Humility with a Cup of Soup!

Humility: Coming to God on His terms.
"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 14:11 (memory verse for the month....you are herby challenged to memorize it!)

Our February PEARLS warmed us right up! In my case I was warmed in two ways. 1. You know the uncomfortable sensation you get when you know you have done something wrong? When you have sinned? Pride is a sin. That didn't warm me up, but knowing that God loves me and He is calling me to humble myself and turn to Him. Feeling His arms around me, warms me. 2. A cup of wonderful Broccoli Cheese soup and Cream of Mushroom soup!

We gathered at Linda's beautiful home and opened up with "Alphabet Soup". No, we didn't eat it, we had to pick two alphabet letter and then choose words starting with those letters that described yourself. There were words like vivacious, weird, diligent, waterbaby, exhausted, ready and the list goes on.

Next, Felicia led us in our devotional on humility. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." If we want to experience the revival that God wants to send, then we mus 1. Humble ourselves. 2. Pray. 3. Seek His face, & 4. Turn from our wicked ways. Pride is the opposite of humility and the Bible has a lot to say about it. Proverbs 16:18 is just one of numerous verses. "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." James 4:6 is another, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Why do you think God is so opposed to human pride? Pride causes one to think that God is not needed. Felicia shared the example of two kings in the Bible...Rehoboam and Asa. Rehoboam began his reign in pride, but after being told that God had abandoned him to the hand of the enemy, Rehoboam humbled himself and God did not destroy the people. Asa, on the other hand, started his reign honoring God and then ended it full of pride and rebellion. He was even given the opportunity to humble himself, but chose not to and he died from a severe disease. Both of these kings sinned and both were confronted. Rehoboam decided to humble himself and therefore was restored. Asa chose the way of pride and was ruined.
At the end of the devotional, Felicia and Julie read a list contrasting proud people and humble people. It was then asked what is your pride quotient? God says we must humble ourselves and He is waiting for us with open arms.



Linda then made us all cry...well, mainly she was crying from cutting up at least 6 onions!!!!!! Boy were the tears streaming down her cheeks! Why so many onions? Well, for the delicious soup she was preparing. I will probably not give all the information needed, but I will do my best.

The first thing you have to do is chop all of your veggies. Linda said she just scrubs her veggies really well even carrots. She doesn't peel them because that takes aways some vitamins. Next, pour a little bit of olive oil in the pan to keep the butter from burning. Add one stick of butter for each soup to melt. Then add your veggies to saute them. In another pan make the roux (cream sauce). Melt another stick of butter for this. Then slowly add some flour. Stir the flour for at least 3 minutes to get the starch all dispersed. Slowly add whole milk (Linda likes to use heavy cream). The sauce actually will be very runny once the milk is added. After the veggies have been sauteed, then add the cream sauce. For flavor, Linda added some minced garlic and she uses Kosher salt. I only had the broccoli cheese soup which was excellent, but I know others really enjoyed the Cream of Mushroom! Thanks Linda for sharing those tips with us and for raising our cholesterol:)


The Broccoli Cheese soup also had celery and carrots in it. Cheddar was Linda's choice of cheese.

Everyone watching and anticipating the yummy soup!

Wow! Is this delicious!

Rhonda, Felicia, & Pat warm up with soup and conversation!

Joy & Juanita savor the flavors!

The soup was great and the fellowship was even better! Our next gathering will be Tuesday, March 3 and we will be studying Honesty!

Freshwater

Freshwater is our theme for 2009! It has two meanings. 1. Freshwater PEARLS are fine quality pearls. They are actually on the verge of becoming extinct because of the high demand. We, God's women, are also fine quality, but may we never become extinct. 2. Hosea 10:12 "Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, til He comes and rains righteousness on you." Rains righteousness paints a picture of fresh, clean water coming down on you. It is God's grace washing you, cleansing you. Freshwater is also able to quench your thirst. Drink deeply...because God is going to satisfy your thirst.

Our afternoon begin with an encouragement from Pastor Jeff. We are always glad to have him speak at the kickoff and allow him to see what takes place at PEARLS. After him, Felicia asked us all to share what our favorite refreshing beverage would be. The answers ranged from water, to mountain dew, to even milk! There were a lot of laughs.

