husbands. She began by asking if we had any embarrassing moments when dating our husbands. If you weren't there, then I guess you missed out on the laughs.

We looked at Titus 2:4, "Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands..." The word love in this passage is actually phileo which is used to describe love between close friends. In Feminine Appeal it is described as "a tender, affectionate, passionate kind of love. It emphasizes enjoyment and respect in a relationship." Is this how we love our husbands?

Are we enjoying our husbands or are we busy serving our husbands? We need to Prize him, Cherish him, & Enjoy him. Think of some ways that you can do that today!











We then had the opportunity to learn Calligraphy which means "Beautiful writing" from a friend of Felicia's. Shelly lives in Belmont, and she & her husband work at a jewelry store in town. She has been doing calligraphy for over 30 years and does a great job. Probably the most important thing she taught was to hold your pencil/pen at a 45 degree angle to help get the thin and thick parts of the letters. She gave some other helpful hints like placing a lined sheet of paper and cardboard under the paper or envelope that you are writing on to keep the words straight and so that you don't tear the paper. She went around to each of us and looked over our writing and gave us some tips to make it easier. There were definitely those ladies who got it! Check out Meliza's handwork! Awesome!




































Pray for our birthday beauties of the month and encourage them in any way you can.
Amy M ~ Feb. 1
Sue K. ~ Feb. 12
Becka M. ~ Feb. 15
Bev H. ~ Feb. 17
JeriAnn ~ Feb. 21

Our next gathering will be Tuesday, March 2 hosted by Karen. We will be learning about skin care and "The Blessings of Loving my children."

Remember to let Felicia know who you are pairing up with for String of PEARLS! Don't miss a great opportunity to be a part of another woman's life!

Beauty Mark

Where did 2009 go? I have no idea, but I am excited about 2010 and our theme for this year, "Beauty Mark". We don't just casually pick themes. We seek out ideas, we laugh, we debate, and we pray! That is what led us to this year's theme. There are really 4 themes that you will hear about throughout the year, but all go back to Beauty Mark.
1. A Beauty Mark is usually defined as a dark mole on the face which is considered an attractive feature. Our ultimate Beauty Mark is described in 1 Peter 3:4, "Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." As Christians, our Beauty Mark is the gentle and quiet spirit.
2. Mirrors! How often do we look in mirrors? We are women, right? We look LOTS! This year we handed out compact mirrors with the 1 Peter scripture verse written on the mirror. The whole idea is that you see the God's word and not yourself! You see what He desires you to be...a gentle and quiet spirit.
3. Pink!!!!! We are women and we are beautiful in God's sight! Pink is definitely a girl color! We want to be excited that God made us women and He made us unique!
4. Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney! This is an AWESOME book! Mrs. Mahaney has broken down Titus 2:4 for all women to learn from! Titus 2 instructs older women to teach the younger women how to love their husbands & children, to be pure, self-controlled, kind, busy at home, and subject to their husbands! This is very applicable to all of us! Even if you are a "younger" woman, there are still younger women or girls under you! Share God's truth with them too!




Our afternoon did begin with Pastor Jeff giving us words of encouragement! This is one of the few times we allow a man to come amongst us during PEARLS...mainly I think because they don't want to be in a room full of women:) We are thankful that Jeff came and shared with us.

We also had to go around the room and share one quality trait that we each admired in a Godly woman. Words like, gracious, selfless, guarding of her tongue were all used plus many more.

The Birthday Beauties were honored with a great singing of "Happy Birthday". The Beauties this month were Leta, Julie M., Mary M., & Rhonda. Happy Birthday, Ladies! Pray for these women this month as they celebrate another year of life that God has given them!




It was a great time to be together, to cast the vision for 2010, eat yummy desserts, and to just catch up again! One thing that is slightly different this year is the String of PEARLS mentoring. In the past three years, we have come to realize that there is a need among our women for relationships that may be outside the older woman/younger woman...more like a friend to friend. Titus 2 clearly instructs older women teaching younger, but there are also many "one another commands" like encourage one another, pray for one another. Some of you need a friend...a listening ear. Others need a prayer partner or accountability partner. While some of you desire mentoring by an older woman. Whatever your need is, the PEARLS leadership team wants to see the women of this church actively involved in each others lives...teaching, training, equipping, encouraging, studying God's word, sewing, cooking, cleaning...growing in faith & obedience. So, this year the responsibility is on you. We want you to seek out that friend, peer, older woman to form a purposeful relationship with this year. We ask that you do three things 1. Use the Feminine Appeal book as your guide. You may choose to do a Bible study as well. 2. When you have committed to a woman, please let us know so we can keep you accountable and have the men of the church pray for you. 3. If you want a relationship, but are unsure who to ask, we are more than happy to help connect you with someone...just ask. Don't miss out on the blessings of being involved in each others lives!

