Wellspring Women’s Ministry Blog and Online Community

Have we mentioned lately that the Wellspring Conference is coming up? I can’t remember if we have said anything about it yet. HA! Don’t worry, we’ll try not to clog the blog up with much more conference details, since we know there might be some of you reading this who are unable to attend and are therefore bored silly with post after post about this conference! In the meantime, have fun reading about one exciting new thing for this year’s conference! Here’s Marion to tell you about it…

We are so excited to introduce a new aspect of the Wellspring Women’s Conference.  We are going to have a social room that we have dubbed “The Nest” that will allow us to have a central gathering place during our free time.  This will allow for different groups to mingle and will give us “night owls” a spot to converse without waking the “early birds”!  We will use the room that we have used for our meetings in the past (we have a new room for that now), so we have lots of space!  We will have tables set up around the room for various activities.  Some ideas we currently have are:


1.  A craft table.  Bring your scrap booking, card making, extra crafty stuff and enjoy setting up and having time to work on your projects that have been sitting on the back burner.

2.  A Card Table.  We will do as many of these as needed depending on what games we have going.

3.  A Board Game Table.

4.  A Manicure Table.

5.  A Color Consultation Table run by Sherry Cox



So…here is what we need from you!!!!


1.  We need other really fun and cool ideas

2.  If you have a service you are good at (massage, pedicures, manicures, etc) then it would be great if you want to share that talent with others (don’t worry we won’t sign you up for the whole time).

3.  CARDS AND BOARD GAMES

4.  Any craft or scrap booking stuff you would like to bring

5.  Cool music

6.  Cameras to capture the fun


Please email Heather Cotten (hmcottenatgmaildotcom) with any ideas or offers of services, games, etc.  

We are really looking forward to this aspect of the retreat.  It will be a great place to further develop relationships with the ladies you come with and the ladies you don’t see often.

A word about food in ‘The Nest’: The rules at Ridgecrest do not allow us to provide group snacks unless we purchase them from their catering department. To keep the costs of the conference down our leadership has decided not to order group snacks this year. However individuals can bring their own snacks and/or purchase them from vending machines and shops on site.”


Looking forward to seeing all of you in October!
Marion
 

I have been contemplating what my family standards are lately. This contemplation was brought to my mind recently because of a few conversations I have had and because of the television, too much of it.

We have 5 children ranging in ages from 11-19. The oldest 4 are stair steps, there is a 4 year gap between the last two. Now you wouldn’t think just a mere 4 years would bring about so many differences but I have found it does. For one thing, when my eldest was 11, the rest were all in elementary school and we were homeschooling. Now that my youngest is 11, one has moved out and the other three are in public high school (he is in public school as well). Because of this, our lifestyle is different. Gone are the days of all children in bed by 8:30, days spent at the park, reading bedtime stories and etc. Because our lifestyle is so much different, I started reflecting on what our standards for our family are and wondering if we were still holding to that standard for our younger child. I know we have gotten lax on how much TV he watches but is that a standard or just a preference? What other things are true standards and what are disciplines we need to have to reinforce the standards?

I was talking to a young man who is a senior in high school. For this blog, I’ll call him John. John is on my son’s track team so over the past 4 years, we have many conversations. Last week at the track meet, I was asking John what his plans were for after graduation, college? John said, “Well you know Mrs. Jones, college isn’t for everyone?” I agreed and asked him if he had plans besides college. John has had some male modeling jobs throughout high school. John said he wanted to move to NYC to pursue his dream of being a professional model and actor. This is a very nice young man and I just had to put on the “mom” hat for a moment. I said, “John, let me give you one piece of advice, know who you are and what your standards are, meaning what you are and are not willing to do BEFORE you go. You must be clear on them and then stick with them no matter the cost because once you start down the road to compromise, it’s hard to turn back and before you know it, you’ll be in places you never intended to be and doing things you never intended to do. Before long, you won’t have a clue who you are.” As I reflected on this statement that I had spoken, I was convicted to think about places that maybe I had compromised.