Next, JeriAnn shared a devotional on Revival. The analogy was given that we all too often fill up our glass with strength from God, only to pour it out in ministry, relationships, etc and then return to God to get filled up again. What we really should be doing is sitting under the source and allowing God to overflow from our lives. Just like a glass sitting under a faucet. Once filled the water continues to overflow. When we have been busy pouring ourselves out, then it is time to renew, refresh, and revive. Revival can be a little scary. It will cause a person to confess their sins, forgive others, and depend on God. It also brings about hope. It draws you closer to God and allows you to return to your first love. God has always loved us. We are the ones who stray from Him.

Psalm 139 23-24, "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." This year we are going to be searched by God and we are going to search His Word. We are going to study Humility, Honesty, Repentance, Grace, Holiness, Obedience, Clear Conscience, Forgiveness, Sexual Purity, having a Spirit-Filled life, and how to seek God daily. This is not going to be easy for us. God is going to grip our hearts. He will work through 2009! Maybe only one life will be changed. Maybe that will be your life! Maybe every women who comes to PEARLS will be changed. Maybe every heart at RHC! Maybe every life in P'ville! Maybe every life in Wisconsin! Maybe, this will be a world wide revival! Isn't that AWESOME! God is going to Rock our world this year!

Felicia then talked about String of PEARLS which is the mentoring program! Quite a few women signed up for this! Those who did should hear in the next week or two who their mentor is!

Julie led us in a time of prayer! There were prayer cards handed out to help us pray this year.

*Pray that Jesus Christ will become the first love in each heart.

*Pray that you will have an increased desire to read & obey God's Word & to worship Him.

*Pray that any outstanding conflicts would be resolved.

*Pray that any family conflicts represented in your group will be reconciled.

*Pray that you would be set free from any bitterness, anger, & worry & that each life would be characterized by love, forgiveness, & God-centered trust.

*Pray that each one will cultivate a habit of turning to God first when faced with any kind of trial.

*Pray that God will renew your minds.

*Pray that each member of your group would experience true revival as you "Seek Him" together in the days ahead.

It was a great afternoon! Most of the ladies stayed and talked for an hour after the official gathering was finished! We are looking forward to seeking God this year and for His righteousness to rain on us!

Our next gathering is Tuesday, February 3 at Linda's home! Come and join us for Humility with a cup of soup!

The food table! Hot tea and strawberry smoothies were served along with fruit and dark chocolate!

Here is Julie preparing the smoothies.

Felicia explaining String of PEARLS! Titus 2 teaches that the older women should teach the younger women. That is the idea of String of PEARLS.

Fellowship time.
This year there will be a Friendship basket passed around. The idea is for the basket to be filled with something....cookies, loaf of bread, magazines, lotion, something that would encourage the women you will give it to. Then you give it to someone (Felica was the first recipient). They in turn will fill it and give it to someone else! There is a card in the basket so that you can see who has had it and try to give it to someone who has not had it in awhile! Let's do our best to keep this passed around so that we can encourage one another!
Too cute, Felica!

A Godly Woman is....doing service projects!

Since this month was a little bit more labor intensive and more hands on, we did not do a devotional last night so that we could focus on the families that God brought into RHC. We truly did serve those who came.

Let me recap....
Monday night a group of us met at the church to set up backdrops for the photos, put together goodie bags for the families, and make sure the church was presentable for our guests. We had a good time laughing at our inability to put Christmas tree stands together, posing for numerous pictures to see if the backdrop would work, and just being together. Thank you to Tina, Felicia, Rene', Heather R, Jenna, and Karen who all came to work. It made Tuesday night a whole lot easier because you gave up your time! Because my camera was set up to take portraits, I did not take any candid pictures on Tuesday. All the pictures are from Monday night. Setting up the trees that had been in the attic for a couple of years!
Karen and Aaron posing!
What a dangerous job that Felicia had!
Backdrop #1. Rene' working on the spotlights.

Say "Cheese" for the hundredth time! Even after all that work, we ended up changing this backdrop!

Rene' being a good sport and posing once again!

The set up crew!

