4th of July

With the exception of one day a year, we have drifted from celebrating the wonderful freedoms we have in our country. Post 9/11 days, I have become more hesitant about traveling freely outside of our home land. The numbers of anti-American groups out there are growing consistently . I think back to the "Mayberry" days and how joyful things were . . . I even think back to my childhood and how much safer our world seemed. Recently, I read a marvelous book entitled Radical discussing the need for radical change in our Christian living. In my reading, I am reminded of how in other countries people are traveling by foot to hidden, secret houses to spend 10-12 hours JUST studying the Bible - there are no fancy buildings, music, bands, just a dirt floor and one light dangling from the ceiling.

So many times the musician singing the Star Spangled Banner tries to put their own personal spin on the song and we lose the song and the meaning of the words, I have never heard a better version of the song than this video represents . . . I hope you enjoy as much as I did! Reflect and PRAISE HIM for our freedoms, then celebrate them by spending some quiet, alone time in His Word! ENJOY!

NOTE: Before playing the video, please scroll down to the bottom of the page to pause the music from our site.

Fall Women's Retreat

Sunday we will be opening up registration for the Fall Women's Retreat taking place Friday, October 29th - Saturday, October 30th. This year's theme is "Sweet Life Cafe . . . Where Women Savor Time With God". Our place of renewal and refreshment will be Simponsonwood Conference Center in Norcross . . . it's a little piece of quiet in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city. The total registration fee is $99/person with a deposit of $25 due now to reserve your spot. Space is limited, so please do not delay in making your reservations. We will have an information table located in the Welcome Center between services on Sundays, July 11th, July 18th and 25th. If you have any questions, want to pick up a registration form or drop off your deposit, please stop by and speak with one of our ladies. Also for additional information, please feel free to contact Ann Bertschin at salem.girls@gmail.com. We hope that you will make this part of your fall plans . . . you won't want to miss out!

Awesome Experience

Last night I had the pleasure of joining the LOVE Ministries team to deliver meals to the homeless in Atlanta. WOW! What an experience! There is much prayer, thought and time put into preparing these meals for delivery . . . then, in a matter of 17 1/2 minutes, we distributed 200 meals! Looking into the faces of these many individuals of different sizes, different colors, different ages and different sexes, they all have one common need - hunger. . . obviously, the physical hunger, but also, the spiritual hunger for Jesus Christ. Several of us fell in love with a precious little boy, energetic, excited, social but probably born into this situation - no home, no food, and maybe only the clothes on his back. Who is going to train him up? Who is going to teach him a trade? Who is going to introduce him to God, the Almighty Provider? Many critics look at ministries like this and question, "when does it end?", "how are you helping them?" or make statements such as "they did this to themselves" or "how are they going to get up on their own feet with individuals catering to them", but who are we to judge? Jesus said "Go, make disciples!" The LOVE Ministry team may only be meeting an immediate, physical need, but who can share Jesus with someone and preach to them about spiritual hunger when their physical hunger is not being acknowledged. The LOVE Ministry is planting a seed that perhaps they will never see come to fruition, but the seed has been planted and hopefully others will come along and continue to encourage and share the love of Jesus Christ.

Even if you are not able to join on Monday nights to deliver the meals, there are several volunteer opportunities within the ministry:
* Donation Pickup at Kroger on Hwy 155, Monday-Sunday from 8:00am - 10:00am
* Washing and organizing donated clothes
* Organizing and helping with fundraisers
* Accounting/Paperwork
* Cooking and preparing meals
* Hosting Monster (large restaurant size cans) Can Drive

If you are interested in volunteering in any way, please contact Tyra Parker @ 678-878-9364.

2010 Meal Deliver Dates (Mondays)
July 12th
August 9th
September 6th
October 4th
November 1st
November 29th
December 27th

3AM Wake-Up Call

During the hecticness (is that a word) of the end of school year, I seem to be finding so little time for quietness and stillness. In the chaos of an overly busy weekend, I wondered when would I ever make time for God? What a terrible question. But in all seriousness, I was missing my Abba Father, I wanted to spend time in His presence, in His Word, in conversation with Him . . . where would I find time. For a little humor, and if you know me well - you know I refer to our family as the walking, living, breathing version of "America's Funniest Home Videos" . . . there is never a dull moment in our household, but back to my humor statement - Saturday started with me rebelliously exiting our bed at 6:45am to begin my day of chafeuring, "chefing", and catering to the many desires of teenagers hearts! We begin with me chafeuring one to baseball practice before 10am, cheering for another at a softball game at 10:30am while trying to keep up with "Little Missy" who has discovered "these feet were made for walking, and that's just what they'll do", to leave in the black cowboy Cadillac heading to chafeur teens number #1, #2 and #3 home to prepare for social activities that amazingly are all to begin at 3pm! While maintaining a sense of calmness so my sweet and hardworking husband doesn't feel guilty going to hit a few little white balls over the beautifully landscaped and manicured green grass of one of his favorite golf courses (he deserves it and I don't ever want to take that joy away from him!) Are you laughing yet? I'm out of breath just thinking about it . . . But I absolutely LOVE it! My family is a hoot and I wouldn't change any of it . . . God knew what He was doing giving me this craziness, they keep me on my toes! Still though, I was missing my heavenly Father . . . I needed Him, I needed time with just Him!

