Becoming Who You Are IN CHRIST

Our FALL Bible Study Monday Night Group - 2013

Back Row: Elaine, Holly, Faith, Trevor, Michele, Karen, Kitty

Middle Row: Bonnie, Chris, Diane, Sarah, Caitlin

Front Row: Marie, Sue, Aline, Stephanie, Awilda, Amy, Donna

We studied together for many weeks this fall

on Monday nights and another group on Wed. mornings.

Our first 4 weeks we did Beth's Moore's study called:

HE IS

based on :

Hebrews 11:6 KJV

 But without faith it is impossible to please Him:

for he that cometh to God must believe that HE IS,

and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

HE IS  - YOUR MAJESTY the KING!

HE IS our Champion!

HE IS JEHOVAH - "I AM THAT I AM"

HE IS "I AM"  = HE IS JAH!

HALLELU-JAH!

Do I always look this scary?

Our second 4 weeks we did random studies like:

God's Purpose For You - Beth Moore Video

A Fight Worth Having - Beth Moore Video

The Blessing of Asher - Beth Moore Video

Tools of the Trade - Praise, Prayer & God's Word  - Stephanie K. Brower

There were many other ladies who joined us on Wednesday mornings

as well as others from the first 4 weeks on Monday nights but this

was the group who hung in there for the Dinner Celebration at the end!

God taught us so much from His Word!

We praise HIM for all that He did among us.

 A Festive Feast at the TABLE with JESUS!

 Anybody want some WISDOM? Just ASK GOD who gives generously!

As 'ASHER' Happy Group!

From one end of the Table to the other - we are 'Asher' Happy!



OUR NEXT BIBLE STUDY WILL BEGIN

IN LATE JAN./EARLY FEB.

We will be studying with Priscilla Shirer's:

GIDEON Your weakness. GOD's  STRENGTH

And we want to wish everyone a very

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

and

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

and

JOY ABOUNDING IN THE NEW YEAR AHEAD.

We left with this Scripture on our hearts:

Jeremiah 9:23-24

NIV

This is what the LORD says:

"Let not the wise boast of their widsom

or the strong boast of their strength

or the rich boast of their riches,

but let the one who boasts boast about this:

that they understand and know Me,

that I AM THE LORD, who

exercises kindness, justice and righteouness on  the earth,

 for in these I delight,"

declares the LORD.

Choosing Great JOY,

Stephanie

[aka: TRUTHSHARER]

STEPPING UP... In Double Time!

Thursday Morning Group

Top Row: Marion, Jane, Linda, Jan, Kim, Stephanie [me]

Second Row: Susan, Bonnie B., Kathleen [behind], Chris [behind], Annette 

Front Row: Brittaney [glasses], Aline, Annel, Bonnie P.

[The two Bonnie's call themselves Bonnie-Squared!! 

I have to separate them in class! ;-)]

Monday Night Group

Front Row: Donna A., Awilda, Stephanie [me], Lina

Middle Row: Marie, Faith, Tiara, Courtney

Back row: Donna G., Karen, Lisa K. Tracie, Lisa G., Pat, Elaine

 After a year on Sabbatical [from teaching] with the LORD 
- it was my JOY and PRAISE to 

jump right back into teaching back-to-back Bible study Groups 
on Monday nights and Thursday mornings 
since the last week of January until the end of March!

We did STEPPING UP - A Journey Through the Psalms of Ascent

by Beth Moore - A video Driven/Workbook series

and ended our time together with a meal - as we always do here at 

Shepherd's Walk... a reminder of when we will sit at 

the Marriage Supper of the Lamb

with Him in glory one day [soon and very soon]!

 Watching the video session...

The Ladies are eagerly filling in the pages of their workbooks 

as they listen and engage 

with Miss Beth and most importantly with GOD!!

We love having fun together after studying our hearts out with GOD.

He did some amazing things in both groups during this study.  

Elaine Williams 

used her artistic gifts to draw 

our memory Psalm 121

This was the sketch [above]of verses 1-4 before it was colored in. 

This helped us so much to memorize the words of that Psalm 

from the HCSB version which was given in the study.

Below you can see the finished work of all 8 verses on two drawings.

I gave each women a CIRCLE on their first day of study.

On those circles was one of five words:

GRACE - TRUST - PRAYER - PRAISE - SURRENDER

A Bible verse went along with each word
that [God] chose for each person.

The ladies were to examine and ponder their own circle word
throughout the study. 

Each week we went over the verses and talked about the words. 

All the ladies testified how God had spoken

to them through these particular words and their verses. 

 There was always a time of teaching before the video 
in what God was laying out before us.

Here are just some of the flip chart sheets. 
The large one in the center shows our circle words

as well as our Visual Theme for more than half of the study:

THE BIG PICTURE = From the Divine Perspective

We learned from that visual:

No matter how God may reframe the promises of our life - 
His LOVE is always at the center of it - 

and the arrows taught us to seek MORE of HIM and less of us.

 

Our Silly and Crazy Thursday Morning Group!

