Wrapping Up Christmas

It's hard to believe the holidays are fast approaching! What does the Christmas season mean to you? Is it a tangled ball of lights, the crushed door wreath, Aunt Edna's fruitcake or the shopping list that never ends? Christmas and all it represents can be overwhelming and inspiring. Join us as we take a fresh, creative look at Christmas. We will wrap up its meaning and its purpose and place a festive bow on top. Our desire for you is that the Greatest Gift, Jesus, will wrap you in His gift of love this holiday season!

Women of Willow presents "Wrapping Up Christmas".
This is a four week study beginning Thursday, November 8 at 6:30pm.

*Each session will incorporate a short craft project. Listed below are the supplies you
will need to bring for each of the sessions.

Invite a friend to share in this time of learning about God's gift to us!

Craft Projects

All of the craft projects that we will be doing make great gifts for Christmas!

Thursday, November 8- No Sew Fleece Blankets
-2 yards main color of fleece
-2 yards contrast color of fleece
(These fabrics can be any color pattern that you like!)
-Fabric scissors

Thursday, November 15- Jar Mix Recipes
-a large Mason jar with lid
-scrap fabric and any decorations you may want to use for your jar
(On our third week, we will be making gift tags that you could use on your jar gifts!)

Thursday, November 29- Country Gift Tags
-a brown grocery bag
-a potato
-a sharp knife
-ribbon or raffia
-Christmas cookie cutters

Thursday, December 6- "Your friendship has 'mint' so much to me." gift bag
-small gift bag (Something red & white would be nice since we are using peppermints in our gifts.)
-tissue for gift bag

CELEBRATE!

This week was our last week for "Chocolate Boutique". We celebrated all of the blessings that God has given us and enjoyed some fabulous desserts! I know that I was truly refreshed by this study and came away with a new awareness of God's grace in my life everyday! I have learned to slow down and intentionally look for God's grace in my life! I am so very blessed! I hope that every lady who participated in these times together was also blessed by it!

We will be taking two weeks off and will start up again on November 8 at 6:30pm. We will be going through a four week study called, "Wrapping Up Christmas". Each week involves a simple craft project. You will be asked to supply some of your own supplies. Please see the Sunday bulletin for more information or contact me (Kim Lawson 214-6425).

Overflowing To Others

"I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
Romans 15:13

Have you ever seen one of those chocolate fountains? The silky chocolate flows for all to dip into and enjoy! Mmmmm! Now, think of yourself as that fountain. When you experience God's grace, it should pour out of you, a rich fountain that all around you can enjoy. It is something you can't help. You are so filled up that it overflows!

This week's study challenged the ladies to think of two people in their lives that they could bless with grace this week. It could be something as simple as a phone call or an encouraging note, but they needed to put what we talked about into practice!

John 13:34-35 reminds us that, "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."

Meaningless?

God's grace is something that flows through every part of our lives, even the smallest details and the things that seem common and everyday. Do we live like we believe this? This was the discussion at our meeting this week.

We took time for each of us to share what activities make up an average day for us and how we can take the opportunity to recognize God's grace in each of them. We decided that it would be a good idea to put notes up around our houses to remind ourselves of God's grace. An example of this would be a note on the washer or dryer to remind you to thank God for the gift of your children as you wash the mountain of laundry they have created. You could also put a note on the vacuum to remind you what a blessing your pet is in your life even though they shed everywhere!

Do we treat God's grace as the greatest gift we have ever been given? We found that many times we treat God's grace like a meaningless bag of trash that we have set by the back door to deal with later. It is sad but true.

I think the biggest thing that we are learning in our times together is to adopt an attitude of gratitude for everything God has given us! When we take the time to recognize His blessings and grace in our lives, it can really make a difference in how we live! We truly don't deserve the amazing gifts He gives us!