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Author Archive

A Life Ring Remembrance

Posted by Debby on August 31, 2011

This is an example of a remembrance we made for one of our retreats. The specific theme was “His Wonders in the Deep” (from Ps. 107:23-24), but it would work for any water-related theme. Per person, it was very cost-effective–for our group, it was less than 50 cents per person.

Supplies required:

Small wooden craft ring–outside diameter 2-1/2″
Red, blue and/or yellow 1/2″ vinyl or PVC electrical tape (see photo)
Light braided string/rope
White cardstock, printed and then cut to fit circle
Gold thread

The pictures are fairly self-explanatory. The light rope is attached to the ring by wrapping it with tape in four places. Be sure that one of the places where the tape is used covers the two ends of the rope. The gold thread is used to be a hanger, which you can barely see at the top of the photo on the left. The cardstock is printed so that it can be cut in 2-1/4″ circles. We like to have the theme of the retreat and/or the theme verse on each remembrance, at the very least. The example above has the retreat theme, the reference for the theme verse, and the year of the retreat printed on it. These circles were then glued to the back of the ring. We used this as a remembrance for our retreat theme “His Wonders in the Deep” from Psalm 107:23-24.

Posted in: Money-Saving Tips, Retreat Remembrances

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Running to Win

Posted by Debby on August 24, 2011

More than once in the Old Testament,the Bible sums up the leadership of various kings with a declaration such as “he did what was good in the sight of the Lord” or “he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” Those descriptions seem vague at best, and leave much to the imagination. Does the sum total of a leader’s reign boil down to the pronouncement “good king” or “bad king”?

However, there are places where scripture expounds more fully. For instance, II Chronicles 26:5 says of King Uzziah that “as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.” II Chronicles 31:21 says of King Hezekiah that in every work he sought the Lord and “he did it with all his heart. So he prospered.” God prospered those leaders who sought to do God’s will with their whole hearts. It seems like the Bible is saying that when a leader has the determination, courage, and passion to seek God with his whole heart, God sees and rewards him.

One particularly convicting evaluation is found in II Chronicles 25:2, where King’s Amaziah’s leadership was described: “He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a loyal (whole, perfect) heart.” We have all been guilty of doing a half-hearted job of serving others, with a less than perfect attitude. This should not satisfy us, and we know it doesn’t please God.

I Corinthians 9:24 says “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain [it].” Doing God’s will wholeheartedly is not a casual, take it or leave it, “just-glad-I-finished-the-race” attitude. This is a pressing forward to serve God in such a way that the prize is won. As women’s leaders, we shouldn’t be satisfied to just get the job done. We would be wise to serve God with a determination and passion, and to seek God with our whole heart. God notices, and He rewards it.

Posted in: Inspirations

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Oops! The Speaker Went Over… (Part 2)

Posted by Debby on August 17, 2011

So, you are encountering some problems in your schedule. The retreat coordinator is well aware of the issue, and may be adjusting the schedule accordingly. But the attendees do not need to be aware that you are not right on schedule. All of us get antsy when we know things are not on schedule, when an event starts late or a speaker is going over their time allotment.

The original working schedule should have every event timed down to the minute, and those giving announcements, doing worship, giving a testimony or doing a book review should be made aware of exactly how much time is allotted to them. It doesn’t hurt to have a copy of that master schedule at the podium; timers can be useful, too.

However, the program given to general attendees should list only crucial times (when the session starts, lunch time, etc.). Everything else should just be an order of events. Those women who watch the time will have no idea when the speaker was supposed to start and end, eliminating any possible time-related stress on their part. Easy fix!

Posted in: Lessons Learned, Little Things Make a Big Difference!, Retreat and Event Planning

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Oops! The Speaker Went Over… (Part I)

Posted by Debby on August 10, 2011

It happens. Speakers, whether professional or non-professional, have all been known to exceed their time allotment. It can simply be that they were not watching the time, or they got on a roll and forgot their time limit. Or there can be an equipment malfunction or an outside distraction that delays or interrupts a session. It may not even be the speaker’s fault–earlier scheduled events on the agenda (worship, a testimony, a book review) may have gone over their time limit, and she gets a late start. Errors like these can put the session 10 or 15 minutes behind schedule…and put the retreat coordinator in a tizzy. How do you make up the time?

Pastor Chuck Smith is credited with this beatitude: “Blessed are the flexible.” We can get stressed out from delays and kinks in our schedules, or we can roll with the punches, and expect that there will always be something that interferes with your smooth-running schedule. One of the easiest and least stressful ways to deal with this inevitability is to build some flexibility into your schedule. For instance, if a speaker is scheduled to speak right right before you break for a meal, build into your schedule a 15-20 minute break before the meal. That way, if the session goes longer than anticipated, your women are still not late for the meal. You need to put plenty of breaks into your schedule anyway–this is an event for women, after all. Breaks can give your schedule some flexibility. And the retreat coordinator can relax.

Posted in: Retreat and Event Planning, Your Guest Speaker

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The Servant Leader – A Book Review

Posted by Debby on August 5, 2011

The Servant Leader is a small, easy-to-read book of less than 125 pages. It was written by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges. Mr. Blanchard was one of the authors of the secular best seller entitled The One Minute Manager. In fact, they reference this fact in their introduction, where they summarize this book by the phrase “Turning the One Minute Manager into a servant leader like Jesus.” This book shows that Jesus is a practical and effective leadership model for all situations and all people. They encourage us to put His servant leadership into practice in all of our leadership roles, inside and outside of the church setting.

They tackle leadership issues such as self-serving leaders vs. servant leaders, character, vision, leadership styles, etc. They back up everything with scripture, and give scriptural “case studies” for each point they make, in addition to personal examples. They emphasize the need for the servant leader to to be a student of the Word as well as the need for accountability. The authors say “True success in servant leadership depends on how clearly values are defined, ordered, and lived by the leader.”

This book clearly and concisely defines the steps to becoming a servant leader like Jesus. It made me long to not only put these principles into practice myself, but to serve under such leadership!

Buy The Servant Leader on Amazon.com

Posted in: Book Reviews

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