21

Author Archive

I Love Lists…and a Predictable Day!

Posted by Debby on July 15, 2014

I love lists. I love making lists…and I love crossing items off that list! Sometimes I make a list just so I can cross items off.

Maybe pride is involved, because it gives me a sense of satisfaction as I see, in a tangible way, the things I have accomplished in a day. However, it is not just selfish things on those lists. The lists may include ministry tasks, letters to write, calls to make that pertain to ministry, in addition to my personal goals for the day. The perfect day in my eyes would include my quiet time, accomplishments of my daily tasks, and significant progress on “the list.”

Unfortunately, that “perfect day” is a rarity. Why? People. People interrupt. People have needs. People want to talk. People want my time. People have problems that don’t have an easy or convenient solution. People don’t get checked off a list so easily.

But if I look at the example of Jesus, I see that His priority was people. He saw them with eyes of compassion and reached out and ministered to them at every opportunity. His single-minded purpose included all of those interruptions and inconveniences caused by the needs of those around Him.

Posted in: Inspirations, News & Information, Realities of Ministry

Leave a Comment (0) →

A Dessert Option

Posted by Debby on July 8, 2014

We recently served the pictured mini-bundt cakes at a women’s event. They were ordered from a company in our area called “Nothing Bundt Cakes” which I have no problem recommending, as they were delicious. However, you may not have that franchise nearby. But what I want to bring to your attention is the little containers these cakes came in and in which we served them. Having a prepackaged dessert like that turned out to be a blessing in more ways than one. First, it eliminated the need for paper plates (though we did have napkins), saving money. A bonus benefit was that it reduced the mess considerably, compared to serving slices of cake or cupcakes. But we found an unexpected benefit: The little containers made it easy for the ladies to take home any leftovers that they hadn’t finished! So many ladies pay for the event, but possibly don’t want to eat sweets or can’t finish it. This way, they can easily take home whatever is left to enjoy another day!

Posted in: Little Things Make a Big Difference!, Money-Saving Tips, News & Information, Resources

Leave a Comment (0) →

Sweet Resource

Posted by Debby on July 1, 2014

This is a closeup of the little giveaway for our women’s event theme “Singing in the Rain.” It perfectly brought in the elements of an umbrella and “raindrops,” represented by the Hershey kisses. But note the stickers on he bottom of the kiss. Were you aware that there is a place where you can buy these personalized stickers at a reasonable price? We chose our theme verse to put on the bottom of the kisses. However, the products on this website could be used in so many ways to make a sweet giveaway for any women’s event. Check out www.ClassicCandyCovers.com.

Posted in: News & Information, Resources, Retreat Remembrances

Leave a Comment (0) →

The Women’s Ministry “Family”

Posted by Debby on June 24, 2014

There is a line in Psalms 68:6 which says: “God sets the lonely in families.” I found this awesome quote recently: “God promised to put the lonely in families and a women’s ministry group is the perfect ‘family’ for many lonely women. Have your heart open and be prepared to be a family to them” (Kim Webster).

That made me think. Can we, as sisters in the Lord in women’s ministry, function as a family? What are the distinguishing features of a good family?

A family can be made up of a variety of personalities (don’t we know it!), and is accepting of differences (age, personality, interests, level of growth)
A family should be able communicate without fear of ridicule;
A family learns and grows with one another;
A family should be where you are loved and accepted – as you are;
In a family, if you make a mistake you are forgiven and welcomed back;
A family is there for one another in crisis.

Posted in: Inspirations, News & Information, Realities of Ministry

Leave a Comment (0) →

Three Biggest Decisions in Retreat Planning

Posted by Debby on June 17, 2014

If you are considering a retreat this year, you may be getting a bit of a late start. There are three critical decisions that I feel need to have been made by now, unless you have a very unusual situation–or you are very lucky. Normally, we have found that a minimum of two of these three decisions should be made even a year in advance of your overnight event.

Location – retreat centers and hotels are normally booked up to a year or two in advance. Normally we try to schedule our hotel one year in advance.
Date – you may be limited by the availability of your chosen location or the availability of your speaker. If the two don’t work together you’ll have to decide which is more important to you: the date you want or the speaker you want (read more about this decision here).
Speaker – a popular speaker may have limited dates of availability.

In our case, we are preparing for a late November retreat. Our priority this year was to get the retreat location that we wanted and had used last year. We found that they were booked into 2016, with very few favorable dates in 2014 available. So we booked the location and date in December of 2013 and took a risk.

Our decision about a speaker was then limited to someone who could come on that date. We have just finalized our speaker(s). In June, (nearly six month prior to retreat date) we will officially begin planning as a group-assigning responsibilities, determining schedule, and the many other components of retreat planning.

Tags: date, location, retreat centre, retreat planning, speaker

Posted in: Lessons Learned, Location, Location, Location, News & Information, Retreat and Event Planning, Starting Points in Retreat Planning

Leave a Comment (0) →

Page 21 of 66 «...10 19 202122 23...»