Jean's Jems

We've received lots of requests for the instructions on these beaded bookmarks that were offered at our recent Women's Retreat. So here you go!

Each Bookmark Requires:

1. 1 Charm
2. 3 Yellowblue 8 MM round beads
3. 1 Blue 8MM round beads
4. 2 Green 3MM round beads
5. 1 Blue 3MM round beads
6. 2 Silver 3MM round beads
7. 2 Daisy Spacers
8. 1 Silver spacer
9. 14” Wire [Tiger tail]
10. 1 Eye pin 2” size
11. 2 Silver crimp beads
    
    ASSEMBLY

1. Put charm on eye pin loop.
2. Build fob on eye pin – layer as follows

• Daisy
• 8 MM Yellowblue
• Daisy
• 3 MM Silver
• 3 MM Green
• 3 MM Blue
• 3 MM Green
• 3 MM Silver

1. Loop and wrap eye pin
2. Fob is finished – set aside for the moment
3. Put crimp on wire
4. Add silver round spacer
5. Loop back through crimp
6. Pull tight leaving 1” “tail” and crimp the crimp bead
7. Thread on 8 MM Yellowblue [making sure to bury tail]
8. Thread on 8 MM Blue [making sure to bury tail]
9. Thread on 8 MM Yellowblue [making sure to bury tail]
10. Thread seed beads to make 10” [about 160 beads]
11. Add crimp bead
12. Thread on fob
13. Feed back through crimp and seed beads to bury the tail
14. Tighten and crimp the crimp bead
15. Trim any leftover tail

We'd love to hear back from you as you begin your own beading or crafting projects! Just click on the "comments" button below.

Tangible Love by Linda Dinning

Everyone needs compassion and kindness. It is the very nature of Christ.

What kind of people did Jesus associate with? Whom did He consider important enough to touch? He reaches out to all regardless of how great or unknown, rich or poor, young or old, sinner or saint. Jesus cares equally for all. No person is beyond the loving touch of Jesus.

The beating heart of Christ is to reach out to others. To truly show a compassion and a kindness to all people.

How great are these words of our Lord and Savior when He said:

Matthew: 25: 35-39

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

When did we see you sick or in prison and go and visit you?

The King will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

Let’s all lock arms together and go out to do what Jesus has called us to do. What a high honor that is to serve the Lord and one another.

My encouragement in this is to reach out to someone by giving a word of kindness, showing a tangible act of compassion to someone. Whether they are in your family, a friend or someone who the Lord has laid on your heart. Show them the beating heart of Christ.

Can’t you just see Our Lord smiling down on us and saying, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

Lord, thank You for You are LOVE and all that You have put in us by the Holy Spirit.

Always with His Love and Grace

Jean's Jems - The First Post!

Why do we craft? I know it’s not because we have lots of spare time on our hands. I don’t know a single woman who says she is looking for one more things to fill her day. Yet we do craft, a lot; scrapbooking, stamping, knitting, beading, just to name a few.

I think that so much of our day is filled with mundane chores and duties that our souls cry out with a need to have something that’s uniquely our own. We spend such a large part of our day caring for others, that we can feel that we lose some of ourselves in the day to day. A craft is something that does not need to be fed, changed, bathed, washed & dried, ironed or driven somewhere. I think that crafting can help us reconnect to ourselves. To make us feel special and accomplished. Crafting, whatever your specialty, satisfies a need to create something beautiful: crafts also connect us to other women in a way that is not connected to what we are -- a mom, a wife, a doctor, a teacher. Fellow Crafters appreciate the creativity, the time and the effort that go into each project like no one else can. Lastly, crafts are often a way to share ourselves with others. Giving a gift of a craft says I think you are so special that I made this for you.

A word of caution, be careful not to get too craft crazy. I recommend picking one or two types of crafts and resist the urge to jump into every project you come across. Pick crafts that fit your temperament. For example, if you like to finish things quickly and see fast results, then beading is a great craft for you. A pair of earrings can take just minutes and provide you with years of enjoyment. If you like to get really involved and have lots of ideas, then scrap booking might be the thing for you. You can get involved with hundreds of details and keep adding and adding to your album.

I have found a couple of simple rules for my crafting time. First, I never start a new project before I have finished the current one. I can hear some of you groaning at that, but unless you want 20 unfinished projects lying around your house [and I have been there – it’s no fun!] then this should be your rule #1. Second, I always make sure that I have the money to finish the project. It is easy to start a project and find that you need something to do the next step and again and again and you can find yourself spending lots of $$ that you didn’t budget for. My third and final rule – ENJOY if you don’t love the craft you are doing, but maybe got started because someone said they thought you’d like it, or you’d be good at it, or they were selling the supplies for it, or whatever if you are not in love with you craft – DON'T continue. Cut your losses, your time is precious and your craft should be precious to you.

In the articles to follow, I will be sharing some ideas and experiences with specific crafts. The ladies of Women’s Ministry got together before the retreat at Forest Home to make a beautiful beaded bookmark. They have been so warmly received that I will be posting the instructions in the days ahead.

I would love to hear any thoughts you have on crafting or special projects that you have done. Just click on the “comments” button below or you can e-mail me directly at jean4mcwm@san.rr.com. God bless & happy crafting!

His View with Kathy Priest

Identity: Who are you in Christ?

