Living an exclamation mark life! Monday review~!

It's National Punctuation Day (http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/) and I thought that it would be appropriate to encourage you to get living an exclamation mark life! Jesus used the exclamation mark 153 times! (let's see if I can use it that many times in one blog!)

Monday's session was great! We reviewed the elements of the crucified life, and the evening girls got into groups to draw each of the points (see day three of week one homework!)
and the video was amazing.

Hope you're getting into the habit of beginning your days with praise, pouring out confession, pouring out concerns, and then pouring in the Spirit, so as to pour forth the fruit of the Spirit through your day. Spiritual things can be practical! Like she said, it's hard to get to noon not being filled with the Spirit, especially if you have a two-year old! And remember, nothing that sin can give us can outweigh what it takes from us.... give it up, and let God fill those needs instead!

Remember those prayer requests this week, and we'll get those prayer partners out to you soon!
Have a great week in the Word :)
Jen :) (ooh, only used 11 exclamation marks! oh, there's twelve! thirteen! I could go all day....)

Retreat!

We just found that Qwanoes is holding a Women's Retreat-- And it is coming up very soon! Think we can fill a room with TMP ladies there? Whaddya think? If you're interested, contact Melanie on her email or at tmpwomen@gmail.com!

http://www.qwanoes.ca/retreats/womens/

The books are in! And Monday summary~

♫ ♪ THE BOOKS ARE IN, ♫ ♪ THE BOOKS ARE IN!! ----> See me (Jen) dancing! The books are in.... ♫ ♪ both the Christian bookstore and Save-On Woodgrove now have our books in stock, just tell them you're a TMP girl for your copy!

What a great introduction we had on Monday, and I am so thrilled that we've all embarked on this great 10 week journey together! Have you been practicing saying the Fruit of the Spirit in sign language? No, me neither... but I will! What a great call to COME FORTH out of fruitless, inside living, to exclamation point living beyond ourselves! I needed that, and boy, I've been doing just that this week. It's been hugely exciting to speak up and speak out (see my blog if you haven't yet this week), and for the encouragement I've had in doing what I couldn't have done on my own power! It's been crazy good, and that's because He is good, all the time.

Blessings on you as you do your studies this week, which will be much easier now that THE BOOKS ARE IN, ♫ ♪ THE BOOKS ARE IN!!! ♫ ♪

BoOkS aRe IN :)

Well, some of them! At Save-On Woodgrove there are 14 of them now available..,. $21.99. The Christian Bookstore has them still on backorder. If you need the first couple days homework if you are unable to get the book, let me know, and I will get some pages to you until the books come in.

Close, but...

Well, Save-On Foods called Melanie and told her her book was in... BOOK?? Oops, Well, there was a little mistake in their computer, and only one, not fifteen, were ordered... sorry, Girls!

BUT Hurry!! You could be the ONE!! Hehehehee-- can you just see it, all these girls fighting and tugging over the fruit of the Spirit like a Cabbage Patch Doll in 1983?

Thankfully God is good, and we don't have to fight for the fruit of the Spirit! Just the book. (just kidding... don't do that, either.)

Patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit.

---------------------

In case you weren't sent the email, here's the one that went out last week explaining another fabulous option for the book:

Books are all being ordered! :) They will be available soon, so don't go driving "fruitlessly" across town, because yes, they have no bananas ... The best way, if you want to get a head start, is to download your very own copy of the study Living Beyond Yourself, study of the Fruit of the Spirit, with all the videos, for once again, the low, LOW price of only $23.95US...

Save the trip to the bookstore-- order your Bible study in your jammies if you like... we encourage jammie shopping... (or is it jammy? anyways...) IF you order now, we'll throw in ALL the videos from the study! YES, that's right, folks, you get to watch all, yes, ALL the Beth Moore you can handle... from www.lifeway.com/lby Order now! You know we can't do this all day.... okay, we can.

Balancing Act

Magi Cooper will be at First Baptist Church, Nanaimo (1650 Waddington St.) on Saturday September 19 from 9:00am to 4:30pm. She will be speaking on finding balance in an unbalanced life. Cost is $20.... Contact their church office for registration: 250-753-0241

Leadership Summit

Interrupting our little summer hiatus for a quick post---

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer-- we are having a blast!

