Mary Did You Know?

Merry Christmas, Ladies. May the peace and joy of the precious gift of Jesus fill you with HOPE in the upcoming year and always.

Love to you!
Janel

The Manger of My Heart

The Manger of My Heart
This Christmas, Lord, come to the manger of my heart.
Fill me with your presence, from the very start.
As I prepare for the holidays, and gifts to be given,
Remind me of the gift You gave,
when you sent Your Son from Heaven.

The first Christmas gift, the greatest gift ever,
You came as a baby born in a manger.
Wrapped like the gifts I find under my tree,
Waiting to be opened, to reveal Your love to me.

This Christmas, Lord, come to the manger of my heart.
Search me and know the most intimate parts.
Reveal to me if I have ever hung a sign within,
Claiming it off limits, implying "no room at the Inn."

Restore to me the wonder that came with Jesus' birth,
when He left the riches of Heaven
and wrapped Himself in rags of earth.
Emmanuel, God with us, Your presence came that night.
As angels announced, "Into your darkness,
God brings His Light."

"Do not be afraid," they said, to shepherds in the field.
Speak to my heart today, Lord, and help me to yield.
Make me like those shepherd boys, obedient to your call.
Casting distractions and worries aside,
to You I surrender them all.

Surround me with Your presence, Lord,
I long to hear your voice.
Clear my mind of concerns and all the holiday noise.
Slow me down this Christmas, let me not be in a rush.
In the midst of parties and planning,
I want to feel Your hush.

This Christmas, Jesus, come to the manger of my heart.
Invade my soul like Bethlehem, bringing peace to every part.
Dwell within and around me,
as I unwrap Your presence each day.
Keep me close to You, Jesus.
It's in your wonderful Name I pray.

© 2003, Renee Swope ~ www.ReneeSwope.com

Thanks Stef - needed to read that. ;)

Inexpensive Ways to Give Back

Looking for an inexpensive way to give back this year?

$5 will buy 2 pairs of shoes. Shoes for someone that has never worn shoes or doesn't have any shoes now.



Want to help out closer to home?
Go to LOCAL HOPE to find out more.

A Thank You From Aliene

To the radical warrior women of Seeds…

I love you. The scrapbook you gave me has blessed me beyond description. Your words touched my heart and continue to bring tears to my eyes and a smile to my face.

Thank you for taking the time to reflect, remember and record. You are a blessing to me.

Well onward! New battles to face and much more land to conquer. I think I’ll go and read my scrapbook - AGAIN!

Have a wonderful Christmas, and by all means …. Get Radical!

Blessings,

Aliene

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Thank you!

Thank you ladies for such a wonderful brunch yesterday.

To Debbie, Karin, Gwyn, Tina - your gifts of music reach deep down and fill our souls.

To Tina, Kelly, Stefani - your gifts of hospitality and beauty shine and make us feel special.

To Kristi - your leadership is loving, strong and always reminds us of how beautiful we are!

To Aliene - your teaching leads us on journeys with God to learn more about who we are through Him.

To Pauline and Karin - the gift of prayer covers our group with warmth and love.

To Nancy - your gift of dealing with numbers provides much peace for the rest of us. Your sweet spirit is a blessing.

To Julie, Amanda, Theresa, Robin, Mary Ellen, Tatum, Elaine, Su, Kristin - your leadership and love for your women provide safety and love.

Thank you for my gifts - I love them soooo much!

Merry Christmas! See you on January 6.

Childcare Registration Begins!

Hi ladies,

Childcare Registration has begun for the Winter Sessions of Seeds.

Please contact Juley Sexton to complete your registration. Her email is juleys@gethope.net or phone number at 532-0620.


You must register for the upcoming session in order for your child to be in child care. Please do this as soon as possible so that Juley can secure enough workers.

If you have track out schedules, please note that on your registration forms.

Please let Juley or Janel know if you have any questions.
And thank you!

Advent Conspiracy - Watch

I Am Second - edited

I found this website, I Am Second, through another blogger and wanted to share it.

It. Is.Very.Cool.

I can't even begin to explain it because it just speaks for itself. I can tell you that it is videos of all kinds of people, famous and not telling their amazing stories of letting God taking over in their lives.

The photo above shows Brian Welch, former band member of Korn. Not sure who Korn is? Well, yeah their music is a bit hard to say the least, but his story? Wow.

Looking for someone or something more familiar? Well, I am sure you will find it - the site covers anything you may be dealing with from abuse to difficulties in your marriage, or from addiction to just what your purpose is in life.

Here is Josh Hamilton's video.

***edit***
While the creators have remained on the down-low it seems that this site has been the collaborative effort of "no less than a dozen really, really talented, Jesus loving,
passionate people, says Trey Hill.

I just want to point you to a couple sites of those involved in making this happen. Led by two -time Emmy nominated directors, Sam Ditore and Scott Mayo of Ditore Mayo Entertainment

From their site...

Meaningful stories need to be told. And told well. That’s what we do.

Trey Hill: Photographer, Writer, Editor

Straight from his bio...

I often linger on details most people miss. It’s a habit that comes from my belief that beauty lives deep inside un-special things. You may have to look a little longer and a little harder to see it, but in the short space between my shutter’s opening and closing something profound happens.

A redemptive blink is made available for savoring.

As a photographer, I’m trying to prodigally pursue the beauty hidden inside of ordinary things.

Okay, so go now. Go, go. I promise you won't be disappointed.
iamsecond.com

I Am Second,
Janel

December

Hi ladies,
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Ours was quiet but oh, so nice. We have a lot to be thankful for.

So, we meet this coming Tuesday and will be continuing our journey with Joshua in chapter 8.

We will meet December 9 and finishing up with Chapter 9
and then on December 16 for our Christmas Brunch.

We do need help with decorating for the brunch. And we will be asking two things of you: Bring an item of food or drink to share with everyone. Bring something from your heart to share with everyone: something you learned during this study, some way you grew because of Joshua - anything on your heart.

We break until the rest of December and will meet again beginning on January 6.

Check out the sidebar of the blog - Renee Swope of P31 Ministries is on the cover of Christian Women Online this month.

Okay, see you tomorrow!