Why We Need Girlfriends| Bible Study Expo-YOu Don't Want to Miss | | Posted by Frankie on Monday, May 14, 2012 at 12:24am | Girls, if you haven't selected your summer/fall Bible studies-now is a great opportunity to listen to some amazing authors.
Bible Study enthusiasts are blocking off the afternoon of May 17th to attend the online 2012 Bible Study Expo featuring interviews and opportunities to connect with Bible Study book authors, Bible Study leadership trainers and other Bible Study leaders.
Tapping into modern technology, the four-hour event revolves around 15 minute interviews with authors to be aired over Internet radio. Guests may listen via computer from home, office or car, or on their cell phone from anywhere.
Harnessing women’s ability to multi-task, guests are invited to listen to author interviews while attending Facebook and Twitter parties. The event promises opportunities to connect directly with authors, Bible Study leaders and the Bible Study Expo hostesses who each have Bible Study leadership experience.
Before and after the Expo, guests are encouraged to download up to six, on-demand, MP3 training modules which were developed specifically for Bible Study leaders. Topics include: How to Launch a Study, How to Lead Great Discussions, How to Handle the Tough Stuff, Adding Fun to Your Bible Study, and more.
Recent Hartford Institute research shows that approximately 50% of regular church attendees also attend a small group Bible study or support group. Since there are over 450,000 churches in the United States, there are at least as many Bible Study leaders.
“Bible Study leaders don’t get much attention!” says Expo hostess, Marnie Swedberg. “The Bible Study Expo gives the authors, publishers and sponsors a chance to applaud what’s being done by these unsung heroes in the trenches every single week. It’s all done online during this one, fun afternoon set it aside to remember them, encourage them, and celebrate what they are doing, while providing them with practical help and a sense of community.”
This year’s guest line-up includes Sheila Walsh, Pam Farrel, Babbie Mason, Tammie Head and about a dozen other authors with recently released Bible Study books. Publishers represented include Abingdon, Barbour, Bethany, Harvest House, LifeWay, Moody, Multnomah, Thomas Nelson and more.
To attend the online Expo, which is 100% free, visit www.BibleStudyExpo.com. While there, register in the drawings for free Bible Study books and begin to connect directly with the Bible Study Expo hostesses and book authors via your favorite social networking sites.
My study "Why We Need Girlfriends"-is a refreshing breather from in-depth studies. It provides the opportunty to connect and develop friendship with your sisters in Christ or your neighbors. Check it out on my website, www.frankiedsherman.com and let me know how much you enjoy the Expo.
| | | | | Train Up A Child-Helping Your Child to Find Meaning in Life | | Posted by Frankie on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 6:45pm | I met a mom who bragged; I didn’t teach or force a religion on my children. My husband and I wanted our children to determine for themselves whether or not they wanted a religion.
Sound familiar? It was the theme of an entire generation and continues today. Fortunately my mother did not share that same philosophy. I was born to a woman of unwavering faith, who taught me to believe there was a God, and He loved me with an everlasting love, and I was created in His image. It was her greatest gift to me. By sharing her faith, she gave me HOPE, and this gave my life meaning.
Moms of today must turn a deaf ear to the culture of philosophers who advise that children should decide for themselves whether or not they need faith. Children desperately need to know there is one true God, and He created them.
It is our highest duty to give our children a framework for living, and to equip them with a strong sense of identity that comes from knowing who made them, who they are in Christ, and how they fit into the big picture of life.
A mother is the most influential person in a child’s life and she can direct her child towards the abundant life of knowing God. Through instruction she can help her children understand their story from the Author’s perspective, to enjoy and explore the wonder that comes from knowing that with God everything is sacred; therefore nothing is meaningless.
Our children need to believe in a Creator who deeply cares about them, who not only created them for now, but also for eternity, and desires a personal relationship with them. Only He can give them a sense of purpose and meaning that transcends the often confusing and painful experiences they will endure.
Knowing that God is with them, for them, and will never leave them provides a security that every child deserves, and should be instilled as early as possible.
I am so thankful that my mom didn’t’ leave my “faith” up to me, but modeled and led me in the direction that I should go. Because of that, I have a relationship with Jesus. How about your children? Do they know their maker and that He created them for a purpose?
Start now, training your child in the way he or she should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it. Proverbs 22-6.
| | | | | National Day of Prayer Thursday May 3, 2012 | | Posted by Frankie on Friday, April 27, 2012 at 7:22am | Thursday May 3rd, is National Day of Prayer. Dr. David Jeremiah, is this year’s honorary chairman. He is a great man of prayer, a true friend of God's and America, in my view.