A few years ago we went through some pretty difficult years with one of our children. He was steeped in rebellion. It was during that time that my husband and I had to make some very difficult choices about how to handle the situation. We made some very good decisions but there were times we made standard compromises that should have not been made but we were making them in the name of “peace”. Of course that is a lie from the enemy because the standard does not change. It is an immovable object. Years ago when our children were little, we were getting lots of pressure from a family member about the way were raising our children with respect to who babysat them, what we allowed our children to watch, our basic values, etc. The family member kept telling me that I needed to look around and see that I was trying too hard, being too protective with my children and that basically, I had set the bar too high. This statement really bugged me. My husband and I had gone to a pastor for some counseling about this family member. I was telling him the statement when he said to me very clearly, Marion, here is the bar (his hands were in the middle), you don’t use the bottom as your goal, you look to the top as your goal but no matter what, the bar is the standard, the standard does not move.

So my challenge to you today is to look at your life and see if there are areas the Lord may be reminding you of where the standard is. Not your standards but His standards for you. The ones He put in your life as the anchor by which all decisions come under. Is my son watching too much TV, well, that is not the standard, the standard is family time, purity, growing closer to God, if the TV watching is held up to those standards, and if the answer is that the TV time is interfering with or going against those standards then my answer is yes it is too much. God give us all basic standards in the bible such as to live pure lives, love our neighbors, love God and etc. But I believe God also give us standards for each of us that is directly in line with the calling He has on our lives. I leave with you the challenge to exam your lives and see if there are areas that need to be placed back in line with the anchor (standards).

When our oldest son turned 13 we decided he was old enough to handle pet ownership. So for his 13th birthday we got him a dog, a black Chow/Springer Spaniel mix. Our son was thrilled with his dog. He named the dog Frodo Baggins Jones.

We have a nice fenced in back yard that the dog enjoyed very much. Frodo was thrilled with the yard. He had great fun chasing/terrifying the squirrels, lazing in the sun, playing with the children when they were outside. In the evenings, we would let him in the house in the mud room. Life was good.

When Frodo was around 3 years old, all of a sudden, the yard Frodo loved so much didn’t seem that great. He started jumping the fence and running around the neighborhood. We scolded him but that didn’t seem to matter. We started putting him on a chain when he’d run off but that too didn’t deter him. We talked to everyone and tried just about everything that was recommended to keep the dog in the fence. We even got another dog, Baron, for companionship. Nothing worked. The momentary freedom Frodo had when he jumped the fence was worth it to him to pay the price of punishment. Eventually, we had to get a very strong, very long chain and choker collar in which the dog has to stay on when he is outside. It’s sad, the dog has a decent sized yard that he could enjoy but instead he’s on a leash.

One day I was talking to one of my children who, at the time, was going through some rebellion. The Lord gave me the following lesson from the dog which I shared with my child and now you. Frodo has boundaries that have been given to him by us, his owners. If he would stay within those boundaries, he is protected, safe and has the freedom to enjoy all of the space he has. Unfortunately, Frodo doesn’t think these boundaries are good enough. He wants to roam “free”. What he doesn’t see is that instead of momentary freedom, if he lived in obedience, that obedience would afford him greater freedom.

God gives us all boundaries to live within. When we live within them, we are free to run and truly live. When we choose to go outside God’s will, His boundaries for our lives, we actually put ourselves in chains. Those chains can look different. They can come by way of sin and its consequences, woundedness, loss of relationship with God and the list goes on and on. God longs for our hearts. If our hearts desire is to serve Him, those boundaries won’t be seen as walls rather as a place of security.

