Tag: Positive Woman Connection

O Glorious Day!

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A Joyful Bride as the doors flew open

 

It was great to be together this week for PWC.  Many of you were blessed and intrigued by the story of Joy’s wedding and the song that was played called Glorious Day.

Here are the words to the hymn written by J. Wilbur Chapman (1859 – 1918):

One Day (Glorious Day)

One day when Heaven was filled with His praises
One day when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin
Dwelt among men; my Example is He!

Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified, freely forever
One day He’s coming
Oh glorious day!

One day they led Him to Calvary’s mountain
One day they nailed Him to die on the tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He!

And one day the grave could conceal Him no longer
One day the stone rolled away from the door
Then He arose; over death He had conquered
Now He’s ascended, my Lord forevermore!

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming
One day the skies with His glories will shine
Wonderful day my Beloved One’s bringing
Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine!

Living, He loved me
Dying, He saved me
Buried, He carried my sins far away
Rising, He justified, freely forever
One day He’s coming
Oh glorious day![i]

Just as a bride lives in anticipation of her wedding day, so we ought to live in anticipation for that glorious day when we see Him face to face.

Guest bloggers start next week!  We have already received several devotional submissions for our blog from our women who attend the Positive Women Connection.   If you would like to submit a devotional send it to Karol@karolladd.com.  It will need to include a Bible verse and be about 500 words in length.  A selection committee will review it.  I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

[i] Hymn by j. Wilbur Chapman, Baptist Hymnal (Nashville, TN: Convention Press, 1991) no. 193.

Bring a Friend

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Stop and think – who do you know who could use a positive word of encouragement?  Now invite that friend to join you at the Positive Woman Connection Luncheon next week.  The topic is all about having a new perspective in the new year. 

Tuesday, January 25 at Prestonwood Country Club in North Dallas 12:00 – 1:00 RSVP to Donna Skell

dskell@roaringlambsministries.org

Wednesday, January 26 at Cottonwood Creek church, HWY 121 in Allen, 12:00 – 1:00 RSVP to Sandy Prowant at  prowant@cottonwoodcreek.org

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Demonstrating Thanksgiving

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This past week we had Positive woman Connection oneweek earlier than usual due to the holidays this week.  We had a wonderful time.  We get together early next month as well, so mark your calendars for Dec 14 in North Dallas or Dec 15 for our Cottonwood Creek location.  Have a blessed Thanksgiving.  Here’s a little thought about demonstrating Thanksgiving to your kids:
Our own example offers the most effective teaching tool when it comes to teaching gratitude to our kids. We can try to pound the lesson of thankfulness into our children’s hearts and minds, but when we demonstrate a grateful heart with our words and actions they catch the lesson and keep it. So how do we demonstrate gratitude? Here are three ideas to get you started:

1. Tell your kids how thankful you are for them. That’s right, be specific and tell each child several of the qualities you really appreciate about them. It’s something our kids need to hear (as opposed to nagging all the time) and they need to experience how it feels to be on the receiving end of kind and grateful thoughts. Although we assume our kids know how thankful we are for them, they need to hear it specifically expressed now and then.

2. Speak in a grateful way about the rest of your family members (that means your husband as well as your extended family) behind their backs. Instead of complaining about aunt Nancy’s conversation skills or her awful sweet potato casserole, talk about how thankful you are for her gifts or talents or character qualities. Let’s demonstrate to our children how to look for the good in others, rather than what is wrong with people.

3. Take time to stop and thank the Lord for His blessings. When you recognize God has allowed something good to come into your life, take a moment to say, “Kid’s I just want to stop and thank the Lord for His kindness.” Then ask the kids to join you in prayer as you thank the Lord. Even when things aren’t going so perfect, you can always thank God for His presence and His help in time of need. I’m reminded of the story of the ten lepers. Ten were healed, but only one came back to say thank you. I want to be like that one who said thanks.

This week, take some time to allow gratitude to fill your thoughts and hearts and to overflow from your mouth. Most importantly demonstrate your thankfulness by reaching out and helping others. You are never so beautiful as when you are living a grateful life. Show others what a thankful heart looks like as you celebrate this week with family and friends. 
I’m thankful for you! Keep shining His light.

