W.O.W.! God Is Good!

Share Dinner

2009-06-01T20:53:00.002-04:00

Saturday, June 6 at 6:00pm- Willow Community Church Parsonage

You are invited to "share" an evening with us! We are going to:

Share a meal: Bring your best Mexican dish to pass!
Share a story: Bring a photo that has a story that you can share!
Share God's love: Bring items to donate to the P.I.N. food pantry!

Bring a friend!

Despite the Snow

2009-03-04T08:49:00.002-05:00

We had a great group of ladies who braved the snow to come out to "Dinner and a Movie". We really enjoyed dinner and conversation. We probably could have talked all night and forgotten to watch the movie. We did watch "Pride and Prejudice" and had a good discussion about it afterward. It was a great, casual evening and we hope to do it again soon!

Dinner And A Movie

2009-02-10T14:22:00.002-05:00

The Women of Willow had a great morning at Mugs 'N Muffins in January. We had a time of prayer together and we spent some time discussing ideas for upcoming activities. It was so nice to see some new faces and get to know each other better.

We would love to invite you to "Dinner and a Movie" on Saturday, February 21 at 5pm at the parsonage. We will be eating dinner and watching the movie, "Pride and Prejudice". Please sign up in the church lobby or call Kim Lawson (214-6425) to see what you can bring! We hope to see you there!

Mugs 'n Muffins

2008-10-08T07:05:00.002-04:00

Mugs 'n Muffins was once again a great time! I really want to thank Sheree Ritchie for all of her help. The blueberry muffins were wonderful! Thanks to Sue VanderJagt for the coffee!

There is nothing better than sitting around a table with friends and sharing the exciting things that God is doing in your lives! God is really working in great ways in the ladies at Willow! I want to thank everyone for sharing and allowing others to share.

If you missed Mugs 'n Muffins, you really missed a sweet time of fellowship! I pray you will be able to make the next one!

Got Any Ideas?

2008-07-23T20:27:00.003-04:00

Hey Women of Willow! I am going to start putting some things on the church calendar for the fall. I think we will try to do another Mugs 'n Muffins in September. If you have an idea for an event, I would love to hear it! Your input is always appreciated!!

A Great Retreat!

2008-06-25T19:39:00.002-04:00

I am so sorry that it has been so long since my last post. Our lives got really crazy and then the church got struck by lightening which left us without internet for a few weeks!

I wanted to let everyone know how great the retreat was! The numbers were few, but I felt like the blessings were great! We talked a lot, learned a lot and ate a lot!! We had a sweet time of prayer for each other at the end and I think everyone was glad that they were there! I thank each lady for her investment of time and I hope that you took some useful information with you. You guys are great and I love each of you!

Look for announcements of upcoming events! I think we will try to do another Mugs 'N Muffins in August!

A Shower of Blessing!

2008-04-22T09:54:00.002-04:00

Saturday, April 19 was the baby shower for Anne Kallenbach. There was a great turn out and it was fun to see some friends that we had not seen in a while!

We enjoyed great food, a beautiful cake and laughed a lot while we decorated onesies for baby Addison. There were a lot of beautiful gifts, many of which were hand-made with love!

Thanks to everyone who helped make this a great evening!

We wish God's richest blessings on this family as it grows!!!

Saturday, May 10 is Mother's Day Out. Need a break? The youth will be babysitting for free at the church while you enjoy an afternoon out!! The Women of Willow will meet at church at 11am to go to lunch and after that you will be free to do whatever you would like to do until 3pm. You can go to a movie, the mall or a coffee shop and just relax!! Even if you do not need the childcare, we would love to have you come out and join us for a fun time of hanging out together!! If you need the childcare, please contact Kim Lawson to let her know so that we have enough workers! (kim@willowcommunity.org)

Please mark your calendars for June 6,7. We will be having a mini retreat at the church on Friday evening and Saturday morning. This is going to be an awesome time to learn more about how special you are to God and that you have a story that is important for the world to hear!!

Mugs 'N Muffins

2008-03-30T07:54:00.002-04:00

If you missed Mugs 'N Muffins yesterday, you missed a great time! We enjoyed wonderful coffee and yummy muffins, but better than that, we really enjoyed being together! There was a lot of sharing and laughter and no one really wanted to go home when the event was over. We will definitely do it again in the near future!

I want to thank everyone who contributed to making Mugs 'N Muffins a success. I really appreciate all of you!

Our next event is the baby shower for Anne Kallenbach on April 19 at 7pm. It should be a fun and exciting time of celebrating this new life! Anne is registered at Target and at Babies 'R Us. If you would like to contribute to a corporate gift, see Kim Lawson. If you would like to help with set up, food or clean up, you can also see Kim.

