Special gifts for the holidays!

 

The gift of listening: But you must really listen. No interrupting, no daydreaming, no planning your response. Just listen.
 
The gift of affection: Be generous with appropriate hugs, kisses, pats on the back and handholds. Let these small actions demonstrate the love you have for family and friends.
 
The gift of laughter: Clip cartoons. Share articles and funny stories, your gift will say "I love to laugh with you".

The gift of a written note: it can be a simple "Thanks for the help" note or a full sonnet. A brief handwritten note may be remembered for a lifetime, and may even change a life

The gift of a compliment: A simple and sincere, "You look great in red," "You did a super job" or "That was a wonderful meal" can make someone's day.
 
The gift of a favor: Everyday, go out of your way to do something kind.
 
The gift of a cheerful disposition: The easiest way to feel good is to extend a kind word to someone. Really, it's not that hard to say hello or thank-you.

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Thank you God for my "Friends"

 

 

Do you thank God for the people He has placed in your life? Paul did and we read about his prayer for Philemon in Philemon 4-6. Be sure to thank God often for the people He blessed you with and let them know you are praying for them.

+++

I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers,

Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints;

That the communication of thy faith

may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing

which is in you in Christ Jesus.

Phm 1:4-6 
 
Ladies, start giving and have a "Happy Thanksgiving"

Dotti

Today’s Happy Meeting in Lake Worth

 

Hello Ladies ~ We had such a wonderful time today. A happy meeting before Thanksgiving.  We were blessed by God’s loving presence, filling our hearts with His love, grace, tender mercies and strength so that we might go out and be a light to others this holiday season.

Click on any of the photos for a closer/larger view, then hit your back arrow to go back to the post.

Here we are singing “This is the day that the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Somehow, Dotti’s message was lost in the shuffle and she had to wing it, but she did wonderful as the Holy Spirit gave her the words we needed to hear and we were inspired by what she spoke from her heart.

Terri and Elli ~ You both gave wonderful presentations today and we are thankful for your part in this ministry.

Peggy, you also did a lovely job with all that you did for the meeting today. It all ran smoothly and we appreciate the work that goes into making this happen.

Our staff is very important and we love you all, you are vital to making this ministry a reality.

Below, are photos from our luncheon, which was delicious as always.  You ladies are all beautiful, your smiles are infectious. God’s love and light shines forth through and from all of you.

We welcome our first time visitors and hope you will join us again.

At our next meeting, we are having a Baby Shower for new mothers with “First Care Family Resources”. We can see some items here, and we’re all asked to bring items for newborn babies at the next meeting.  This is a wonderful thing to do, especially at this time of year.

Below you see some of our ladies looking at the sweet little outfits.

Here’s our display table for Bibles, give thanks journals, the baby shower, and our teddy bear ministry.

As I close this post, let us remember to commit to memory the verse we were given today to help us in this journey of widowhood.  It is a great one to always remember at any time.

I can do all things

through Christ

who strengthens me.

Php 4:13 

A Reminder :-)

 

Hello Ladies ~ This coming Monday, 18 November, is our monthly FNF meeting/luncheon starting at 10:00 a.m.

Please come a few minutes early for checking in and have the correct change, $12.50, so as to keep things moving smoothly along. Thank you.

This is our meeting before Thanksgiving and may we all give thanks to God for His many blessings we’ve had so far this year.

We’re looking forward to a great time of being together, singing, sharing, laughing, and enjoying good food.

May you continually feel the love, joy, peace and strength of God flowing through and surrounding you each and every day.

Lessons from the Life and Death of Dorcas

 

 

The story of Dorcas is recorded in Acts 9: 36-42. Dorcas was a Jewish woman, living in the seaport city of Joppa, who had come to faith in Christ, most likely through the ministry of Peter or one of his associates. She was a talented seamstress who saw the opportunity to use her talent in blessing others.  She chose the needy, the orphans, and widows, all who were marginalized by their culture, to be the recipients of her handiwork. Her generosity with her time and talents earned her the love and devotion of the entire church community, but especially among the widows.

Yet, in spite of her loving generosity, she became very ill and died. She left a large group of people who were grief stricken, especially the widows whose lives she had personally touched with her generosity. And so, after preparing her body for burial and laying it out, they sent for the Apostle Peter who was ministering nearby to come immediately, as they most likely had heard how his prayers had resulted in the healing of a paralyzed man just days before.

Peter came and found a grief stricken group of widows who showed him many articles that Dorcas had lovingly stitched for them.  So, after sending them out of the room, with a heart full of faith in his resurrected Lord, Peter commanded Dorcas to get up - and she did. He then led her out where tears of grief quickly turned to tears of joy and shouts of praise.

Dotti Ackerman, founder of FNF, has recently undergone surgery and stated to me that the prayers of godly women ministered to her so much. While she is recovering nicely, her healing has not been instantaneous as was Dorcas's. But, she feels that God is teaching her lessons in the process. One of those lessons is patience. Dotti's stroke left her with a word retrieval difficulty and often others would just blurt out the word for her, leaving her frustrated. She is regaining that ability, but she has gained a new respect for others who suffer from the same disability. To listen carefully requires patience and Dotti relates that she is gaining patience through the process.

God's timing for healing is His and His alone. But, there is great comfort in our joining in prayer for each other in times of need.  And it's also important to solicit the prayers of men and women of God to join us in prayer. Regardless of our talents and gifts, we can all pray and that really is the greatest resource we have anyway.

By Shari Hervold

God’s Providing for the Widow

 

Good morning dear Ladies,

Here is a blessing that happened to me recently.  I needed trees trimmed.  I was out front one morning working in my main garden when I heard the lawn maintenance guy pull up across the street. I walked over to where I could see out to the street and saw that on his trailer, he had advertised that he does tree trimming and removal.  I went out to the sidewalk, hollered across the 5 lanes, and he came over.  I told him what I needed doing and we agreed on a price, and he would call me when he got back from going out of town.

He called a couple of weeks later and came out and took care of the trees for me.  I wrote him a check. While here he had asked me about my little blue Mazda.  I told him I was thinking of calling the 'we buy junk cars' people, but hadn't yet and told him what all was wrong with the car.  He asked how much, I told him $450, but as we were talking I lowered it to $400.  He then said, he wanted it  and would give me my check back ($400) for his tree trimming as he hadn't cashed it yet.  So, I had my first barter happen.  By the way, this guy's name is Mark, the same as my husband.

God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.  The trees are trimmed, the car is gone, and when it cools down a bit more, I'll start moving 'iron', collected through the years, to the space where the car sat, so that when George comes he can just load it onto his trailer to take to the scrap yard for me.  He and the guys will have to move some of the heavier stuff, but I'll do what I can and be thankful all the while for God's wonderful working in my life.

Rainey

***

But my God shall supply all your need

according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Php 4:19 

 

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Do any of you have a story of God’s supplying your needs that you’d like to share?  Write out your story and email it to Dotti.  Hearing about how God provides for us is very encouraging and inspiring to others.  We’d love to hear from you.