The Leadership Summit begins today, and I am praying for all of you who are able to attend (I'm not able this year. )

For those of you who are attending, I hope you are taking good notes for the rest of us! I'd love to hear what touched your heart in a way that will affect your roles in leadership. Please place comments of little nuggets of teaching that you've learned at the Summit, and we'll all be blessed!

Happy June!

Gosh, I guess we haven't written in a while... I suppose I've been disconnected to the connections blog! Hope you've been enjoying the beautiful weather that we've been having. (I have, probably why I haven't been blogging as much lately!)

Monday night we finished our Contagious Joy study. What a wonderful time we've had getting to know each other and getting into the Word of God together! :) If you haven't been to a Bible study before, they're so much fun and so encouraging-- hope you'll join us for the next one!

We will return in the fall with a new study. We'll be doing a Beth Moore study beginning again late September.

In the meantime, we were thinking about a book club... anyone interested? :) Email us!

Spring Has Sprung...

...And so have our new Spring Bible studies!

We're well underway and we have so much participation in both studies... it's so encouraging to see so many women getting connected with each other, and into studying the Bible and its truths that God offers us to navigate through this crazy ride called life!

I enjoyed the Esther study so much that I couldn't stay away as we offered it for the morning study.... I'm really enjoying it the second time around too... It's Tough Being a Woman in another woman's shadow, we learned last week, and it's tough when beauty is a treatment, too. How can we be truly beautiful? Psalm 90:17 NKJV says, "And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us." All I gotta say to that is: Bring it on, Lord! :)

It's not too late if you are interested to join an online study of Esther! Just contact me at tmpwomen@gmail.com Watch the videos online and have online chat discussions! Cool, eh?

Contagious Joy: We've studied what it looks like to have joyless living, what our lives look like without joy, and how to reclaim the joy of our salvation in our lives. The joy hasn't left us, it just requires a new way of seeing! We've also read about sorrow.... that we have the promise that, though we may be in sorrow, our joy WILL come in the morning! God is full of surprises! :)

Have a great week, girls, and I am praying for you all like crazy!!
Joyfully,
Jen :)

Happy Easter!

hahaha... when I typed Easter in the title, I typed it "Esther" first! Habit!! :)

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter! New Spring Bible studies are coming April 20! See the side margin for details on them, and I hope that you'll be able to attend!

⁵The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.⁶"He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.⁷"Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you." Matthew 28:5-7 NASB

Monday wrap up!

Morning:
Monday's morning study wrapped up yesterday. We're celebrating our completion with coffee upstairs at a big table at the Buzz next week. Hope you'll be there!
This verse came during the video of Esther, but I think it applies to our discussion yesterday:

After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." Nehemiah 4:14

Girls, we gotta remember who is great and awesome, and fight!! All you girls, you have never been so fiercely in my heart and in my prayers as yesterday. I am fighting for you-- I love you all....

Esther Evening: Yes, oh yes, it's tough being a woman.... Tables are turning, though, and it's so good to know that God's turns our tough situations around for us as we trust Him in them...

"When, because of your faith your life too becomes perceptibly different; when your reactions are quite opposite to what the situation seems to call for and your activities can no longer be explained in terms of your personality; that is when your neighborhood will sit up and take notice. In the eyes of the world, it is not our relationship with Jesus Christ that counts; it is our resemblance to Him." (excerpt from The Queen and I)

I want that.

One more week of Esther-- we are meeting at Oliver Woods next week....

G.P. explained!

I found the answer! :)
Beth Moore, in her videos, has been exclaiming in her Beth-Moorian way, "G.P., are you with me?" We've all been whispering under the video's volume what that could be-- I mean, GirlFriends, is GF after all! G.P. stands for God's Property, and if you've made Him the Lord of your life, then you belong to Him, hence, God's Property :) That's it... carry on, have fun with your homework!

Tuesday Morning :)

I just love Mondays... not everyone can say that, but I do. I just get such a kick out of Bible study-- getting together with girls and talking about God's goodness over coffee and something chocolate. I mean, what more can you ask for? If you missed this session of studies, join us starting April 20. You don't have to be a scholar. You don't have to know it all already. All you need is the desire to connect with other women over coffee and something chocolate and talk about how great God is... and if you don't know how great God is, that's okay too...come find out! God longs for you to know!

