Christmas Brunch

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made...  
Psalm 139:14

Merry Christmas!!
You are fearfully and wonderfully made!

Our December 10 LIFT Christmas Brunch encouraged us with words from God's holy book!

Follow highlights of Mashelle's devotional on our facebook page.

"Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice" Devotional focused on Psalm 139:14
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made...

The Lord has made us all or baked us all up as it were for a unique purpose.

Here's My Gingerbread Prayer:

Dear Lord, Put in me the right ingredients that best reflects Your love. Don't let me allow the world to seep into my life.

Dear Lord, Bake me with Your love and bring me through the heat and trials of your choosing so that I'm fit for Your service. Let me rely on Your strength so that I won't crumble and fall apart.

Dear Lord, Give me eyes to see the needs of others instead of my own. Help me see with Your compassion.

Dear Lord, Give me a nose to tell the difference between what the world offers and what Your Word says. Help me to know right from wrong.

Dear Lord, Give me arms and hands to give and work for Your glory. Help me to uplift others when they need it most.

Dear Lord, Give me legs and feet to follow You. Help me spread the news of Your birth and wonderful gift of life that You offer us.

Dear Lord, Give me the sweet smelling aroma of Your love so that others may know I'm Your child.

Dear Lord, Decorate me with Your love and make my life beautiful for You.
In Jesus name I pray. Amen

Devotional found at Creative Ladies Ministry by Julia Bettencourt

Christmas Brunch. Thank you to everything that helped make our meal so special.
Find an awesome "Scrappies" breakfast casserole on our "recipes" page.

 

Laugher, Joy, Encouraging Fellowship

A DIY Christmas ornament was available to create.

 

“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love,
so that they may have full riches of complete understanding.” Colossians 2:2a

 

We blessed the Food Pantry with your donations.
Thank You!

 

 

Mark Your 2015 Calendars:

January 21– Purpose: Relaxation

Spa day- Come for a chance to pamper your feet, hands, and/or face.

Massages will be offered too. Everything will be provided.



THIS WEEK: Christmas Brunch

 

Christmas Brunch

Wednesday, December 10

9:00 Social Time

9:30-11:00 Event Time

Come for a Christmas brunch and a simple ornament craft.

Invite Your Friends.

Bring a dish to share and,

if you wish, a gift for the Juniata County Food Pantry

(paper or cleaning products, canned goods, etc.)

Remember: you never have to bring anything. We just hope you're able to come; even if it's last minute with the baby crying and the toddler in mismatched shoes!

Essentials Oils of the Bible - JOY!

LIFT event "Oils of the Bible" November 19

“Don't let anything steal your joy!”

Judy began by encouraging the ladies to think about what might steal their joy

and to guard against letting anything or anyone steal their joy.

“Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." Neh 8:10

If the joy of the Lord is your strength

then the joy of the mom is her children's strength.

The “Oil of Joy” was literally in the air

during our November LIFT event.

 

Wendy Kerstetter came and gave Biblical information and helpful tips about using essential oils.

Essential Oils References in the Bible:

1031 References of essential oils and/or plants that produce them.
33 species of essential oils
70% (46 out of 66) books of the Bible mention essential oils and/or aromatic plants from which they derive.

What are Essential Oils: “Natural aromatic compounds in the seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers, and other parts of plants.

They are 70 times more powerful than dried herbs.

Wendy mentioned several oils and their benefits. Check out these slides on our facebook page. Link Here

So many fragrant oils to smell

 

Congrats to Jessica for winning the Essential Oils kit!!

 

Thanks to those that contributed special touches to make our event so sweet!



You made Christmas special for two local children.
Thank you to everyone that brought gifts for Christmas Angel.

 

Mark your calendars:

December 10–  Celebrate Jesus’ Birth

Come for a Christmas brunch

and a simple ornament craft.

Bring a dish to share and, if you wish, a gift for the Juniata County Food Pantry

(paper or cleaning products, canned goods, etc.)



Oils of the Bible November 19

Oils of the Bible
By Wendy Kerstetter
at LIFT, Nov 19, 9-11:00am
Lost Creek Mennonite Church, Mifflintown
www.LostCreekMennoniteChurch.org
Free Childcare!

36th Annual Ladies Retreat: October 24, 7:00pm

A beneficial evening ready to give you a blessing from God's Word.
Plan to attend.

LIFT featured on MERF radio's Faith Factor Program

LIFT was featured on MERF radio's Faith Factor Program

on Sunday morning October 19.

