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WIM Retreat was Amazing!
|  The unMasked retreat for Potomac Women in Ministry was wonderful. We will have responses, highlights, etc. in our next newsletter!
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Next issue
|  The theme for the next issue of the Potomac Connection for Women in Ministry is Mothers and Mentors.
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Editorial
by Johnese Burtram
|  The God Moments response has been the most ever. Many thanks to all of you who shared your lives with us. I hope all of you are encouraged, challenged and inspired with these God Moments. The Color Taupe
by Johnese Burtram I love God Moments. Sometimes His traces in our lives are bold and in your face. At times, they are random. I especially love the random ones. They make me laugh with joy. In the late 70s and early 80s khaki suits for women were very popular. In those days I made many of my clothes so I set out to acquire the material for a shaki suit. My best trick was to get fabric at a fabulous price and then let it sit in my closet for a few weeks, months, even years. (I actually have some untouched fabric from years ago. Go figure.) I wanted to be stylish, but not cliché. I found an unusual shade of khaki and purchased several yards. This busy pastor's wife and mother of three young children couldn't seem to glean enough time to cut out and sew a suit. Somewhere in the early 80s I discovered Color Me Beautiful.™ It was a wonderful discovery for me. I began to dress to color. My clothes were coordinated and most of the time I was pretty satisfied with my look - clothing wise. In 1983, after almost four years, I was pregnant again and without clothes. A friend volunteered to do some sewing for me. I needed dress clothes for District and General Councils. As I sorted through my fabric, I came across what I had purchased several years previous - my khaki suit fabric. Only, it wasn't khaki after all, it was taupe. Those of you who know classic winter palette, know taupe is a great color for those with winter coloring, khaki is not. I ended up with enough fabric for a maternity dress and a skirt for later. AND I did look good - very pregnant, but good. I have thought about that God moment many times. I wanted a khaki suit and ended up with a taupe dress. My random selection of taupe fabric was God's way of blessing me even before I had any idea I needed taupe, not khaki. You're right, it's not a big deal. BUT I was tickled pink - icy pink to be exact, which is also a great winter color. |
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Connecting with the Sistah's
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| Mountaintop Moment .... | |
By Angela Donadio
19,340 feet. Nineteen thousand, three hundred and forty feet. The words and the mountain standing in front of me loomed larger than life.
In January, I joined WorldServe International to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro for clean water. Every step helped to put in deep wells in East Africa, and I was thrilled to be a part of it. 6 days of climbing up Africa's tallest mountain, 5 nights of sleeping outside in sub-freezing temperatures, 4 days of long, intense hiking to the base of summit. It was on Day 4 that I experienced a profound moment with God. continue reading
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| Just for Me | |
by Jean Fancher
 My God moment was this past February. Around 4:00pm, I was sitting in my dining room working on a puzzle. I l glanced up and out my window. Outside our crabapple tree was gleaming in the late afternoon sun. The fading sun had transformed it into a beautiful tree of crystal. The angle of the sun, hitting the tree, made it a sight to behold. I called for my husband and we both just stood there and praised the Lord for his mighty wonders.
I knew God did that just for me, a sight to behold.
Jean has been a Christ Follower since she was 27 year old. She and her husband of 47 years have been on staff with Pastor Ray Crabtree since1992. She is the mother of three grown sons who have blessed her with three wonderful God-given daughters-in-law and ten beautiful grandchildren. She is stay-at-home-wife, mother, grandma and care giver to her live in mother-in-law who will be 96 in June. "Life is full and certainly never dull. God has blessed me exceedingly and abundantly above all I could ask or think. As the old song says, 'The longer I serve Him -- the sweeter He grows.'"
