2009 October » PWOC International Blog

Prayer Points: November 1-7, 2009

Oct 302009

As we enter the season of Thanksgiving, I remember a time when I had one of those “lighteing bolt” moments with God’s Word. I was struggling with some devastating things so I read a book on thanking God for all things and I was wrestling with the author’s premise that praise and thangsgiving will break the power of obstacles in our lives. I understood the ideas just fine. I just didn’t want to be thankful for my painful circumstance! I wanted to please God by giving thanks in all things, but my heart cried out against the injustice I had experienced. I was honest with God about my struggle and He led me to this passage.

Psalm 50:22-23
²²“Consider this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue:
²³He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,
and he prepares the way
so that I may show him the salvation of God.”

I was stunned by the fierceness of this message. God is saying that when we arent’ thankful, we are totoally fogetting about Him and He will destroy us without a rescuer. That is intense! But He also understands that being thankful can be very hard because He calls it a sacrifice. But the most amazing part is that by being thankful to God, we can prepare the way for God to come and save us in our troubles. Otherwise, we agree with the enemy who wants us to accuse God. We can tell God when we are sad, angry or even broken hearted. Then thank Him for His goodness and the way He is working good form frustration or even tragedy. You will help pave your own road to freedom!

Father God,
Please forgtive us when we forget your goodness, your mercies that are new every morning, you protection, your provision. You are so good and kind to us. Even in pain, loss, and stress you hold us up in your nail scarred hands. Thank you that you know and understand our suffering. God, I choose today to be thankful for ____________ (fill in the blank with good things, but also hard things). I prepare the way in my heart for you to come by my sacrifice of thanksgviing. Thank you for showing me your goodness and wholeness. Thank you for saving me. I love you.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Journey of Transformation, Part 2

Life Happens Jesus Answers, Real life stories, Testimonies

Oct 292009

LifeHappensBanner

The Journey Begins

Reaching the end of yourself is a good thing. For many people, reaching the end of themselves means that they’re totally sick of their stupid, unhealthy behavior, and they’re ready to change it. That’s where I was in 1999 – ready and willing to change, but powerless to do it.

None of us has the power to accomplish anything of true worth or value, including changing ourselves, apart from Christ (John 15:5). I had acknowledged that I was helpless and hopeless for the task. I had cried out to God with sincerity and desperation. I waited. I expected. I anticipated a swift supernatural deliverance from the strongholds within. Wasn’t God in the business of rescuing His children from Satan’s grip? Hadn’t I suffered and lost enough? How I ended up wasn’t my fault. It was my parents’ fault, wasn’t it? Yes, they were responsible for shaping me into the damaged woman I became. However, as an adult, I needed to take responsibility for my condition and embark on a process of overcoming and reversing the damage.

God started the process for me. It began slowly. In January 2000 my gums became swollen and enflamed. I expected this unusual condition to pass. After three months I went to the dentist and he suggested I try a different toothpaste for two weeks. It didn’t help. Next on his list was a visit to a periodontist in Hanau. This gum specialist did lab work and took a biopsy of my gums. He suspected I had something awful like lupus or leukemia. Two weeks later I returned to his office.

The news was good and bad. My white blood cell count was normal, so the doctor didn’t suspect leukemia. However, the gum tissue biopsy showed inflammation, a telltale sign of Systemic Lupus Erythematosis (SLE). Although the doctor’s diagnosis wasn’t conclusive, he suspected that I did have early onset SLE, a potentially life-threatening autoimmune disease. For those of you who aren’t familiar with autoimmune diseases, “auto” means “self” and “immune” means the immune system is involved. My immune system was confused. It attacked harmful invaders in my body like it was supposed to, but it kept going and began to attack perfectly healthy tissue. In essence, my immune system was attacking me.

This news came at a time when my husband, Steve, was deployed to Kosovo. Why is it that every time I received bad news or experienced something traumatic, I was alone? God was in the process of causing me to run to Him and rely on Him first and foremost. This I realized years later after spending plenty of time fussing, fuming and worrying.

On the trip home from Hanau to Friedberg I stared through the windshield, dazed. Questions bounced around in my head like pinballs. I knew of women who had died from kidney failure brought on by lupus. Was that going to happen to me? Was I going to get seriously ill and die? Why was this happening? Why am I alone with this news? It was April 2000 and we were due to PCS to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in July.

