Every spring, my kids and I make some kind of 10-day calendar to commemorate the last week Jesus was on the earth. Sometimes it’s a scroll. Sometimes it’s a booklet of construction paper stapled together. One year they put on a play with their stuffed animals. But every year, there is Scripture. We look at the Scriptures for that day, and the children will write something and draw something that represents that event. It has been a good way to make Holy Week a very regular and “normal” celebration in our home.

Tucked away in the pages of the Gospel of Mark, the NIV Study Bible offers a timeline and map of those earth-changing events (pages 1524-5). The journey to the cross actually begins with the Friday before Palm Sunday; Jesus arrived in Bethany before the Passover so He could spend time with his friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus. He was anointed with expensive perfumes by Mary, not only to show her devotion and service to Him, but also a sign of what was to come. His death and burial.

In a world where secular celebrations get the headlines, let’s use this important time on the Christian calendar to remember the events preceding the death, burial, and of course, resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. God in the flesh Who came to earth for you and me.

Here is a list of Scripture readings to use with your own families in preparation for the greatest event of all human history – the day the grave was overcome with the resurrection of Jesus the Christ!!

I pray it’s a good week for you and your families. Let’s focus on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 2)!!

ChristmasMessage_PWOC

Submitted by Barbara Boykin, PWOCI Leadership Selection

Jesus is the reason for the season!!!  This is my favorite time of the year, considering my birthday is only two days away and Christmas is right around the corner.  When I was growing up I never got birthday parties because my birthday was so close to Christmas.  My first birthday party was given to me by my husband the December before we got married.  It was a joyous occasion and one I will never forget.  I have always loved Christmas from the time I was a little girl and it continues to be time for family gatherings, food and so much love.  I think about the love of God shed abroad in our hearts and in this season we can give abundantly just as God gave to us.

The abundant life is knowing the best that God has to give.  It is higher than your highest dreams, deeper than your deepest desires, greater than your greatest hopes. You can be content because you know your life in Him means you are not missing out on something better.  Your heart can rest because when you have found Him to be your life; your search for meaning is over.  When you have heard His call, your need for purpose has ended.  When you have followed His way, your longing for direction has been fulfilled, so you can rest in quiet trust.  Quietness is a state of peace at heart and personal well-being that does the will of God with an attitude of praise, a disposition of gratitude and a makeup of joy.  It is the assurance that you are doing what God wants, in God’s way, at God’s time, for God’s glory.

So as this season manifests itself in your home and in your life, may you find the peace of God that passes all understanding, the love of God that transcends all things beautiful and the power of God that gives you the strength to run the race in VICTORY.

We are approaching a season called Advent. Aim Two of the PWOC Aims states that we are to “TEACH women the history, beliefs and programs of the church, all built on a solid foundation of worship and Bible study.” Over the next four weeks, ideas about Advent will be presented in the PWOCI blog. Staying true to our heritage of ecumenical Protestant beliefs, let us come together as we prepare our hearts and minds and homes for the celebration of Christmas.

Advent is a term that comes from the Latin word, “adventus,” – “arrival” or “coming”. This term is used sometimes in our culture about a new beginning, as in the “dawn of a new day,” but when mentioned in conjunction with the end of our calendar year, it signifies a holy time, the time we prepare our hearts to celebrate the first advent of Jesus – God coming to Earth. This marks the beginning of the Christian church calendar year and is typically celebrated for the four Sundays prior to Christmas Day. For Americans, this usually means that Advent begins the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

The celebration of Advent can be found recorded as early as the Fourth Century, AD, and has been associated with preparations for Baptism, Epiphany, the Birth of Christ, and anticipation of the Second Coming of Christ. By doing some internet research, you will be able to find many resources and to incorporate this celebration into your family’s holiday traditions.

One tradition that has been a fun one for us is the use of Advent calendars. Children love the idea of routine and excitement, and a calendar helps them be consistent in counting down the days to Christmas. Our family also reads a book about the ABCs of Advent, each day having a reading associated with the season. For example, A is for Angels; B is for Bethlehem; C is for Candles; and so on. Advent wreaths are used in worship services and can be made for your own home as well. This season of Advent can be the perfect time to focus Christmas all on Jesus.

So as you begin your decorating and festivities, put on some music and sing along with us, “Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free; from our fears and sins release us; Let us find our rest in Thee; Israel’s Strength and Consolation, Hope of all the earth Thou art; Dear Desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart.”

I realized today that we are finishing month seven of our deployment year and felt extraordinarily tired.  After having three sick children last week, and trying to catch up on life this week, I found myself turning the cell phone off and laying next to my three year old for nap.  As I drifted off to sleep I cared less and less about all the things I needed to accomplish today and fell to sleep until I heard my older children coming off the school bus.  “Wow – I can’t believe I slept that long”, I thought.  I jumped up to greet them and even though I had slept for almost 3 hours was still was so exhausted. 

Do you ever have these moments in your life where  everything just hits you like a ton of bricks and the weight of life just makes you tired?  Like deployment, a loss of a loved one, sickness, busy schedule?  I know I have in the past, and I obviously just did.  This evening as I write this I am contemplating how to end my dayand I know what I am going to do.  I am going to have some hang time with my Daddy, my Best Friend, my God.

