Welcome to Tax Day 2011. What a way to start the week, with not only it being a Monday, but the day taxes are due this year. And who knows what else is going on in your life today? Perhaps you and your husband had an argument before he took off for work. Maybe you yelled at the kids on their way to school. Or the household pet left an odoriferous surprise in the middle of the kitchen floor for you to discover first thing this morning. Whatever happened, your day may not have gotten off to the perfect start you wished it to have. The fact of the matter is that life rarely goes perfectly. It's designed to have ups and downs that challenge us in our response to what happens. But in Psalm 118:24, the writer says, "This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." That's so easy to do when everything is going our way. But on those other kind of days, the ones where life is throwing us curve balls, we have a decision to make: grumble or rejoice. It's oh, so easy, to do the grumbling. We can do that without even thinking about it. But to choose to rejoice shows a woman of real character. We've seen over and over in our study this year that we always have a decision that must be made--will we simply react to things based on our emotions, or will we make that difficult choice to obey God in every circumstance. Even on Monday mornings!
I'm hoping three more of you will choose to be part of the mini-retreat here at Ashberry Lane the weekend of May 13th and 14th. You can read more about it in past editions of the WOW-Zine, but a brief synopsis is as follows:
Where: Ashberry Lane (my house at 24090 Wapato Sch. Rd in
Gaston)
When: Friday, May 12th, potluck dinner at 6 PM, through late Saturday afternoon.
What: A Beth Moore video series entitled Loving Well. This is the same material we used at our beach retreat in March.
Why: So those of you who couldn't make it in March will have the opportunity to have the same teaching that the rest of us did. Plus, it's a great change-of-pace, and a wonderful way to get better acquainted with other women.
Cost: Only $20. Checks may be made out to Wapato Valley Church
Please let me know as soon as possible if you'll be able to make it. So far I have Nicole P, Nicole C, Carla, Carol, Kyndra, Laurie, and Cathy F that have said they're coming. I'd love to add you to the list!
We don't have Common Grounds this week, but mark it on your calendar for Wednesday, April 27th at 6:30 at the church. We had a great time together last week, as we discussed the Biblical mandate to choose to put rest in our lives. It's a hard thing to do, isn't it? But so very important. Pastor Rick Warren, who wrote The Purpose-Driven Life, encourages us to:
Divert daily--choose a temporary mental, emotional, or physical diversion to do each day. It may only be for 5 or 10 minutes, but can be very refreshing.
Withdraw weekly--take time each week to draw back from your busy life. It might only be for an hour or so, but it gives your soul time to be refreshed. The point is to practice this discipline every week.
Abandon annually--plan a real vacation, even if it has to be close to home. Find a way for your whole family to have a change of pace.
Movie Night is headed your way on Saturday, May 14th, at Ashberry Lane. This will happen right on the heels of finishing the mini-retreat. We'll start at 7 PM with snacks and visiting, and start the movie by 7:30. As soon as I figure it out, I'll let you know what we'll be watching!
Our final meeting for Common Grounds will be on May 11th, which is two weeks earlier than originally scheduled. It turns out that I have the opportunity to get away from town for a few days and experience a little rest, and I'd like to take advantage of that. So on Wednesday, May 11th we will meet at 6 PM at the church for our end-of-the-year potluck. Bring something to share with everyone and we'll eat together, then finish our last session of Self Talk, Soul Talk. At that time I'll also be able to announce some of the activities we'll enjoy this summer, and then our new study for Common Grounds will start again in September. Don't miss out on any of the fun!
Sherrie Ashcraft, Women's Ministry Director
sherrieashcraft@yahoo.com 971-285-6699
Ohhh My up and done by 9am!! I am impressed!!! U are such a fantastic leader and on task!!! Now to go read ;)
ReplyDeleteI may have the second comment, but at least I read it! ;oP I was tempted to just rush and write a comment but I got scolded for doing that before. haha...
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the "withdraw weekly" items- that was helpful. I'll put the movie night on my schedule and mark the last day of CG. Have a great day, ya'll!
Ooh, ooh, Chrissy--so good to hear from you. I'm glad i was able to impress you right of the bat!
ReplyDeleteAnd good job actually reading it, Amy! You're very teachable! Glad you liked the reminders from the study.
Yes, you really win then Amy!! but I did read all of it sherrie just so you know ;) what ending common grounds early??!! just no way!! >that will actualy work great for me, baesball season is in full bloom then anyhow!! Plus you need a getaway for you, you deserve it!! your girls tea pics are soo cute from last week.. I just am so out of the loop!! wont be at movie night either.. man.. this is just a busy time of year..I did have a great am.. its sunny + blue skies in oregon in spring!! that is AWESOME makes my day anytime the sun shows up here!!
ReplyDeleteOh yes I agree with the divert daily, withdraw weekly and abandon annually. We did our first ever stay home vacation during this past spring break. We had already told everyone we would be out of town. We ended up not going on our vacation and stayed home for it. We were able to just enjoy each other in our own house. I had always thought that wouldn't work. However, it worked great. The kids slept much better since it was their own bed and own home. So I would encourage that as an option for the abandon annually and encourage a different pace at home.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've got a super busy schedule going on, Chrissy. I sure hope you can make it to our last few Common Grounds. We all miss you when you're not there!
ReplyDeleteLaurie, great comments. I'm sure that's an encouragement to other women who have mixed feelings about staying home for vacation. I mean, if you still have to do cleaning and cooking, that's not much of a break for the mom. Did you mix that up in some way, so that you actually got a break too?