This week we welcome Marion Jones, one of the delightful leaders at Wellspring, to the blogosphere! For those of us who know Marion, her humorous stories are one of the many things we look forward to when hanging out with her. For those of you who don’t know her, let’s just say that you will by the end of reading this post! She’s real, she’s unpretentious, and she doesn’t take herself too seriously. As you’ll see…

I have dreaded writing a blog ever since I found out I had to. Why? Because I couldn’t think of anything to say… for those of you who know me, I realize this is a shock. I have had some ideas mulling in my brain however, so I decided to humble myself and tell you a funny but true story that happened last summer.

My husband and I have very dear friends from when we lived in Virginia Beach. We have known them for close to 15 years. They started out as our kids’ Sunday school teachers and it morphed into a wonderful friendship. The husband is a Christian film maker. Most of his films have gone to video however, last summer one of his films was released in the mainstream movie theatres. My friend called me and invited my husband and me to the movie’s premiere that would be in Charlotte. All the “stars” of the show would be there as well as the author of the book that inspired the movie. We were very excited with the exception of one thing, the dreaded Dress! Men have it somewhat easy, they put on a suit, shave, maybe get a haircut and they are good to go. Women however, have a whole beast we have to tackle. Nails, makeup, how to wear our hair….. the list goes on and on.

After exchanging several e-mails with my friend, I finally figured out that a black, mid-length dress would be appropriate. The kicker for me is that I am very tall (6 ft.), I am overly endowed and I had gained several dress sizes in the previous year and a half, something I was trying to forget. My first thought was to go on a crash diet but with only a few weeks till the premiere, I realized I did not have time, I was stuck wearing a dress two sizes bigger.

I called one of my good friends to go shopping with me, put on my fairly worn out girdle and we were off. In the first store we looked at, I found a dress but I looked fairly lumpy in the dress in spite of the worn out girdle I had on. I decided to try one of the “miracle girdles”. The ones sworn to take you down a dress size magically. I got one in the correct size and went to the dressing room to try it on. I know why they take you down a size… you sweat away at least one dress size off trying to get the thing on. It took me over 5 minutes to get the thing up and tuck in skin that had “muffined” over the top. I put the dress back on. It looked better but I wasn’t sure so I decided to continue looking. I went back into the dressing room and was faced with the option of taking the girdle back off. I opted to purchase the girdle and keep it on. I took the tags to the cashier and explained that it took me too long to get the thing on, I was still dress shopping, could I please just purchase it? She smiled politely and let me pay without seeing the actual thing I purchase.

My friend and I continued into the mall. I could barely walk. The spandex in the girdle made it feel like I was walking with a very thick rubber band that held my legs together. Every time I took a step I felt like my legs were being snapped back into place. I got a mean leg workout by default. Slowly we walked on to a few other stores, no luck. Then I realized I had to use the bathroom, blasted diet coke!!! We went to the bathroom and tried not to laugh too hard so I didn’t have an accident while I struggled to get the tummy tucker down. It was a close call but I made it, then it took me another 4 ½ minutes to get it back up. Yes, I had shaved off a whole ½ minute by “stretching it” out while walking. After several hours of trying on dresses, we decided that the first one was the best. Then I had to by a bra because the way the dress was, I had to have one that didn’t have normal straps. Now ladies, I will not tell you my actual size but I will say I LONG to be a small DDD. I typically can only mail order my undergarments. At this point, I only had few days left so there was no time to order one. I went to the store where I usually order from to see if by some miracle there were any returns that had moveable straps. There was one in one size smaller. I tried it on. Another ordeal…

I had never owned anything but a normal bra, never one with straps that could be used in 10 different ways. It took me close to 10 minutes to figure out how to get it on with the straps in the right place for the dress. It was a little snug but would work. I went home with it all in tow.

