Happy Mother's Day!!

Beautiful Quotes for Mothers

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. ~Sophia Loren,

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone

It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't. ~Barbara Kingsolver

I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. ~Abraham Lincoln

Just for fun....make cards

I mentioned earlier this week that I was involved in a Card Club. We meet the first Saturday morning every other month. The cards we made for this month are pictured. Vicki Mucher is the Stamp It Up! consultant that brings us these great ideas. The card club includes myself, Kim Ratcliffe, Julia Bivens, and Amanda Dagostino. We take turns hosting at one another's home and provide lunch for the group. We have a great time and make beautiful cards!

You can check out Vicki's blog at www.vickimucher.typepad.com where you can look at other card ideas or order from Stamp It Up!.

Have a great weekend!

Lisa

Don't Become Callous

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup dish, and then the outside also will be clean." Matthew 23:25-26

When our children are born we notice their wonderfully smooth skin. There little feet and hands are so soft and smooth. I often think about how I would love to have skin like that. However as we become adults, our skin can become rough and dry. Without proper care we begin to notice callouses on our feet and dry patches on our hands. Our skin becomes unhealthy looking and aged. The drier our skin is and the thicker the callouses the less feeling we have in those areas. It isn't until we file away the roughness and slather our skin with lotion that we begin to see an improvement. We begin to have feeling and notice a healthy glow returning as our skin is being restored to good health. If we would only follow these simple steps daily our skin would stay healthy and soft. But often we become lazy and neglect caring for our skin properly. In our busyness we say "I don't have time, I will do that later."

In the same way, If we neglect our spiritual lives our hearts become dry and callous. As the dryness increases and the callouses grow, we begin to lose feeling. Our hearts become hard and our love for others grows cold. We need to allow God to file away the rough dry places from our hearts and pour His anointing oil on us. He renews our hearts as we seek His will. In this way we can stay softened to the move of the Holy Spirit and live healthy Christian lives.

As women we each have a daily skin care routine and we notice immediately when we have neglected it. But are you caring for your spiritual health as well as you care for your skin and your physical health? Do you have a daily spirit care routine? If not, think about your priorities. Isn't caring for yourself spiritually much more important than the physical? Which one do you think will matter more for eternity?

Love In Christ,
Kim Ratcliffe

What's Up, Wednesday!

Our upcoming events for May are as follows:

Tuesday, May 12 Mother's Day Breakfast- Join us at Shoney's Restaurant in Martinsburg, WV at 10 am for the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet starting at $6.99 each, drinks not included. Childcare available at Bethel A/G from 9:45-11:45 am. If you are planning to attend and will be using our childcare, please contact Lisa Fraley.
*Look for the Shoney's coupon in your mail*

Friday, May 15 Mom's Game Night- Meet at Amanda Dagostino's house at 6 pm. Bring a favorite game to play and $5 towards pizza. Contact Amanda or Lisa Fraley for directions.

Friday, May 22 Times of Refreshing Prayer Time-Join us at Kim Ratcliffe's home for an opportunity to have your needs prayed over and brought before God Almighty! Open House Format between 9:30 am- 2:30 pm.

Tuesday, May 26 Topic Meeting-Join us at Bethel Assembly of God in the Mace building rm 109 from 10-11:45 am for our topic meeting. Rochelle Lushbaugh with YoungLives Ministry will be our guest speaker during our opening. Then we will join our care circles for discussion.
This is our last topic meeting before our summer break!! Our summer schedule will be debuted!

Blessings

"This is the day that the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

This past Saturday morning I woke up praying that God would bless my day. That He would allow me to get everything done I needed to, that the rain would go away, and it would remain cool! That was quite the order especially when my day was crammed full and I was told by too many people that it was supposed to rain all day.

It was my son's 9th birthday. On the agenda was my bi-monthly card club in the morning, soccor game, haircut appointment, balloons picked up, and home. But peace was not waiting for me at home. My son's party was at 6:30pm when 10 invited children, parents, and family were arriving soon.

But guess what? God was at it again! Blessing me. Why do I get such favor? I won't lie and tell you my day felt like a breeze, it didn't. But my prayers were answered. When I layed in bed that night, I just thanked God for keeping the rain away, for giving me a cool breeze to blow through my house, for everyone coming to the party I expected, for winning the soccor game, and most importantly for that big thank you from my son at the end of the day. God is good!