If you really can't be involved in the String of PEARLS program then please, still pick up a Feminine Appeal book! This is an EXCELLENT book and will still guide you through biblical lessons in life. The book is $10.














Remember, ladies, Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and GOD IS WATCHING YOU!








Our next gathering is Tuesday, February 2 at 6:30 PM at Rhonda's home! We will be studying "Loving our husbands" and learning how to do Calligraphy. Hope you all can make it!

Freshwater Retreat

Hosea 10:12 "Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, til he comes and rains righteousness on you."

The 2009 PEARLS retreat finally arrived! We had 21 ladies and two baby boys attend this year!
Once everyone found their room, we began our evening by filling our stomachs with great Chili, White Chili, and Chicken Noodle Soup with all the toppings and GREAT desserts! I can't think of a better way to begin:)

Our gathering time began with Felicia passing out packages of M&Ms (plain & peanut). Those who took plain later found out that they could only use 1 word to describe their self, while those with peanut M&Ms could use 5 words! Let's just say that it was hard for some to only say one word, while others had a hard time coming up with 5 words. It brought lots of laughter and warmed up the room (which you can tell by the pictures was a little chilly at first). During every session we spent some time in worship led by Heather H. & Stephanie. Thanks, ladies for taking care of the music.

Our speaker for the weekend was Wendy H. from Green Bay. Wendy's connection to RHC was partly through her son Peter who attended while he was in college. We were so excited to have Wendy come and share. She worked hard to study through the book (more than once), and did a great job expounding on some of the key topics. Wendy has a passion for studying the scriptures and teaching them to other women and it showed through the sessions she prepared. God used her words to share His truth to us.

The first session came from Psalm 69 and she titled it "Portrait of a Woman Who Seeks God". She broke the Psalm into 7 different parts describing a woman of God.
1. She seeks God as her salvation.
2. She is hated without cause.
3. She confesses her sin.
4. She cares about the spiritual welfare of other believers.
5. She knows and depends on the character of God.
6. She trusts God to be just.
7. While yet in trouble, she anticipates the salvation of God and praises Him for it.

After Wendy painted that picture for us we took a break, changed into our Bible costumes, played some crazy games and carved pumpkins (Check out the book The Pumpkin Patch Parable for a great teaching tool of salvation).
Those who dressed up (back row L-R):Wendy (Pillar of salt), Joy (Woman who killed Sisera w/ a tent peg), Rachel (Plague of Frogs), Julie M. (Martha), Abbie (Roman Soldier), JeriAnn (Rainbow), Maggie (Angel), Heather H. (Mary, Martha, Ruth...any woman in the Bible), Juanita (Peter)

Front Row: Lori (black socks = sin, red pants =Christ's blood, white shirt=washed white as snow), Julie J. (new man), Felicia (Nehemiah), Stephanie (Angel), Rhonda (Queen Esther).

Others who were there: Julie H., Dani, Karen, Heather R., Ellie, Jenna, Sue

Our first game was to represent "Freshwater" and was a water guzzling relay! There was lots of cheering and the one team won hands down with more people.

Next, the ladies carved pumpkins and boy were they creative.

This group was the winning group with their "Freshwater" pumpkin. They carved the clouds and then used toothpicks to hold the seeds or "rain" into the pumpkin. Pretty creative!

As everyone was finishing up carving, the ladies had the opportunity to try "bowling with gourds" ...

and seed spitting.

After a fun night, some sat around and chatted for awhile, but eventually everyone was in bed shortly after midnight! We all needed some rest to be refreshed for the day!

Saturday dawned cold, cloudy and a little windy, but the sun did eventually shine. We began with session 2: Discussion group on Humility. We divided into small groups and read through Luke 18:9-14 which is the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector. This is a great passage on humility and pride, and verse 14 summarizes the end result well..."Everyone who exalts himself will be judged, but he who humbles himself will be justified."

