Check out the Community of Hope ad at the bottom of our newsletter today. Click on pictures for various links and information that will help you and your church or organization as you attempt to reach out, establish a small group or fund raise for a mission trip or operating cash for your ministry!
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Donna Hutchman, Editor  |
Lazy Days Of Summer
I
heard this term used a lot as a child but I don't recall hearing it in
recent years. What does it really mean? Is it for days gone by?
Growing
up in Oregon my summers were not spent idly. I worked in the berry and
bean fields for my school clothes money. However I did have ample time
to walk along the creek that was near my home, jump on my horse and ride
to the back pasture, or walk through the orchard and climb a tree and
just sit. If I was lucky and had 25 cents I would walk � a mile and get a
bottle of Strawberry Nehi from the country store. And then there was
one of my favorite things to do on a hot summer afternoon; flop down in
the cool grass of the back yard. There is something about lying on your back
feeling the grass between your toes and watching the puffy clouds go
by.
Somehow as an
adult I seem to have lost sight of the benefit of "flopping down in the
cool grass". My summer days are most certainly not lazy. I have so many
things on my to-do list that there is no time to enjoy feeling the
grass between my toes. At least that is my reasoning. Today I went
outside to take care of couple things on my list. Then I spotted a shady
spot in the grass. I did something I haven't done in years; flopped
down in the grass. It felt really good. Our dog must have thought it
looked good too because she came to join me. We played for a while. For a
moment I felt guilty for wasting time when I had so much to do but then
I realized that I could spare a few minutes. Then I looked up to the
clouds and God reminded me once again of one word He has been speaking
to me lately; "Abide". "Slow down and
abide in me." God did not intend for us to get so busy
that we don't have time to enjoy the beauty of his creation. We should
be able to feel the breeze on our faces and the grass between our toes
and remember Who made it all and Who is in control.
After I got
up from my rest in the grass, I did the tasks that needed to be done and
came back in the house. I started thinking about why the lazy days of
summer seem to no longer exist. We don't allow them to exist! Then I did
a search and found this quote. "Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on
the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching
the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time." ~ John
Lubbock
I
couldn't have said it better myself. I took the time to lie in the grass
and I still got everything done that was important and hey I even had
time to write this!
Slow down, feel the grass between your toes and
abide in Him.
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Welcome
Diane Nix  | You may be receiving Contagiousjoy for the first time. We are part of the Pastor's Wives Conference of the Southern Baptist Convention, held each year on Monday morning. We hosted the Expo this year and will again next year in Phoenix. This will be our main contact with you. We will communicate upcoming information about the Pastor's Wives Conference and help in communicating information about the Minister's Wives Luncheon. We will let you know of special events that Lifeway has to offer you and give you an opportunity to link straight to the site for extra information.
It is our desire to encourage and support you in your ministry by providing prayer support, devotional thoughts, reading material, emotional helps and informational links to sites that will enable to you to be all of what our Lord desires you to be as you serve Him in the high call of a minister's wife. Each week you will receive an email from us touching each of these areas.
In the coming weeks Contagiousjoy will take on a new look. There will be more of a blog look with the ability to post your thoughts without signing in. There will be a private area for you to sign in and post your most private concerns. We have a licensed counselor on staff with us and we are available to lend a listening ear for any of you. It has been my honor to pray with many of you recently.
In the fall or early winter we will be hosting our first live web retreat for minister's wives. We look forward to you joining us and experiencing this venue without leaving your home.
In the life of ministry, ministry wives need each other. So join us and get connected. You might be like me, I follow several sites but I don't post or comment very often. That's ok. Or you might be a seasoned blogger with your own site. Let us know...occasionally we will be linking your site to ours!
There are some confusing statistics for minister's and their families floating around out there - so let's beat all stats and let's connect. Let's share each others burdens. Let's share the Victories! Let's be the church to the world we are called to!
See you on the video in a couple of weeks!
Never Give Up!
Diane Nix
John 15:5; 16:33
www.dianenix.com
www.contagiousjoy4him.com
P.S. Check out the site for new devotional material this month. The devotional will be weekly for 10 weeks. Entitled, "When God's Woman Wants to Give Up"
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The Power of a Praying Wife
Kristi Cook  | "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing," a quote from someone (although I'm not sure from whom) that we all need to focus on if we lose our focus. These days we seem to be focused on way too many things. Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
God gave us the most powerful and effective tool to help keep us focused. Jesus instructs us to ask, seek, and knock through prayer.
When praying over this month's book review, I was immediately led to an old favorite of mine. Over fifteen years ago, I was introduced to my first Stormie Omartian book, The Power of a Praying Wife. Omartian guided me into praying specifically and lovingly for my husband. The book consists of thirty chapters of detailed prayer guides with topics from his work, his finances, his purpose, his protection, his integrity, his attitude, his marriage, his faith, and his obedience, just to name a few. Omartian includes sample prayers with scriptures that relate to the focus chapters' topics. One of my favorite quotes from Omartian in this book is, "Part of making a house a home is allowing your husband to be the head so you can be the heart." Trying to be both is not only overwhelming and frustrating, it's not biblical.
Let's focus on keeping the main thing the main thing in our marriages. Lifting our husbands up in daily prayer can only result in blessings. Sisters, let us strive to be the Proverbs woman God intended us to be. "Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life." (Proverbs 31:10-12)
 Jumpstart your prayer life this month with The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian or Praying through the Deeper Issues of Marriage by Omartian as well.
Kristi Cook is a Senior Pastor's Wife from First Baptist Church Pascougula, Mississippi.
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Click here to check out this event in August  |
Watch promotional video: Glorify: How God uses women to make Himself Known  |
Click here to go to W3  |
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