TO BE CONTINUED …

Women of PWOC, stay connected! In the coming weeks I will continue sharing my Journey of Transformation from being wounded and angry to healed and thriving. My purpose in sharing this story is to glorify God, to show the truth about Him, to display His goodness and provision in the midst of suffering, and to give you hope. No matter where you find yourself at this time in your life, be assured that God is trustworthy and faithful despite how you feel about Him. He does have good plans for you. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11).

____________________

“Life Happens – Jesus Answers” is a weekly column addressing the challenges we face in life, coupled with the presence and grace of Jesus, our One True Source of hope and peace. The column’s author, Laura Firtko, can be reached by email here: LifeHappens@pwoc.org

Off the Roll

Real life stories

Oct 282009

Submitted by: Clare Picker

Carson (my 1 year-old son) has, what I consider to be, an unnatural fascination with bathrooms. I will not delve into Freudian meanings behind this. He loves the toilet, particularly the water. If the lid is not closed he thinks of it as his own private water table! He loves the tub and figured out about a month and a half ago how to climb in it. That wouldn’t be a big deal except he seems to pop up when I am in the shower-and he is still fully clothed! He doesn’t do those things every day, so that is not that big of a deal. But his most favorite pastime is something his beloved Aunt Robyn taught him. And he does it pretty much on a daily basis. That would be unrolling the toilet paper! Just tonight, I found a whole roll (I know, because I had just changed it) in a lovely heap on the floor. So, while I am searching for the end of it, I had a realization. You cannot put toilet paper back on the roll. Once taken off, you will forever (or at least until it is all used up) be able to tell that it was unrolled. You can try to put it back, but it will be rumpled and uneven, and in general look really awful. It is more than a little vexing, and usually I don’t even try because the results (as mentioned above) are less than stellar.

So, because ordinary events often lead me to think of other things, I got to thinking about words. I may or may not have said some unkind things to my poor daughter this evening. Yes, it might have happened while we were trying to find order in the chaos of her room, but really that is no excuse. She wasn’t really trying to help me, but she is only three. She had been chattering incessantly all day (truly, since about 2:00 pm she had not ceased talking and/or singing) and I was really losing my patience (which is threadbare at the best of times!). There were threats, yelling and not-so-kind words. You can guess who those came from. Well, things progressed and Josie apologized. I apologized,too. But, there was no more singing or happy chatter. She was just very quiet and reserved. Very unusual Josie behavior. We finished her room and I went on to discover the toilet paper and do other things. She was being very quiet, so I went to check on her. She had put herself to bed and was asleep.

So, what does this have to do with toilet paper? Just that, when you are a mom, and you hurt your little one’s feelings so badly that she goes to sleep without, books, without songs and without kisses, you feel pretty low. You wish that you could pull back all those words, roll them back up and make it all nice again. But, just like my bathroom tissue, it will never be the same. It will never fit quite as nicely, the edges will still be uneven. Carson unrolls the T.P. because it is fun, because he is too little to really know better. I am without those excuses. Saying unkind things to my child is not fun, and I definitely know better. So, why do I do it? I think really because I am frustrated with myself, angry that I don’t do everything right. But, no excuses, I am praying that the next time I will remember that ugly pile of toilet paper and think harder about letting a pile of ugly words come out of my mouth. It is a God-thing that three year-olds are so forgiving, but I don’t want to test the limits of her clemency!

Thanks, Lord, for being the only One who can make anything perfect again. Guard my lips so that I can be more like You, helping and healing. “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 (NIV

A quick Windows tip

Tech Tuesday

Oct 272009

All of PWOC is abuzz with activity now as we are in the midst of Regional Conference season. Alaska, West and Pacific Regions have finished their conferences, while Europe, Central, Southeast and Northeast Conferences are just around the next corner. Since I am finishing my own Regional Board time, I have been very busy the past weeks with final preparations. With that said, today’s Tech Tip will be short and sweet, but worth your time, I hope!

When I get busy, I often find that I end up with lots of open windows on my desktop (computer screen, that is). Sitting back for a breather, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the clutter before me. That’s when I look for a shortcut that will quickly minimize all of the windows on my screen at one time. Good news, I found one!

On your Windows PC, simply press the Windows key and the letter ‘M’ at the same time and watch all of your windows minimize to the taskbar. Try it, it’s really cool!

