Monday, November 30, 2015 WOW-Zine

Welcome to as-close-as-you-can-get to December without it being December! This is a busy month for most of us, with lots of things going on in our homes, as well as plenty to participate in with church events. I hope you're able to attend several of our activities.

This Saturday is the long-awaited WOW Christmas party--The Joy of Christmas. The dinner and party begin at the Rusaw's at 6 PM. (An optional cookie exchange will begin there at 5 PM. Bring 2 dozen cookies and an extra empty tray to pile your selections on to take home.) Car pooling is heavily suggested, so if you'd like to do that, meet behind the church at 5:30. We'll leave from there no later than 5:40. (Please bring slippers/socks to wear inside.)

We're asking that everyone bring a favorite food for our dinner. Please sign up with what you'd like to bring at http://www.perfectpotluck.com/meals.php?t=FXCY2214
Wear some Christmas finery and bring a $10 present for our gift exchange. It will be a casual, relaxing evening with friends. Remember, our women's events are for those girls who are seniors in high school, and above. Your men and children will need to fend for themselves that evening!

After taking a break for Thanksgiving, our women's Bible studies will resume this Thursday. The Perk meets at 9:30 AM at the church. Nicole P. is bringing snacks, and we do have childcare available. Thursday evening at 6:30 at the church Common Grounds will meet. We don't have childcare for the night meeting, but we DO have goodies, brought to us this week by Lauren. Feel free to join us at any time!

Please remember to pray for Carol Fones, who has been in ICU at St. Vincent's with extremely high (nearly 1000!) blood sugar levels. She is doing better today with her numbers lowering to around 225, though that is still way above normal. 

Thanks to those of you who looked through the Lost and Found box at church yesterday, and also checked out the dishes, etc. that have been left in the kitchen. I think you still have a chance to go through them this week, but after that they'll have somehow found their way to the Gaston Food Bank. 

And a big thanks to those of you who came out Saturday morning to decorate the church for Christmas. Your help made a big difference!

Until next week,
Sherrie Ashcraft, Women's Ministry Director
sherrieashcraft@gmail.com     971-285-6699

I hope you all know how truly grateful I am for each one of you. I'm thankful for the many friendships I have, for the way we're able to support and encourage each other, and for all the opportunities we have to "do life" together.

Even though we'll all probably eat too much tomorrow, realize you'll most likely be hungry again by Saturday morning, and nothing but Janet's cinnamon rolls will be able to satisfy! Bring your own hot drink  (we'll provide the goodies) and meet us at the church at 10 AM to transform it into a beautiful space in which to celebrate the meaning of Christmas throughout the month of December. 

Coming up the following Saturday, December 5th, is our WOW Christmas party. This year our theme is The Joy of Christmas. 

If you'd like to participate in the cookie exchange at 5 PM, bring two dozen of your favorite cookies and an extra tray. Our dinner and party will begin at 6 PM. Both events will be at Amy Rusaw's. Wear some Christmas finery (how fine is completely up to you), and bring a favorite Christmas food item. To make sure we don't get an overload of sweets, please check what is needed and sign up at 

http://www.PerfectPotluck.com/meals.php/t=FXCY2214

Are you missing any dishes, bowls, baking dishes, etc? There are several items that have been left behind in the church kitchen. Counter space is very limited there, as you know, so if things aren't claimed in the next week or two they will be given to the Gaston Food Bank. The same is true for items that are in the Lost and Found box by the sound booth. Please check to see if anything of yours has been misplaced. 

The combined 4s, 5s, and Kindergarten Sunday School class (which averages around 14 children each week) is in need of another teacher or two to help out in that class. It only takes one week a month, so you're still able to be in the main service most of the time, but have the opportunity to serve each month. Let Janet know if you're able to fill that need. 

Both The Perk and Common Grounds (women's Bible studies) will resume next Thursday. Nicole P. is bringing treats to The Perk at 9:30 AM, and at this point no one has signed up for Common Grounds at 6:30. Let me know (contact info is always at the end of the WOW-Zines) if you'd like to provide a treat for that. If not, it certainly won't hurt us to not have something to go along with our tea and coffee!

Until next week,

Sherrie Ashcraft, Women's Ministry Director

sherrieashcraft@gmail.com     971-285-6699

Tuesday, November 17, 2015 WOW-Zine

Good morning! It's been nearly a month since I last sent out a WOW-Zine, so it's time to get you caught up on a couple of things. Thanks so much for your prayers for my brother Daniel as he fights prostate cancer. He has a really rough road ahead of him, but is so thankful that he doesn't walk through this alone. It was my special joy to be in Southern California with him and his wife during this time. But it's certainly good to be back with you now!

Here are some up-coming dates to keep in mind:

Saturday, November 28th, 10 AM--Do you love to decorate for Christmas? Here's your chance to get a head start on doing so. Join us at the church to to help make it look festive for the Christmas season. I'm good at dragging out boxes of decorations from the closet, but not much else. So I'll do the grunt work and you can do the beautification part! Please bring your own hot drink.

Saturday, December 5th, at the Rusaw's--Women's Christmas Party--The Joy of Christmas!
Don ye now your favorite Christmas apparel, bring a wrapped $10 favorite gift, and your favorite Christmas food for our potluck. (A link to PerfectPotluck will be available next week, so we can make sure we have a savory combination of main dishes and sweets.) Please bring slippers or socks to wear inside. 
Time: 5 PM for Cookie Exchange at Amy's--bring 2 dozen of your favorite Christmas cookies, along with an extra tray.
Time: 6 PM for the party. Carpooling is encouraged. We will meet behind the church at 5:30 for riding together to the party. 

It was great to be back for our Bible studies last week. This week Carol R. has signed up to bring treats for Thursday morning at 9:30, and Anita for Thursday night at 6:30. We will not meet next week due to Thanksgiving. We almost finished Colossians 
chapter 1 last week!In verse 24 Paul talks about the suffering of Christ and we had a good discussion about the suffering we experience in this life. I shared some things I'd gotten from desiringgod.org, talking about Christian suffering. A quote from a guy named David Powlison spoke to our hearts, and that's what I'll leave you with today. He said:

When you've passed through your own fiery trials, and found God to be true to what he says, you have real help to offer. You have firsthand experience of both his sustaining grace and his purposeful design. He has kept you through pain; he has reshaped you more into his image. What you are experiencing from God, you can give away in increasing measure to others. You are learning both the tenderness and the clarity necessary to help sanctify another person's deepest distress.

Until next time,
Sherrie Ashcraft, Women's Ministry Director
sherrieashcraft@gmail.com     971-285-6699