2010 March » PWOC International Blog

Webpage Word Search

Mar 162010

Here’s the scenario: You want to do a quick Internet search but your search returns pages and pages filled with words and words.

Short of reading everything searching for your one thing, what can you do?

While every browser is slightly different, they all have a Find feature and they all access it with the shortcut CTRL+F (CMD+F on the Mac). Once your Find field appears, type in your search word and the browser will locate the next occurrence of that word on the open web page. (If you’re using Firefox, look in the bottom left margin of your browser window for the Find field.) Click ‘next’ to find the next occurrence, and so on.

Using this feature can save loads of time. I often use this feature only to discover that my search term appears only in the page’s advertising. What a pain! I’m sure glad I didn’t have to read the whole page to find that out!

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

Prayer Points for March 14-20th

Prayer Points

Mar 152010

St. Patrick is one of my favorite heroes of the faith. He was taken as a slave to Ireland. He forgave His captors and prayed for them. He went home for a while, only to hear God’s call to return Ireland and preach the gospel. He believed in living among the lost and “being Jesus” to them. He used a common clover with 3 leaves (shamrock) to teach people about the Trinity: The Father, The Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit-Three in One. He confronted the Druid priests, who often tried to kill him. God protected him with miracles similar to Elijah’s experience of Mt. Carmel with the prophets of Ba’al.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 7:21

Father God, We thank you for the legacy of St. Patrick, a man of simple faith and love who rocked an entire nation by living the gospel outloud. Fill us with the same courage and power to confront darkness and set the captives free. Give us the simple wisdom that confounds the wise. I pray every sister reading this whom does not know you would cry out to you, repent of her sins and welcome you into her heart. I pray every sister speaking, “Lord, Lord” would begin to live obedient to the Father and not only enter Your Kingdom, but bring Your Kingdom to the Earth in her own neighborhood, carpool, and FRG. In Jesus Powerful Name we pray, Amen!

Spiritual Remodeling

Devotions

Mar 152010

God began a painful transformational process in me over ten years ago. Recently He’s been targeting ingrained habits, priorities, and mindsets. Each day I must choose to let Him kill the old sin nature. I must choose to walk in a new direction. And I must choose between bondage and freedom.

The Lord’s most effective way to get my attention is to allow physical weariness. He knows me so well. Choices I make largely are based on how I feel physically. I cannot ignore how I feel nor can I push myself or rush His process. I learned long ago to request that He allow a trial to last as long as necessary so I could learn the lesson and prevent enduring it again in the future.

He has been faithful, but trials wear me out when they continue endlessly. It’s as if the Holy Spirit has embarked on a remodeling project. Maybe I should wear a shirt that says, “Under God’s Construction.” That would explain my grimace. I can feel the old nature dying as the Spirit chips away. This reminds me of the passage in Romans 8:36-37 – “As it is written:

‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

To truly be more than a conqueror through this miserable process, I must throw myself at Christ’s feet in submission and receive the good work He’s doing within me. Then I will reap the rewards of deeper spiritual maturity, increased faith, greater character, and fulfillment of His plans for my life. Each day brings the opportunity to do a new thing, reject bondage, and choose freedom.

What is God doing within you today that you want to resist? Let Him place you on His Potter’s wheel and mold you into the beautiful creation He designed you to be. The results will be worth it.

Prayer Points

Mar 122010

Let us join together in praying the Lord’s prayer this week:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen

Journey of Transformation, Part 14

Life Happens Jesus Answers, Real life stories, Testimonies

Mar 112010

Emergency

The next morning Steve and I ate breakfast in my hospital room and around 9 a.m. I was discharged. After a quick stop at the pharmacy for pain medication and Gas-X we headed home. The old familiar emotions that jarred me the day before began rumbling again and I was grateful we lived only twenty minutes from Fort Campbell.

We pulled into the garage, got out of the car, and Steve opened the door to the house. With each step I felt waves of grief rising, overriding my weariness. Seconds after I stepped inside new sobs escaped for the first time in 24 hours and I released them on Steve’s shoulder.

Not having the same connection to the pregnancy, Steve was somewhat perplexed by my outburst. The whole experience was surreal to him. It might have been more mutual if he had known about the pregnancy beforehand, but men react differently.

Once the waterworks subsided I led Steve over to the end table in our living room and showed him the sonogram photo. With tears in his eyes he said, “It’s very sad.” At that point the loss became a little more tangible. However, he would never understand my trauma.

That night I developed a fever of 101-F along with severe pain in my abdomen. Ibuprofen didn’t break the fever and it rose to 101.7-F so we took off to the ER. This time I was really glad that Fort Campbell was only twenty minutes away.

After waiting a couple hours I was finally seen by a doctor. He asked several questions, looked at my medications, and glared at me when he saw the OB/GYN had prescribed Tylox for pain. With a strange blend of astonishment and anger he announced, “This is for end stage cancer patients!” I was so bewildered by his remark that I just stared back at him. I wasn’t sure if he was angry with me for not taking it (I had chosen not to because I didn’t want liver damage) or if he was floored that the doctor had prescribed such a potent drug. Whatever the case, this doc had a lousy bedside manner.