We love Miss Beth and her teaching 

because she helps us all to engage with our JESUS!

"There's no 'high' like the Most High!"

Our favorite psalm was Psalm 126 

[which had a little pull from it being my favorite Psalm]!

I praise my God and KING 
for all that He accomplished 
to bring Victory over defeat in this study 

and to allow us to sow and reap with songs of GREAT JOY!

We thank YOU, LORD, for Your Holy Spirit's Presence in our midst 
each week as YOU taught us through YOUR WORD!

Thank you all,  ladies, for your diligence to study God's Word and respond 

in OBEDIENCE to it! It was a wild ride and a blast to be with you again!

Choosing GREAT JOY,

Stephanie

Psalm 126

I AM BLESSED OF GOD with House and Home and Family

A visit to Maryland...

My son, Jeff [34], and my Dad, Paul [almost 95]

My granddaughter, Josssara Makenna [almost 2],  me and my Mom [Kay] 

This was my Mom's 93rd Birthday [January 2013]

Her grandson, Pastor Jeff!

My Dad, Paul, enjoys the company!

My house is now complete with all the renovations 

from the June 30th derecho storm!

A side/front view! 

We built this house in 1973 and in December it was 39 years old.

The back where the OAK TREE fell - all put back!

My new shed. Another Oak Tree demolished the old shed.

One last view of the back with the new shed.

Psalm 126 

A song of ascents.

¹ 

When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion,

    we were like men who dreamed.

² 

Our mouths were filled with laughter,

    our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations,

    “The Lord has done great things for them.”

³ 

The Lord has done great things for us,

    and we are filled with joy.

⁴ 

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,

    like streams in the Negev.

⁵ 

Those who sow in tears

    will reap with songs of joy.

⁶ 

He who goes out weeping,

    carrying seed to sow,

will return with songs of joy,

    carrying sheaves with him.

I have so much to be thankful for. My Insurance Company [AFI] was great! A special 'thank you' to all the workers who helped with each and every task to make this job complete. I applaud you!

GOD provided everything needed to make all things new again! I praise HIM above all else for seeing me through this long and grueling process. It was a huge lesson in 'TRUST' -- but these kinds of lessons usually are! What I learned the most was to keep my focus on GOD HIMSELF. Whenever I was overwhelmed it was simply because I took my eyes off HIM and put them on some circumstance that was too hard for me. NOTHING is too hard for the LORD! [Gen. 18:14] I'm glad HE was in charge. HE is on the THRONE and  SOVEREIGN STILL! HE IS MY FAITHFUL GOD! The LORD has done great things for us and we are filled with JOY!

Of House and Home Family --- I am truly blessed of GOD! Thank you for all your prayers.

Living in the Fullness of JOY,

Stephanie

Psalm 126

A HAITIAN/AMERICAN THANKSGIVING 2012

Thanksgiving for 120! Posted: 27 Nov 2012 08:54 AM PST What do you do when you live in another country and important US holidays  come around?  I, for one,  am not going to sit around and mope for what I might  be missing!  You make your own traditions and celebrate with the family you  have close to you—and you learn that family is not limited to those related  by blood.  We are incredibly blessed to have a community of missionaries  from different organizations and countries to “do life” with!  They truly are  a second family.  There are also many other ex-pats in southern Haiti, many  who I don’t know well, who are also missing their families and friends. Our community here in Les Cayes, Haiti has been celebrating American  Thanksgiving together for over 20 years.  Most years, this gathering has happened at what is now our home.  I have been thrilled to carry on that  tradition!     I think we set a record this year—120 people came to our gathering!   Countries represented included the US, Germany, Canada, Haiti,  South Africa, Nicaragua, and Uruguay. I think one of the best things about Thanksgiving, is that it is a holiday that transcends nationality. We can add our American traditions to it, but all of us in this missionary community enjoy setting a day aside to thank God for His blessings over the past year. All 120 of us! This was our third year here for Thanksgiving and my third year hosting.  I really enjoy organizing and hosting this event!  Some of you may think I am insane, but the truth is, now that I’ve done it a few times, this was the easiest year yet.  I’ve got a good sense on what amounts of food we need and the best way to set everything up in our yard. So how did I do it?  What is needed to pull this off?  TEAMWORK!  I didn’t do it!  Everyone contributed.  A few weeks before Thanksgiving, I send out invitations and a sign-up list via email. I ask  Agape Flights to purchase the amount of large turkeys we need and they fly them in when they fly in the mail and packages. I purposely choose to sign up to bring dessert, so that the only cooking I have to do is baking the day before.  The sign-up list includes tables and chairs available.  The day before, some missionaries brought down their tables and chairs and Rob and Gary drove around picking up the rest.  The day of Thanksgiving, while everyone else is making the dish(es) they signed up to bring, Rob and I are setting up tables and chairs and working out last minute details.  I invited anyone who wanted to come and decorate the tables to come at 11 am.  All the tables were beautifully decorated by 11:30.  I always set up an activity table for the kids with lots of crayons, Thanksgiving coloring sheets, mazes and word searches.  Drew’s teacher, Ms. Karen and the teacher’s aid at the school, Sarah, came up with a craft as well. Someone made a comment on Facebook that I must have a very large house to do this. Hahahaha!  We could never fit a quarter of the people in my house.  What we do have, is enough space in the yard and driveway to pull this off outside.  Imagine our panic, when at 12:30, an hour before everyone was to start arriving and all the tables, tablecloths and decorations were set up, it STARTED RAINING!  When we realized it was not a quick shower, we grabbed all the tarps we could find and covered the tables.  I never prayed so hard for rain to stop! It stopped raining right as people started to arrive at 1:30 and the rain held off the rest of the day.  Praise the Lord! All the tables set up in the driveway before the rain started: Wondering what we had at our meal? Here is the run down: 4  20-pound turkeys, 1 15-pound turkey, 5 trays of stuffing, 5 bowls of gravy, 4 trays of mashed potatoes, 3 trays of sweet potatoes, 16 cans of corn, 5 trays of “other vegetables”, 6 different salads, 3 baskets of bread (with butter), 3 bowls of cranberry sauce, 15 different desserts,  3 10-gallon thermos’s of juice, and large amounts of regular and decaf coffee.  We all ate very well! We try to stick to a loose program.  Eat dinner, then take a group photo, then get dessert.  While eating dessert, Rob shared a short devotional then opened up the mic to anyone who wanted to share what they were thankful for for the past year.  Tessa’s first grade class sang a song complete with sign language hand motions.  This time of reflection together is always very special. Braden was pretty tired from all the work and fell asleep at the table! What a great Thanksgiving with our ‘second family’! ~Becky http://www.robandbecky.com/blog.htm This is a post my daughter sent as she and her family serve as Missionaries with RIM, International - a 'sister church' partnership with US churches doing the work of  building an encouraging fellow believers in the beautiful country of Haiti. Click the link above to read more of their work and how to get connected with God's work in this third world country. Choosing JOY, Stephanie