Judy enjoyed sharing about what she loves - LIFT!

Fall Craft: More Than a Just Hint of Tinting Success!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014
We tinted our way to beautiful colorful jars during our 25th year of the LIFT ministry!!

Judith encouraged us to
call on the name of the Lord.

LIFT began with devotions and prayer time.

What is in a name? "We only need to speak the name of Jesus and there He is." Call on the name of the Lord in every season of your life.

"At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD." Genesis 4:26

"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." " Psalm 91:14-16

"In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you." Isaiah 4-6    

Mashelle led us in a Fall Craft of tinting glass jars.
Directions are here and in our "Links" page.

Tinting Jars

Mashelle demonstrated
how to tint jars.

      1.      In squeeze bottle, mix about 4 tablespoons of glazing medium (Liquitex) with a few drops of

liquid food color.  Gently swirl to blend to desired hue.

2.      Holding jar horizontally; pour the mix over the sides of the jar, avoiding the screw threads and rotating jar until covered. (If this is done over a plate/container the excess can be poured back in the bottle and reused.) 
3.      Break any air bubbles by gently blowing on them or by using a straight pin.  Set jar upright on waxed paper; periodically wipe off excess glazing medium from the jar bottom with a paper towel. 
4.      Allow to sit for 10 minutes before drying.  There are a few ways to dry the glaze: Use a hairdryer (takes about 5-7 minutes) or place on wax paper-lined pan in an oven set on warm (takes about 25 minutes) or dry at room temperature (takes several hours). 
Note: The color is permanent, but jars are not dishwasher-safe.

"You Have  Purpose" Theme

LIFT continues to support
Christmas Angel
by supplying Christmas gifts for two local children.
Please bring your gift WRAPED with the
CHILD'S NAME and FAMILY NUMBER on the gift.
T.H.A.N.K   Y.O.U

How lucky are we to have such great childcare workers!!
Free childcare is available each month!

Mark Your Calendars for Next Month:

November 19– Purpose: Essential Oils 101

Oils, incense, perfumes, ointments, fragrances and spices are mentioned throughout the Bible. What were they? What was God’s purpose for these special oils? Wendy Kerstetter will share about these essential oils and how they can be used today.

Fall Craft: Glass Tinting

Wednesday, October 15

9:00am – Social Time
9:30am - 11:00am – Event: Fall Craft 
Located at Lost Creek Mennonite Church, Mifflintown

Free structured childcare is available in three age groups.

Homeschool area for children is available as well.

Bring:

            A glass jar (some will be available)
            A hairdryer(some will be available)
            $2 for jar supplies, $2 for fall flowers

You’re Also Invited:

Sunday, October 12, 10:00am.
I will be speaking about LIFT at Lost Creek Mennonite Church’s Sunday service.
Hear some history, learn more about our purpose, and be encouraged about the ministry.

You're purpose is found in Christ Jesus.
We look forward to seeing you next week!

Salad Bar Social September 17

 

 Our first LIFT of the new season began with a

Sunny Salad Bar Social

Wednesday, September 17

Sunflowers filled the room and bouquets went home with several lucky ladies.
Judy began our time with a sunflower devotional and Mashelle followed with prayer.

"For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."   Psalm 84:11

Devotional from http://juliabettencourt.com

 

Sunflowers Track The Sun. Most plants are attracted to light but the flowering head of the sunflower actually tracks the sun following it's path and moving toward where it is in the sky all during the day. I read somewhere that sunflowers track the sun when they are in bud stage. Isn't that how it usually goes for us as Christians? When we first come to know the Lord, we get excited about knowing all about Him and living for Him, but after awhile we sometimes grow a little preoccupied with other things and get our eyes off of the Lord.

Wouldn't it be great if as a Christian we'd track the Son of God and follow Him all day long? No matter what was going on in our lives and throughout our day, we wouldn't take our eyes off of the Son.

Sunflowers Need to be Stabilized.
The second thing I've learned about the sunflower is that it that it needs to be firmly planted in the soil in order to grow. Sunflowers grow so tall and their stems become so heavy that they will topple over if they aren't stabilized in the ground.

I know as a Christian it's very easy to topple over if we are not grounded in the Word of God. We need to know what and why we believe what we do so our feet are firmly planted and we won't falter in our Christian growth.

Van Gogh painted several beautiful
sunflower pictures

Sunflowers Produce Seeds.
Did you know that a single sunflower can have up to 2,000 seeds? When we think about sowing seeds as a Christian, just think of the potential reach that each of us can have to spread the Gospel. It could be limitless if we would just sow those seeds.