Monday morning's study: Plug in! That means, get involved with others... we're built for relationships, and we're all parts of one body working together. All parts of the body are important-- God has a way of using seemingly the weakest parts for His greatest works.

Monday evening: Destinies have taken a turn! :) Every reversal of destiny begins with a step... and it's tough being a woman who feels responsible for the "how", but girls, God knows how!

It's tough being a woman to balance passion with patience, but God longingly waits with you too for just the right time to bring it to pass.

Study well, pray for each other this week... (morning girls, there's an email for you with those requests) As always, Melanie and I are available to serve you-- if you're in need, just let us know :) Oh, and Donna was baptized on Sunday... yipee! yahoo! Praises to Him :)

Monday update

Happy March Madness Day! (I know, I am the only one who cares, I am sure.) Hope you're all having a wonderful, restful Spring Break. Here I am with another Monday recap:

Monday morning, we had a small group. Many were missing because of the break, and illnesses, etc (hope you're all feeling better and able to sleep!) and we talked about offloading our stress, chapter 8. Jesus will carry our burdens if we entrust ourselves to him, and yoke ourselves at His side.

Monday evening, Esther girls learned about peripety and chiastic structure in Chapter 6. It was really awesome. Really. You had to be there, I guess. hehheee... They have to do with a hinge-- in Esther's case, and in ours, a hinge that will change the direction of destiny so as to mirror the opposite of what was.

New studies will begin April 20... stay tuned for announcements! :)

Ta'Anit Esther

FYI for all you Esther students: The fast of Esther, beginning on the 13th of Adar, began on Monday, the 9th of March. Wish I knew that on Monday! Click on the word Wikipedia if you're interested!

Monday in review :)

SNOW!! Yikes.  It was me, Jen, who had the keys and the DVD's for study yesterday morning.  I really thought I might have tried to get there, but then got two phone calls saying not to try it. Hence, the 8am cancellation of the 9:15 study.  I made a few phone calls in addition to the email, all the while trying to bundle my kids to walk to school which was not canceled. (I don't have the complete phone list for the morning study, just called the ones I could find) Everyone I called was quite thankful for the cancelation, but if you were one who was brave and struggled out there only to find a note on the door, I do apologize and thank you for not sending me a nasty email written in MEAN ALL CAPS LETTERS! (must have been that lesson on forgiveness a couple weeks ago!)

The snow stopped for Esther, and we proceeded after a week off last week.  We talked about the importance of knowing when it's time, when it's time to wait, when it's time to wait for someone else's time, and when the meantime is God-time.  If we wait upon the LORD we will renew our strength, (Isaiah 40:31) but if we wait upon the thing we're waiting for, our strength gets depleted.  We get tired of waiting.  So wait upon the LORD! :) 

Have a great week, girls, and don't forget about being grateful! Don't know what I am talking about? Click here!

How Grateful I Am......

We talked this morning in Bible study about discontentment. We're often discontent because our focus is off. We compare our lives with others, and decide that our circumstances dictate our happiness. Instead, we need to focus on the things eternal, the stuff that matters. It's Christ who gives us the strength to be content.

Here's our assignment in conquering discontent, counting your blessings!
Daily post three things (different ones each day) that you are grateful for. We're going to do this for four weeks, and we'll recognize all the little things that God is doing in our lives daily, those things to be thankful for, realizing what we have, not focusing on what we lack. (No comparing your list with others, that would lead to discontent!! hehehe... We will rejoice with those who rejoice instead!) Click the word COMMENTS at the end of the post. If you have trouble posting, email us at tmpwomen@gmail.com and we will post for you.

Feel free to participate in this exercise whether or not you attend the morning study! :)

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. --Philippians 4:11-13

Marching forward....

There we go, a new background :) Happy March, everyone! 

Just reminding Esther girls to have a great week off, catch up on that homework, and see you on the 9th for lesson 5.

Daylight savings time starts next Saturday night, so move those clocks ahead an hour--don't be an hour late for church on Sunday morning!