See? Short and sweet. Blessings to you all and I pray that your Regional Conference time has been or will be full of sweet fellowship with the King of Kings. See you back here next week!

_____________

“Tech Tuesday” is published every Tuesday. To reach Tracy with comments or questions, email her here.

Reformation Day

Devotions

Oct 262009

Most people see October 31 as Halloween. But there is another celebration that many Christians are not aware of, and that is Reformation Day. A monk by the name of Martin Luther started the Reformation on this day in 1517 by nailing the 95 theses (points to consider) to the Wittenburg door in Germany. The 95 theses started a debate that continues to reverberate to this day and will continue to do so through the ages.

The main point of those 95 theses was that our righteousness before God comes by faith and not by our works or good deeds. You cannot make what you’ve done wrong right by doing something else like penance/more good works/ paying money. Luther was converted on Romans 1:17 “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” No wonder, then, that when he read and believed this portion of scripture he said “Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates…”

Luther learned from the Bible that the holy and righteous God demanded righteousness and he (Luther) was not righteous enough to satisfy His requirement. Luther would confess for three hours and still feel unworthy. He learned from looking through the Scriptures that we are not merely sinners because we sin,we are sinners at the very root of our being. Sin is not what we do it is a matter of who we are. Nothing we can do can overcome that. He learned that it was futile to look to any mediator besides Jesus (1Timothy 2:5). We come to God only through Christ, and we come to Christ on the cross, for He bears the penalty of our sin and suffers in our place (Galatians 3:10-14). The resurrection is our victory over sin and death. We are not justified before God by our works or merits but by faith alone through grace alone. When God looks at us He sees the perfect work of His Son, not one spot of our sin. Christ paid for it in full. We are righteous because our Savior was righteous for us. Our great God is a merciful God who gives us the gift of faith through His Son Jesus Christ. He loves us with a love that is beyond the bounds of human imagination. This is the fuel behind everything we do to the glory of God. And when we live life – all of it – for the glory of God, we are engaged in the most profound of activities. We are doing something that matters truly and ultimately. In the service of the glory of God there is nothing little at all. Consider this October 31st be one more day of the year to celebrate what Jesus did for you.

Quotes from“The Reformation, How a Monk and a Mallet Changed the World.”

Prayer Points October 25-31

Prayer Points

Oct 232009

Fear Not!!! God is love. He is not all talk and no action. He proves His love through His incredible sacrifice. God loved us and gave Himself for us. We have His strength to help us love one another.

I John 4:7-21⁷Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

¹³We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. ¹⁶And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. ¹⁷In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. ¹⁸There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

¹⁹We love because he first loved us. ²⁰If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. ²¹And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Dear God, You loved me first, when I was unlovely. Strengthen me to love those around me who aren’t so lovely. Help me love my spouse, my kids, my neighbors, and people who don’t look like me.

When I struggle with shame and guilt, help me to remember that I am no longer marked for punishment because you took my sentence. I run to your throne of mercy and confess my sins and failures. I joyfully receive your cleansing, healing love and forgiveness. You are my friend.

I love you.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

Journey of Transformation, Part 1

Jesus Answers, Life Happens, Life Happens Jesus Answers, Real life stories, Testimonies

Oct 222009

Cry of Desperation

As I walked around the apartment in Friedberg, Germany, I cried out to God to help me overcome damage from the past. Pacing back and forth, Bible in hand, I read Romans 12:2 aloud, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

The year was 1999 and I had reached a point of desperation. Decades of dissatisfaction with myself brought personal interrogation: What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I be different? Why do I get so angry? Why am I so unhappy? Nine years earlier I was on a quest to get these questions answered with the help of a qualified Christian counselor, but I moved away and neglected to continue my quest. As a result, unresolved anger, bitterness and resentment took up residence in my soul. They enjoyed each other’s company like members of a sick, twisted, dysfunctional family. Their father, Satan, used them to full advantage.

The Enemy of my soul succeeded in rendering me depressed, unmotivated, insecure, confused, fragmented, and ineffective. This swirling brew of footholds trapped me in a pit of muck and mire. In Scripture, muck, or mud, and mire represent anything that entraps us like quicksand (Psalm 69:14). In my case, these footholds began developing early in life. An unhealthy, discouraging childhood shaped me into a miserable woman with no sense of self, no clear identity, no sense of purpose or value or worth. As more damage accumulated, the footholds became strongholds binding me in a straight jacket of lies and false beliefs. I believed I was unworthy, bad, wrong, inadequate, inferior, helpless and hopeless. My victim mentality gave Satan more power over me. The lies and false beliefs he planted in my brain affected every area of my life.