Tuesday night we arrived a little before 6 to finish setting up and preparing for the families! There was a craft to set up....hand print flower bouquets (they were adorable), refreshments to arrange, and the photographer to set up. Kaci, the photographer from Simply Stated also helped us and she will be printing the photos for the families. Julie M., Heather, Tina, Rhonda, Felicia, & I might have been a little anxious and excited when the first family showed up at 6PM and they were not scheduled until 6:30! I think we were excited about the potential that could come through the door! The first two families did their craft while we all finished setting up and then they had their pictures taken. The next family came a little bit later and did the same. There were three families that came through the church door who had never been there before. There were three families that were loved on and showed that God loves them! There were three families that will now have a family photo...maybe something that had never had or had not done in a long time. There were three families that left the church with goodie bags, (thank you to all who baked cookies, decorated hot chocolate bags, brought candy, or gave money) a devotional book, and a BIBLE! I know one lady thanked Tina for the Bible! What an awesome opportunity that we had! There were 7 families that had signed up, but why only 3...only God knows! Please be praying for those three families!

Let me just share a little about these families.....they were precious! The first family was of 4 little girls and their mom. Three of the girls had the tightest curls I think I have ever seen and some very pretty dresses. They wore precious smiles! The next family had 3 little girls and a boy! Two of the girls had on party dresses...one red and the other white with green. They were sweet. The other little girl had on a jean jacket with the collar flipped up...too cute! In this family, the grandmother came too to be in the picture with her grandchildren, son, & daughter-in-law! Three generations in one picture....priceless! The last family was another single mom who had two little girls and a son a little over a year. The mom mentioned that she didn't have any pictures with her in them since way before the boy had been born. What a nice thing for her to have now. All of these families were unique and all special!

We had originally told the families that they would be given a free 8x10, but because of the money we had already collected, we asked Kaci if we could go ahead and surprise them with more photos so that they can give them to family and friends! Thanks so much to everyone who helped set up, who provided goodies, who gave money, and who prayed for this night! Thank you especially to Heather R. who organized the whole event! I was overwhelmed with the thought of it, but Heather remained cool, exited and in charge!

We will have our 2009 Kickoff January 25 at 3:00PM! I was so blessed by this past year! It is our prayer that you were too and that God was glorified throughout the whole year! If you haven't had the opportunity to join in, please come! It is good for us to fellowship as believers! You have so much to give...all of us can learn from each other! I was blessed, and I am so EXCITED to see what God has in store for PEARLS this next year! We discovered that we are TREASURES....what next?

**** The extra goodie bags will be given to the college students on Sunday!

Discovering Treasures...A Godly woman is Loving!

Tonight we gathered at Leta and Lori's home to fellowship and discuss how to be a loving mother and wife. We started with an ice breaker prepared by Felicia that reminded us how much we have to be thankful for in our life. She had written scripture verses of thanksgiving on leaves, we were to read one and then give a physical thanks and a spiritual thanks. My verse was...1 Thessalonians 5:18, "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." What would be your spiritual and physical thanksgiving praises be?
We then were led by Sue through a devotional of being a loving mother and a submissive wife. The verses she focused on were Proverbs 31:28 & 29, "Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." In this passage, the Godly woman's children honor her and her husband pays a tribute to her. So often we might feel that motherhood is a thankless job and sometimes even a "your a great wife" is hard to come by, but that is not why we love and submit. We do it because we are commanded to love our children, husbands, friends, neighbors, and even enemies, and we are to do even if they don't notice. There is an even greater reward than "thank you" coming someday!!!! Won't that be a great reward! To have our children arise and call us blessed and to hear our husbands say that we surpass others is wonderful, but God will give us a great tribute someday when He says, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
We then spent some time in prayer, praying for our country, our future president, and for us as Christians to be bold in our faith! Please continue to pray for our nation!
Finally, we wrapped up the evening with great pies (pumpkin and pecan apple)!


Picking up our leaves of thanksgiving!


Being thankful for yummy pies!



Sharing and fellowship!

Our last PEARLS for 2008 will be held Tuesday, December 2 at the church! This will be a service project led by Heather R. We will be offering a "Family Picture" Night where underprivileged families in our community can come, get their picture taken, enjoy some goodies, and receive a family picture all for free. The details are still in the making and I will get them to you as soon as they are finalized. There will be lots to do from baking goodies, taking pictures, interacting with the families, setting up and tearing down. This is a great way to get people into our church and a great way to love on them! I'll send out details soon!

Treasure Quest

Our 2008 PEARLS retreat was held at beautiful Bethel Horizons in their Barn Retreat Center. It was a spacious building that could hold up to 25 people and it was nice to know that we almost outgrew it! 19 ladies from RHC attended the retreat along with our speaker Fran. The setting was nice and quiet and the scenery was beautiful!

