Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Happy First Day of School to many of you! I'm sure it was a busy morning trying to get your kiddos up, fed, and out the door with great attitudes (both theirs and yours!) early this morning. Congratulations on doing it!

Does the first day of school feel like the first day of a new year to you? Even though I'm a grandma and a great-grandma, it still feels that way to me. I want to get things planned out, cleaned out, and carried out. Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time cleaning out desk drawers and organizing my desk top. No, the fact that I was desperately seeking a misplaced item had nothing to do with that! I'm sure I would have taken on that task anyway. (Yeah, right!)

The hiatus we've been on for the past several weeks will soon be over, and our Women's Ministry will be geared up and ready to go. Two weeks from tomorrow, Wednesday, September 17th, Common Grounds will resume, followed by The Perk on Thursday morning, the 18th. I'm really excited about the new study we'll start with this year, called God is Just not Fair. (You can punctuate that however you best see fit!) This study will deal with how to find hope when life doesn't make sense. We've had a lot of that going on in our community over recent weeks--things happening that break our hearts and make us wonder why God allows them. I'm not saying you'll get answers to every question you have during our time together, but I think it will help each of us as we struggle with "real life." We are in great need of a teenage girl who can assist with childcare for Thursday mornings. We've used three home schooled girls over the past couple years, but all of them are unavailable this year. So if you know of a reliable young woman who can be an assistant to the Mom in Charge (MIC) this year, please let me know right away. (There is a small remuneration each week.) It's such a blessing for our mothers to have childcare provided and only have to be in charge of it every now and then. 

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

Tuesday, August 26, 2014 WOW-Zine

Happy Last Week Before School Starts! I imagine a lot of you have a lot of things you'd like to fit in during these last few days. If a Beach Day is on your (sand)bucket list, have I got the opportunity for you! This Wednesday morning a group of us are meeting at my house at 10:30 and heading over to the Road's End area of Lincoln City. You know the routine--bring your kiddos, lunch, all the stuff you need for an afternoon at the beach. Right now the weather report is calling for a high of 68 that day, with a mixture of sun and clouds. That's perfect sunburn weather, so be sure to bring the sunscreen! If you're coming, please let me know so we don't leave without you if you're running a few minutes late. 

Both of our women's Bible studies will be resuming in September. Common Grounds will start up again on Wednesday evening, September 17th, and The Perk will meet on Thursday morning the 18th. Every year we end up with different women in the studies due to changes in schedules and commitments. I really hope you'll plan ahead to be a regular attender at one of these. Next week I'll let you know what we'll be studying. 

Here's a closing thought for you, ladies.

Embrace Your Freedom Fully Today Holley, 2014-08-20 10:30 Dear You, We often picture God’s will for our lives like a thin, definitive line. A tightrope we must walk carefully and with the utmost caution. One wrong step and we’ll surely fall. And when we do, we’ll mess up our future forever. But when we come to know Jesus, our life is not a tightrope but a wide, open space of grace. We have so much room to breathe, to grow, to learn. God knows we are human. He knows we will take detours, face obstacles, and make mistakes. If he were committed to using only those of us who never stray, then no human would ever be part of his plan. The fear of not getting it just right can paralyze us. We stand with our toes on that imaginary tightrope, perfectly still, and we miss out on so much of what could be. We miss the invitation from the One calling us to his side. You are made to move in grace—not to be held in place by fear. You are guided by love and by a God who can redirect you as many times as needed. You only need to be willing to follow where he wants you to go. He will do the rest. Life is meant to be a glorious adventure, not a continual test in which one slipup means you fail. It’s okay to move forward, my friend. It’s okay to try something and see how it goes. If it works and God affirms it, do more of it. If it doesn’t, simply try something else. You’re not made to walk a tightrope. You’re made to dance. And it’s not about getting the steps right. Instead it’s all about being close to your partner. Until next week, Sherrie Ashcraft, Women's Ministry Director sherrieashcraft@gmail.com    971-285-6699