Once the happy doctor left the room Steve walked me over to the bathroom. As soon as I set foot inside I dropped to the floor. I’ll never know what caused the blackout but I was glad Steve was there to catch me. The last thing I needed was injury. Again I sensed God’s protection and provision.

We returned home around 1 a.m. and I managed to sleep through the night. Steve had been given a four-day pass from school at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, so he was able to stay for only three more days. During those days he made meals, bought take out, and monitored me to make sure I didn’t have another fever. Then he departed, reluctantly, on Wednesday, April 25, 2001.

So there I was, left with unresolved grief from a miscarriage and the unrelenting reality of lupus and hair loss. I was teetering between caring for myself and slipping into debilitating fatigue. Soon I would be in for another road trip.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES:

Stay connected for more. Jehovah Jireh keeps on providing. The mysteries and complexities of our lives might never be clear in our time, but one thing is certain: God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9); and, His plans for our future are laced with goodness and hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

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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

Gardening

Real life stories, Testimonies

Mar 102010

Submitted by Karen Jaedicke of Fort Bragg, NC

My first attempt at a vegetable garden was a disaster! I was born and raised a city girl and had moved to the country, in the heart of a farming community. Several ladies were excited to introduce me to so many new things: gardening, canning, quilting and even driving a tractor. We started with gardening.

I quickly learned the amount of effort (make that hard work) that went into growing one’s own food. With the help of a few friends and a tiller, we eventually had a patch ready. With great excitement, I made rows and began planting various seeds; zucchini, cantaloupe, watermelon, tomatoes, corn, potatoes and more. Then I waited to enjoy the fruits of my labor. The next time I went out to check (several weeks later) the entire garden was overrun with WEEDS.

Now I know at this point some of you are laughing. But remember, I am a city girl, and no one had mentioned that after you have planted you have to care for, weed and maintain the garden. I only expected to find fully developed, healthy fruits and vegetables more succulent than any commissary or grocery store. What a surprise for this girl!

Our spiritual lives are much like a garden. The seeds that are planted there on a Sunday morning, at PWOC, or by a conversation with a friend, must be watered, nourished and cared for. And the weeds! They are constantly working to wrap themselves around our beautiful plantings. Only consistent, purposeful care can keep out the things that try to change our focus, steal our joy, and defeat our spirit. I’m sure glad God takes on the job of Master Gardener, aren’t you? I hope you’re asking Him daily to walk with you through the garden and see what needs His attention. I know I am.

……my Father is the gardener. John 15:1

Who Are You?

Tech Tuesday

Mar 092010

“Who are you?” — I find myself typing this a lot lately.

Remember a thousand years ago when the Internet was introduced? Shortly thereafter came Email? Back then, we were all ignorant about cyber-safety. We created usernames like Pookey, ArmyMom and CatLady. One of my earlier email addresses was BeagleMomOf2. I had two beagles so it seemed to fit. To use our real name wasn’t a consideration then.

Fast forward those thousand years and we know a lot more about the threats, both real and perceived, that haunt our online presence. We’ve finally learned that using our real name for our email address isn’t really a threat after all…or have we?

So often, I still see generic usernames on email messages but that in itself isn’t the problem. The problem is introduced when the sender of the message fails to sign it and the reader is left with the question, “Who are you?” Furthermore, failing to sign your message is a fast track to the Junk bin! If you want to be taken seriously, identify yourself.

Personally, I strongly prefer using your real name for your email address. The army does it and if you haven’t noticed, they don’t do anything that could be considered unsafe (on the web, that is). But if that’s still too risky for your comfort level, then please, oh please, begin using a Signature Block telling your reader who you are. If you’ve sent them a message, then you must want them to know who you are, right?

Don’t know what a Signature Block is? In every email system, whether you use an online webmail (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.) or an Email Client (Outlook, Apple Mail, etc.), you have a feature that allows you to include a block of text at the end of every message you write…automatically. Moving forward, every message you write will automatically add this information to the bottom of the message and your reader will never again have to ask, “Who are you?”

Before setting up your Signature block, consider these two points I mentioned in my May 26, 2009 Tech Tuesday entry:

Keep Your Signature to 5 Lines of Text
“Signature” is a synonym for brief and unobtrusive — or at least it should be, because overly long signatures in emails are an annoyance.

No Need for Street Addresses in Email Signatures
Come visit me, everybody! Unless you want everybody and the whole world to know where you live, don’t include your street address in your email signature.

For help creating a Signature block in the various mail systems, try one of the links below:

Gmail
Yahoo
Hotmail
Outlook 2003
Outlook 2007Apple Mail
Entourage 2008

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

Rays of Sunshine

Devotions

Mar 082010

Submitted by Kimchi Blow

“We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

We experience so many moments throughout the day that can so easily pass us by. Here lately, the Lord has been having me slow down a bit to enjoy just a few. Thankfully, today at the park, I was able to watch my two toddlers playing joyfully. While there, I experienced a moment that took my breath away, and I wanted to capture it in my mind forever. After running around chasing her brother for what seemed like hours, my two year old daughter suddenly stopped with her face towards the sunshine. It was like a scene from a movie where time stopped and all I could see was her. With her face towards the sunlight, I could see each of her amazing features. Her skin appeared perfect like a porcelain doll, while strands of her golden blond hair blew gently across her face. The rays of light hit her striking blue eyes in just the right places and they danced with delight. Then slowly, she closed her eyes and gently tilted her head toward the sky, as if God had taken His hand under her chin and gently lifted it towards Him. Peace exuded from within her. She stood there with a smile enjoying the warmth of the sun on her face and wind through her hair. All I could do was hold my breath. I walked over to her and just held her, kissing her sweet face. Immediately, I thanked God for the moment. It was a moment to cherish, a moment to love, a moment to thank, and a moment worth living for!

