Learning new recipes is always fun!

Tonight, we were blessed to have special speaker, Deanna House. She shared some incredible recipes with us and a few of us were able to take some of the goodies home!

She shared recipes for Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Asparagus and Carrots, Sunny Fruit Salad and Rhubarb Lemon Muffins.

Deanna loved our wild group and enjoyed talking about our awesome MSU Women's Spartans who are in the sweet 16. She recommend we top our sandwiches with a mayo "S" if they get to be a bit dry.

She also loved how one of our group misunderstood her story about Martha Steward being incarcerated and thought Deanna was talking about her mother being in prison!

We had a fun evening and lots of laughs. Thank you everyone for coming!

An update on our birthday bags...Marcia Kamphuis will be bringing all 26 bags to Lansing Christian Services for them to distribute, along with 12 ziploc bags with wrap, ribbon, tape, and balloons and 24 ziploc bags with wrap and ribbon and tape. Thank you ladies for all the donations to make these bags possible!

We'll have two weeks of spring break and then we see you on April 15 to hear Pastor Rich talk about "Tending to your friendships".

Birthday Bags

First, an update about the awesome aprons we made last week... Here are a few of the guys wearing them! They loved them and they loved picking out which ones to wear. Thanks again for all the hard work you guys do each week to help us enjoy a night off from cooking...we love you!!!

Now, onto the fun of the evening...we made Birthday bags for Lansing Christian Services to give out to people who are in need. Children of parents in need can receive a special present from a church and we made up bags to go along with those presents which will allow them to have a fun birthday. We brainstormed for a few weeks about what would be in the bags...we came up with :

Cake

Frosting

Candles

Streamers

Balloons

Wrapping paper

Ribbon

Tape

Party Favors

A Birthday Card

We prayed over the bags, knowing that God will bless everyone who receives a birthday bag.

Thank you ladies for your generosity and we'll see you next week to hear Deanna House!!!

A creative group

Wow...when you give this group creative freedom...they provide!!!

Tonight we were supposed to have a speaker talk to us about growing closer to God, but our speaker cancelled. Instead, we gave away 2 devotional books...not the same but still fun! We also had some special giveaways from The Preppy Princess-always a treat!

Then, we did a special project...APRONS for the men who serve in the kitchen each week. Since there can be a rotation of men, we didn't put specific names but gave them special names...check them out:

We brainstormed ideas of names and then the women picked which one they wanted to work on and these are the results...so creative! I can't wait to see the men's reaction next week when we present it to them. We really do appreciate all the hard work the do to provide us dinner each week! (And we appreciate all the hard work Sally and her helpers do as prep and shoppers! Thank you!)

Here's a few more...

We'll see you next week as we prepare Birthday bags!

Tending to your relationship with God

Pastor Rich talked to us tonight about how to begin and maintain a daily quiet time with God.

First, he encouraged us to pick a special time for our quiet time with God...to schedule it. He told us the best time to schedule this time is when you are your best. For some of us, it may be first thing in the morning. For some of us, it may be late in the evening. Whenever it is, be consistent.

Second, he encouraged us to choose a place to have our quiet time. It should be a place where we are comfortable, where we are free from distractions.

Third, he encouraged us to gather the resources we would need for our quiet time with God. We should find a readable bible...some of us may need a large print bible, but we should find a bible that is easy to understand, like the Message. We should take a notebook so we can write down what God is saying to us as well as keeping a prayer list in which you can keep track of answered prayers. We should have a picture of the cross or of Christ. Also, we should have a candle to represent Christ's presence with us, and a song book or CD of praise music.

Fourth, he encouraged us to begin with the right attitude, to approach God with reverence, expectancy and obedience.

He gave an easy plan of how to spend 15 minutes with God:
1 Minute to be still and be quiet
4 minutes reading God's word
4 minutes reflecting on what you've just read
2 minutes to write out a personal application
4 minutes in prayer

Lastly, he encouraged us to share the insights we gain in your quiet time with others.

Make a priority, ladies! Take time to spend time with your Lord and Savior.

Just a quick note about next week. Our speaker cancelled so we have a special project we'll be working on. Join us!