Saturday, March 31, 2012

Mom's Connection at the Mall




Today's event at The Children's Day at the Martinsburg Mall was a great success!  We gave out 375 flyers inviting moms to our meetings, activities, and our Children's Closet.  Each flyer was in a purple bag given out as well to help moms carry all their children's crafts.  We also made pirate flags with tons of children!

Thank you to the moms who came out and supported us by working tirelessly making pirate flags and handing out flyers!  You are awesome!!!

Friday, March 30, 2012

The Children's Day at the Martinsburg Mall

The Children's Day at the Mall on Saturday, March 31 from 10 am - 3 pm at the Martinsburg Mall in Martinsburg, WV. This year's theme is Pirate Party! There will be many hands-on activities for young children as well as puppet shows, face painting, inflatables, and much more.

Come out and look for Mom's Connection! We will be making pirate flags with the children and giving out lollipops! We will also be giving out bags to parents to help them carry all the crafts their children will be making!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Great Strides for Cystic Fibrosis

Great Strides is Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's largest and most successful national fundraising event.  It's taking place on Saturday, May 20, 2012 in Old Town Winchester, VA.  If you would like to contribute to this walk, you may go to this fundraising link:
 http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/dsp_DonationPage.cfm?walkid=7866&idUser=539208 

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a devastating genetic disease that affects tens of thousands of children and young adults in the United States.  Research and care supported by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is making a huge difference in extending the quality of life for those with CF.  However, we continue to lose precious lives to CF everyday.  That's why your help is needed now more than ever to ensure that a cure is found sooner-rather than later. To learn more about CF and CF Foundations, visit www.cff.org.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Special Events Coming Soon!

Jewelry-making class at Michael's on Tuesday, March 20 in Martinsburg, WV from 6-8 pm. You will be making a memory wire bracelet. Pizza will be served. Please bring a drink and/or dessert to share. The cost for this event is $10 in cash please!

This is for moms only but of course you can invite a friend as long as you both RSVP by this Friday by contacting Amanda Dagostino by email at Aeasunshine@gmail.com or call at 540-849-9092.


The Children's Day at the Mall is on Saturday, March 31 from 10 am - 3 pm at the Martinsburg Mall. For the last two years we have participated in this event by making a craft with the children that come. We also have the opportunity to invite moms to join us! Your kids are sure to have a blast with puppet shows, crafts, face painting, inflatables, and much more.

Please plan to bring your children out and sign up to help run Mom's Connection's table! The time slots for helping are broken up into three categories and they are 9:30-11:30 am set up; 11:30 am -1:30 pm; 1:30 - 3:30 pm clean up. It's very important for us to have volunteers and to show up if you commit because some of us will need a break for lunch and to take our kids around.

This is an opportunity to give back to the community. Bring your children so they see mommy serving others and being a blessing to other children and moms. Let's lead them by example.

Bethel's 'Egg'stavaganza on Saturday, April 7 beginning at 10 am at Bethel Assembly of God in the gym. Children ages 0-10 join us for a fun morning of games, crafts, a snack, the Easter story, pictures with the easter bunny, and an egg hunt!

Our Mother's Day Breakfast on Tuesday, May 1 at the Purple Iris in Martinsburg, WV from 9:45-11:45 AM. We will enjoy a full breakfast buffet of Scrambled eggs with fresh herbs, herb and onion potatoes, bacon, sausage, french toast, assorted breakfast pastries, fresh fruits, and beverages of juices, coffee, tea, ice water. We will have some giveaways and several wonderful guest speakers.

Childcare will be available at Bethel from 9:30-11:45 am. In order to use our childcare, you must have filled out a childcare registration form for your children. Contact Tina Allamong at hbic1981@yahoo.com to be sure. Babies are welcome to join you.

Tickets will go on sale at our next topic meeting. The cost per ticket will be $15. You may pay in cash or write checks payable to Bethel Assembly of God. Please invite a special someone (sister, mother) to join you however each must have a pre-purchased ticket. Please see Amanda Dagostino to purchase your ticket. As always if you would like to purchase a ticket for a mom who you know struggles financially or for someone special in the group, you may do so by letting Amanda know.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

The Fuel of Life


As mothers and wives we are going in many different directions every day.  We have a list of things that need to get done.  When you add other responsibilities on top like a job, a ministry, or a volunteer project, we can find ourselves tinkering out.

If I looked under the hood of your soul today, what would I see: a well oiled running engine or would smoke come bellowing out as soon as the hood was lifted up?

Just as food and water is the fuel our physical body needs to keep running, there is a fuel that our souls need as well.  This “fuel” is what drives us.  It gets us from here to there in life.  It’s our energy or purpose.

There are many places we can get this “fuel”.  We can create it ourselves.  Some of us have been blessed with a high-energy, multi-functioning ability, and an unyielding drive.  We can derive fuel from others.  Their approval or involvement can spur us on.  Finally, we can use our circumstances.  When outside forces line up just as we think they should, we feel motivated to keep moving forward.  But the problem with all those sources of fuel is they are for short trips.  And we know we have further to go.

There is only one true source of fuel that never runs out and it’s of the highest quality.  This fuel comes from God himself.  We don’t have to rely on the fickleness of public opinion, our ever-changing mood, or our circumstances.  However, we do need to get a fill up!

Many times we go to the “gas station” to fill up but leave still on empty.  We get distracted on why we’re really there.  Jesus told Martha in Luke 10:41-42 “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.”  That “one thing” was sitting at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.  Mary wasn’t talking.  She was listening.  When we listen we give God a chance to tell us His will for our lives.  He says, “don’t give up” (Galations 6:9), “be strong and courageous for I am with you” (Joshua 1:9) and “I love you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3).  He refocuses our eyes on him.  He becomes our fuel.