Session 3 was a quiet time on Honesty and "Two coverings". Genesis 3:6-13 is the passage where Adam & Eve realize that they are naked and hide from God then lie to God. Wendy reminded us that when we are aware of our sin we often try to cover our faults and failures on our own. Through this passage we see man's inadequate attempt to cover sin and God's adequate covering (Jesus' death). We also read through Psalm 32:1-5 which is a writing of David where he tired to cover his sin by keeping silent and this only caused "wasting away". When he acknowledged it before God then he became blessed because his sin was covered.

Session 4 was on the Holiness of God from Psalm 99. Wendy divided it into 3 sections...

1. Worship our Holy God (1-5)

2. Relationship with God (6-8)

See Ephesians 1:1-8

3. Learn to reflect holiness in your conduct

See 1 Peter 1:14-16 * Read scriptures with a God-centered perspective not man centered.

We talked about the character or work of God and man's responsibility.

Our last session of the day was on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. John 16:7 says, "However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say, it is profitable-good, expedient, advantageous - for you that I go away. Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you - into close fellowship with you. But if I go away, I will send Him to you - to be in close fellowship with you." Amplified Bible

We went through the definitions of the words that are used to describe the Holy Spirit and it was a great reminder that God promises us that He will never leave us or forsake us and that the Holy Spirit is that promise.

This blog doesn't even begin to touch the tip of the iceberg of what happened this weekend. Everyone came with their own problems and difficulties in life. God never promised that it would be easy to follow Him. God did promise that He would always be with us and He was there at the Freshwater Retreat! It is up to us to hold our cup under Him, The Source, and allow His love to overflow from us keeping us full and never drained of Him!

Thanks to Wendy for teaching and for her friend Rachel to drive her down from Green Bay! Thanks to Julie M. for all of the meal organizing and thank you to all who brought food! It was a great time and am looking forward to next year!

Accessories Swap

Sexual Purity: The Joy of Moral Freedom
1 Thessalonians 4:3 "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality."

It was a very windy night, but a group of us gathered anyway to hear God's truth and to help rid our closets of unwanted items while others snatched up the opportunity to have something new.

We began our evening by sharing something that we are thankful for this year that we did not have last year. Since our group was fairly young with quite a few newlyweds, that was one of the common (yet exciting) answers! Others were thankful for new friends or new jobs.

Next, Julie M. led us in a time of being in God's word and reflection on how to stay pure whether single or married. She shared a story dealing with her & Craig's family and how an affair caused great harm to not just the couple, but to extended family, church members, and a close-knit community. A lot of the discussion focused on the "making it personal" part of chapter 10. A key point was that "Every Christian needs to be intentional about safeguarding his/her heart and mind against immorality." There were 12 principles for sexual purity that were discussed.

1. Recognize your potential for moral failure. (1 Cor. 10:12)

2. Realize that you don't have to give in. (1 Cor. 10:13)

3.Resolve to stay pure. (1 Peter 1:13-15)

4. Remove all bitterness. (Hebrews 12:15-16)

5. Restrain your fleshly desires. (Romans 12:14)

6. Reject anything that could lead you into moral bondage. (Proverbs 7:7-9)

7. Run from every form of evil. (2 Timothy 2:22)

8. Renew your mind with the Word of God. (Philippians 4:8)

9. Recruit help. (James 5:16)

10. Remember the consequences. (James 1:14-15)

11. Refuse to remain in defeat and depression. (Proverbs 24:16a)

12. Rely on the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5:16)

Unmarried or Married, Satan still will try to persuade you that it is ok to disobey God's command on sexual purity. We need to stay in His word, be on our knees, and encourage one another!

The second part of our evening involved shopping!!!!! Juanita and Meliza did a great job putting together our accessories store! Thanks to all you brought in their unwanted jewelry, purses, shoes, and scarves for this event! I believe everyone had a great time browsing over the items and I even heard a few ladies doing their Christmas shopping! $44 was received to go toward helping someone attend the retreat and lots of ladies now have new accessories!

The evening finished up with apple pie and apple crisp with ice cream, hot chocolate, and hot cider! What a fun way to spend a windy and cold evening!

Heather and Ashley enjoy some of the yummy food!

Don't forget about the Freshwater Retreat on October 30 & 31! Registrations must be in by Sunday, October 25, but the sooner the better!

We will not meet in November because of the retreat being so late in October! Watch for details about Decembers gathering!