The night of the premier, we had a great plan. My daughter and her friend were going to baby sit the children in the hotel of the after party. We were to arrive around 4:30, drop off the girls and get dressed in their room. Then we were going to go over to the premiere and wait for our friends to arrive with the actor/actresses by limo. I got my make up and hair done by my friend’s daughter. With a pound of make up on (so it would last all night) and an entire bottle of hair spray in my hair, we were ready to go. We arrived at the hotel 2 ½ hours later and went straight to my friend’s hotel room. After saying the hellos, I went to the bathroom to get dressed. I was praying it wouldn’t take me a half hour to get my undergarments on. You may think I’m exaggerating but it was a real fear. Bless the Lord, it only took me 10 minutes to get them on. I had practiced. After all that stress, we had a great time at the movie and party afterwards. It is as close to stardom we’ll ever come. We stayed at the party till midnight but then it was time to drive the 2 ½ hours back home.

By that point, I could barely breathe and I had to use the bathroom desperately so I went into the hotel lobby bathroom and pealed off the girdle. Midnight struck, and I was turning back into the lumpy woman I truly was.

When our oldest son turned 13 we decided he was old enough to handle pet ownership. So for his 13th birthday we got him a dog, a black Chow/Springer Spaniel mix.    Our son was thrilled with his dog.   He named the dog Frodo Baggins Jones. 

We have a nice fenced in back yard that the dog enjoyed very much.  Frodo was thrilled with the yard. He had great fun chasing/terrifying the squirrels, lazing in the sun, playing with the children when they were outside.  In the evenings, we would let him in the house in the mud room.  Life was good. 

When Frodo was around 3 years old, all of a sudden, the yard Frodo loved so much didn’t seem that great.  He started jumping the fence and running around the neighborhood.  We scolded him but that didn’t seem to matter.  We started putting him on a chain when he’d run off but that too didn’t deter him. We talked to everyone and tried just about everything that was recommended to keep the dog in the fence. We even got another dog, Baron, for companionship.  Nothing worked. The momentary freedom Frodo had when he jumped the fence was worth it to him to pay the price of punishment. Eventually, we had to get a very strong, very long chain and choker collar in which the dog has to stay on when he is outside.  It’s sad, the dog has a decent sized yard that he could enjoy but instead he’s on a leash.

      One day I was talking to one of my children who, at the time, was going through some rebellion. The Lord gave me the following lesson from the dog which I shared with my child and now you.  Frodo has boundaries that have been given to him by us, his owners.  If he would stay within those boundaries, he is protected, safe and has the freedom to enjoy all of the space he has.  Unfortunately, Frodo doesn’t think these boundaries are good enough.  He wants to roam “free”.  What he doesn’t see is that instead of momentary freedom, if he lived in obedience, that obedience would afford him greater freedom.

  God gives us all boundaries to live within.  When we live within them, we are free to run and truly live.  When we choose to go outside God’s will, His boundaries for our lives, we actually put ourselves in chains.  Those chains can look different.  They can come by way of sin and its consequences, woundedness, loss of relationship with God and the list goes on and on.  God longs for our hearts.  If our hearts desire is to serve Him, those boundaries won’t be seen as walls rather as a place of security.

This week we welcome Marion Jones, one of the delightful leaders at Wellspring, to the blogosphere!  For those of us who know Marion, her humorous stories are one of the many things we look forward to when hanging out with her.  For those of you who don’t know her, let’s just say that you will by the end of reading this post!  She’s real, she’s unpretentious, and she doesn’t take herself too seriously.  As you’ll see…

I have dreaded writing a blog ever since I found out I had to. Why?  Because I couldn’t think of anything to say… for those of you who know me, I realize this is a shock.  I have had some ideas mulling in my brain however, so I decided to humble myself and tell you a funny but true story that happened last summer.

      My husband and I have very dear friends from when we lived in Virginia Beach.  We have known them for close to 15 years.  They started out as our kids’ Sunday school teachers and it morphed into a wonderful friendship. The husband is a Christian film maker.  Most of his films have gone to video however, last summer one of his films was released in the mainstream movie theatres.  My friend called me and invited my husband and me to the movie’s premiere that would be in Charlotte.  All the “stars” of the show would be there as well as the author of the book that inspired the movie.   We were very excited with the exception of one thing, the dreaded Dress!  Men have it somewhat easy, they put on a suit, shave, maybe get a haircut and they are good to go.  Women however, have a whole beast we have to tackle.  Nails, makeup, how to wear our hair….. the list goes on and on.  

