Take Note

Well, sometimes little snafus happen, but I can now report that after I tell you about this newest change, no more snafus! Please, if you have already signed up for retreat in April, take note that we have our final date change. The new dates for retreat are April 24-26. If you are no longer able to attend on those dates, please remove your name from the sign-up sheet. If you still haven't signed up, please do so very soon. Spaces are limited and your first deposit of $25 will be due mid-January. The total cost for the trip is $100, so we have adjusted it so you can have a payment plan of $25 a month and make your final payment in April before we go.
If you have any questions, please feel free to grab one of us and we will answer your questions as best we can....Barbie George, Amy Hickman, Ashley Kay, Bonnie Moody or Allison Taylor.

ATTENTION THIS NIGHT HOSTESSES!!!!!!!! Please meet up front in the Worship Center this Sunday, December 21st, to receive your ticket packets for This Night. If you are unable to be there, please let me know by email jeffamy111@netzero.net or just post a comment to this blog, and we will get your packet to you before Christmas so you can sell or distribute tickets to those attending your table.

Updates Volume II

Thanks to all of you wonderful ladies that signed up to hostess a table for This Night. We now have all the hostesses we needed. For those of you who signed up to be hostesses, please meet with the Aroma team after church on Sunday, December 21st to pick up the tickets for your table. You will need to have these tickets sold and money collected for them by Sunday, January 4th. Begin now to invite your friends. Our menu for the night is:
Italian Salad
Bacon and Chicken Fettucine Alfredo
Broccoli
Bread
Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce

If you have anymore questions, let us know!

Updates

Just a quick minute to update you on some things going on.....

We still need about 5 more hostesses for This Night. If your name is not on the sign up sheet, but you want to host a table, please sign your name there so that we can keep a record of who will be hosting. You may have told me, but please don't count on me remembering. I NEED it in writing! ;)

Note: There's been a change in retreat dates for this year. Many of you heard the original dates in March, but due to a decrease in price for our cabin if we switch to April, the new dates are now Friday, April 17th-Sunday, April 19th. We have limited availability, so as soon as you see a sign up sheet and you know for sure, for sure that you can go, please sign up. If, for some reason, you have to back out, you are responsible for filling your slot or paying your fee.
Our theme for this year's retreat is The Chocolate Boutique. 'Nuff said, right? :) Come and take this weekend out of your crazy lives and soak in what God's word has for you to take back to your family, friends and community. A very special friend of mine, Elizabeth Johnson, has written and taught this study that deals with Aroma's very mission statement of being "an aroma leading to life" in a world that, well, stinks! Begin to pray now that you come back from this time changed!

As always, if you have any questions, contact one of the Aroma team members. We're here to serve you. We love you!

December 1st - Ornament Exchange

Hey Ladies...Hope all of you are gearing up for a wonderful Thanksgiving, and looking ahead to time with friends and family during this holiday season.

Don't forget our Ornament Exchange on Monday, December 1st from 6:30 pm - 8pm! Here's what you need to know. We would like for each of you to bring your favorite appetizer. If you don't cook, cheat and buy something that looks like you made it! We are counting on you to help us out, so bring something yummy. Secondly, you must bring a wrapped ornament (spend no more than $5) to swap. We also have childcare available, but would love an idea of how many of you will need it, just in case we need to provide more workers. You can just comment in the Post a Comment section of this blog and we'll get the word to Bonnie Moody who is heading up this night of fun.

AND, just a reminder! We still need more hostesses for This Night. Since I was unable to be in services on Sunday, I did not get to bring the sign up sheet for those of you interested, but please sign up here on the blog if you would like to host. All info is in the post after this one. Don't make me come hunt you down. I know where you live and I know you've got talent, so I will seek you out with pen and paper in hand and sign you up! :)

Take time to spend with your friends this season, and come to our Ornament Exchange to meet some new faces and kick your feet up and relax before it gets BUSY!!

This Night...A Night of New Beginnings

****Update**** (As of 11/18 - 9:15 am) We have 10 spots left!

Hey Ladies...As many of you have seen firsthand our This Night outreach event has reached more and more women each time we have had one. We have seen more women from our community to come to LifeSong and be confronted with the Gospel, all the while enjoying a great meal and fellowship. Due to the busyness of the Christmas season, we have chosen to focus on the New Year for our next This Night. We are all usually looking for a fresh word - some new motivation - after Christmas, which is why we have entitled our This Night..."A Night of New Beginnings." The night promises to be filled with fun, and we will have the opportunity to hear a good word from a great speaker, too!

