This note just came in from Mercy Ministries – please take a second to read it and be reminded that YOU have made a difference! If you would like to know more about Mercy Ministries, please visit www.mercyministries.org. There are many ways to be part of this amazing, life-changing ministry. Get on board & be part of what God is doing!
Love,
Jen
xoxo!
Believe it or not, I can be a bit stubborn. There, I admit it! Isn’t it the most interesting thing that God knows every little thing about us (including my stubbornness) and loves us fully in spite of it all? God is so great, not only does He deeply love, but because of His love, He is always at work in our lives. Lately, God has been working overtime to show me the irreplaceable presence of His peace. It’s been as though everywhere I look the theme of peace is reoccurring…..friends that need prayer for peace…people seeking peace….tough situations where only God’s peace can comfort….Kung Fu Panda 2 and inner peace 
Undeniable!
So, I turned to a verse that always brings clear direction on God’s peace and how to obtain it. I encourage you to take a second and read this verse..whether you’ve read it countless times before or maybe it’s your first time…go ahead and really take it in:
Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Now, let’s put this verse into action all throughout our day. I once heard someone say, “If you know how to worry, you know how to pray!” They both involve meditating – but you get to chose what your mind meditates on; worry, which will add nothing to your life, or prayer, which connects you to God and will change your life!
A few things we can put into action from this verse:
Don’t be anxious about anything
In every situation (no matter WHAT it is) PRAY
Be Thankful (C’mon, there’s something to be thankful for)!
Give your requests to God (stop taking your problems back to yourself and your worrying mind…give them to our AMAZING God..and leave them with Him).
The beautiful result of putting this into practice is Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
How amazing! God’s peace surpasses our human logic or reasoning and will guard our heart and mind to stay focused on Him.
Love you girls – go make a difference! XO
Lisa
Hi Ladies!
I recently spoke a message called ‘Three Words’. Click on the link below to listen. Enjoy, and share it with a friend.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/original-womens-conference/id354550731
Love,
Erin Campbell
Ladies,
We pray that you are doing well and enjoying the summer season! Jen recently spoke at Rockford First on the topic of Pure in Heart. She wanted to make this teaching available at no charge for all of the Original girls, that you may be encouraged and inspired.
You can download this message by clicking on this link: http://www.rockfordfirst.com/download/05222011.m4a
We love you, believe in you, and are praying for you!
Love,
Lisa xoxo
The other day I was struck by the different, and yet connected messages of the Old and the New Testament. In Deuteronomy, God is painstakingly clear to His people: You’d better be good. Don’t follow false religions and selfish ideas. Don’t turn away from My truth and embrace a lower life. Follow Me and be blessed, turn away and move beyond my protection, and curses will befall you.
Whew. Quite a warning.
Skip ahead to the book of John. The message here? God sent His one and only Son to save the World. We messed up, and the awesome God of the Universe made a way to fix things.
He gave boundaries. We blew past them. Consequences came. Then Jesus came. We can now have another, deeper chance at the good life in the promised land…just a different promised land!
May we learn from the lesson of the stubborn people of the Old Testament and take God at His Word! May we refuse to be stubborn and stop trying to do things our own way! May we accept His offer of life and enter into relationship with Him.
-Erin Campbell
Romans 1:9 (NLT)
God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the Good News about his Son.
I recently emailed Liz Reed, from our Original Staff, and I asked her to get me a list of everyone who attended the Original Women’s Conference this April 14-16, 2011. (I can’t believe that was a month ago!!! Where does the time go?!) So, now sitting on the desktop of my computer is an excel document with a rather LONG list of names including EACH of the lovely, amazing ladies who attended SHAPE!
I want to make it a part of my prayer time to pray for each woman on this list. God did so many amazing things in the hearts and lives of each of us who attended, including me! I can still hear Nancy Alcorn’s voice ringing in my ears, “Who is on the other side of your obedience?” We have heard many incredible testimonies of what God did and continues to do in lives and hearts! And it is my prayer that the work that God began will not end, but continue on.
I love the words of the Apostle Paul to the church in Philippi:
Philippians 1:6, 9-10 (NLT)
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.
His words here are what he was praying for the church in Philippi, and these are some of my prayers for you! Please know that I am praying for you! With that in mind, continue to be in prayer for your friends and those you met at conference. Pray that God will continue to do a work in ALL of us!
I love you dearly and KNOW that you are being prayed for and supported even today!
Love, Jen
xoxo
All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go? Not when you’re invited to the Original Women’s Night happening Friday, March 11!
We invite you to join us for dynamic worship, an inspirational message from Jen DeWeerdt, and an after party! Now, this type of night is best suited to come with you girlfriends! So round up your mom, sisters, daughters, grandma, and your friends and join us on Friday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m in the Rockford First Sanctuary. It won’t be the same without YOU!
See you then sweetheart!
Love,
the Original Staff
P.S. Don’t come empty-handed!