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My Voice
| | by Lindsay Banton
September 13, 2008
I observed a great little moment recently. I went to pick up my baby daughter from the childcare room at our gym. Above the chaotic hum of a room full of children playing, my little 7 month old heard me call her name. Her back was to me, but she quickly turned her petite little body to face me, and with a smile bigger than her pacifier, she started her mad-dash to crawl to me as fast as she could. Though it happened in a few short seconds, but this moment is permanently secured in the file cabinet of my brain. As a mom, this makes my heart soar. As a Christian, it reminds me of the importance of our ability to hear God's voice. continue reading
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Lover of My Soul
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By Vickie Tingwald
A few years ago God taught me a lesson that has stayed with me ever since.
My church sent me to a Children's Pastor's Conference though I was reluctant to go. However, somewhere deep inside in my spirit I knew I was to attend, that God wanted to show me something. Each day at the conference I waited to see what God had in store. On the final day I was disappointed because I felt I had not heard from God. continue reading
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When God Came to My House
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by Quinn Woodard
I am thinking of a particular God moments in my life. This one takes me back to 2001, during the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida, where I attended the School of Ministry. It was a time of incredible preaching, manifestations of the Spirit, overflowing joy, and contagious laughter. We had the faith to go street witnessing and at times the Holy Spirit came in such measure that we cancelled class and just worshipped Him. But this particular God moment did not come during an altar call, not in corporate prayer, or when Steve Hill laid his hands on me saying "fire, now!" No, this God moment came in the privacy of my home. continue reading
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Beauty from Ashes
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by Amy Rendulic
My "God Moment" began with heartbreak. Josh and I were just 2 months into pastoring our church, Hope Fellowship in Chestertown, Maryland, when we found out I was expecting our first child! We were so thrilled! Everything was going according to plan until week 14 Then I began to feel poorly. Being new to the whole pregnancy thing, I just figured it was how I was supposed to feel. I was wrong. About 2 weeks later, I had a miscarriage. Heartbreak!!! continue reading
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Right on Time
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By Deborah Galyen
In the summer of 2008, I got down on my knees to pray in the living room of my parent's house. My husband and I and our three kids were living temporarily with them as we prepared to go as new missionaries to Spain. We had been raising money for a year. The economy was crumbling, and Shawn's phone calls to churches went mostly unanswered. We had prayed, sold everything, and had our hearts set on arriving in Spain in August of 20018. It was now July. continue reading
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| When God Speaks | |
By Roberta Bonnici
I desperately needed a word from God. A comforting, reassuring word to stop the pain of betrayal and rejection. People I had loved and trusted for years were no longer my friends. They had chosen to believe and propagate false information and twisted truth. So I headed for my cabin in the hills for solitude, listening for His voice. continue reading
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A Time to Fly
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By Sandy Anderson
What is a God moment? It may be earth shattering or it may come as a gentle breeze. He comes in and touches your life and you are forever changed. I had such a moment not long ago. continue reading
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Lessons from a Puzzle Piece
| | by Raylene Cochrane
I hold in my hand a puzzle piece, a tangible illustration that my destiny - God's design for my life - is part of God's bigger picture. While I would love for God to speak a special message to me through someone who couldn't possibly know what I need to hear, that rarely happens. So let's see what I can discover about God's plan for me through this common object. continue reading
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| God Moments | |
by Denise Ouellette
There are God moments every day; you just have to be able to recognize them.
I was waiting in the checkout line at Wal-Mart when I noticed the teller was looking sick. I never heard an audible voice from God nor had a special unction from the Holy Spirit but I knew she needed prayer so when it became my turn I simply asked her if I could pray for her. That was a God moment. continue reading
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Connecting with Your Family
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The Price of Silence | |
by Diane Eble
When Francine married Rick Rivers, she did it without telling him her terrible secret.
They had known each other since fifth grade, but lost touch while attending different colleges. Later, Rick went into the Marine Corps. During those years, Francine got involved with a man and became pregnant. Frightened, and feeling she couldn't tell her parents, she did what was supposed to solve the problem, though it wasn't legal at the time: She had an abortion. Then she tried to get on with her life as if it had never happened. ...
http://www.kyria.com/topics/marriagefamily/marriage/helphealing/7m4050.html |
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Go Ahead. Kiss Your Spouse!