Miracle of the Moment

Hey Ladies! Well, I thought I might change the background to a more seasonally appropriate one, but then we've had all this snow! This background's staying up for a few more days, at least!

Here's the song again that I played the other night at the Esther study, the song from Day 5, week 4 homework... It's been in my brain all week :)
Enjoy!

Enjoy the snow everyone, and the miracle of the moment!

This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

What a Monday! :)

The weekly Monday recap:

Monday morning we had a house full!

Five kids outside the Underground board room door all having fun and playing while their Mommies learned and shared and connected with other fantastic women.  Big thanks to Lauren K. for babysitting!

Monday morning's Smart Thing #6: Accept Yourself! What a topic... we talked all about our self-images, what and who has shaped that. Then we compared it to what God says about us to be true. The truth: We are His masterpieces, He created us with the dignity of a free will, and God paid dearly for the mere possibility for a relationship with us.

Monday Evening:

Man, the video was AWESOME!!!!  I say that every week because they are, but this time I really mean it. If you've ever been afraid of something, this session's for you.  "You can be brave even though you've had an entire history of chickendom." --Beth Moore.

Session #4: Fear not-- Take courage!!

 "You may be one brave decision away from the most important decision in your entire path." 

 She had us do an exercise in facing fear.  IF____, then _____ .  You know how we do that... what if_____??? 

IF stands for I Fear_____, then ______. Fill in the blank with God will take care of me.

So, IF____, then GOD.  We have to take courage... it's not something we do ourselves, but it's something that God gives us.

If you're not in the study or if you missed it, I highly recommend you download it from www.lifeway.com/women.   Esther's Session 4, If you remain silent. The viewer guide is also available online if you want to take notes.

Just a reminder that the Esther study will not meet next week, March 2.  We'll be back on the 9th....and we'll have our study on April 6 at Oliver Woods, not at Wendy's, as we'd originally planned. We do have the room rented that night! 

Tuesday morning :)

Tuesday mornings are awesome.  Mondays have been spent with all you girls talking, laughing, and passing the Kleenex over all the things God has done for us, is doing, and will do yet still, and it's fun on Tuesdays to go over it all in my brain, resulting usually in a blog or two, either here or over at Jen jots... (stay tuned! I've been mentally blogging all night thanks to too much tiramisu cappuccino at Bible study last night!)  Plus, I love cracking the beginning of the week's homework after watching Beth get all excited about what's about to be revealed to us!

Monday morning, our topic: forgiveness.  Donna Carter defined it, "true forgiveness is the miracle that results when the human will is empowered by divine love." We decided that forgiveness can only be a God thing, that Christ's example of forgiving those who sent Him to die on the cross is both an example in doing forgiveness, and a measuring stick on which to gain a little perspective about how much we've been wronged. 

Monday night: a little gem from Beth Moore-- "God's time is your prime!" You didn't miss the boat, it's not too late to fulfill your destiny. God's timed it right, and though it doesn't look right to you, it looks perfect to God.  I don't know about you, but I needed to hear that.

Study well this week, ladies... I am praying you enjoy some sweet moments with your Saviour...

Happy Valentine's Day

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 3:3

Monday study recap:

Hey all :)

Esther had the week off, hope you're studying, and loving it as much as me.... reminder to all studies to keep lifting each other up in prayer and encouraging each other!

Monday's morning study.... control!

It's been a learning experience this week at least for me, that's for sure! God's been showing example after example in my days how little control I really have over my circumstances, and how much He is in control...and that's so good! :)  He does it so much better.

I loved how Donna Carter said that we have a parade view of life, we just see what is next in line. We can't see around the corner, but God has a bird's eye view of it all and can see the big picture.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 NASB

Reminder for Esther Girls :)

Just a reminder that the Esther study will not meet tomorrow, Monday, February 2!  We'll discuss week 2's homework on the 9th of February!  I'll miss you! Have a great week....

10 Smart Things will meet as usual :)

Weekly Update!

Hey Girls!! :)
I am so excited to announce a third Bible study happening... God's SO good. (if it would let me underline that twelve times, I would have!) :) Thursday nights, 10 Smart Things, with Ilona leading, starting this evening. Contact tmpwomen@gmail.com for details. And, Ilona, we're praying for a crazily blessed night for you all!