I needed help but didn’t know where to turn. Germany wasn’t exactly brimming with Christian counselors, and I didn’t feel comfortable going to a secular social worker or anyone in the military system. What would people think? Feeling isolated and alone, I continued down the path I’d been on – praying for God to deliver me while attempting to make changes in my own strength. My changes were false and temporary, directed from the outside in. I felt like some unknown force had a grip on me so powerful, so deeply rooted, that I couldn’t break free … no matter what I did.

My superficial attempts at behaving differently, changing my attitudes, and being more positive resulted in failure and frustration. Only Jesus, through the work of the Holy Spirit, had the power to transform me from the inside out. Fortunately, I was at the place where I acknowledged having a problem and I sought God’s deliverance. However, my approach and expectations were unrealistic. I didn’t just beg God to change me. I expected Him to reach down inside my soul and supernaturally pull out the strongholds. I wanted Him to heal me on the spot … or shortly after my pleading began. Yeah, right. He had a very different plan – a plan I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

TO BE CONTINUED …

Women of PWOC, stay connected! In the coming weeks I will continue sharing my Journey of Transformation from being wounded and angry to healed and thriving. My purpose in sharing this story is to glorify God, to show the truth about Him, to display His goodness and provision in the midst of suffering, and to give you hope. No matter where you find yourself at this time in your life be assured that God is trustworthy and faithful despite how you feel about Him. He does have good plans for you. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11).

LauraFirtko

Prayer Points for October 18-24

Prayer Points

Oct 212009

Fear Not!! Bring your heavy burdens to the feet of Jesus. Cast your cares upon Him because He cares for you. Often we carry our own burdens as well as the burdens of many we know and love. Problems may be overwhelming, insurmountable, and even heartbreaking. God is still on His throne pouring out His message of strength, hope, forgiveness and restoration.

Father, I ask you to give us joy in you! I choose to rejoice. Let the gentle fruit of your spirit be abundant in my life. You are near, not far away. God, I bring my fear and worry to you. I ask you to protect my children, my spouse, my friends, my neighbors, those serving in our unit. God, today, I specifically need your help with —————————– (fill in the blank). Thank you so much for hearing my prayers. I pray your peace would be like a garrison around my heart. Let me think about things that are true and lovely today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Phillipians 4: 4-9

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

How do you Connect?

Leadership Development, Leadership Wednesday, News & Announcements

Oct 212009

Letters with stamps. Remember those? Maybe a long distant phone call with a timer that keeps track of how much money you’ve spent. Maybe an occasional visit in person with someone you haven’t seen in a long time.

Does that sound like a long time ago? How do you connect with others?

Yes, going next door or down the street for that hot cup of coffee and understanding ear is still preferred, but if you can’t make personal contact, how do you reach out to others and feel connected?

I facebook. It has changed the way I see ministry. The possibilities multiply by being connected to so many people.

I began emailing in 1996, instant messaging not much after that, have used the internet for research for at least a decade, but am completely sold on social networking as the #1 way to reach someone that’s not living close to you.

We have currently been given favor and approval to have our very own fan page on facebook! In six days, we had reached 400 fans with an average of 10-20 new fans per hour! If you’ve already signed on, you know the benefits. You will see the daily PWOCI blog with opportunity to leave comments. You, the fan, will be able to post pictures and comments, and we hope to hear your great conference stories. You will reconnect with ladies you’ve known in your different local PWOCs and meet new friends. There are discussions set up for a variety of topics: blog, conferences, regions, change, publicity ideas, prayer, and several more. Our website is linked to our facebook page, making it more convenient for you to connect. Look for the button on the home page and the blog page.

By being on facebook, you can connect with many PWOC ladies around the world. Imagine that squeal that we hear in the lobby of a conference hotel. Imagine that it’s an “online squeal” when you join the facebook called “Protestant Women of the Chapel International.” See ya there!

And bring some new friends to join the fun!!

Melinda Hemphill, PWOCI Communications

Link to PWOC on Facebook here.

Good formatting sure can clear things up

Tech Tuesday

Oct 202009

No matter which word processor you use, you have some powerful tools at your disposal that can help communicate your message efficiently and accurately. When you have a message to deliver, follow these simple rules and have confidence that your message will be received.