At 2:45 this morning, our dear dog, Lucy, decided something was nearing the perimeter of our house and she didn't like it - keep in mind, we back up to woods . . . animals tend to wander at night, this is not a predator . . . just probably something that will attempt to touch her food or leave evidence that he/she has visited our yard. Nevertheless, Lucy does not like anyone outside of our immediate family entering our yard without her LOUDLY announcing their arrival. After illuminating the neighborhood with our outside lights and visiting to chat with her several times, my eyes dared to shut again - I'm one of those, once awake, staying awake kind of people - so there I was 3am, wide awake and nothing to do . . . or so I thought! Then, clearly my Bible sitting next to my bed spoke to me almost like an audible voice, open me, spend time in me, sit with me. Conveniently, my dear husband was out of town, so I couldn't bother him . . . here I was, snug in my bed with my precious Bible and Heavenly Father sitting right here with me. We visited different scriptures, we conversed over the people who were burdening my heart, I shared my heart for the women of our church and He listened. AMAZING, SIMPLY AMAZING! He awoke me, not with just a nudge that I could return to "night-night" land (as our "Little Missy" says it) - but with the freshness of the cool morning air that would awaken me and freshen me to spend time with Him. In the midst of our chaos and whirlwind lives, He meets our needs . . . He recognizes our hungers and meets us there! What an amazing God and Father. He knew us before we were someone to know and He knows our every need . . . Reach out to Him and He will meet you where you are!

DYS Mother Daughter Dinner

What's DYS? Decorate Your Space! This was a wonderful dinner for high school senior girls and their mothers. There was lots of fun, fellowship and encouragement for these young ladies who will be graduating high school and entering this Babylonian world in which we live. Dawn Inglett shared some wonderful ideas regarding decorating and organizing their personal spaces whether it be a dorm room or their bedrooms. Then, we were blessed with Danielle Smith sharing the "10 Things I Learned in College". And finally, the evening was closed with a prayer of encouragement, blessing and protection over the young ladies and their mothers. Just to share a little of the evening, we are including the "10 Things" from Danielle's message:

1) My parents really are wise and I really do like my siblings. Exodus 20:12

2) God cares about my grades. Mark 12:30

3) God cares about my health. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

4) Get plugged into on campus ministries AND a local church. Hebrews 10:25

5) I am not in college to find a husband. Proverbs 4:23

6) Make time alone with God a priority in your day. John 6:66-68

7) Make wise choices. God will bless you when you do. When you don't make wise choices, there will be consequences to follow. James 1:22

8) Know what you believe and stand up for it! 1 Peter 3:15-16

9) Choose your friends wisely. Ecclesiastes 4:10

10) Find a mentor AND an accountability partner!

Beth Moore - Live in Atlanta . . . "So long, Insecurity!"

For those who missed this wonderful conference, I wanted to post comments from some of the attendees . . .

"Saturday morning when my alarm went off, my first thoughts were about sleeping in. Even as I was getting ready that morning, I was weighing more sleep over the $60 ticket price. I just kept telling myself that was just Satan trying to keep me from where God wanted me to be that day. I arrived at the church, got on the bus and was overcome with new fears. Will anyone sit with me? Am I going to have anyone to pal around with or talk to today? There were only a handful of people that I kinda' knew going and only one or two that I knew well. So I sat by myself. On the ride to Woodstock, I opened the envelope with my ticket and was reminded of the topic of the day, So Long, Insecurities . . . Hmm, seemed fitting for today. There was chitchat on the ride and a few introductions, but the fear of spending the day alone still remained. One of the first things that Beth Moore said was something along the lines of, Insecurity is not a weakness, it is lack of faith. Do I lack faith? No. Am I feeling insecure? Yes. Why? Why, why am I letting these trivial things cloud my mind? I let them go, and just soaked up everything that Beth had to say. The day was AMAZING! I met some new people, conquered some of my own fears. I even passed one of the ladies Sunday morning and she chatted with me like she had known me forever. God is Good!"

-Kimberly Fernau



"The Beth Moore Conference at Woodstock was awesome, it is hard to imagine 9,000 women, much less 300,000 women worshiping together in one accord. It was so awesome! You could feel God's presence!"

-Gloria Ambrose



"Saturday was awesome! It was wonderful to be with so many women who were intentionally there to praise God and love on each other. It was a very special day where the truth of Christ, of His love and security were shared with literally over 300,000 women nation wide. What an amazing wonder that only God can stitch together."

-Cheryl Lindsey



"Hearing Beth speak is such a blessing. I don't ever want to miss an opportunity to hear her. Seeing her in person allows you to see that she is authentically passionate about our Savior and humbly give Him all the glory and shows that she has a real love for women. Beth is such a dear and close friend to me (even though she doesn't even know it . . . but maybe I'll get to meet her to tell her one day). The recent conference in Atlanta came at just the right time. I had many "ah-ha" moments, because she just gets it. When you can't put your finger on it, she does. I'm thankful she is so in tune to what God presses on her heart then courageously shares with us. She has a way of making you feel that she's talking directly to you . . . even if you are one of 300,000 in the room."

-Sharon Griffin



". . . Beth just has a way of explaining things in such a clear and relevant way. She also does not beat around the bush on our responsibility to make choices in our lives. . ."

-Leianne Penn

"Decorate Your Space" Mother - Daughter Dinner

We are excited to be hosting our first "Decorate Your Space" Mother & Daughter Dinner for high school senior girls and their mothers. This is a great time to celebrate the completion of this chapter in their lives and the beginning of the next. The evening will include a catered dinner for everyone with economical decorating tips for creating an organized, yet personal and stylish space of their own. Then, the girls will be encouraged and challenged regarding maintaining their Christian values and purity while stepping out into this "Babylonian" world in which we live. Finally, our sweet pastor's wife will share words of encouragement for the mothers and a special prayer over everyone for the adventure in which they are about to embark.

If you have a high school senior girl, we hope you will include this as part of your graduation festivities. For additional information or to RSVP, please contact Ann Bertschin at salem.girls@gmail.com