The Joy of Knowing God

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 Hello Positive Friends,

We will be getting together soon as we meet one week earlier in November.  At Presontonwood Country Club on Nov 16 and at Cottonwood Creek on Nov 17.  Looking forward to seeing you soon.  The following is a devotional thought from my book Thrive, Don’t Simply Survive.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux said, “If we begin to worship and come to God again and again by meditating, by reading, by prayer; and by obedience, little by little God becomes known to us through experience. We enter into a sweet familiarity with God, and by tasting how sweet the Lord is we pass into . . . loving God, not for our own sake, but for Himself.”4 We can fall into the arms of a God who we know and love, but it is difficult to trust someone we do not know personally.

We cannot understand all of God’s ways, but there are certain qualities we can know about him. Where do we begin our journey of knowing him? The Bible gives us glimpses of the High King of heaven and his marvelous attributes. Here are a few of the numerous qualities we learn about God as we see them revealed in the Bible. I have provided just one biblical reference for each attribute, although there are numerous others.

He is:

Almighty (Genesis 17:1)

Everlasting (Genesis 21:33)

All-Powerful (2 Chronicles 20:6)

Abundant in Strength (Psalm 147:5)

Abounding in Love (Psalm 103:8)

Sovereign (Deuteronomy 3:24)

Merciful (Psalm 62:12)

Trustworthy (2 Samuel 22:3)

Our Keeper (Psalm 121:2)

Our Provider (Matthew 6:26)

Our Good Shepherd (John 10:11)

Able—nothing is too difficult for him (Genesis 18:14)

I want to get to know a God like this, don’t you? Certainly He is worthy of our respect, obedience, and yes, trust. Consider where you are with God right now in your life. What do you believe about him? We don’t want to make assumptions about God; rather, we want to explore who he claims to be. As we get to know the God of the Bible, we begin to recognize his abiding love for us. He is worthy of our trust. I encourage you to continue your journey of engagement with God.

The Power of Looking Up

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Hello precious and positive friends.  Looking forward to seeing you this week at Positive Woman Connection.  Tuesday at Prestonwood Country Club, Wed at Cottonwood Creek.  Our lesson is about the beauty Christ brings to our lives.  If you have ever wondered, “Am I beautiful?” You will be reassured as you hear this lesson from Colossians. See you soon.

Here’s a devotional thought to encourage you.

Missionary David Miner Stern was plunged into deep grief at the death of his young daughter. Try as he might, David could not seem to get over his great sorrow, even though he was a Christian and knew of the Lord’s care. In his depression, he visited his daughter’s grave every day. He had a walking stick that he used to touch the mound of dirt over her casket, and somehow this seemed to give him a small measure of comfort, as it made him feel as though he had some slight contact with her. The oppression of his grief was so severe that he feared he must give up his role as a missionary. But God in his gracious way brought him relief.

One day as he stood over the grave, David suddenly realized how wrong it was for him to fix his attention on the dead body of his daughter. The Holy Spirit began to impress on his mind what Jesus said to the thief as he was dying on the cross: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”11 The truth of the passage began to transform the way he was thinking and he started repeating the words “with Christ in paradise” over and over again as he walked home.

His mind opened up to the blessed reality of his daughter being with Jesus. He asked himself, “What more could I want for a loved one than this?” This comforting thought allowed him to resume his missionary duties with joy. Instead of dwelling on his daughter in the grave, he pictured her safe in the presence of Jesus.

By God’s grace and power, we, too, can see our circumstances in a different way. It’s time to let go of that old dream and walk hand in hand with the Lord into a new and different place. With our eyes looking up, we are able to catch a glimpse of a new and better dream. Most importantly as we look to Christ, we are reminded of his great and comforting love, which can soothe the pain and give us strength to move forward.

This blog is an excerpt from my book Thrive, Don’t Simply Survive (Simon and Schuster). The story of David Stern came from Roy B. Zuck, comp., Speakers Quote Book (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1997), 180.