1. Keep it short and to the point.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say they didn’t read a message because it was simply too long. I’ve even heard a Pastor say this very thing in a sermon, “Send me an email but make it short. If it’s long, I promise I won’t read it!” Right or wrong, people are people and if you want them to receive your message, keep it short and relevant.

2. Take advantage of bulleted or numbered lists.

If you have a handful of information to deliver, using bullets or numbered lists is an easy way to organize the information for your reader. It also ensures that nothing is missed.

Compare the following information that I pulled from The Women’s Ministry Manual regarding the general qualifications of all PWOC board members.

Unformatted:

General qualifications for all board members
Confesses Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior; Is devoted to God, dependent on Jesus Christ and led by the Holy Spirit; Has an understanding of and appreciation for the diversity of PWOC; Is active in a local PWOC; Is certain of her husband’s affirmation and support for her PWOC service, if married.

Formatted:

GENERAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR ALL BOARD MEMBERS

1. Confesses Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior

2. Is devoted to God, dependent on Jesus Christ and led by the Holy Spirit

3. Has an understanding of and appreciation for the diversity of PWOC

4. Is active in a local PWOC

5. Is certain of her husband’s affirmation and support for her PWOC service, if married

You decide. Which one is easier on the eye and which one are you more likely to fully receive and recall later?

3. Take advantage of font decorations.

Font decorations are things like bold, italics, underline, etc. When you have a lot of text in your message, helping the viewer by pointing out the most important information is not only courteous, it’s also meeting your core objective. Note the following examples:

Unformatted:

The registration deadline is coming up soon. Please have all information and money turned in to the POC no later than Wednesday, October 21. At that time, you may also submit your t-shirt size and money for your conference t-shirt, if you choose to purchase one. Also remember to let us know if you have any special dietary needs that need to be conveyed to the conference planners. We’re going to have a great time fellowshipping and praising our Lord! See you there!

Formatted:

The registration deadline is coming up soon. Please have all information and money turned in to the POC no later than Wednesday, October 21^st. At that time, you may also submit your t-shirt size and money for your conference t-shirt, if you choose to purchase one. Also remember to let us know if you have any special dietary needs that need to be conveyed to the conference planners. We’re going to have a great time fellowshipping and praising our Lord! See you there!

The above message has three pieces of information to deliver but one piece was clearly more important than the other two. If your reader gets nothing else from this message, you want them to know the deadline for registration, right? If they miss that info, then who cares about t-shirts and dietary needs!

Note: Be careful to use your font decorations judiciously. I can hear one of my college professors warning her students, “If you highlight the whole page, then you’ve effectively highlighted nothing.” Keep in mind that you want only the most important information to stand out. It can’t all be most important or it fails the most important test – most means more than any other.

4. Be mindful of font choices.

This point cannot be emphasized enough! In an effort to decorate messages, I’ve seen writers use font choices that actually make their message harder to read, than easier. This goes for color, as well.

In terms of font choices, stick with the standards. Using your system’s default font is a safe bet as it’s highly likely the reader’s machine holds the same font or can make a safe font substitution. Using a specialty font that your reader’s machine doesn’t have will trigger a substitution that often produces undesirable results. (This goes for Word documents that get emailed around, as well.)

Using your default font is a safe plan, but if you must make changes, the following fonts are present on most any machine:

Arial (and it’s variations)
Times New Roman (and it’s variations)

In terms of color choices, make sure that you choose a color that is dark enough to be seen against a white background. Using yellow is an obvious ‘no, no’ but while red is a good attention getter, choosing a dark red will be easier to see than the bright variations.

A final note on font choices, I’ve seen a huge increase in script fonts (fancy fonts) this year as folks try to stay consistent with the royal aspect of our International Theme. Research has proven that these fonts are simply not appropriate for text use. They are, however, great for header or title use. So, please use these decorative fonts sparingly and take it easy on your reader’s eye.

5. Never underestimate the power of good grammar.

If you want your reader to take you seriously, take your message seriously. When you fail to use good grammar (spelling, capitalization and punctuation) in your message, you’re making a statement about yourself and it’s not likely the statement you intended. You’re not really saving time by skipping these important details but the damage you do to your message, and your reputation, is immeasurable!

_____________

“Tech Tuesday” is published every Tuesday. To reach Tracy with comments or questions, email her here.

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