I hope you're enjoying Bible study as much as I am!
Some things we learned from Monday:
10 Smart Things: "The way the story ends depends on what you tell yourself in that moment. Telling yourself the objective truth enables you to manage your emotions."

Esther: "You cannot amputate your history from your destiny."

Just a reminder to keep on encouraging each other, enjoy your homework, and keep those prayer requests on your heart this week!

There's a few things that are new to the blog... If you want to be emailed posts as they are posted, sign up at tmpwomen@gmail.com and we'll set you up. Also, you can subscribe to posts if you're on Google Reader or something similar. Just go to "subscribe" at the margin on the right.
In addition, I put the link to Lifeway under the Links section for the Beth Moore resources I keep referring to in study.

Bible studies!

Wow... what a great turnout for both studies yesterday! It's so exciting seeing so many women with a desire to know Him!

Some gems I picked up from yesterday (I went to both. I couldn't help myself, I so love Bible study!):
From Donna Carter's 10 Things: Negative space is as important as filled space; it serves in creating order and rest and focus for the other things.

From Beth Moore's Esther: He's got the whole world in His hands. Why do we think He doesn't have our whole world in His hands?

If you missed yesterday, it's not too late to get involved... just email us, tmpwomen@gmail.com
and let us know!

Oops!

I've been falsely advertising the morning study! The real title to the book is:

Ten Smart Things Women Can Do to Build a Better Life.

A much friendlier title than the one I advertised, I must say! I hope you'll join Melanie this Monday at the Underground!

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”- John 8:31-32

Monday Morning Study

Our Winter/Spring Study will take us down an entirely new path! Canadian speaker/writer, Donna Carter, has penned 10 Smart things women can do to build a better life. What a mouthful and yet who isn’t drawn to the promise of a better life?The course will help us discover valuable tools to help us successfully navigate our day-to day existence. Real-life topics to do with emotions (got any!?), relationships and stress are covered off, among others, with thought-provoking reference to the bible and the power of a transformational relationship with the God who created us and wants us to live life to the fullest.
You will be provided with a Participant’s Guide to be used during our video discussion times, 9:15-11:15 am at the Underground at the cost of $5.00. While there are no homework requirements, this may be a great time to launch in to daily reading of your bible, just like you have always wanted to do!
Please register at the Connections table in the lobby at church or contact Melanie at contactmel@shaw.ca.
Our opening celebration will be held on Sunday, January 18th. All details TBA!

--Melanie

Freshly squeezed

January 8, 2009

I'm double posting this entry from my blog, www.jenjotsthoughtsat.blogspot.com, as I thought it might encourage you today to join one of our studies coming up, or maybe just prompt you to dust off your bible :)

I didn't realize as a kid that not everyone in the world can walk outside their back door in the bright warm morning January sunshine, pick oranges, and juice them to have with breakfast. I thought that was completely normal and insignificant. I know much better now! Trying to teach my kids about California life here this week, I took Keelin and a couple brown Trader Joe's grocery bags out to the yard in search of a great glass of juice. There's absolutely nothing better than real freshly squeezed juice.

We filled our bags with about twenty some-odd oranges and took them inside to juice. We halved them and pressed them onto the citrus juicer. Keelin stuck her finger at one point into the stream of juice from the machine, and said the juice was a bit "sourish."

We poured our glasses of juice. Keelin's first taste prompted her to ask if we could put sugar in it. WHAT?!!??! To suggest such a thing!! Broke my heart! I think it's my fault in a way. At home we buy less expensive Minute Maid from frozen concentrate. Making juice at home in Canada involves opening the can and adding three cans of water. That's even if we buy real juice. Often we have orange punch, which has very little if any orange juice in it, along with other juices mixed in, or completely artificially flavored.

How often do we settle for cheaper artificial or watered down versions of the real thing? Does it happen so often the fake starts to taste more real than the true?

The truth, the real stuff, is sometimes hard to come by, and costs more, but seek it out.... it's amazing!

O taste and see that the LORD is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Psalm 34:8