Sunflowers Produce Oil.
The oil that the sunflower produces is considered a good oil with healthy benefits. As Christians we should be producing the fruit of the spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith). All of those have some healthy benefits on us as Christians and on others that we meet.

Sunflowers Resemble The Sun.
Sunflowers not only follow the sun but when you look at them, they resemble the sun too. Resembling the Son should be one of those things we do as a Christian. Being Christ-like is an essential part of being a Christian.

Good times together with Christian women

Salad Bar with many delicious fixins'!



We're so grateful for our wonderful childcare staff!!
Free childcare offered to the mothers!

Mark you calendars:
Next Month

Purpose: Fall Craft

October 15

Fall Craft– Canning jars (and other glass jars) can be re-purposed in so many ways. We will color glass jars to use as decoration.  Fall silk flowers will be available to add to your jar.  Some jars will be available or you may bring one of your own to color.






2014-15 Schedule

Spread the Word:

September 17– Purpose: Welcome to a New Year
Welcome to LIFT! We will begin our new year with a salad bar and social time.  Please bring a salad topping or dressing to share.

October 15– Purpose: Fall Craft

Fall Craft– Canning jars (and other glass jars) can be re-purposed in so many ways. We will color glass jars to use as decoration.  Fall silk flowers will be available to add to your jar.  Some jars will be available or you may bring one of your own to color.

November 19– Purpose: Essential Oils 101

Oils, incense, perfumes, ointments, fragrances and spices are mentioned throughout the Bible. What were they? What was God’s purpose for these special oils? Wendy Kerstetter will share about these essential oils and how they can be used today.

December 10– Purpose: Celebrate Jesus’ Birth

Come for a Christmas brunch and a simple ornament craft. Bring a dish to share and, if you wish, a gift for the Juniata County Food Pantry (paper or cleaning products, canned goods, etc.)

January 21– Purpose: Relaxation

Spa day- Come for a chance to pamper your feet, hands, and/or face. Massages will be offered too. Everything will be provided.

February 18– Purpose: Surviving the Teen Years
Danny Reed of Central PA Youth Ministry will speak on successfully parenting and surviving the Tween and Teen years.  Come hear how to interact with this age group whether you have children in this age group yet or not.

March 18– Purpose: Easter Craft

It’s spring!  Come celebrate the season change with an Easter craft.  We will be decorating a wooden rabbit.

April 15– Purpose: What is My Purpose?
Do you ever feel your life has no purpose?  Our speaker Susan Penning will take us “Dumpster Diving to Uncover God’s Purpose for Your Life”.

May 20– Purpose: Spring Picnic

At 10:00 am (note time change), we will meet at the park in McAlisterville. Come share ideas for outdoor fun for both children and adults. Bring your own sandwiches and a finger food to share. Drinks, cups, and napkins will be provided. Childcare workers will be on location.

Salad Bar Social

Purpose: Welcome to a New Year

 

 

Salad Bar Social

Wednesday, September 17

9:00am - 11:00am

Welcome to LIFT!

We will begin our new year with a salad bar and social time. 

 

at Lost Creek Mennonite Church, near Oakland Mills

Invite a friend or neighbor.

 

Bring: Salad toppings or dressing to share (although you never have to bring anything!)

Free Childcare! NEW this year: a special area for home school children will be available! Let me know if you have any questions about that.

* Sharing Table: Have any produce to share? Clothing that's outgrown? Bargains to pass along? Bring them to the sharing table.

* Follow us on facebook. Invite your friends to like our facebook page. www.facebook.com/JuniataLIFT

We hope to see you soon!!

 

Next Year's LIFT

We just met to plan next year! We're so excited!!! Tentative events may include: salad bar social, spa day, mason jar craft, essential oils topic, Christmas brunch, speakers, spring craft, and picnic!! Stay tuned for more details!!

Mark you calendar now for next year's LIFT dates:

September 17
October 15
November 19
December 10
January 21
February 18
March 18
April 15
May 20

Guard Your Heart

 

Little Ideas, Much Sharing

 

Guessing Games

Rain didn’t stop us from getting together on May 21,

but it did prevent us from meeting at the park.

 

Many of us preserve meat, veggies, fruits and/or herbs. 

We shared what foods we preserve and what methods work (or those that don’t work).

Examining new recipes

We discussed what foods we preserve and
what methods work (or those that don’t work).

