From My Heart
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:5-6 -NIVArchive for October, 2009
From My Heart Welcomes You
Welcome ! I am glad you found us. My wish is that I will be able to use this blog to share “what’s on my heart” and how God is working in my life and that you will feel comfortable to do the same.
This will be a place where we will be able to encourage one another and spur each other along to trust the One that loves us more than we can comprehend.
Trusting the Lord with all our heart brings many blessings including spiritual growth and peace when there should be no peace. When our reliance on God is steady, we will respond to difficulties by seeking Him for guidance and strength. In turn, we will experience the Holy Spirit’s presence, provision, and power.
I hope you come back to visit often
Donna
Tips for Accountability Partners- “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend”- Proverbs 27:17 NLT
Believers can help each other grow spiritually with positive confrontation and encouragement.
God’s word challenges us :“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10.24).
Necessary ingredients for such an “encounter” include: Christian love, honest sharing, protection of one’s trust, prayer and accountability.
It is recommended that the “sharpening” encounter be experienced by prayer partners of the same sex. The pair should meet weekly allowing for a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 60 minutes. The time should include:
1) Sharing and praying about one another’s concerns.
2) Sharing insights gained from God’s word in individual daily quiet times.
3) Accountability utilizing the “iron sharpening” questions listed below. The questions can be modified if there are other specific issues either participant would want to address and for which she would want to be held accountable.
Whatever form the questions take, accountability is the key.
How many days this week did you have your daily quiet time?
What is God showing you through His Word?
If married…
Have you encouraged your spouse and specifically sought to meet his needs?
Have you had a date lately, just the two of you?
Are you spending adequate time with your children?
When did you last have a special one-on-one time with them?
If single…
What are you doing to foster meaningful relationships with members of both sexes?
What attempts have you made to invest in the life of another past week?
How is your thought life? Are you practicing Phil. 4.8, thinking on that which is true, honest, pure, etc.?
Have all of your thoughts about and interactions with others been pure and honoring to the Lord?
Are you being a good steward of your time and money?
What amount of time are you investing weekly in ministry?
How is your witness in the neighborhood and workplace?
Every believer has a spiritual area of weakness of life in which sheis most vulnerable to the enemy. Identify your weakness.
How are you doing in that area of spiritual weakness?
What are you doing to make it an area of spiritual strength?
Lastly ask the question:
Have you been totally honest with me in answering my questions?
What if you get a less than satisfactory answer
• Set short term goals to be evaluated the following week.
• Seek scripture references that apply to the problem and/or solution.
• Pray together for God’s help in correcting problems/deficiencies.
Good “get to know you” activity
I found this game on a women’s ministry site and tried a modified version of it at a reteat. It worked well to relax people and get them to interact with different people.
3’s Company
Write a word on an index card. The word must be a word that comes in 3’s such as Larry, Moe & Curly. At the bottom of the card, write the matches. I have used this numerous times and it always seems to work. The one thing you have to make sure is to have enough cards and if you have too many cards to make the adjustment accordingly.
After everyone has found their “match”, I tell them that they have to sit with their “matches” for dinner or for the next activity. I have found that this gets people to mingle even more, instead of staying in their groups.
There are no prizes or winner in this game, only interaction.
Secret Sister Helpful Hints
Here are a few tips on how to encourage your Secret Sisters that have helped me.
1) Remember to pray daily for your Secret Sister.
2) Drop her a note or card OFTEN to let her know you are thinking of her.
3) Remember her on special occasions and/or holidays with a gift or card. Be creative- a gift certificate for a cup of coffee and pie, a ticket to the movies, homemade cookies, any homemade gift, flowers sent to where she works, flowers from your garden, a basket of fruit or vegetables from your garden…the list could be endless. The object is not always to spend money, but to be faithful ALL YEAR. Mark your calendar NOW with your Secret Sister’s birthday, anniversary, and any other important day.
4) Be in tune to when your Secret Sister is not at church and find out why! A get well card means a lot! To know that they were missed is very important.
5) Or, if she is there every Sunday, let her know that you notice and appreciate her faithfulness. Is she a Sunday School teacher, on a committee, a child care provider? Tell her THANK YOU!
6) Holidays are a fun time to do something special for her. Some suggested times for a little special gift are:
Valentine’s Day 1st Day of Spring Easter Mother’s Day
Grandparent’s Day Canada Day Christmas Thanksgiving Day
You can even do something special for her spouse if you hear he has been ill or just for fun.
Use your imagination and be creative. These are just some suggestions. I’m sure you can think of others as you pray about ways to encourage and cheer your Secret Sister. Let’s all faithful to love and support one another the way God’s word instructs us to.
Our Permanet Residence Application Update
Good News! More progress in this long drawn out process.
We received a letter from the Canadian Consulate General’s office saying “We are pleased to inform you that we expect to finalize your application without an interview. Please note that we reserve the right to call you to an interview should this become necessary.” This is great news because it expedites the process and we won’t have to travel to an interview.
The letter went on to say that we should schedule our medical exams that they require and we need to pay the final “right of permanent residence fee”.
We ask for your continued prayers for this process and God’s provision of the funds to pay the fees.
We will be sure to keep you updated on any more developments.
In Christ, Pastor Hutch & Donna
From My Heart 