Wow! I can’t believe we only have one more month of study in “A Woman After God’s Own Heart.” These eight months have gone so quickly. I pray that you are finding yourself more a woman of prayer, of Bible study, and now of service. The lessons we learned this month were the practical application of all we’ve learned. This is where we put into action all we’ve learned.

Think of a woman you know who you would describe as motivating. She’s exciting to be with, she’s informed, she’s purposefully seeking knowledge. This is a woman who is growing. You come away better after being in her presence. She’s filled to overflowing. Hers is a life of ministry; pouring into the lives of others. II peter 3:18 18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. This is what we all must do – continue to study for the rest of our lives and continue to grow.

Spiritual growth is aided by discipleship. There are several ways to do this:

1. Take a class – Ladies’ Bible study or a correspondence course from a Bible college.
2. Counsel – If you have a problem or question, call up a woman you know is a godly woman and ask her help.
3. Interview – Call up a woman and ask to meet with her one time. Tell her you have a handful of questions to ask her. Get right to the questions; don’t waste her time. Have your questions written down and ready. Spend a couple of hours together and glean from her wisdom.
4. Observation – The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them. Prov. 20:12 Look when you’re out, when you’re at church. Look for models; both positive and negative.
5. Read – Read your Bible first. We are to be women of one book – The Book. Read it daily, purposefully, topically. After that, just keep reading godly books. Many authors have put their discipleship into their books. You can be mentored by them just by reading their books! Be selective in what you read. Only 5% of the people in the US will buy or read a book this year! If you could read one book in a year what would it be? Look at your five files and choose a book in one of those categories. Read a little here, a little there. Something is better than nothing.
6. Goals – Write out spiritual lifetime goals. The overflow can’t help but happen when you keep after your goals. “Aim at nothing and you will hit it every single time.” Fifteen minutes of study a day will make one a master on that subject in a dozen years. Reading Proverbs for years will make you a master in the wisdom of this book! Goals provide measurement.
   

7. Choices – We choose take the correspondence course. We choose to meet with an older woman. We choose to read a book. We may have to choose to not take a nap so we can read our Bible. “You cannot kill time without injuring eternity.” We must use our time in priority order. Our spiritual self has to be cared for so there’s something to give away in ministry.
8. Time – But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles. Isa 40:31 – Spend the time growing, developing the under ground time so that you have something to share with others. For 40 years Moses was somebody, then for 40 years he was nobody, and one day, after 80 years, he burst on the scene. Sign, miracles, wonders. It took years in preparation! Joseph spent 10 years as master of his master’s household. He was somebody! Then he was imprisoned for 2-3 years by an unjust accusation. He was nobody. One day, then, he burst on the scene, interpreting dreams, and the ruler of the known world, but it took years of preparation. You and I must also be willing to take the time to go through the preparation so we’ll have something to share with others. No one sees you spending time in the Bible. No one sees you pouring your heart out to God in your secret place. But one day, after years of time with the Lord, you, too, can burst on the scene with a ministry that God can use.

“Success is when preparation meets opportunity.” – Swindoll Who is responsible for the preparation? We are! Who is responsible for the opportunities? God is. We can trust Him to bring to us the opportunities to serve Him. The younger women won’t have to ask, “Where are the older women?” We’ll be ready to be used because we will have A heart for service!

With love,

I love Sunday dinner at home. Even after being gone last week and getting home Friday evening and having my daughter’s boyfriend in for the weekend, I would much rather eat at home than go out! Some questioned why I would cook on vacation. The answer – it isn’t work to me! I made simple meals and even took advantage of being in a place where we could purchase fresh seafood. I’ll have to share one of the shrimp dishes I made. It’s so easy, fast and delicious!

Coming home on Friday gave me time to run to the grocery store and restock the fridge for the weekend. I really hit some good deals at Ingles, thanks to Southern Savers! For instance, I got General Mills cereal for 25 cents a box! I love deals like that!

This Lettuce wedge with the sour cream dressing was a new recipe to me from one of my old Southern Living Cookbooks. It was a refreshing change from tossed salad. You need to try this!

1 cup sour cream (I used light)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used light)
2 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup minced green onions
1/4 cup minced radishes
1/4 cup minced cucumber
1 small clove garlic, minced

Mix and pour over 8 lettuce wedges

Strawberries are my very favorite fruit. This pie is very simple and I love it better than any I’ve tried and have had more success with it than other recipes. It sets up nicely due to the Jell-O you add to the sugar mixture. My friend, Linda, a wonderful cook, shared this with me years ago. It’s also great for a fresh peach pie!

Glaze Filling for Strawberry Pie:
1 cup sugar
2 T. white Karo
3 1/2 Tbl cornstarch
1 cup water
2 heaping Tbl. Jello – Strawberry (or peach for peach pie)

Cook sugar through water over medium heat (medium pan) until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add Jello. Cool. Add 1 quart strawberries. Add fruit. Pour into pie shell, and chill. Top with Cool Whip.

That last picture reminds me that there is one tiny piece of pie left over. You know that strawberry pie needs to be eaten within a day or so or the crust will be soggy…excuse me please. I think I hear it calling my name!

What was cookin’ in your kitchen this week?

With love,

This is a really late post this morning because I’ve been packing up to go home. Do you hear the whine in my voice? It’s there. Not because I don’t love home, but this vacation has been perfect, I love the beach, and the family time has been sweet. **Sigh**

I’m not sure what it is about walking along the shoreline, but it seems that there is an irresistible tendency to look at, pick up and collect sea shells. It doesn’t matter that there is a jar in the bathroom at home from last year’s walks on the beach! Who can keep themselves, when they’re walking along, from bending down to inspect the shape, the possible life inside, or the uniqueness of a shell they spot in the sand?

Here is a little collection I gathered on our early morning walk today. It’s amazing to me to see what variety there is. Big, little, flat, curved, smooth, rippled – they’re beautiful and they are God’s creation.

I’m not sure what this is (I’d be happy if someone reading this could identify it!). It’s not a flower – it was on the beach and those petal looking things around the edge are hard; shell-like. I’m wondering if it’s some sort of sea creature. At any rate, it caught my attention because of its uniqueness.

This morning as I walked and collected and thought about the variety of the shells, I thought back to my Bible study yesterday about the variety of spiritual gifts given to a child of God. At the moment of salvation, each person received at least one spiritual gift. I Corinthians 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. We don’t all have the same gift, there is diversity so that the church has everything it needs to prosper.

It’s easy to see some one’s gift and desire to have the same one, but that’s not God’s design. Some gifts are seen in the public eye – preaching or teaching for instance. Other gifts are used privately, such as the gift of mercy or giving. Each gift is as necessary; each as important as the other, and each given by the Spirit of God to be used for His glory in the local church.

As I looked at the shoreline I noted that there were areas where the shells were plentiful and close together. “That’s the local church, ” I thought. It’s full of active members, using their gifts and the church is thriving and alive! Then as I walked I saw some shells off to themselves. Some were broken. “That’s a member who got hurt and wandered off. Now they’re useless. They’re no longer using their gift to be a blessing to others and to serve the Lord.” It happens more than you can imagine, and the church suffers as a result.

Do you know your spiritual gift(s), and are you using it actively in the local church? If not, get out of your shell (sorry, couldn’t resist) and let the Lord use you!

Love,