However, there are times when we are empty, running on fumes, and don’t even know it.  We ignore the signs of exhaustion, mission drift (being off course from our main purpose), and confusion in God’s will for us.  It’s when we are running on fumes that we have the greatest chance of giving up.   Life doesn’t seem to be coming together and we don’t know what’s wrong.  Whenever we begin to feel this way, we need to recognize it and ask God to refresh us again (Acts 3:19).  We read God’s Word and remember His promise to us.  We tell the God stories of our lives to build our faith, refocus us on our purpose, and remind us His amazing power.  God has begun a good work in you and he wants to carry it on to completion (Philippians 1:6).

Do you need a fill up today?

Blessings,
Lisa

Friday, March 2, 2012

Overflowing Blessing

Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full---pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back. Luke 6:38 "

Use exact measurements." That's what my recipe card says. Emphasis on the word "exact". I was given a list of instructions by a friend who not only shared her technique for baking the best bread I've ever tasted but also a jar of bread "starter" for me to keep in the refrigerator. Now I had the chance to see if I could match her abilities. To amaze my family with homemade bread. That kind of homemade bread. Like hers.

Once a week I go to the refrigerator and pull out the starter---a bubbling liquid concoction that serves as the foundation for this fabulous bread. Then I unfold the tattered piece of paper she gave me, and I carefully follow the written guidelines. These are extremely important, she told me. Boy, was she ever right.

This bread is moody. It has a bit of an attitude problem. You're never quite sure what sets it off, but one little bobble in the preparation process can keep the dough from rising properly or baking to a perfectly golden brown. You have to be careful.

As time has gone along, my kids have begun to help me with this, pulling their stools over to the counter, eager to dirty their hands in the kneading process. But before kneading, the flour must be added. Six cups, to be exact. And "exact" those scoops must be. I can now entrust this step into the hands of my six year old, who's seen with his own eyes the kind of mood swings a loaf can exhibit when fed with too much or too little flour. He's gotten this down to a science-----a Luke 6:38 science: "a good measure---pressed down, shaken together." He reaches the utensil down into the airtight flour bin and collects "a good measure."

Nothing skimpy about the serving he's gathered. Thankfully he's still holding the measuring cup over the container because flour is spilling from the sides of the scoop. But knowing the need for just the right amount to be added to the ingredients, which are already poured and waiting in a nearby bowl, his tiny fingers secure a good grasp on the handle, and he gently "shakes" the cup.

I've explained to him that this shaking action eliminates the air pockets that can form underneath, occupying space that can still be filled with flour. By shaking it enough, he can be sure that every square inch of measuring cup is being used for his purpose. Finally he puts his other hand on top of the mound and pats gently to make sure it is "pressed down". Inevitably he finds that the cup can now hold more than before. So he continues to add flour, leveling it off until he determines it's as full as possible. Then he pours the scoop into the mixing bowl. Six times he does this. Scoop, shake, press down. Scoop, shake, press down.

There's only one part of the biblical directions his illustration is lacking. And it's the part that compels us to choose contentment over discontentment every day: "a good measure----pressed down, shaken together, and running over". It appears there's nothing exact about God's recipe of return to us. His gifts are overflowing. He's not stingy with His goodness or ungenerous with His supply. When you choose to give, He promises you'll have enough---more than you think---filling you back up with even more than you had to begin with. Not just a good measure, not just one that's pressed down and shaken together---not even one that's fair, equal to what you deserve---but one that is brimming over, unable to be contained by its recipient.

Now, by no means am I suggesting that you should always and without question give of yourself at the expense of the relationships and purposes that should be prioritized in your life. Sometimes the best, most empowering word you can learn to utter is no. But on those occasions when you feel genuinely led by God to give, you needn't be worried about what appears to be a dwindling amount of personal resources to suit the task. If He has endorsed your involvement, you can proceed with complete contentment and willingness, knowing He will always give back far more than you ever expended. The contented woman, when required to give of her time, her love, her resources...herself....is secure in the knowledge that she possesses enough to do it. And she looks forward to experiencing the promise of an outlandish return on her investment.
I can imagine what you may be thinking because I've thought it too...

--My energy level is so low.
--My "love tank" is running so close to empty, I'm sure I'm about to stall.
--It's only Tuesday, but my patience quota has already been used up for the week.
--My wallet is even emptier than I remember, and my financial needs aren't going away.

Yet just when you feel as though you're completely void of anything worthwhile to offer, or when your situation makes you feel justified in not being the one to participate,  you'll often hear Him whispering..."Give, and it will be given to you".

And when He scoops up the dividends that He'll be sending back your way He, won't be short and scanty about it. He won't skim off the excess or be bound by an exact measurement. He will supply you a portion that is abundantly good and beyond what is warranted. He'll shake and press, shake and press, to make sure no pockets of air are taking up space reserved for His blessing. And then He'll pile up His favor and grace into such a rounded heap that it will spill off the sides, more than you can hold. Your hands and heart will try to grasp every morsel that falls from your full container, but there will be too much coming, far too fast.
Good thing you've got a lap. For on it will fall the abundance you cannot gather any other way, the surplus for which there is no more space. And it just keeps coming and coming.This is the reward for the woman resolved to contentment.
So "give, and it will be given to you; a good measure--pressed down, shaken together, and running over----will be poured into you lap".

So make the resolution---the resolution to be content. Then look toward heaven with holy anticipation, and sit with your long skirt gathered up in folds and draped loosely across your lap, prepared to catch the overflow in the welcome pockets of room you've created. Live this moment. Pour yourself out. Drain the experience of each precious day. And be prepared for God's overflowing blessing. 



Overflowing Blessing, The Resolution for Women by Priscilla Shirer