News from Janet Thompson @ About His Work Ministries

AHW MINISTRIES NEWSLETTER

About His Work with Janet December 2012

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A CHRISTMAS GIFT TO ALL MY FAITHFUL READERS

I thought I'd share with you a poem I originally wrote in 2004 as our Christmas card. I find I need to read it every year to remind myself to slow down, sit down, and trim down my "to-do" list so I can focus on celebrating Jesus' Birthday.

"Time To Sit With You"

Lord, so many things to do,

No time to sit with you.

There's presents to buy,

And I must bake a pie!

But isn't it all about Me?

What's closed your eyes to see.

The purpose of Christmas day,

Isn't how much you pay?

Lord, each year we hear that said,

Yet, still it comes with dread.

Anticipating all to do,

No time to sit with You!

This is MY day.

Don't I have a say

In how you spend your time?

Remember, you are chosen...Mine!

But Lord, relatives will soon be here,

And the lawn Santa still needs reindeer!

There is so much to do,

Still no time to sit with You.

Relax and enjoy Me this season,

Let your activities have a reason.

This is My Birthday celebration,

And all I want is your attention.

Oh, Lord, we'll make it all about You.

Do You think we should have fondue?

We'll read the Christmas Story,

And give You all the glory.

Sit down and read My Word.

Your craziness is absurd.

Come spend some time with me,

Forget the Christmas tree.

Oh, Lord, the cookies are all baked,

I have such a headache.

I know I need to pray,

But I've had such a day!

Lives are waiting to be saved.

Did you hear Me when you prayed?

It is certainly no wonder

Your world is all asunder.

No, God, I didn't hear a word,

I was busy stuffing the bird.

I want to just slow down,

But I feel I'm losing ground.

You've made it all about you,

And all your parties too.

My message to the lost,

Overshadowed by homemade cranberry sauce.

Lord, that's not true,

You know I do love You.

It's just I feel a call,

To make this the best Christmas of all!

You're wasting your time.

Do you think you could top Mine?

I had a virgin birth,

As my entrance to earth.

Oh, Lord, I'm beginning to see,

How You want to use me.

Telling Your story to all who will listen,

Is the true Christmas mission.

Spending time with Me,

Is the only way to flee

The world's strangling control

On your time and very soul.

Oh, Lord, Your music softly plays,

As the candle glow displays,

The beauty of time spent

With our Gift heaven sent.

You'll go against the flow

Taking time to help a lost soul.

But when the day has come to end,

You'll have the joy of a new friend.

Oh, Lord, forgive me please.

Help me put down my car keys.

It really is so true,

There's ALWAYS time to sit with You.

Our prayer for our friends and family is that you focus your life on only those things that will have Kingdom value. It's the only legacy worth leaving. We love you all, Janet & Dave

Thank you for your continued support of About His Work Ministries. I thank God for each of you...

Merry Christmas!

About His Work,

Janet

PS: Check out where I'll be speaking for LifeWay in 2013. If I'm going to be in your area, I could plan to stay extra days to speak at your church. I will also be in the Denver, Colorado area the middle of March. Email me to discuss further.

PSS: Read "Meet an Author" with Debbie Taylor Williams and enter your name to receive a copy of her book A Plan A MOM in a Plan B World: Raising Faithful Kids in a Flawed World.

PSSS: Read my blog post for "Ten Ways to Share the Heart of Jesus Is The Gift this Christmas."

FACE-TO-FACE SMALL GROUP RESOURCES

Featured Study For Christmas

Christmas songs, sermons, speakers, pastors, and the Gospel of Luke refer to the story of Elizabeth and Mary. Learn more about the relationship of these two amazing women and the generational mentoring that took place. Questions for two people and a small group leader's guide included. Makes a great Christmas gift! Buy one for yourself and a friend, family member, mentee....and start the New Year studying God's Word together.

Purchase any of the above studies

See a preview of each study

ORDER NOW FOR WINTER OR SPRING

Woman to Woman Mentoring Orientation Coffees and Women's Bible study groups

**Leaders' Guide in Each Book

TALK TO US

We would love to hear your stories about using the Face-To-Face Small Group Resources.

PERFECT FOR RETREATS AND CONFERENCES

Contact AHW Ministries to bring Janet to your event.

Do You Need A Speaker?

To contact Janet
about your event call or email to discuss availability.

"Dear God," Series

Dear God,Why Can't I Have a Baby?

A Companion Guide For Couples on the Infertility Journey

Daughter Kim described the year she was the only sibling without a child as the worst Christmas of her life. Here are helpful tips for surviving the holidays from the RESOLVE website.

TOP 10 IDAHO AUTHOR
TOP 5 IDAHO BOOK AND BEST COVER DESIGN 2012

Golden Scrolls Finalist

Read Reviews on Amazon

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Dear God, They Say It's Cancer

A Companion Guide For Women on The Breast Cancer Journey

Give a gift of love and encouragement!

Do you know someone who would be blessed by having another breast cancer sister walking beside her? That's why I wrote Dear God, They Say It's Cancer. Please let me, and 40 other breast cancer sisters mentor someone you know who has breast cancer by gifting her with a book....like June in the following testimony!