I walked away from the park overwhelmingly changed somehow. Why did this moment touch me so intensely? Why did I feel a stirring deep within? Why did I want to just stop time right there and not move another second forward? Why? As I pondered these things, I even began to pray and seek God for the answer. And then it hit me and I was moved even more profoundly than when I was watching my daughter. It became so apparent to me that God was giving me a picture of how He stops and cherishes me like that throughout each day! Stop to recognize the moments God pours His love on you today.

Journey of Transformation, Part 13

Life Happens Jesus Answers, Real life stories, Testimonies

Mar 042010

A Warm Embrace

Shortly after my brief phone call with Steve two nurses arrived to anesthetize me. The friends who had faithfully stayed by my side all day were ravenous so they departed for dinner. Once they left the nurses told me to count backward from ten as they wheeled me into the operating room. In a matter of seconds I was out. It was approximately 5 p.m.

Around 6:30 p.m. I awoke trembling from shock; but the warm blankets wrapped snugly around my body felt like God’s loving embrace holding me fast. Ironically, a newborn is wrapped in a blanket before being handed to his mother. I would never know the joy of holding a newborn in my arms, but I did know the comfort of a loving Father holding me in His.

I glanced to my right and there was my friend again seated in a chair against the wall. She and the nurse had been chatting while they waited for me to wake up. It was good to see a familiar face. She followed as I was taken to my own room to spend the night. We talked for a while and she stayed until Steve arrived around 9 p.m.

With pizza in hand Steve bent down to kiss me and told me he was sorry this happened. Remarkably, I didn’t sob at that point. I was so glad to see him and I was too hungry to cry. Even though I was advised not to eat I did anyway and managed to avoid a rendezvous with the bathroom.

Once Steve was finished eating he took a moment to call my mom and asked her if she was sitting down. He told both she and my sister at the same time that I had a miscarriage and had come through surgery fine. They were stunned of course.

As I looked back on those events, I wondered why I didn’t attempt to contact Steve or my mother at some point during the day. But under those conditions, walking around in a fog, I just didn’t have the presence of mind to do it. Plus, in the process of being ushered all over the hospital I never gave it a thought. I guess I wanted to talk to Steve before talking to anyone else, but he had been in classes all day, and by the time he called I was almost ready for surgery. So that was that. Second guessing myself is useless. It’s over and done.

As Steve and I visited I began to feel a splintering pain in my abdomen that gradually intensified along with tachycardia – my heart rate soared to 130 bpm. A nurse came in, took my vitals, put an oxygen mask on me, and assessed the problem. As it turns out, all I needed was Gas-X! During any kind of internal surgery air can accumulate and get trapped. I felt like Violet Beauregarde — the girl who chewed a forbidden piece of gum in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and blew up into a blueberry-like ball.

Again, I was quick to note God’s sovereignty and provision. If this alarming event had occurred at home I probably would have panicked and made a beeline for the ER. Unfortunately, something happened the next night that forced me to do just that.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES so stay connected:

Along life’s highway we all encounter grief, heartache and challenges of various kinds in varying degrees. All of it has a higher, larger purpose than we might ever know. Nothing is lost on God, especially since He ordains these events to fulfill His purposes and plans for our lives. These events massage our hearts and souls into a pliable condition that causes us to surrender to His Lordship. It’s called transformation. We like to fight the process because it’s painful. But fighting is futile. We must submit to God and find rest for our souls.

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Out of Office

Tech Tuesday

Mar 022010

This week, the PWOC International board is gathered together for Vision Week. Today, all of the Regional Presidents and Vice Presidents will join us, which means there are a lot of gals “out of the office” so to speak.

What happens when you go off the cyber-grid and can’t answer your email? Remember when you sent that email and immediately received a reply informing you of your recipient’s absence for a stated period of time? That was an “out of office” reply and is an available feature with all email providers.

For help setting up “Out of Office” replies in the various mail systems, open your preferred Internet search engine and enter the name of your mail provider (Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, Outlook, etc.) along with the phrase, “out of office reply.”

And don’t forget to lift our PWOC leaders in prayer this week as we seek the face of Jesus and His direction for the ministry in the coming year.

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

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PWOC International Blog

Webpage Word Search

Prayer Points for March 14-20th

Spiritual Remodeling

Prayer Points

Journey of Transformation, Part 14

Emergency

Gardening

Who Are You?

Rays of Sunshine

Journey of Transformation, Part 13

A Warm Embrace

Out of Office

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