 Judy began with the following devotional:

 

When it comes to our marriages,
there's some stocking up to do. 

"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out
of it are the issues of life". Proverbs 4:23

When housekeeping, we need to stock our refrigerator, fill up our cupboard shelves, and pantry. When it comes to our marriages, there's some stocking up we have to do too.

Filling our canisters may look like this:

Gretchen made these awesome
gift bags out of flour bags!!

Flour. The grain used to make flour has to be ground down before it can be used. It's a process of work just like our marriages. We don't just wake up one day and have the perfect marriage or even a good marriage, we have to work at it day by day.

Another thing that has to be done to flour is that all the foreign objects have to be removed and separated from the ground wheat or whichever grain was used. For our marriages to become what we'd like, we have to live separated from sin in order for our marriage to become what the Lord would have for us.

Sugar.

Speak in sweet tones when you
talk to your husband.

 Sweetness sure makes things tastes good. Remember those song lyrics from Mary Poppins? A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down. We have to incorporate some sweetness in our our marriages too.

How about some sweet tones when we talk to our husbands? Some "I love yous". One thing that will work wonders is a sweet attitude toward your husband. Or how about some sweet names like, Honey, Sweetheart, Sugarplum, or whatever endearing name you have for your husband? I'm sure he likes hearing that endearing name.


Be grounded in the Word of God
and in your marriage.

Coffee. Even if you don't drink coffee, it's always good to have some on hand when your mom or your new mother-in-law comes to visit.

Coffee is grounds of the coffee bean so of course we've got to get a little grounded in our marriage, and what's better than being grounded in the Word of God? Spending time in God's Word can help your personal Christian walk, but it also will have an impact on your marriage, so make time for it.

You and your husband are a
special blend.

Tea. There's so many teas that you can fill your tea canister with these days. There's special blends for this, special blends for that, and if you drink herbal teas, read that fine print on the box. They all have specific things each blend of tea is supposedto do for you. Some make you sleepy. Some make you calm. Some are good for this and that.

When you marry your husband, you are going to be a special blend too. A marriage is a blending of two lives. You've got to get along, communicate, and blend together. What type of blend will it be? What do you think will end up being written on the box? Good for fighting? Good for chaos? Or will it be a soothing blend?

We need to keep our marriages
fresh and protected too.

Canning Jars We use canning jars to keep things fresh, to preserve, to seal out bad smells, and even to keep out the flies. We have to keep our marriages fresh and protected too. We definitely need to keep those flies out!

You need to put effort into protecting your marriage. Don't put yourself in situations that even have the slightest chance to bring in the bad smells. Put safeguards in place. Set some rules for yourself. It may be things like never riding in a car alone with a man that's not your husband. Never inviting a man who is not your husband into your home when your husband isn't present. There are so many situations that you know you'd act honorably in, but you still have to put that wall of protection around your marriage and set some guidelines for yourself as a married woman.

 

As we work on filling our pantry in our marriage, we need some great things lined up on our shelves. We need all those things that will help our marriages, like love, communication, giving, devotion, trust, and even laughter. All those things start in our hearts and flow out of us.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out
of it are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23

Devotional from Creative Ladies Ministry http://www.juliabettencourt.com/dev/pantrydev.html

 

Here are a few notes from our discussion:

• Fruits, Peppers, Onions: Wash, dry, and lay on cookie sheet and put cookie sheet in the freezer. When fruit is frozen, transfer to freezer bags or brown paper bags.
• Whole onions can be stored all year on an old window or door screen.
• Peaches: Blanch for a few minutes and the skins will pull off easily
• Peaches with brown – browsed spots can be put into a batch of jelly
• Apple butter can be cooked in a crock pot
• Make sure you put your canning jars on strong shelves!!
• Tomatoes: As they ripen, but the whole tomato in a freezer bag. When you are ready to can with them, thaw and poke a hole in the bag to drain any liquid.
• Keep a record book or how much you preserved, where you bought produce, how much it cost, etc.
• Have your children help with your canning.
• Pickles: Several people like to use Mrs. Wages mixes. Put a grape leaf in the jar to keep dill pickles crisp.
• Meats: Put raw cubes of meat in a jar with salt and water. Process in pressure cooker.
• Find some of our favorite recipes in the “RECIPES” tab.

 

Sweet new babies!
 

Have a great summer.

We look forward to seeing you next year!

 

Mark you calendars for the next LIFT:

Wednesday

September 17, 2014