Tuesay, August 19, 2014 WOW-Zine

Hello, friends! It seems like forever since I last stopped by for a visit. I've been on vacation for the past two weeks, and the days were packed. I attended a memorial service at Trillium Lake by Mt. Hood, which was in honor of an Ashberry Lane author who died a year ago. Her books are set in Scotland and her family had a bagpiper there in her honor. It was a wonderful experience to get to celebrate her life. Then it was right to the Oregon Christian Writers Summer Conference at Jantzen Beach, where Christina and I were the recipients of a Cascade Award for our book, On the Threshold. After four days of conference I was off for a week-long camping trip with John up by Mt. Rainier. We had a wonderful time relaxing plus doing a lot of hiking. Home for one night before taking off to the coast with my folks last weekend and celebrating Mom's 84th birthday. So lots of good things happening in my life. But now it's time to settle down and appreciate the "normal" life the Lord has called me to.

We're still on hiatus from our Bible studies, but they'll be resuming the middle of September. It will sure be nice to be back together again, won't it?

In the meantime, is anyone interested in getting together for a beach day? For the past three years we've gone to Rockaway, but I'm thinking it would be nice to change that up. (Most of you know I like change!) What about heading out Lincoln City way? I found a neat spot there on vacation (North Fogarty Beach) but it's several miles south of L. C. and is probably too far. But what about going to Lands End, there on the north side of town? I know we're running out of time before Labor Day and the start of school, but what about Wednesday, the 27th? This would be for moms and kids. Let me know if you want to go, as I don't want to go by myself! If no one has time to do this, I understand, and we just won't have a beach day this year.

Your Women's Ministry Team will be meeting the beginning of September to plan events for the coming year. Let me know if you have any suggestions, or if you might like to be on the team. 

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

Friday, July 25, 2014 WOW-Zine

I know, it's not my usual Tuesday. I have a feeling I'm going to be a little more relaxed on getting these WOW-Zines out to you during our Bible study hiatus. So they will be appearing in your inbox at random times over the next several weeks.

This coming Thursday, July 31st, we're having a pool party at Aimee L's for women and children. It will begin at 11:30 with lunch together. Aimee is providing drinks and meat, but the rest of us need to "step up to the plate"--ha ha) and bring condiments, side dishes, and desserts. Feel free to invite your friends to join us. In order for Aimee to know how much meat to have on hand, please let her know if you're coming, how many in your group, and what you'll be providing.  Aimee's address is 2320 26th Ave. in Forest Grove. Her phone number, if you want to text or call your response to her is 971-256-2844, and her email is Chahunmak@hotmail.com. We're hoping to have a good turn out for this relaxing event. Try to let her know no later than next Tuesday. 

The Sizzle, which is Wapato's big outreach to the community, is coming Sunday, August 17th, with worship service, lunch, and fun booths (everything's free!) at Brown Park. Women's Ministry always runs the Cupcake Walk, which last year morphed into the Cookie Walk, which makes it much easier to handle. l will be out of town that day, so need to have things organized as soon ahead of time as possible. 

I'd like to have twelve of you bring 2 dozen cookies for that. I currently have Laura C., Debbie, Janet, Stephanie, Cindy, Kristen S., and Susan signed up for that. Would five more of you let me know you could make cookies and bring them that morning?

I also need two women to run the booth, and have that set up in 30-minute slots. The Cookie Walk will run from 11 AM to 2 PM. I have a few ladies who have signed up, but still need an additional worker at the following times: 11-11:30; 11:30-12; 12-12:30; and 1:30-2. I need two workers for the 12:30-1 slot. Please let me know if you can fill any of those.

Here's a good thought from Jennifer Rothschild's blog today:

You Messed Up Today? Good!

You messed up today? Good! Me too! Too often those slips up and “wish-I-didn’t-do-that” moments can send us down a spiral of thinking that makes us wonder if we’re enough. Am I cute enough? Am I thin enough? Am I successful enough? It’s all in a quest to know if I’m… enough.

Those questions are way too familiar to me. How about you? I have too much pride to ask them out loud, but believe me… I ask them silently to myself all the time.

Why is that?

According to the General Social Survey, which has tracked Americans’ mood since 1972, women are becoming increasingly less happy.

Though there are several variables, I think one big reason is women’s self-imposed drive to be good enough, cute enough, thin enough, and the list goes on and on. As woman, we crave not only to be enough… we place expectations on ourselves to be perfect. 