After exchanging several e-mails with my friend, I finally figured out that a black, mid-length dress would be appropriate. The kicker for me is that I am very tall (6 ft.), I am overly endowed and I had gained several dress sizes in the previous year and a half, something I was trying to forget.  My first thought was to go on a crash diet but with only a few weeks till the premiere, I realized I did not have time, I was stuck wearing a dress two sizes bigger. 

 I called one of my good friends to go shopping with me, put on my fairly worn out girdle and we were off.  In the first store we looked at, I found a dress but I looked fairly lumpy in the dress in spite of the worn out girdle I had on. I decided to try one of the “miracle girdles”.  The ones sworn to take you down a dress size magically. I got one in the correct size and went to the dressing room to try it on.  I know why they take you down a size… you sweat away at least one dress size off trying to get the thing on. It took me over 5 minutes to get the thing up and tuck in skin that had “muffined” over the top.  I put the dress back on.  It looked better but I wasn’t sure so I decided to continue looking.  I went back into the dressing room and was faced with the option of taking the girdle back off.  I opted to purchase the girdle and keep it on.  I took the tags to the cashier and explained that it took me too long to get the thing on, I was still dress shopping, could I please just purchase it?  She smiled politely and let me pay without seeing the actual thing I purchase. 

My friend and I continued into the mall.  I could barely walk.  The spandex in the girdle made it feel like I was walking with a very thick rubber band that held my legs together.  Every time I took a step I felt like my legs were being snapped back into place.  I got a mean leg workout by default.  Slowly we walked on to a few other stores, no luck.  Then I realized I had to use the bathroom, blasted diet coke!!!  We went to the bathroom and tried not to laugh too hard so I didn’t have an accident while I struggled to get the tummy tucker down.  It was a close call but I made it, then it took me another 4 ½ minutes to get it back up.  Yes, I had shaved off a whole ½ minute by “stretching it” out while walking.  After several hours of trying on dresses, we decided that the first one was the best.  Then I had to by a bra because the way the dress was, I had to have one that didn’t have normal straps.  Now ladies, I will not tell you my actual size but I will say I LONG to be a small DDD.  I typically can only mail order my undergarments.  At this point, I only had few days left so there was no time to order one.  I went to the store where I usually order from to see if by some miracle there were any returns that had moveable straps.  There was one in one size smaller.  I tried it on.  Another ordeal…      

  I had never owned anything but a normal bra, never one with straps that could be used in 10 different ways.  It took me close to 10 minutes to figure out how to get it on with the straps in the right place for the dress.  It was a little snug but would work.  I went home with it all in tow. 

      The night of the premier, we had a great plan. My daughter and her friend were going to baby sit the children in the hotel of the after party.  We were to arrive around 4:30, drop off the girls and get dressed in their room.  Then we were going to go over to the premiere and wait for our friends to arrive with the actor/actresses by limo.  I got my make up and hair done by my friend’s daughter.  With a pound of make up on (so it would last all night) and an entire bottle of hair spray in my hair, we were ready to go.  We arrived at the hotel 2 ½ hours later and went straight to my friend’s hotel room.  After saying the hellos, I went to the bathroom to get dressed.  I was praying it wouldn’t take me a half hour to get my undergarments on.  You may think I’m exaggerating but it was a real fear.  Bless the Lord, it only took me 10 minutes to get them on.  I had practiced.  After all that stress, we had a great time at the movie and party afterwards.  It is as close to stardom we’ll ever come.  We stayed at the party till midnight but then it was time to drive the 2 ½ hours back home.

  By that point, I could barely breathe and I had to use the bathroom desperately so I went into the hotel lobby bathroom and pealed off the girdle.  Midnight struck, and I was turning back into the lumpy woman I truly was.