L: The Barn Retreat where we ate, slept, and grew in wisdom.
R: This was the view Saturday morning...the air was cool and crisp, but the sight was breathtaking!

This year we went on a Treasure Quest to continue to help us discover the treasures that God has for us as women. Our verse was Proverbs 31:26 "Out of her mouth comes wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue."

We began the evening with a delicious meal of stuffed shells, salad, bread, and a "Treasure Quest" retreat would not be complete without a "Treasure Chest" cake! It was delicious and the cupcakes had yummy "treasures" inside of them! Thanks, Julie, for your creativity and effort!


We then had a time of praise and worship followed by Fran sharing her testimony. Fran was asked to be our speaker because of her testimony as a Godly woman, her years of growth and wisdom, and her involvement in mentoring younger women. She shared with us about her family, marriage, acceptance of Christ, growth as a Christian, and how God worked in various areas of her life. She also shared marriage and parenting insights that were very interesting and helpful.



After this time of sharing, we had a Treasure Hunt! The ladies were divided up into three groups and given scripture verses to look up to lead them to their next clue or verse. For example....Proverbs 21:9 "It is better to live on the corner of the roof than in a house with a quarrelsome wife." This clue led them to the rooftop where there might be this clue..."Deuteronomy 23:12 "Designate a place outside the camp where you can go and relieve yourself." This led them to the bathroom. Finally, after some funny moments one group found the treasure!

L: Felica and Rene working on their "chicken" signal so that they could locate each other when searching for clues!
R: Stephanie and Rhonda heading to their next clue.

L:Julie looks like she can't find the clue...it would help if the right verse was written down:)
R: Fran, Karen, & Aaron enjoy some fellowship time.

So...how many women can you fit in a bathroom at one time?

Friday evening ended with yummy snacks and great fellowship! There were lots of late night conversations and friendships being made!

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Saturday morning dawned bright and cold! We took from 7:30 to 9:00 (even though some were up a long time before 7) to have some quiet time with God and enjoy the scenery surrounding us!

Juanita enjoying the beautiful morning and God's word!

Then we started the morning off by singing some beautiful songs written to glorify God. Julie led us in our praise time and then we were taught some more truth by Fran.


Fran started by reaffirming that the most important wisdom is from the Bible. The definition of wisdom is the understanding of what is true, right, & lasting...which the only thing that is all of those is God! There is worldly wisdom which exalts self and not the Creator and then there is Godly wisdom which is pure, peace loving, and willing to yield to others. Fran shared quite a few scriptures that discuss wisdom from God. She focused on the Proverbs 31 passage and shared an interesting tidbit about that passage. It was probably memorized by most if not all Jewish women and then recited on the eve of every Sabbath. That passage of truth is very important in the life of women!
Fran then went on to share that she is a seamstress, and so she used the analogy of making a garment. She called it "Garment of Marriage". It takes a lifetime to construct and you have to make adjustments to make it a perfect fit. You need a pattern...friend, lover, giver and then you need to piece it together using God as the underlying that will sustain the garment.
Another great analogy that Fran used was in relationships think of the cross. God is the vertical beam of the cross. He is what holds everything up and together. The horizontal beam is your relationship with others. Without the vertical, the horizontal will not stand.
Fran finished up by talking about time. We need to make time for God, self, husband, and others. Time is so hard to come by and most of us feel like we need more of it in a day, but it is so important in relationships to take the time to listen, care, and learn.
I'm sure there is more that Fran shared that I am forgetting, but feel free to talk to any lady that attended to hear what they took home from Fran's words of wisdom!

Fran's talk was then wrapped up with prayer time in small groups! Everyone in the group took time to share requests and then pray for one another. One group really had the Spirit working since they almost prayed all the way through brunch! The rest of us were enjoying devouring the delicious food that had been prepared! Thank you to everyone who brought food and shared some great recipes with us.


L: Heather, Rhonda, & Shelia.
R: Karen (holding Aaron), Juanita, Mary, & Stephanie.

Lori, Rene, Angie, Felicia, & Felica.

After brunch, Fran spent some time sharing with us her mentoring experiences, including both being a mentor and a mentee. She talked about how one-on-one time is very important, but that at least connecting in someway, whether phone, email, or briefly in person, should happen every week if at all possible. She shared with us about how other women had encouraged her and mentored her in the Word and in life circumstances. In return, she has had the opportunity to be a part of numerous college girls' lives and other younger women.

