Grocery Savings Workshop

You may have seen the posters around the church or read the ad on the back page of the bulletin about the Faithful Provisions workshops coming to Hillcrest on Saturday, November 6, 9:00am-12:00pm. But...just in case you haven't, here is the scoop!

We have a great opportunity to hear from Kelly Hancock as she shares her expertise in using coupons and meal planning to trim her grocery budget. Not only can we put her tips to use to help manage our household budgets, but we can also use the same knowledge to get free stuff that we can then donate to places like Impact Ministry, Alpha Alternative, or Sanctuary House. Perhaps some of us could use that money that we save to sponsor a child through Compassion International or World Vision. Guess what I'm saying is...there are lots of ways God would have us use the resources He has blessed us with. For some, it is a matter of learning how to maximize a limited budget simply to make ends meet. For some it could be a way to reduce expenses so a mom can stay home with young children. For others it could be a way to free up money that can then be used to help others. We can all gain from Kelly's workshop.

Want to join us? All ya gotta do is go to her website at http://www.faithfulprovisions.com/ and register. If you follow the link to workshops you will find a workshop calendar. Click on the one for Hillcrest and it will direct you to the registration form. By pre-registering this way you only pay $15. OR you can simply pay at the door on Nov. 6 ($20).

Either way, consider both the time and money an investment that will pay off with big rewards!

See ya there,
Molly

Come For a Visit!

I have finally moved into my new blogspot. SO....I am hosting an open house to welcome all of you who have been reading my random posts over the past couple of years. I copied some of my posts and took them with me to the new digs but there is new stuff too. It is a work in progress, just like moving into a new house is. I'm sure I'm going to like it there but it will be much too lonely without you.

Please come over for a visit and leave a comment so I'll know you've been there.

www.mollyslewis.blogspot.com/

Hugs,
Molly

Armed and Dangerous...becoming a Powerful Woman of God

For anyone out there who still stops by this blog (my inconsistency has probably made most of you give up), I wanted to remind you about our upcoming women's retreat/conference on Oct. 15 and 16. Tickets are still available in the church office Mon.-Thurs. through Oct. 8 and again in the Gathering Area on Sunday, Oct. 10. If you are coming from out of town you can call us at 270-886-6017 by Monday, Oct. 11 and we will be glad to reserve tickets for you.

The early bird price expired today so the ticket price is now $20. Continental breakfast and a boxed lunch are included with your ticket.

This retreat is going to be a bit different from those we have done in the past. For one thing, all the speakers and group leaders are Hillcrest women! We will begin on Friday night with a time of praise & worship followed by a fun ice breaker event. Devotion time and a fun skit will set the stage for Saturday.

After breakfast on Saturday, we will meet for two large group sessions (we've scheduled a break in the middle!). Next we'll eat lunch and then break into small groups to discuss the topics from the morning sessions. That's when you get to participate! We will then come back to a large group to share the things that spoke the most to us that day. We'll wrap up the day with a challenge and more praise & worship music.

Life's twists and turns have a way of draining us, leaving us feeling weak and far from powerful. Imagine what we could accomplish if we truly lived each day in the power of God. We hope you will leave on Saturday with a renewed sense of purpose to live as God desires us to - powerful women of God, ready to exercise our faith in unexpected and unbelievable ways to change our world for Him!

Hope to see you on the 15th.

Hugs,
Molly

Homemade Butter and Changes

Happy Friday to those of you reading my blog today. I absolutely LOVE Fridays! Especially since January when my work schedule adjusted to allow me to work Mon-Thurs and have each and every Friday off. When I first began this schedule I had grand plans of what to do with my new 'free' time and some of it has actually happened. Being the Type A, plan too much and try to cram it all in kind of gal that I am, there have been more than a few weeks when my fantasy did not match up with reality. However, I am settling into a flow and being more selective in how I spend these days.

For instance, today I thought about all the things I wanted to get done. A 'to-do' list from two weeks ago had some tasks without a checkmark or line through. Meaning I still wanted/needed to do them. Then there is the never ending list of household chores that keep popping back up no matter how many times you do them. This morning as I was ending my quiet time with the Lord and began to think about how my day was going to proceed I was prompted to separate my list of 'want to do's' into two categories. First, what are the things I want to do that either require solitude or are things that I won't do once surrounded by family again. On the other list are those things that can be worked into the normal weekend routine. What a revelation!! 'Cause I can tell you that normally I just jump into the list of household chores first and find myself leaving out the things that are more important.

Here is how that worked for me this morning. After my extended quiet time with the Lord, I worked on my speaking topic for the upcoming women's retreat (Oct. 15-16...get it on your calendar if you are in the Hopkinsville area!), caught up on a couple of emails, ordered a book from Amazon that I want to read, and then made homemade butter.

Yep, homemade butter! I got the recipe from Kelly Hancock at Faithful Provisions. Love, love, love that gal's website and all of her helpful hints on saving money on your grocery shopping and her yummy recipes. If you aren't familiar with Kelly, check out her website at www.faithfulprovisions.com I promise you will love it! (You can find her recipe for homemade butter too...big smile!) It is resting and cooling in the fridge..can't wait to try it on my toast at breakfast tomorrow.

Now I am off to the shower so I can meet my sweet hubby to do some b'day shopping for one of our sons, try to snag some scrapbooking bargains at Hobby Lobby, and then have supper together. As you plan your weekend, I pray that God will help you build in some quality quiet time with Him and some focused time with your family. Chores have to get done sooner or later, but let's ask God to help us keep it all in perspective.

Now about the 'Changes'. In the next few days I will be posting my personal blogs on a new blogspot. Sharing the Journey won't go away but it will become primarily a place for you to keep up with what is going on with the Women's Ministry at Hillcrest. I will put a link here for you to pop over and visit me at my new bloggy world home. (And I do hope you will follow me over there 'cause it surely is precious to a blogger's heart to know that someone is reading what they write.) So stayed tuned...............there is LOTS more to come as we continue our journey toward Home.

Blessings and hugs,
Molly

Back to School..but it's still summer!

Just a few years ago back to school signalled the start of fall. Summer ended with Labor Day weekend and school was back in session the following Tuesday. Temps, though still quite warm in the daytime, began to moderate with cooler evenings. Back to school clothes shopping included jeans and jackets...never shorts.

Slowly our school schedules changed and now we send our children back to the classroom in early August. Temperatures are sweltering and I would guess that most kids plus their parents are nowhere close to being ready for the summer to be over. (Now would be the time for me to step up onto my soapbox and launch into my 'speech' about the misguided folks who come up with the current school calendar and our education system's shortcomings but that would change nothing and is not the direction of this post.)

Regardless of our opinions of when the school year should start, the fact remains - Tuesday our kids will be back at school for a new year. Tomorrow at both morning services, we will honor our teachers and other educators and pray for our children, parents, and teachers as they each face the coming year. For some it will be the first time in the classroom. Others will find themselves in a new school, perhaps in a new town. Some will simply move up a grade with their friends with a new teacher but in familiar surroundings. All need our prayers and support.

My 'kids' graduated long ago and now have children of their own. My grandchildren range from baby to high school senior. I see the challenges facing them from a different perspective than the one I held when my own children were in school. However,one thing is a constant - our community children need our prayers. Their parents need our prayers and their teachers need our prayers. They need our support.

I will pray tomorrow morning along with others gathered at church. May it not be just a one time, one day prayer. May we all make it a priority to daily petition our Heavenly Father on behalf of the precious children in our community, their parents, and the teachers who strive to love and educate them.

Hugs,
Molly