We are looking for any of you ladies that would be willing to be a hostess for a table. Remember, you will decorate your table, provide a party favor, be responsible for set up and clean up of your table, and sell tickets for your table...or you may choose to buy tickets for your whole table and give a ticket to someone you have been wanting to visit LifeSong. We will be providing all plates, napkins, cups and utensils. Our color scheme for January is WHITE! We're thinking snow, new, twinkling lights...you get creative, and you just need to stick with White as your predominant color. Fun, huh? So, I know some of you Martha Stewart wannabes are chomping at the bit to sign up for a table. We will be holding a sign up beginning this Sunday, November 23-December 7. This will give you plenty of time to get your plan together and you can keep a look out for some decor while shopping during the holidays. Act fast, though! We only have room for 15 tables, so we just need - you got it- 15 hostesses! You may partner up with someone, though, if you so choose. So, all of you blog readers have a jump start. You can respond to this blog and sign up now if you would like, or you can wait until Sunday. If you have any questions, please contact Amy Hickman, Bonnie Moody, Barbie George or Allison Taylor. We'll be happy to help you out.

Praise

I have been sitting here this morning with tears streaming down my face. I have taken some time to sit back and let God's presence wash over me. It's true...I don't always do that like I should. I fail at it A LOT! Truth be known, we all do. But switch gears to the times that God's presence falls on you and shakes you to the core. To me, when I am dealing with a lot of LIFE, like I am right now, His power and the praising of His name has an affect on me like I cannot describe. It is coming face to face with my Maker, the one who knows my name. I love Him. I cannot go through my day without acknowledging His presence in my life. He alone is worthy. Ladies, let me tell ya, the power of silence in our lives can be overwhelming. The silence of God not speaking to us at all is the kind of silence that can make us cringe. But, it's the silence where we take some time out to sit back and let Him speak is what brings us to a point of asking ourselves, "What am I going to do with this today? Am I going to let it change me, or am I going to remain the same?" Today, I choose change. I choose to be clay in the Potter's hands and praise Him because He is NOT finished with me yet. I encourage you to take some time to praise Him right NOW - not later! I have provided some songs on the right sidebar that allow you to worship alone with God, or how about just sitting still and let Him speak to you. When you spend this time with Him, I'd love to hear how He touched your life. Comment on this blog and let me know.
Ladies, you are beautiful! You mean more to God than anything. You are His precious creation. Praise Him today. Worthy is the Lamb!

Connecting

Just a reminder that you have another great opportunity to connect with other women from LifeSong and around the community next Saturday, November 15th, as we load up and go shopping in Gaffney. Each opportunity we have to get together fosters new relationships and enhances ones that already exist. The "getting Christmas shopping" done part is an added bonus!

We hope that you are looking forward to the coming holiday season. What a great time to impact lives. Everyday I look around me and see a need. Take time to invest in someone's life this season. The gift you give them of being the Gospel in real life may very well be the best gift they receive all year long. We, in Aroma, desire to continue to give you those opportunities to meet people right where they live, work and play. Coming up, we will begin "O Taste and See" dinner club ministry. We will basically be taking the mold of what small groups already do, but we'll be providing monthly opportunities for you to meet with other women in homes across our area and you will be cooking and spending time together. The bonus is you are preparing a meal(s) to freeze for your family and provide that same opportunity to fellowship around the table with them just like you'll be doing with other women. We hope that you'll use the opportunity to pay it forward. We want to see this mindset occurring in all that we do together as women...just arming you with the ideas, passion and "go to it-ness" for how you can be in your day to day lives.

Just this week, while voting, I met a very special lady who packed her whole life up and moved to South Carolina after living out west in Nevada and Arizona for the past 15 years. She told me she just wanted a change of pace, a change of scenery. She came here not knowing a soul! She began to share with me a time where, recently, she took a bad fall and injured herself. She began to make calls to local churches seeking assistance from them in the way of providing transportation to her doctor, as well as help with preparing her meals. She was told from one church that "we don't do that." My mouth dropped to the floor. My question was and is, "Why not?" Why are people not doing that. This lady was not asking for a random handout. She had very specific needs that she desired to be met. She shared with me her hunger for relationships with other women her age, which is 70, by the way. She has a zeal for life and a desire to share it with other women. She began to ask me questions about how my church is different. I am so glad to be able to share with her that we are a people that don't care about our building, but we desire to be the Church where we "live, work and play." She listened intently as I told her of other women just like her at LifeSong that I would love for her to meet. She told me before I even asked her to come visit, "You know what? I think I really want to come and check you guys out at LifeSong." I pray that she does. I want to use that opportunity God gave me to meet her and encourage her, and take it further. This is who I am talking about when I encourage you to look around you for opportunities to invest this holiday season. The possibilities are endless. I just went to vote on Tuesday, and God provided an opportunity. It may not be a time that is all lit up in neon lights, but it may be His quiet whisper saying, "reach out to her." I hope you will share the times that God gives you over these next few weeks with us. We want to rejoice with you.
It is our pleasure to serve you, Ladies. We look forward to the days ahead with you. Check back frequently for updates and new opportunities.