What a blessing to have Mrs. Mary Dighton speak to our ladies at Renew! She has the most comforting way of showing us women how to love our husbands. Mary spoke about how to respect our husbands and "dance as one". Her encouraging words left me wanting to come closer to God and Him show me how to respect my husband even more. Her words came clear and hit home for many of us women.  And how fun to know that even the pastor's wife can create Niagara Falls in their basement!! Thank you, Mary for equipping and renewing us to be better wives and followers of Christ. 

November 21, 2013 Meeting

We had a great meeting on November 21st, despite one of the first cold, rainy days we have had this fall. We began the meeting with a delicious breakfast and time to chat at our tables.  We took orders for our Papa Murphy's fundraiser; if you ordered pizza it will be delivered at our December 5th meeting!

 

We had plenty of fun door prizes!

 

 

 In light of the approaching Thanksgiving holiday, one of our mentor moms, Melanie, spoke about Thanks-Living.  This means to live with a thankful heart and attitude every day of the year, not just on Thanksgiving.  Melanie challenged each one of us to make a new Thanksgiving tradition by doing at least one item that was on her handout- see below.  Which item(s) will you do?  What item(s) are the most difficult for you to do?

 

 

 We made some very cute Christmas wreaths with our monograms!  We made only the letter portion of the wreath at our meeting, but the example below shows a festive way to add to your wreath.

The older children in Renew for Kids made some very cute handprint turkey placemats.  If your child made one, be sure to set it out for your Thanksgiving dinner!

 

Upcoming dates to remember:

 

December 5- Next Renew meeting, this is one of the best meetings all year, be sure to be there!

December 12- The annual Renew play date/children's book exchange from 9 till 11.  If you'd like to come, bring a snack to share (for kids or adults) and meet in the LBC gym.  If you'd like your child to participate in the book exchange, each child needs to bring a new wrapped children's book (costing $5 or less).  The kids will each get to choose a wrapped book to open and take home.

December 19- Our last Renew meeting of the semester and the annual ornament exchange!  If you'd like to participate in the exchange bring a new wrapped ornament (costing $5 or less).  We'll play a fun game of swapping ornaments!

May you be blessed this Thanksgiving, remembering to give thanks in all things! 

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.            1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18  (NIV)

Easy Wreath Letters

Here is some inspiration for the letter wreaths we made today at Renew! Get creative ladies :)

Renew this week!

Here is a sneak peek at the Christmas craft we will be making this week at Renew. Super easy and fun! Great to hang on your front door or add to a holiday wreath!

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Craft Sneak Peek! Renew meeting this Thursday!

Renew craft sneak peek, fashion Aprons (just in time for holiday cooking or holiday gifts)! Feel free to bring any embellishments you might like to add to your apron such as an iron on monogram letters, flowers, or jewels. We will provide the bandanna and waist tie ribbon!! We have a variety of fabulous prints and patterns! We look forward to seeing you on Thursday!

OCC Shoebox Packing Party

Each year we look forward to collecting items for children all over the world so that they might have a happy Christmas, something we easily take for granted. One of the things we are excited about this year is that we are celebrating Samaritan's Purse 20th anniversary of packing shoeboxes, and over 100 million shoeboxes have been sent across the world to hurting children in that time period! Although 100 million is mind boggling, one agonizing statistic is that there are 300 million children in India alone still awaiting a shoebox. Each shoebox represents a gospel opportunity for the child that receives it, and that usually reaches at least 7 other people that the child knows! 

Well this Thursday is our annual Operation Christmas Child shoebox packing party!! Please find helpful information in preparation for our packing party Thursday.

- Each empty plastic box is available for purchase at the meeting for $1 a box. Please bring cash if you would like to purchase a plastic box to fill.

-Shipping for each box is $7. By giving the $7.00 online, your table will have the advantage of printing off  your labels so your boxes will be tracked and will follow up with an email telling you where it got delivered. *If you do not pay/print off your shipping labels online, please make sure you bring $7 cash per box for each box you pack to cover shipping, we will have the labels at the meeting. 

-Bring a bandanna or colored tissue paper to line your boxes, this will give them more of a wrapped present feel vs and clear plastic box. 

-We will provide rubber bands to go around each box after they have been filled. 

Follow the link below to the OCC website with a list of gift ideas for your shoe box as well as answers to questions you might have.

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/pack-a-shoe-box/

Please make sure do you not include any items from the list below:

-Used or damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives or military figures; chocolate or food; out- of-date candy; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; breakable items such as snowglobes or glass containers; aerosol cans

Thank you for your help in making a child's Christmas a happy one this year!! See you Thursday!

Renew 2013 Kickoff

Renew is back!! Today was our kick off meeting for the Renew 2013 fall semester and what a great meeting it was. It was great to see old familiar faces and catch up, as well as seeing new faces and making new friends.

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." - Philippians 4:8

Meeting Highlights

Meet our Steering team:

Karyn Hatch- Coordinator
Katie Blake- Co-Coordinator
Heidi Hydeman - Finance
Anna Beth Marintzer- Hospitality
Katie Simmons- Hospitality
Leah Ashworth- Crafts
Carla Smith- Publicity
Alicia Bottorff- DGL Leader
Leah DeWerff- Childcare Recruitment
Marti Karlin- Attendance
Sarah Reynolds- Renew for Kids Curriculum
Karen Offill- Lead Mentor Mom

Please let any of these ladies know if there is anything you need or questions you may have. They are so excited about Renew 2013 and serving our fabulous group of moms!

This morning Karyn shared an awesome poem by Jen Hatmaker, A (fairly lame) Ode to Mothers, taken from her devotional book Out of the Spin Cycle. Jen is a great christian author, mom, motivator, and wife. If you would like to find out more about Jen and her devotions check out her blog here: http://jenhatmaker.com/blog.htm . Jen will be coming to KC this month with the Women of Faith Tour!! Should be a great time if you are open the weekend of September 27th and 28th.

Mentor Mom Karen Offill shared a very encouraging mentor minuet with us this morning. She reminded us to not only keep up our old friendships but to make sure we also make new ones. She also shared some special memories of times past with her girls and it sure makes me want to bottle the memories we are making with our kids now, before they are grown. Thank you Karen for the encouragement and wisdom!

Upcoming Events:

October 3 is our next Renew meeting. We will have a picnic after the meeting at Ad Astra Park- be sure to pack a lunch and be ready for some fun.

October 17 Operation Christmas Child.  More info will be shared as we get closer to collecting boxes.

November 21 is Bring a Friend Day!! Be sure to bring your friends!

November 16 is Mom Mart. Please contact Katie Blake to register or for more info.

Here are a few pics from the meeting today:

We are so glad you were able to join us today if you were at the meeting and if not, we missed you and hope to see you October 3!