God Is Doing Great Things!

2008-03-25T10:12:00.002-04:00

We rejoice with all of the candidates that were baptized on Easter Sunday at Willow Community Church. W.O.W. especially wants to praise God for our ladies: Melinda Frydel, Kristin Panwas, Terri Hartley and Amber LaFay who were baptized! We love you and we are very proud of you!

Mark Your Calendars!

2008-02-28T15:23:00.005-05:00

The Women of Willow have some exciting events planned in the coming months. Please mark your calendars and make plans to attend!

Saturday, March 22, 11am- We will be meeting at the church to go out into the neighborhood surrounding the church to pass out invitations to "Mugs 'n Muffins" on Saturday, March 29.

Saturday, March 29, 9:30-10:30am- Mugs 'n Muffins- Bring your favorite mug and join us for a relaxing morning of conversation and coffee (or tea, hot cocoa or whatever warms you up!) Use the postcard in your bulletin to invite a friend!
** If you would like to bring muffins, please contact Kim Lawson (214-6425)

Saturday, April 19, 7pm- Baby Shower for Anne Kallenbach- Pastor Dave and Anne know that they are having a baby girl in June! Her name is Addison Grace. Please join us as we "shower" them with gifts and our love!

Saturday, May 10- Mother's Day Out- Need a break?!? We will be providing childcare at the church so all of our ladies can go out together for a fun afternoon. Look for more details to come!

Friday & Saturday, June 6 & 7- "My Story" Mini Retreat- Every Christian has a story to tell. Come and learn how important your story is and how to share it with others! Look for more details to come!

BRING A FRIEND!!!

We need your ideas!

2008-02-17T20:40:00.002-05:00

We will be having a W.O.W. planning meeting on Wednesday, February 27 at 7pm. Please come and bring all of your ideas for future events and Bible studies. We want to make this a women's ministry that meets your needs, so let us know how we can best do that!!

Come And Hang Out With Us!

2008-02-07T11:40:00.000-05:00

Do you have a craft project that you are working on? We would love to have you come and hang out with us after the service on Sunday, February 17! The Women of Willow will go and get some lunch together. We will then go back to the church and work on our projects for the afternoon. It should be a great time of fellowship and fun!

Retreat!

2008-01-15T15:19:00.001-05:00

The Women of Willow attended a "mini-retreat" on January 11 & 12. We enjoyed a great time listening to the speaker, snacks and fellowship. It was nice to get away from our busy lives and spend some time together. The speaker challenged us to give the burdens that we have been carrying over to God on Friday evening and to love those who are "unlovable" at the Saturday session. Hearts were touched by her words and we enjoyed a great time of worship.

Don't forget that we will be starting our Roots classes on Thursday evenings starting January 17 at 6:30pm! We will start out meeting together in the sanctuary for a time of worship and break into classes for all ages!

Wrapping Up the Bible Study

2007-12-07T11:41:00.000-05:00

This week was the last week of our "Wrapping Up Christmas" Bible study. We enjoyed a time of thankfulness to God for what He has done for us. We also took time to write "Thank You" notes to people in our lives who have blessed us.

This study has been a great time to reflect on Christ as the greatest gift to all of us this season. I want to thank all of the ladies who faithfully attended. I truly enjoyed getting to know you better and I hope to see you all at W.O.W. events to come!

The W.O.W. ladies also had a great time at dinner on December 1. We enjoyed a relaxing dinner at Cheddar's. Thanks to all of you who braved the bad weather!

Mark your calendars for January 11 & 12. We will be attending a "Mini" Retreat at Faith Church.

We will be exploring two hot topics: "Letting Go, Resting in God" and "Loving the Unlovable".

The guest speaker will be Katie Heid of Owosso, MI. Katie is a wife, mother, teacher, writer and former TV reporter. Katie will share her love of the scriptures with us so we can cultivate a deeper relationship with God.

Friday, January 11, 2008 from 6:30-9:00 pm
Saturday, January 12, 2008 from 9:00-11:00 am

Both sessions will provide breakout times to discuss what you heard and how to apply it to your life, a chance to get to know other women, light refreshments, awesome music and a time of prayer.

There will be a free-will offering to cover the expenses.

Contact Kim Lawson if you are interested in attending.

Accepting the Gift

2007-11-30T12:20:00.000-05:00

Last evening's Bible study was really awesome! The lesson was a simple one based on John 3:16. We compared the verse to a gift. There is a gift tag that tells who the giver and the receiver are. The gift is wrapped with love. The receiver has to accept the gift for it to be meaningful and the giver gets great satisfaction when the receiver opens the gift. The picture is a really wonderful one.

Each lady shared with the group the story of how they accepted the gift of Christ. It was such a blessing to hear the testimonies of how God has worked in each one's life to bring them to the place that they are in now!! Our God is so good!!

Craft time was so much fun! It is great to be able to laugh together! We made some really cute gift tags using potatoes and paint.

Next week is our last week of this study. It will be sad to see it end!

Don't forget that we will be meeting at the church at 6:30pm on Saturday, December 1 to go out to a relaxing and fun dinner together! (Hopefully the weather is going to cooperate!)

The Perfect Gift

2007-11-16T12:17:00.000-05:00

This week's Bible study was such a great time! I feel sorry for all the women who are missing it! Our group was small, but we went home with a big blessing last night!

We read the part of the Christmas story about the Magi and their quest for the perfect gift, Jesus. We of course equated this to shopping and how we are always in search of the perfect gift at Christmas. We looked at everything from anticipation and attitude to advertising. The best part of the evening was our discussion about our response to the perfect gift. What is your response to the perfect gift of Jesus? It was a great time of sharing our stories and what our salvation means to us.

We then headed to the kitchen to make potato soup mix and put it into gift jars for the holidays. We had a great time laughing and getting to know each other better!

I know I went home feeling truly blessed by the ladies who were there!

We will take a break next week for Thanksgiving. I hope you all have a great one!!

See you on Thursday, November 29! Don't forget to check the list of supplies you will need for the craft that evening!

God's Christmas List

2007-11-09T22:37:00.000-05:00

This was our first week of the "Wrapping Up Christmas" Bible study. We had a great time reading through the Christmas story and talking about who was on God's Christmas list. God delivered the best Christmas gift of all in special ways to family, working people, seekers, the forgotten and men of great influence. We talked about who was on our Christmas list and who should be there that wasn't there. It was really a new way to look at the very familiar Christmas story.

We all worked together to make some really cool no-sew fleece blankets. We also had a chance to get to know some new friends.

Check out the list on the previous blog to know what you should bring for our craft time next week!

See you next Thursday!

Wrapping Up Christmas

2007-10-31T10:13:00.001-04:00

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!

2007-10-19T15:01:00.000-04:00

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

2007-10-12T19:09:00.000-04:00

"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?

2007-10-05T14:25:00.000-04:00

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!

All the Gunk is Gone!

2007-09-28T10:31:00.000-04:00

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
II Corinthians 5:17

God's grace transforms our lives! That is what we discussed this week at our W.O.W. Bible study.
It is so great to hear the testimonies about God's grace in our lives and how we are all actually taking the time to recognize it in our lives every day!

The strawberries dipped in chocolate were amazing and they reminded us that an every day or average thing can be transformed into something spectacular. We are made into new creations by God's grace.

We also talked about the fact that once we become Christians, the veil of sin that separates us from God is torn away and we are the reflection of God's glory to those around us.

This study is definitely making us all more aware of how grateful we should be for the awesome grace of God!

A Night of Extravagance

2007-09-21T12:03:00.000-04:00

Psalm 36:7-8

How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.

You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights.

Last night's Bible study was awesome! I think the ladies left feeling truly refreshed and encouraged! I definitely felt like God had worked in lives over the last week and He is making Himself evident in some awesome ways!

This week we enjoyed ice cream sundaes and great discussion about God's desire to generously pour His grace out upon us. We also talked about how important it is to treat ourselves to something indulgent once in a while.

We continue to pray for each other and praise God for the relationships that are being built through this time spent together!

We hope to see you there next week!

What A Surprise!

2007-09-14T04:59:00.000-04:00

Our W.O.W. Bible Study has officially launched and we had a very nice evening. We looked at the story of the prodigal son and compared it to the amazing grace that God offers to us. We enjoyed Cracker Jacks and the surprises that went with them. We were challenged to look for God's grace in our lives throughout the next week because it can show up in surprising places!

We divided up into small prayer groups and many of the ladies expressed how much this time of prayer meant to them.

All in all, it was a a great time! We missed those of you who were not able to attend and hope to see you next week!

Did Someone Say "Chocolate"?

2007-09-06T12:08:00.000-04:00

There are so many things going on at Willow Community Church this fall!! One of most exciting is our Women's Bible Study, "Chocolate Boutique", that starts on Thursday, September 13 at 6:30pm. We will be exploring the extravagant grace of God and how it can transform your life!!
This is a six week study that will end with a Chocolate Party! We would love for you to join us for this amazing time of Bible study, fellowship and prayer. If you would like to know more, contact Kim Lawson, (517) 214-6425.

We would also like to encourage you to participate in M.P.G. (Monday Prayer Group). This group(It's not just for women!) will meet on a monthly basis to pray for the needs of Willow Community Church, our congregation and our community. The first meeting will be on Monday, October 1 at 7:30pm.