Identity is major! It was key to the hearts of the women! Who am I? I am God's child, His friend, His workmanship, His poem, His bride, His temple and on and on! If we know WHOSE we are then perhaps we won't be acting out in other ways!

What happens when our identity is shaken? No longer married, suddenly single, your child moves into drugs or moves away, loss of a spouse, a child, a parent, loss of a job, loss of health or a house, a church split, a betrayal of a best friend , and loss of income to be able to provide for yourself or your family. What then?

If your identity is in Christ Jesus~you will be secure and you will not be moved! However, if it is in any other thing...you will be shaken !

His View with Kathy Priest - The Description

For those that haven’t had an opportunity to experience His View yet, I wanted to give you a sense of what this column will look like.

My hope is that thru this column and thru live panel/audience discussions during the summer (via the Girls Night Out Summer Series @ Maranatha Chapel) we can openly discuss and address real-life issues that we face as Christian Women each day.

Your affliction is your platform!
Your mess is your message!
Your test is your testimony!
Other people find healing when you share your hurts!
There's purpose in your pain!

Our greatest message comes out of our deepest hurt. You are only as sick as your secrets.

HIS VIEW is filled with Vision for where there is no vision the people perish!

INSPIRATION because it is inspired by The Holy Spirit to lead and guide our sisters in the way that's right! We are told NOT to seek the counsel of the ungodly but that All Scripture is given by Inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man (woman) of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work! II Tim.3:16,17

ENCOURAGEMENT to give hope, confidence, support and help that we might not grow weary in well doing for in due season we will reap a harvest if we don't give up! Gal.6:9

WISE WOMEN that's what we want to be! My life verse is Ps. 90:12,"Teach me to number my days that I may gain a heart of Wisdom." Let us be the older women teaching the younger how to apply His View in every aspect of our lives!

V is for VISION
I is for INSPIRATION
E is for ENCOURAGEMENT
W is for WOMEN

The format is filtered through the Father's Love. I believe, as the Bible says, there is going to be a great falling away in the last days and we want to be wise women not buying into the world's view. Keeping His Perspective! Looking Through His Lens of Life! I saw a bumper sticker that said, “Life is the Class...Love is the Lesson!” How true that is!

Take a look at the link on the right side of this page to submit a question for me or you can also click on “comments” at the bottom of this entry and submit a question.

"HIS VIEW" in everything we do & say.

A Devotion by Vicki Bentley

Seeing and Being Seen

So often we look into the mirror and think, "oh it's just not a good hair day, or my clothes don't seem to fit anymore - how did that happen, or, I look just like my mother!" In other words we are shocked or dissatisfied with something about our appearance. The apostle John wrote a beautiful, encouraging letter to the believers of his day (and us today). He understands exactly how we feel and helps us see what we really long for as we look into our mirrors. He writes in chapter 3: 1-3 "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Dear friends, now we are the children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as He is pure." Perspective determines outlook!

As long as I am trying to see myself in the reflection of the mirrors of this world; the expectations I place on myself, the demands of others, or the perceived goals named by world values, I will continually fall short, no matter how accomplished, beautiful or picture perfect. It will never completely be "good enough."

But when I come to realize there is a God who is good; a heavenly Father who loves me so much that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus. And when I look at the love of Jesus, who lived life experiencing sorrow and disappointment, joy and happiness and I learn that He humbled Himself to become a man; to live and die for me a holy sacrifice that paid for every sin I ever committed -- when I hear that on the third day this man Jesus who is God rose from the dead to conquer death and hell, I have a choice to make.

Will I continue to see myself through the mirrors of this world or will I surrender to Jesus view? Will I believe what He says from the beginning; that I am made in His image and after His likeness, precious in His sight? I am His masterpiece, a love poem. The mirrors of Jesus’ eyes are not like the mirrors of this world. They show facade; but the reflection we see in the eyes of Jesus reveals the heart. He promises to give me a new heart; to make me new; born again. I may never look like the "beautiful people" according to this world. But to be seen through eyes of absolute love, I am beautiful in His sight.

Perspective determines outlook. We see ourselves truly as we believe, receive, seek and learn who the lover of our souls is. Jesus is the express image of the invisible God. God is love. Jesus is love with skin on. John puts it this way, "...as He is, so are we in this world." John 4:17b. Beautiful to behold as we behold Jesus.

Just Click on the Pictures to View the Slideshow from Our 2008 Retreat

Photobucket Album

Sweet Memories - Forest Home 2008

All the planning. All the anticipation. All the excitement! And as is so often the case -- the Women's Retreat Weekend positively F-L-E-W by. But the memories last a lifetime. Here are a few that stick out in our minds:

• His View - Love & Truth and opening up to one another
• The Friday Nite Pajama Party - Massages, facials, games and tons of junk food! Woo-hoo!
• The Zip Line - you wild women, you!
• The Bear Encounter - yes, we couldn't leave the mountain without at least ONE bear story!
• Our "Fearless Leader" - and her insistence that stinkin' Satan was NOT going to win on Saturday nite! Hallelujah! God is faithful!
  
• Restoration, healing and salvation
• Friendship, friendship, friendship!!
• Awesome worship & prayer
• The grace, simplicity and love of our Heavenly Potter who molded and shaped the perfect weekend to bless us with and to ultimately draw each of us into closer communion with Him!