Decades ago, women kept house, reared kids, shopped, cooked, volunteered and juggled lots of other tasks.  Today, women keep house, rear kids, shop, cook, work full time, work out (or feel guilty for not working out),  run car pools,  run a small business, run marathons, volunteer and lots of women do all this plus a buzzillion other invisible things as single moms!

But, instead of women lowering their standards with the increased demands, we’ve actually raised the standard.

We’ve defined success not as just getting things done. We’ve defined success as getting things done perfectly.

You messed up today? Good! Me too. 
[Click to Tweet]

We feel the pressure to look perfect, do our work perfectly, and have the perfect home and perfect family. Consequently, we tend to beat ourselves up when things aren’t “perfect” in our relationships.  If we gain ten pounds we think we are ugly and unkempt.  If we don’t perform perfectly at work, we can feel like failures.

We can feel like we’re just not good enough and it can make us just want to give up!

So, what’s a girl to do?

Give up on perfect.

Don’t give up on responsibilities, reasonable effort and having realistic standards; just give up on perfect.

Extend the same mercy to yourself that you give to others. You don’t expect them to be perfect, do you?

If your friend asked you if she was good enough, cute enough, thin enough… enough… you would throw your arms around her and say, “You bettcha!” Of course you would.  Have reasonable expectations of yourself also.

Faith in Christ invites us to renounce perfection because faith let’s us receive God’s strength and rest in His opinion of us. God created You. He is perfect, not you!  Because His grace is sufficient, you are enough.

When you rest in Him and in who He made you to be, it’s easier to loosen your grip of perfectionism.  When you let go of your need to be perfect you receive far more satisfaction than you’re striving can offer anyway—you receive the perfect love of God

So rest today. Watch God be perfect. You be you and feel His perfect grace carry you. And you will find that you’ve beaten those statistics—you’ll be a much happier woman!

“… Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Cor 12:9b ESV)

Until next time,

Sherrie Ashcraft, Women's Ministry Director

sherrieashcraft@gmail.com    971-285-6699

Tuesday, July 15, 2014 WOW-Zine

Talk about the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer--I think they're here! If I allow myself to go outside in the afternoon to sit on the porch swing, before you know if I'm nodding off. And I'm not a nap person! But there's something about this warm weather that makes a gal ... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Nearly 20 women and children had a fantastic time last Wednesday on our hike to Lee Falls. What a beautiful place to enjoy a picnic lunch accompanied by the laughter of kids wading in the water. We'll have to do that again next year.

This week we have our final Bible studies until resuming sometime in September. As Barb puts it, "We'll have the last hurrah of lamenting the end of Bible study for this year." I'll bring a treat to Common Grounds Wednesday night, and Carol R. is bringing something yummy on Thursday. We've got quite a few people out  of town/busy this week, so we'll play it by ear for childcare on Thursday morning. No mom signed up to be the MIC and all our usual teen girls that help will be leaving for 1 Youth Camp that morning. We may end up walking down to the park to let the kids play while we have our study--who knows?!

Remember me talking last week about Aimee L. opening her home for us to get together for a pool party with our kids? We've had a slight change of date, as I suddenly realized it was scheduled for next Thursday, which is the final day of VBS. We were afraid that would add too much stress to your lives. So the new day for the Pool Party is Thursday, August 31st in Forest Grove. I'll have all the details for you next week, but I can tell you this much now--Aimee will provide meat and drinks, and the rest of us can bring buns, fixin's, and sides. Should be scads of fun!

Until next week,

Sherrie Ashcraft, Women's Ministry Director

sherrieashcraft@gmail.com     971-285-6699

Tuesday, July 8, 2014 WOW-Zine

Well, if you've been holding your breath waiting for today's WOW-Zine to arrive, you can finally start breathing again. I had a busy morning and early afternoon spending some special time with my mom, but now it's time to turn my attention to you.