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By Mark Moring
And do it in front of the kids. Youth specialist Jim Burns talks about the power of a loving marriage.
There are few things Jim Burns enjoys more than kissing his wife, Cathy. Especially in front of their kids.
When his kids were younger, their typical response: "Yuck!"
"But," says Jim, "our youngest would say 'yuck' with a smile, because she saw me affirming her mother. We need to kiss in front of our kids." .... http://www.kyria.com/topics/marriagefamily/marriage/romancesex/6m4066.html |
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How do I balance giving and getting respect from my teen?
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Our teen says that we don't treat him with respect, but from my perspective the shoe is actually on the other foot - his behavior towards us is extremely dismissive, immodest and smart-alecky. How do we resolve this conflict? ... http://family.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/25911
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Your Health
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You've Lost Weight, But Can You Keep It Off? By Tracee Cornforth, About.com Guide March 6, 2011
The Associated Press reports that a study published in the New England Journal on a small European study can help you learn how to best keep off lost pounds.
If you've ever been on a weight loss diet, then you probably have experienced the difficulty of keeping off lost pounds. Maintaining weight loss is often an incredible roller coaster ride with your scale going up and down.
So what does it take to keep off lost pounds? http://womenshealth.about.com/b/2011/03/06/keeping-off-lost-pounds.htm
Statistics
Looking for reliable health data? These resources from outside of womenshealth.gov offer statistics and information on a variety of health topics important to women and their families.
http://womenshealth.gov/statistics/
Prevention/Screening
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| Think About It | |
Buried under the biggest burden is a good place to find an even bigger blessing.
Janette Oke
Website
He has great tranquility of heart who cares neither for the praises nor the fault-finding of men. He will easily be content and pacified, whose conscience is pure. You are not holier if you are praised, nor the more worthless if you are found fault with. What you are, that you are; neither by word can you be made greater than what you are in the sight of God.
Thomas a Kempis
Biography and Works
If the Lord sets you to guard a lonely post in perfect stillness from all active work, you ought to be just as content as to be in the midst of the active warfare. It is no virtue to love the Master's work better than the Master's will.
Hannah Whitall Smith
Online Books
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Connecting with Your Funny Bone
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Go ahead and grin. Laughter does good like a medicine.
Church Choir Proficiency Test
In order to measure your level of proficiency as a choir member, the following test has been carefully developed by experts. Read and reflect on each situation and then select the option that will enhance the quality of the performance.
You are entering the choir loft on Sunday morning and suddenly trip and fall down. You should:
a. Assume a kneeling position and break into fervent prayer.
b. Pretend that you've had a heart attack.
c. Crawl into the nearest chair.
d. Sink to the floor in shame.
Complete this test at: http://www.crosswalk.com/fun/religion/1358263/
Bulletin Bloopers
http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/HumorHotline/bbloopers.html
Don't let worry kill you--let the church help.
For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
Thoughts for Today. . . .
http://www.crosswalk.com/fun/bumper-stickers/1200965/
There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt.
The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.
Bumper Snickers
http://www.crosswalk.com/fun/bumper-stickers/1175359/
Forget World Peace -- Visualize Turning Off Your Turn Signal!
This Would Be Really Funny If It Weren't Happening To Me
If We Quit Voting Will They All Go Away? |
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Final Comments
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Our WIM Connection contributors continue to increase. What a delight to hear from so many of you for this God Moments edition.
The theme for the spring 2011 edition of the Potomac WIM Connection is Mothers and Mentors. Tell us in 300 - 500 words about a mother or a mentor who has blessed your life. We are also always looking for art, humor, book reviews, etc.
I hope to hear from you.
You are loved,
Johnese
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