RANDOM THOUGHTS of GOD'S HERITAGE

 

We have the most beautiful snow here in New Jersey today!!!

All God's GLORY, GOODNESS, FORGIVENESS and CLEANSING 

all wrapped up in

ONE BIG WHITE BLANKET OF HIS LOVE!!!!

A Geranium plant blooms in the snow!

My new Shed was delivered last Friday!

My Dad, Paul, age 94 flew to FL this week to visit with my sister, Polly!

I always tell him he's gonna live to be 110!!!

From the Market in HAITI - my granddaughter, Tessa with my daughter, Becky!

 Medline and Tessa [best of friends]!!

Tessa [6] lost her first tooth a few weeks ago!

Drew [7] lost his first tooth [after his younger sister lost hers.]

God's Heritage is RICH.... in family and friends 

from the USA to Haiti ~ with LOVE!!!

Genesis 22:17-18 (NIV1984)

¹⁷ I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed Me.

Galatians 3:26-29   (NIV1984)  Sons of God     

²⁶ You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, ²⁷ for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Choosing JOY, 

Stephanie

God's Heritage

A NEW SISTER IN CHRIST

Posted: 04 Sep 2012 08:15 AM PDT

Believers, you have a new sister in Christ!  This past Sunday night [September 2, 2012], Tessa prayed and asked Jesus into her heart!  As a parent, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 1:4)

[This is my sweet granddaughter, Tessa Hope Thompson, who lives in Haiti!]

Rob has a screensaver on his computer that pulls pics from our albums on Picasa.  That night, the pics randomly flashing up on the screen were from Drew’s Baptism last summer.  Tessa was looking at them and asked me, “Mommy, when am I going to be baptized?”  So we got Daddy and the three of us talked about what the Bible says about baptism.  Rob explained to Tessa that baptism is actually “step 2”, and she needed to understand that first she needed to ask Jesus to come into her heart.  We talked about her need to confess her sins and believe that Jesus is the son of God who died for our sins and rose from the dead in victory over sin.  She said, “when can I do that?”  “Right now if you want!”  We talked to her about a few more things to make sure she understood her decision and she prayed to accept Jesus :)  She was so excited about her decision, she had to tell everyone she saw the next day!

It was a joy to tell Drew that his example was instrumental in bringing Tessa to a saving relationship with Jesus!  What a neat teaching opportunity and hopefully an encouragement to Drew in his own faith.

This is the beginning of her journey of faith.  Rob and I pray that she will love God with all her heart and soul and serve Him her whole life.  We can’t wait to see how God will use her.  We pray that as she grows in her faith, her heart for God and His people will grow exponentially.  Rob said it well on Facebook, “May she love Him, trust Him, and honor Him more and more everyday, and do more for the kingdom than I ever hope to.”

We love you Tessa and are so proud of who you are becoming in Christ!

~Becky [her Mom]

Living in the fullness of His GREAT JOY,

Stephanie

Psalm 126

The Burden Was Lifted - July 4th