We then had Felica share about what it has been like for her to be mentored for two years, and Tina shared what it is like to be a mentor. Our String of PEARLS program is set up so that an older woman gets the opportunity to share in a younger woman's life for a year! It is based off of Titus 2 where the older women are instructed to teach the younger women to love their husbands and take care of their children, and most importantly to love God. If you are interested in being mentored, then see Felicia.

Our retreat went really fast, but I believe each lady took home a "treasure" from this "quest". It was a great time of sharing, encouragement, and growth! We look forward to another retreat next year!


Front Row: Fran, Shelia, Juanita, Heather, Angie, Lori
Second Row: Rene, Julie, Karen, Rebecca, Felica, Kim, Linda, Tina, Mary
Top Row: Stephanie, Rhonda, Felicia
Not pictured: JeriAnn

Our next PEARLS is Tuesday, November 4th (Don't forget to vote before coming to PEARLS!) at Leta & Lori's home! Hope to see you there!

Discovering Treasures...A Godly Woman is Creative

Our God is the most creative being ever! He created the moon, stars, sun, plants, animals, us! He paints beautiful sunsets every day! He shaped the mountains to stick out in the sky! He creates new hearts in us...sinners! He is definitely creative! Heather S. led our devotional tonight and reminded us that God is the original masterpiece of everything! He gave us Jesus, yet Jesus was before even the created. God is AWESOME!

Proverbs 31:24 "She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes." This woman was creative. She used the creativity that God gave her to benefit her family. God has made all of us creative as well. Tonight, we spent some time using that creativity by creating scrapbook pages. Felica helped us bring out that creativity by sharing her supplies, ideas, and techniques with us! If any of you are interested in scrapbooking...see Felica!

We started the night by sharing why we chose the pictures we did to scrapbook. Can you figure out who brought pictures of their kids???? Can you guess who brought engagement pictures to put in their scrapbook????? Can you figure out who brought vacation pictures???

It was a fun night that gave us an opportunity to see how we can book together memories in a unique way. Maybe scrapbooking is not your thing, but God did make you creative, so ask Him to show you your creativeness and use it to glorify Him!


Felica showing Felicia how to layout her pictures!
All of us working diligently to show off our creativity!

Discovering Treasures...A Godly Woman is Elegant

What a beautiful blessing of a night! God was so go to us to give us the beautiful evening to fellowship! Twenty-Four of us gathered tonight to learn that a Godly woman is Elegant! Yes, we made the evening elegant and dressed up, but that is not what makes us elegant Godly woman! Proverbs 31:22, "She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple." Felicia led the devotional and pointed out that the excellent woman was elegant in her home and in her person. Felicia read a story that told about visiting someone's home and God being in everything in that home, whether it was the color of the wall, the decorations, the people. The presence of God was there. That is how we make our homes elegant...not by the materialistic things that are in them, but God who is in them. Also, our appearance should be elegant. Not all the time. The Proverbs 31 woman spent her day being busy...she bought a field, planted a vineyard, helped the poor, sewed, made meals, etc...not every minute was she dressed elegantly, but when the time came, her appearance reflected elegance...fine linen and purple. Felicia reminded us that we don't have to be perfect...wear the right things or have a home made for HGTV, but we do need to have God written on every aspect of our life!

For those who could not make it, we missed you! It was an awesome time to get to know some new ladies, fellowship with old friends, and be in God's beauty. We started the evening by finding someone who had the same as you....Did you know that both Rhonda and Leta get up at 3:3o am!!!!! Did you know that Juanita & JeriAnn (that's me:) do not have middle names. Did you know that Julie and Sue are the same age. Did you know that Heather and Leanne have the same number in their family (yes, they are in the same family:). After the devotional from Felicia, we then had some great food! Thanks to those who brought food...Hannah, Glenda, Rhonda, Julie & Felicia. Special thanks to Julie H. and Amber who did an awesome job decorating their tables. It was so much fun to be dressed up and to sit down to fine china! What an awesome night! Glad you could make it!!! Thanks to those who cleaned up! That, too, was a blessing!

What a beautiful group of women!!!!

Everyone enjoying the beautiful evening!

Yes, those bouquets are corn tassels:)



"Tea time" table arranged Julie H.
"Paris" Table set up by Amber!

Our next PEARLS is Tuesday, September 2! Be watching for details!!!!!