I making myself a cup of tea, getting into bed, curling up with the best book ever, my Bible, enjoying a good read, and having some time in prayer.  I am confident I will find all that my mind, body and soul need right there.  How about you?

“Come unto me all ye, who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

Submitted by Erin Nonaka, Fort Bragg, NC

I went to a leadership retreat that our new PWOC president planned for those of us in ministry together for the new year.  It was an amazing time together.  We went to one of those “Challenge Course” camps that have a variety of physical team challenges that put you in situations for problem solving and working together as a team.  It was really neat to see all that we learned about each other’s personalities and how we relate to each other in different situations.  It became very clear that the Lord had brought a beautiful combination of women together to serve our PWOC community this year!  I am so excited I could just burst!  I praise the Lord for giving us such a humble and gracious woman as our president, ready to lead us in the right direction to help meet the needs of our precious women, hold us accountable in love and press forward towards planning an amazing year.

Submitted by Erin Nonaka, Fort Bragg, NC

Do you struggle with keeping your rhythm the same when your man is away?  I sure do.  Just the fact that it is 12:08 am and I am not in bed is one of them.  I find that I try to fit too much into a day or don’t get anything done at all!  Then – I stay up way to late, trying to get it all done.  What happen to being in between those two things – getting things done and being well rested when he was here? 

Truly, I don’t have a complete answer to this.  One thing I do know is, that it is a matter of discipline.  If it means I need to set a timer for myself or set my alarm in the room to tell me when I need to GO to bed – no matter how much I still need to get done,  I need to do it.  God has called me to be the best wife and mother I can be.  And especially when my husband is gone, I need my rest in order to be those things.  I can draw on the Lord’s strength even in this small discipline.  I can pray to Him about this because He cares about all things in my life.  Praise the Lord for that fact!

Sound off!! Do you have stories or comments about deployment in your life?  Send them to the Blog Manager

Submitted by Erin Nonaka, Fort Bragg, NC

So last week I had a bad day.  You know one of those deployment days when you wish you could just crawl back into bed and start over.  However, the fact that I had a long list of things to include laundry, dishes, errands, gardening, and volunteer work to be done, kept me from doing so.  Oh, and not to mention the three precious little boys that at the least, needed to be clothed and fed for the day.  ARGH!!

These are those days, when the truth can not be avoided, changed, diverted, or deleted.  The love of my life, my sweet precious husband, and the father of my children is not here, and it STINKS! 

Now, a week later, I find myself looking back at this day and what the Lord would have me learn and remember for the next time I have one of “those” days.

I know the Lord is my comfort, and my shield.  I know that He is there for me.  I pray and read His Word everyday.  He puts amazing women in my life that pray for and with me, as well as encourage me.  The Lord doesn’t promise that we won’t have frustrating and hard times.  He does promise that He will never leave us or forsake us.  Praise the Lord for that!

So on those days that are just unbearable, I remember God’s promises that are always true.  I think on these things, and it helps me to climb out of bed, do what I need to do, and be what I need to be for one day at a time.

Sound off!! Do you have stories or comments about deployment in your life?  Send them to the Blog Manager

A year ago, my husband left for his one-year solo tour to Korea. This is our first big separation in a long time, and although we live near family and are typically strong people, I’ll be honest and say it’s been hard.  I know many of you who have endured deployments to war zones can relate to the geographically single parenthood lifestyle of extreme fatigue and weariness.  We have this in common, and I’m thankful for my faith in an always-faithful God and involvement in this amazing ministry. 

There have been times over the past eleven months that I have wavered in my confidence in the state of politics, economics, education and morality around us, but what I do know is that God will provide for His own.  I have seen it time and time again, although in order to see it, we’ve had to go through it.  That’s not the fun part of the process of learning from God.

Our three teenagers are going to be missionaries this summer and will be teaching VBS to underprivileged children, and because of sending multiple children off on a youth group trip, I was concerned about the finances it would mean for our family.  In the “eleventh hour” of our family’s long year, we recently heard that all fees for the missions trip are being covered by the kids’ efforts in fund-raising over the past few months.  God has again provided for a need and totally blessed us as a family, as a youth group. My oldest son’s hug showed his understanding of this blessing.

Besides tears, the first thing that came to my mind were the words of the Doxology:  Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!!

I went for coffee with my PWOC sisters last night, and had such a blessed time of fun and fellowship.  As we all sat and talked about life, family, and friends, PWOC came up in conversation.  This was not a big suprise, since we all attend and enjoy our PWOC mornings greatly.  Our chapter has been taking a little break before we start up our summer sessions in a few weeks and were so glad we had this time to come together in the in between time, to relax and get to know each other better.  It was great!

I then started to ponder.  I wonder what the other PWOC’s are doing in this in between time?  So, please let me know what you are doing to stay connected over the summer months with your sisters.  It would be fun to get some ideas from each other, don’t you think?

So, what are your in between time activities? Let me know.

© 2012 PWOC International Blog Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha