Calling all Tuscarawas and surrounding county Prom-age girls and their moms! Monday, February 15, Safe Kids Tuscarawas is sponsoring a Prom Showcase and Dress Resale Event at the Dover Alliance Church from 4 to 7 pm. The night promises to be a great time for all who attend! For more information call 330-339-2337.

And while you're there stop by the GIRLFriends table and say "HI" to the Director of the Circle of Friends ministry to teens, Denise Anderson!

When I look back on friendships that God has brought into my life thru the years I am so thankful that Denise is one that He has blessed me with in the past decade. She is the motivating force behind the GIRLFriends ministry. Denise has a passion for young people that is contagious, uplifting, and inspirational! Between our two families we have 11 children - she has four daughters and two sons, I have four daughters and one son.

Now, do the math for just a minute, we each have four daughters, that's a total of eight girls, they all either have gone, are going, or will be going to high school someday. That's a minimum of SIXTEEN proms (providing they only go as juniors and seniors) and once we get them thru high school we're looking at the possibility of eight weddings!

We are all about resale events! And when you combine one with an event that features cost-saving prom night ideas as well as tips to encourage girls in the journey thru the teenage years it was a no-brainer when asked if GIRLFriends would like to participate.

Thank you Safe Kids Tuscarawas for sponsoring this annual event!

Until next time,

Beth

Labels: Beth

You've seen the commercial that asks, "What's in your wallet?" that leads us all to believe that only that specific credit card will fulfill all our needs and bring happiness and prosperity to our lives. There's so much wrong with that thinking that I won't even go there! But it reminded me of a conversation I had recently.

My friends and I were discussing the power of the tongue. James warns us that such a little member of the body holds the power of life and death - that it is full of 'deadly poison'. With it we praise God, then curse people - whom He made in His image. He also warns us that praises and curses coming from the same mouth just shouldn't be!

Probably for most of us struggling with our tongues isn't a new concept - but our conversation went beyond restraining the spark that can grow to a wildfire. We have to get to 'the heart of the matter'. In Mt. 12:34 Jesus tells us that. "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."

What comes out of our mouths - what our tongues speak - is exactly what is in our hearts and minds.

So, what's overflowing out of your heart? Fear, insecurity, resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness - any of these things can cause us to speak what James calls 'evil' - negative speech, criticism, cursing, lies, off-color jokes and innuendos.

Our conclusion was that it takes discipline to tame the tongue - a discipline of looking at what's in our hearts and recognizing the root of our problem. In order to speak life and not destruction we must do what Phil 4:8,9 tells us -to think on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable - whatever is excellent or praiseworthy.

In other words, if I find myself being critical of others, I need to check my heart attitude and see what's lingering there. Once I recognize and confess the root issue, I have to discipline myself to speak what's right and admirable instead of criticizing. It's a re-training - first of the heart and mind and then of the tongue.

Struggling with your tongue? Join me each day and say with the psalmist:

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart. Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer." Ps 19:14

All for Him,

Missy

Labels: Missy

Making corrections-don't you just hate that?! It can seem so time consuming. I do substitute teaching, and one of the things I tell the students (okay, maybe I nag them) is that one of the best ways to learn is to learn how to make 'intentional' corrections. Having to correct one's mistakes is often a way of 'cementing' what is right instead of simply leaving it wrong and hoping you remember to get it right the next time. I deal with making corrections daily in many areas but one in particular is with my insulin pump.

When I first received the pump I immediately developed a 'love/hate' relationship with it. I loved the fact that I would (hopefully) have better control over type 1 diabetes, but I hated the fact that I needed to have the pump at all. I am dependent upon it doing what it was designed to do, and I truly am thankful for the genius minds that developed such technology! One of the great advantages of the pump is that it has a 'correction' button...isn't that GREAT! When my blood glucose level is too high, all I have to do is enter the level into the pump, push the correction button, and TA-DA!!-the pump releases just the right amount of insulin to make the adjustment.

Wow, can you imagine if 'life' had correction buttons that worked that way?! You spent more than your paycheck - push that correction button, and your cash flow just increased. You accidentally ran out of gas (how does anyone 'accidentally' run out of gas anyway?) - push the magic button, and fresh fuel flows into your gas tank. You accidentally eat an entire bag of potato chips (YES, it is possible to do that 'accidentally', I am quite sure!) - press that button, and the correct number of calories to be burned is immediately extracted from your body! How about if you verbally spouted off some of that toxic waste about which Missy blogged - push the correction button, and those words of poison are turned into words of wisdom. This imaginary list of possibilities is endless!!

But here's the rub of reality: If I only rely on pushing that correction button on my insulin pump WITHOUT disciplining myself to make the necessary lifestyle changes so that I don't need to press that button so often, it won't take long before my entire body is in trouble. Relying on external corrections without making necessary internal changes is what I would call 'couch potato corrections '- and it's not very smart. It can even be dangerous. With diabetes, that kind of mentality can lead to problems that sneak up on me - little by little; maybe even without much notice until the complications become overwhelming and even irreversible. If I choose to see the correction button as a 'quick fix' instead of a chastisement that compels me to make a change in ME rather than in my insulin pump alone, then all I will eventually accomplish is ignoring what is really happening inside my body to the extent that it could be a very present danger. Hmmm - not much different than other 'quick fixes'.

Let's take a look at some possibilities. Spending more than your paycheck? Quick fix - simply use a credit card to 'buy' you more time. Bad idea - been there, done that, still paying for it! Is habitual gluttony or unhealthy food choices a problem? Quick fix - enjoy it, and then do some extra exercise! Okay, you might feel justified on the outside, but even with exercise, the ongoing problem of gluttony/unhealthy food choices causes internal problems which will still sneak up on you. Whatever the area is that begs for correction, without the necessary accompanying internal changes, we are destined to suffer the consequences. Recognizing and admitting areas in need of correction is a great place to begin. That is the 'external'. However, all of this must be accompanied by an ongoing and intentional process of repentance - which literally means to turn and go the other way. That is the 'internal'. I need to CHOOSE to turn away from foods that negatively affect me. I need to CHOOSE to exercise properly. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Here's a cool thought - wouldn't it be nice if Jesus functioned as our 'correction button'? WOW!! He does - and He doesn't! He brings ultimate correction to us by the forgiving of our sins and by His work of cleansing us from ALL unrighteousness. He is truly the only One who can do all of that. But, if He made the ongoing, daily corrections in us without our active participation and cooperation - as if He were waving a magic wand, what would we learn? How would we truly mature? Most importantly - how would we become more Christ-like? All of that would simply be 'couch potato corrections' - unhealthy! Dealing well with tough situations that require corrections is really an EASY choice - yes, an easy choice with perhaps difficult and disciplined follow-up. The 'choice' itself can certainly be easy. It's the work that goes along with that choice that is the hard part! As with anything though, the more we work at it, the easier it becomes - and the stronger we become. When we choose to do the work, then we are truly making corrections that will stick, because we are making them from the inside out.

So, I am going to choose well; and I am going to start-tomorrow!! (Just kidding!)

Thanks for reading,

Libby

Labels: Libby

There's no use crying over spilled milk, huh?

I beg to differ. Actually this morning, I was literally crying over spilled milk. Not just milk, the most perfectly made glass of chocolate milk. That is like gold, people. Chocolatey enough, but not so sweet you can't drink it. Not an easy thing to do. And there it was, all over my counter, running down my cabinets, and puddled on my kitchen floor. Not only that, but the heavy glass managed to find its way smack dab onto my big toe.

And yes, there were tears. My toe was throbbing, I was fighting off two very eager to help dogs licking at my feet, my toast was getting cold, and I was running late for work.

But here I am, two hours later. The milk is cleaned up, my toe is perfectly fine, and I discovered that toast can be microwaved and still be tasty.

I really, really want to cry over spilled milk when it happens. Take my husband's car for instance. The summer we were married, two and a half years ago, the transmission went out. So we charged, we borrowed, we scraped, and pulled together a ton of money to get it up and running. And it breaks down this week. The transmission is shot.

So here we are looking at putting another significant chunk of change into a car that shouldn't have broken down in the first place.and now in the second place. Debating whether that's the wise thing to do, considering buying a new car while trying to get out of debt. Looking at all those zeros and wondering how long it will take to pay them all down if we proceed. And hating that for the third time in our less than three year marriage we have to shell out big bucks to get our cars running.

But you know what? It's spilled milk. It's life. It happens. Milk spills, cars break down, things don't quite work out how you plan. And I can either spend my time drying off my tears or I can thank God that now is the time that Uncle Sam decides to give me back some of my money and that He's providing the means to fix the car. That He's given my husband and I jobs that provide stable income to continue to pay down the other debts that we still have. That we have people who love us and are helping us out with transportation while we wait to get our car back.

Because in the end it's just a car. It's just money. It's just spilled milk. It doesn't really matter in the big picture. When Paul tells us in Colossians to set our mind on things above and not on earthly things it means exactly that. Don't worry about the car or the money. It's earthly. It's not going to last. It's temporal. It's fleeting. As big and huge of a deal that it feels like in my own life right now, it's simply spilled milk and it simply doesn't matter.

After all, when you serve the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, why would you ever cry over spilled milk?

Emily

Labels: Emily

Protection,
There are so many things I do not understand- what I want versus what I should ask for, what is acceptable to ask for, whether I should ask for anything at all.
Remembering God's faithfulness makes my stomach turn when I ask for you. To ask for you feels too much like asking for Comfort...which strikes me as a worldly pursuit. Because of this, I am never comfortable when I call on you. Ironic? As I said, there is a lot I do not understand.
Until wisdom guides me to a proper relationship with you, I will stand back and let Christ lead you to me when necessary. I'm sorry for my apprehension, as I know you only have the best intentions.
-Em

Labels: Em's Journal