Original Women is partnering with the Rock River Valley Food Pantry for their Spring Peanut Butter Drive! We’re asking every lady to bring a jar of peanut butter, of any size, that will go directly to help feed the children in our community!
How does one sum up two weeks of life-change, mission & memories into a single blog? I don’t know. I’m not even going to try. But I will leave you with a thought.
During one of our morning devotions we were privileged to sit down with the co-founder of Zoe, Carol Hart. Carol is an extraordinary woman whose passion for Jesus and vision to see the world reached for Him is inspiring and well, humbling, to be real honest with you. I’ve never quite met a woman like her. All I know is that when I walk away from being with her I want to love Jesus more and I want to reach the world for Him…and I leave believing that I CAN.
During our devotions with this amazing woman, she asked a question. Now, before I tell you this question, please know that you’ve probably heard something like it before. In a song or perhaps a sermon. I know I had heard something similar to it, multiple times in my life. But that morning it struck me different. It has stuck with me. I think about it multiple times during the day. So, here goes…
“If you only had 11 months to live, what would you change about how you’re currently living?”
Maybe it was the strange time frame she used that struck me. I mean that really kind of threw me off. Why 11 months? It’s not like it was February 1, and there was 11 months remaining until 2012 began. Why not one year, five years? I tend to like round numbers; numbers that make sense. I still don’t know why she used that timeframe, maybe it wasn’t on purpose, or was it? Life isn’t made up of round numbers; a definitive amount of years. We don’t know how long we’ve been given. So, maybe the 11 months isn’t so weird after all. Psalm 90:12 says…
“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
I don’t know about you, but I want my life to count! The one and only true God has given me my one and only life. I want to live each day how He wants me to. So, I’ve started taking an inventory. I’ve started asking God what do YOU want me focusing on? How do YOU want me to appoint my days? Where do YOU want my time and energy going? If we are serious about asking God these questions, AND serious about following through on the answers He gives us, He will answer. He will give us insight.
I know only 10 of us went to Thailand, but ALL of us can make a difference where we live. ALL of us can be focused on what He wants us to be focused on. So go ahead and ask yourself THE question. I dare ya…
Jen oxo
With only a few days of ministry left in Thailand, Jen took a few minutes to film a short video note to us, giving an update on what the team has been up to, how their ministry is being received, and what God is doing through them. Click the play arrow below to watch Jen’s message. Let’s keep the team in our prayers as they wrap up their time in Thailand; pray that the last days are as impacting as the first and that they arrive home safe and sound with many amazing “God stories” to share with us!
Hello friends!
Well, we’ve been in Thailand for five days now and it has been a whirlwind! So far, since landing: we’ve had orientation, visited the new and BEAUTIFUL Zoe home, and ministered with the Zoe family. Even though we were still feeling a bit jet lagged yesterday, we grabbed our backpacks and piled into 4-wheel drive trucks for a long journey up the mountain. Here, we planned to camp and minister to the people in the small mountain villages. I have to admit, that after flying for 20+hours, I was a little overwhelmed when we loaded in the vehicles for another four hour journey to reach a remote hill tribe village! But, it turned out to be an amazing, humbling, God-filled experience!
The first night we got there we did an outreach in a remote village. Since there was no meeting place or power we set up an outdoor meeting spot with tarps on the ground and used a generator to provide minimal lighting and sound. As we began to play music, the villagers began meandering in, to see what could possibly be happening. ZOE kicked things off with human trafficking awareness, then we joined our efforts with ZOE to tell the amazing salvation message. We soon learned that many people in this village had NEVER heard the name of JESUS. Wow! John 3:16 has never been more alive to me: “For God so loved the WORLD that He gave His only Son, so that NONE should perish.” None should perish…not one. God’s love is unfailing, and large enough to reach every person. No matter if they are in the middle of a highly populated city, or in a remote tribe in the high mountains of Thailand. That is the beauty and heart of our God.
Not only were we humbled by the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with those who did not know him, we were once again humbled by His love and the responsibility to share it. People in that particular village were waiting to hear the salvation message of Jesus Christ…and what if we never went? It is my prayer, that for you reading this, Psalm 36:5 would set in: “Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.” No matter who you are, where you are, what you have or have not done – God’s love is big enough to reach you. Open your heart, and receive His mighty, perfect, and personal love. Then pass it on. It is a priceless gift that must be shared.
Below are just a few pictures of our hill tribe experience. After the outreach, we drove to another hill tribe, spent the night under mosquito nets, woke up the next morning and participated in SIX hours of church. It was amazing to be in a small village church with people whose language I could not understand, yet we worshiped with them all the same. What living evidence that the power and love of God is universal and unfailing. May His love enter our hearts and overflow into this world. The world is waiting for your love.
Thank you for your prayers and support, we couldn’t do it without you.
More updates coming soon!
Love to all,
Lisa xo