The National Day of Prayer has great significance for us as a nation. It enables us to recall and to teach the way in which our founding fathers sought the wisdom of God when faced with critical decisions. It stands as a call to us to humbly come before God, seeking His guidance for our leaders and His grace upon us as a people. The unanimous passage of the bill establishing the National Day of Prayer as an annual event, signifies that prayer is as important to our nation today as it was in the beginning.
Like Thanksgiving or Christmas, this day has become a national observance placed on all Hallmark calendars and observed annually across the nation and in Washington, D.C. This gathering unites Americans from all socio-economic, political and ethnic backgrounds in prayer for our nation. It is estimated that over two million people attended more than 30,000 observances organized by approximately 40,000 volunteers. At state capitols, county court houses, on the steps of city halls, and in schools, businesses, churches and homes, people stopped their activities and gathered for prayer.
The National Day of Prayer belongs to all Americans. It is a day that transcends differences, bringing together citizens from all backgrounds. Mrs. Shirley Dobson, NDP chairman, reminds us: “We have lost many of our freedoms in America because we have been asleep. I feel if we do not become involved and support the annual National Day of Prayer, we could end up forfeiting this freedom, too.”
I hope this National Day of Prayer finds you either at the courthouse, the statehouse and the church house, or at least on your knees praying for our nation. God is ready and able to do more than we could ask or imagine. His word says –call unto me and I will tell you wonderful things that you do not know. Beloved join me and others and call upon the Lord, for our people and our nation.
| | | | | Looks Who's Talking | | Posted by Frankie on Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 4:05pm | In my retreat topic “Beauty Secrets For a Beautiful Life” one session is on Eve, and her tragic fall into sin. I find the topic intriguing.
I can truly relate to the first couple, in numerous ways. Two people who had everything a human could possibly want, but wanted the one thing they shouldn’t have. Each time I read that passage, I want the ending to turn out differently, but it doesn’t.... It can’t.
As Eve converses with the serpent I want to plead, “Don’t do it, Eve. Say no! BELIEVE God. Not the serpent. Trust your CREATOR, the One who created you in His image. Trust the One who loves you, the One who has a purpose and a plan for you. Not this stranger.” But she doesn’t.
Eve’s story reminds me of the times I did exactly what she did, and listened to the voice of the stranger, and not the One who created me for His purpose and glory.
Who are you listening to beloved?
There are many loud voices in the world today, and they will drown out the still small voice of the One who created you and loves you with an everlasting love.
Even when we can’t hear His voice, He still speaks. Anytime you want to hear from God, open His Word, the Bible. He has clearly and lovingly provided His instructions for a happy and healthy life. Trust His word, and Trust Him.
I believe we can hear Him now, inviting us to sit in a quite place, open His Word and hear Him speak.
Dear Father,
Help me to hear Your voice, and to believe Your word. For Your word says, ”The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” Amen
From Frankie's Retreat-"Beauty Secrets to a Beautiful Life.
| | | | | Weather Girls- In Honor of Friendship Month | | Posted by Frankie on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 8:28am |
There is a true longing in women for friendship, especially a dear and best friend. That friend, who understands and accepts your love for silly love songs, reruns of Designing Women and Rocky Road ice cream.
Our gracious God provides these friends to help us enjoy those sweet times of life. Fortunately, He also provides those special friends to help us survive life, those hard times when we need someone to just be there.
These are our “Weather Girls”, special friends who hold up the umbrella of friendship when the rain begins to pour, reminding us that the “Son” will shine again.
I can remember one particular rainy day when I needed a “Son-shine” friend with her umbrella.
I had just completed a major project. It was difficult, but after eight months of hard work and the expertise of some amazing coworkers, we did it…and it was good!
But with completion meant saying good-bye to my co-workers, with whom I had formed close relationships with. They were incredible people and had gone beyond the call of duty and loved me through the project.
I would miss them terribly. It would be very unlikely that I would see them again.
On my last day as I was packing my office, I was on the brink of a major ugly cry, I silently prayed. Lord, this is one of those times when my heart hurts, and I don’t want to make a scene. I need help taking this stuff to my car, please help me do this dignity.
Next I put on my coat and reached for my purse, in walked my best friend; she said “I figured you could use some help today.” Holding back tears praising my Heavenly Father in my heart, I nodded.
Nothing else was said between us. We hugged, picked up the boxes and loaded my car. My dear friend walked the last mile with me as a special chapter ended.
I am very grateful she responded to the Holy Spirit when I needed a friend to cover me with her umbrella of friendship.
She gave me enough strength for a difficult moment and reminded me the “son” will shine again…and He has.
February is National Friendship Month. I hope you will celebrate it in a big way. Be the friend God created you to be. Share your umbrella, a chocolate bar, and God's Word with old friends and new friends. And watch a episode of Lucy and Ethel, with a girlfriend. Laughter is good medicine for the soul. And no one can make us laugh like those two.
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