Monday,September 26, 2011--Wapato's WOW-Zine

Wow, it looks like Fall has blown in to our neighborhood! It's a grey, windy day around here, though according to the paper we're supposed to have some more days in the mid 70's later in the week. Make sure you savor every lovely day we get, as who knows when they'll end. In fact, I'm going to provide you with a few good ideas I got from Crosswalk.com on things to do to celebrate Fall. The author of the article is a woman named Bonnie Gray:

10 Fall Outdoor Activities to Grow Closer to God and Each Other

To whet your appetite, I'd like to share my list of Fall Outdoor Activities to Grow Closer to God and to Each Other.

This list can kick start some ideas for families with young children, but I'm counting on you to adapt it for your family's personality, local climate, as well as for the single person.

1.  Biggest Pine Cone Walk (Save the pine cones for home fall decoration that last through to Christmas). Take a walk around your neighborhood and collect pine cones and leaves.  Your bag can fill up quickly, so tell the kids to find the three biggest pine cones or the ones that aren't as cracked/broken.  It is fun to put them in a bowl and the kids love pointing out whose is whose.

2.  Colorful Leaves Collection Walk  Take another walk on a different day to have them collect different colored leaves.  Return home and pick a handful to put up. I am craft challenged, so this is just my simple version showcasing their leaves. I'm sure others of you more crafty have more artistic ideas.

3.  Fly a kite. It's breezy enough. Warning: this requires more running than actual flying.

4. Pack a lunch and go play at a park. It's often very empty and quiet Saturday mornings.  Make sure you put in some treats you usually don't have during the week.  It makes it extra fun.

5. Invite one other family to meet up with your family at the park. Keep it small to encourage "real life" conversations which children will overhear and soak in relational conversations.

Don't those sound like fun ideas? We all realize the rain will be dripping down the back of our necks before we know it, so take advantage of Fall days to spend time outside with family and friends.

This week our new Bible study, The Thursday Perk will meet on (can you guess which day?) Thursday at 9:30 AM for our Bad Girls of the Bible study.  This week we're going to scrutinize the famous Bathing Beauty, Bathsheba. Remember that I said I'd be suggesting something fun to bring or wear to each class, that would tie in with our theme for the night? Well, this week I'd like you to incorporate a bath towel and/or shower accessories into your ensemble for the day. You can use them however you'd like (all in good taste, of course) but let's amp up the fun and see how creative you can get. If you forget, or if you're allergic to having fun, come anyway. A lot of the Common Grounds ladies dressed in towels, robes, shower caps, etc. for our meeting last week. Don't let them show you Perky gals up!

I also said I'd be giving you the Bible passage to read ahead of time, as I want to spend the majority of our time together in discussion and application. So, take ten or fifteen minutes to pull out your Bible between now and Wednesday and read all of II Samuel chapter 11, and chapter 12:1-25. Don't complain about it, just do it!   When you come Thursday morning just bring your Bible and a notebook and pen. That's all you need. There's no book to buy or homework to do, other than reading the story ahead of time. 

 

Those of you in Common Grounds wanted more than a couple days notice of what woman our study would be on and what scripture you need to read. If you're anything like me you'll probably still wait 'til the last minute to read it, but just in case you're one of those ladies who really does want to spread the reading out over several days, I'll give you the information for our study for next Wednesday, October 5th. We will study Eve. Please read the scripture about her found in Genesis 2:15 through all of Chapter 3.

Our free Zumba classes continue to meet four days a week--Mondays and Wednesdays at 4:15, and Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30. This is a great service to the community, as no one offers free exercise classes. So invite your friends, whether they attend Wapato or not, and join us for one or more of the classes.

 

In order to make better use of my time, I've decided to send out this WOW-Zine on Tuesdays, rather than Mondays, beginning next week. Both Common Grounds and The Thursday Perk will be aware of what Bible passage to read more than a week before their respective study, so writing this on Tuesday should not interfere with your ability to be prepared. So when it gets late next Monday night and you haven't heard from me, don't think I've forgotten about you! Look for me the next day. :)

 

Sherrie Ashcraft, Wapato's Women's Ministry Director

sherrieashcraft@yahoo.com   971-285-6699