Dear Janet,

I bought this book while I was going through treatment for breast cancer...and I loved it. Since then, I have loaned my book to another lady beginning her journey with breast cancer. Well, for the last couple of years God has constantly reminded me of the blessing your book was to me. So I want to honor God's blessing and begin giving your book to any one that I know that has been diagnosed. This morning I ordered all 8 of the books that Amazon had in stock. This is a ministry that I feel is very important. I know God will work through this little ministry and bless everyone that reads this book, just as He did me. Thank you so much for writing Dear God, They Say It's Cancer!

June Hamrick

For tips on starting a support group go to

Dear God, They Say It's Cancer or

email me with questions or comments.

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Dear God, He's Home!

A Woman's Guide To Her Stay-At-Home Man

Coming March 2013

Two About His Work

Book Janet and her daughter Kim for your event. For details about topics.

Woman to Woman Mentoring

WTWM DVD Leader Resources

Everything you need for starting your Women's Mentoring Ministry.

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FEATURED WOMAN TO WOMAN MENTORING MINISTRY TESTIMONY

Hello, my name is Jill Chi and I am a member at Canyon Hills Community Church in Bothell, WA. We started a mentoring program over a year ago with your Woman To Woman Mentoring material.

I am so thankful for this ministry and how it is laid out in such an organized manner. It has cut hours off of our planning times.

Also, I was wondering if you ever have a training for the leaders in this ministry?

Thank you so much!!

God's Blessings and Peace,

Jill Chi

TALK TO US

Share what's happening in your ministry. Each month we feature a Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry.

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The Team That Jesus Built

How to Develop, Equip, and Commission a Women's Ministry Team

The Team That Jesus Built Cover

Now available as an E-Book

on Amazon

Like Jill Chi in the Woman To Woman Mentoring testimony above many of you have emailed asking about a training for your leaders and teams. I do this training at LifeWay "YOU Lead" conferences, but we are also discussing offering a training in Boise, ID next year!

Please contact me if you are interested in more information.

"GRAMMIE'S CORNER"

With our 11 grandchildren spread throughout the US, sometimes it's challenging to have a meaningful Christmas with each one across the miles. We had an early Christmas with six of them over Thanksgiving in Colorado and had fun playing games they received as gifts and SKYPED with some of the family who couldn't join us.

Grammie and kids having fun playing Fibber

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It's always my mission to make memories with the kids and also help them focus on the true meaning of Christmas. I bought costumes for the Christmas story several years ago. Here are a couple of websites to check out:

Century Novelty

Costumes Supercenter

We also set up a simple manger scene...they love acting out the birth of Jesus. Check out the video on YouTube

Debbie Taylor Williams, my guest Author Interview this month also has a great article, "Ways To Help Your Children Focus on Christ At CHRISTmas" at The Mom Initiative website.

I would love to hear what you do with your grandchildren and children to keep them focused on Jesus at Christmas.

PRAYING FOR YOUR PRODIGAL DAUGHTER

NOW AN E-BOOK

Christmas is especially hard if you are estranged from children. PRAYER is the best gift you can give them wherever they are!

Mentoring Moment

The Word of God makes the Will of God clear.-Pastor Brian Smith,
Crouch Community Church

Meet An Author

The Plan A MOM in a Plan B World: Raising Faithful Kids in a Flawed World

Debbie Taylor Williams is a sought out national Christian speaker, Bible teacher, author, and good friend of mine. Best known as a passionate biblical expositor, Debbie uses humor and practical illustrations to communicate spiritual truths. I was honored when she asked me to share a Plan B MOM story in her new book. Following are a few questions I asked her about the book:

Moms can feel like pulling their hair out if one more glass of milk spills, Susie refuses to go down for her nap, or Brett doesn't get home by curfew. What do mom challenges have to do with raising "faithful" kids?

We live in a Plan B world: this isn't the Plan A Garden of Eden God pronounced "good". It's a world under the rule of Satan. However, most moms have a Plan A heart: they want to raise children who know and love God and relate to others in positive ways.

If we have Plan A hearts, why is it so difficult to raise faithful kids?

Part of our parenting struggles may result from how we were raised. Other times, our struggles are self-induced: like watching our favorite late-night show and being too exhausted to parent effectively the next day.

What hope is there for moms who want to raise faithful kids?

That's the good news! As Christians, we have a second citizenship in heaven. We can live under Christ's rule and raise our children accordingly.

How do we do that?

Through biblical and current day Christian moms, we discover parenting land mines to avoid, and parenting choices to adopt.

What's an example of a parenting land mine?

Living under a weight of guilt will affect our countenance, decisions, and actions. Satan uses guilt, but Christ died to remove guilt.

You said you use current day moms as examples in your book.

Yes, moms like Thelma Wells, Dena Dyer, and Janet Thompson show how to parent effectively in the midst of Plan Bs.

Is this something that could be studied in a church setting?

Yes! There's a section called "Love Out Loud" that has Scripture-based discussion questions.

What final word of encouragement do you have for moms?

You can parent in God-honoring ways and raise your children to be faithful. Educate yourself on parenting land mines and adopt their counterpart positive practices.

Debbie also has written The Plan A Woman In a Plan B World; Pray With Purpose, Live With Passion; If God Is In Control, Why Do I Have A Headache?; If God Is In Control, Why Am I a Basket Case?; Discovering His Passion; and co-authored Trusting God's People Again. Visit Debbie's website or call 888.815.9412.

For a chance to receive a free copy of The Plan A Mom In a Plan B World email me one of your "Plan B" mom ideas.