Blessings,
Lisa

Managing Faithfully

It was more than five years ago, when I felt the leading of God to start Mom's Connection. God birthed the desire in my heart and it grew steadily. I had many discussions with the Lord about whether He was sure He had the right person. One day God spoke to me so clearly. He said to me "Either you start this group or I will find someone else who will. But you will know that it was you whom I first called." I immediately stopped in my tracks of disobedience against God and began saying, "Yes Lord, send me!" Nearly everyday I thank God for giving me this opportunity to lead this group and I pray He will find me faithful.

There are times I think this group is mine but it hardly is. With every year that passes I know even that much more of how it belongs to God. I am only the manager! In Luke 12: 42-44, it reads "Who then is the faithful and wise manager,...he will put him in charge of all his possessions." I want God to trust me as He placed me as a manager. But this is not just for me but for every believer! We all have a calling on our lives to be faithful managers in the same areas.

One of the those areas is to be managers of the secret things of God. In 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 the Bible reads, "So then men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful." The secret things of God is the truth of God's Word. We grow as believers in these things by the study and reading of the Bible. When we do this we are "speaking God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began" (1 Cor. 2:7). We must prove faithful in sharing God's plan of reconciliation to sinners and for growing up believers.

Another area we all have in common as managers is our spiritual gifts. We all have them and must use them for God's glory! This spiritual gift is endowed to you when you enter the family of God to be of great service to the Kingdom. Some of these gifts are teaching, preaching, hospitality, counseling, pastoring, leadership, giving, administrative, and all kinds of other gifts. They are God's investment in you. In 1 Peter 4:10, it reads "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms".

God has also given us households to manage for the kingdom. We, as moms, understand this completely because we are the engineers of the home. We make sure our family has something to eat, our kids get to their activities, homework is done, household supplies are stocked up, and many other things to keep our homes running smoothly. But we have to take good care of everything God gives us materially even the furniture, vehicles, carpet, etc. In 1 Timothy 3:5, it reads "If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?" Managing our households goes far beyond material as well. It's taking good care of the people in our homes. Our husbands and children have been entrusted to us by God to take great care.

For many of us this next one is the hardest. We have no problem taking good care of everything and everyone God has given us except ourselves. We pour our lives out for others but ignore our own needs. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 we are instructed to take care of our bodies as well. It reads, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with you body." We can honor God by eating healthy, getting exercise, and resting.

Let me challenge you today to think about what kind of manager are you? Think about what your spiritual gift is and how you are using it for God right now. Consider how you care for your husband and children. Does God find you faithful in what He has already given you?

Blessings,
Lisa

Stay In The Water

One of my favorite things to do with my children is to read to them. I love to see their expressions as the story comes alive to them. Last week, Chloe and I went to her Kindergarten Registration, the highlight of her experience came at the end where Chloe got to choose a new book. She quickly chose Fish is Fish and we were on our way. After many calls to family about registration, we settled in to read our new prized possession, Fish is Fish.

In this very colorful book, there are two inseparable friends, the fish and the tadpole. The tadpole grows legs and becomes a frog. The frog decides he is going to jump out of the water, that he has always known as home to explore the new world. The minnow is left all alone wondering where and what his friend is doing. The frog returns to the water and tells the minnow all about the world, then leaves again. The minnow starts dreaming of this world his friend has told him about. The minnow decides he has to see the world with his own eyes, so with a mighty swish of the tail, he lands on the ground. Then he lays there gasping for air.

I thought how much are we like this little fish. God wants us to stay in the water and we want to jump out and do our own thing. How often we jump out of his will because we think we can do it ourselves, in our own power, or maybe quicker then waiting on God’s timing. How foolish we are. We should be in the cool water with tails propped up letting God handle all of our problems and concerns. He will you know!!

So be blessed today and read to your children and look for those teachable moments in every book. "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 11:18-19

By the way, the fish doesn’t die, his friend is nearby and hears his distress and pushes him back into the water. Just like God!!! Teach your children about our Lord because if you don’t, someone else will teach them something you may not want them too!! Our children are like sponges, let them suck up the cool water of Jesus.

Blessings,

Tanya Clemons