Do you remember what you've got on your calendar for tomorrow at 10:30?? No, not a dental appointment. And if you said your yearly mammogram you're probably wrong. Does the name Lee Falls ring a bell? Yes, tomorrow is when we're meeting at Neva's in Cherry Grove (55088 Cherry Grove Drive) at 10:30 to do our hike to Lower Lee Falls. It looks like we've got a good bunch planning to attend and get a bit of exercise together. And it's not too late to just show up and surprise us. Remember to bring a lunch and drinks for you and your kiddos, along with SUNSCREEN and towels. Some may want to hike further to Upper Lee Falls, which is entirely up to you. 

Tomorrow night at 6:30 we'll have our next-to-the-last Common Grounds until September. Thanks, Darci, for signing up for treats for that. Those of us who have gone on the hike earlier in the day may be a little bedraggled, but we'll try to remember to at least put on fresh deodorant before showing up to Bible study!

Thursday morning at 9:30 is also our next-to-the-last Perk until fall. Cindy, you're down for snacks then, and Keisha, you're the MIC for the morning. (We still need someone to signup to be the Mother in Charge for our last meeting on the 17th.)

Because Aimee L. realizes that we don't need to not see each other during the summer simply because Bible studies will be on hiatus, she has invited us over to her house on Thursday, July 24th for a potluck lunch. You can bring your kids to enjoy their pool, and we ladies can just hang out and visit and get to know each other better. I'll have more details for you in next week's blog. Her address is 2320 26th Ave, Forest Grove. 

I think it would be great for us to get together like that throughout the summer, so if there's a certain day you'd like to invite people over to spend some time at your home, just let me know! If you're tight on space you may want to host something at a park, or may ask that ladies not bring their children. It's up to you! Let's use our "Bible study summer vacation" as an opportunity to grow closer in a very casual setting. Sound like a plan?

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

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Happy First of July, which means it's only three more days until the most explosive day of the year! And it looks like the weather is warming up (especially today), so I think summer is actually here! Let's enjoy it!

One of the fun ways to do that is to join other women and children on a hike to Lee Falls on Wednesday, July 9th. Bring a picnic lunch and meet at Neva's house in Cherry Grove at 10:30 to go on the mile-long hike. You'll probably want towels to sit on while eating, and to dry on after kids (and you) play in the water. If you need Neva's address, just contact me. So far, Christina Tarabochia is the only one who has let me know they plan on coming. I'd love to hear from YOU!

Our Bible study year is winding down, but it's never too late to join us as we finish Fingerprints of God. This week we'll be discussing how we're shaped by His hand, in oh, so many ways. Common Grounds meets Wednesday night at 6:30, and Helen is signed up for treats. On Thursday morning at 9:30 Stephanie is bringing treats for The Perk, and Karen will be our MIC. Thank you, ladies, for helping to make these times together run smoothly!

We will meet next week (the 9th and 10th) and our final session (until fall) will be the following week, July 16th and 17th.

I will be on vacation during the Sizzle this year, so I'm going to need some extra help from some of you. I know August 17th sounds like it's a long ways off, but when trying to get something organized I like to get an early start.(For those of you who may be new, the Sizzle is Wapato's yearly summer outreach to our whole community. Our worship service is held at the park that day, followed by a free lunch, carnival-type booths, and fun giveaways. The worship band plays most of the afternoon. School children receive free school supplies.) WOW runs a Cookie Walk Booth from 11-2 that Sunday at the Gaston park. I would LOVE to have one of you volunteer to be in charge/oversee things that day for our booth. My plan is to have everything lined up ahead of time, as far as people to man the booth and people to provide cookies. We typically take 30-minute shifts, with two people working together. I have the numbered pieces of wood that kids will walk on. It's just a matter of someone manning a CD player and drawing a number when the music stops, and someone handing the child whatever cookie they choose. This is always a pretty popular place for the kids to hang out! I'll be bringing sign-up sheets to the studies so you can have first dibs at how you'd like to help. 

Other ways you can help at the Sizzle:

General sign-ups for working in booths will start in late July. Areas of greatest need are:

-Emceeing the afternoon's events

-Food Purchasing and Serving (Lori and Randy Reed usually do this, and may still want to again this year.)

-Overseeing Set-up night on Saturday, August 16th, and coordinating people and tasks

-Coordinating procurement of donations for giveaways

-Leading and/or participating in neighborhood canvassing night (week prior)

-Overseeing game booths and coordinating work schedules for them

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