Mardy's Moms' Meetings

I'm posting this on the blog for the mtg info awa for Mardy's testimony at the end. Read it if you have not already done so, and you will be blessed.

----- Original Message -----
From: Bill and Mardy Freeman
To: freemanfamily
Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2008 8:27 AM
Subject: [Moms Group] Moms' Meeting this Thursday Night!
Good Morning, Everyone,

Our first official meeting of the year is this Thursday night at Creekside Community Church, 2640 NW 39th Ave. I can't wait!

Pine Grove and Booth Libraries: Remember that Pine Grove Library and the Angie Booth Memorial Library, 4200 NW 39th Ave, are both open from 5 to 7.

Angie Booth Memorial Library: Please forgive me for overlooking the amazing Booth library in my beginning-of-the-year post. For those of you who didn't have the privilege of knowing Angie Booth, she was a passionate Christian mother and leader from Ocala who began homeschooling in the late 1990s, and then died suddenly of a heart condition. Angie's closest friend, Robin, later created the library in her memory, and Lena graciously houses it at Pine Grove Baptist Church. It is chock full of free homeschooling curriculum. Thank you, again, Robin, for your gift which keeps helping so many families – just as Angie had begun to do – and to Lena for housing it.

6:00 Classes: After you stock up on godly books at the library, it's only 5 minutes to Creekside. Classes start at 6:00, and there are 3 to choose from ~

New Homeschoolers
Homeschooling through High School (see more info on that below)
The Way of the Master DVD Course (invitation to check it out first night)

Moms' Meeting: At 7:00 we'll start the general meeting. The topic for October is Winning the Hearts of our Family. I just gave this workshop in Lake City, as well as several times over in counseling sessions in the past few months, and many ladies have been encouraged. I know you will enjoy it if you can make it. More info on Moms' Meetings at www.thefreemans.org/moms

Another change in the Moms' Meetings is that I would like to feature a 5-minute or less personal testimony on how you came to Christ. I can kick things off by sharing mine this month, since this is such short notice, but I'm looking for volunteers for the rest of the year. As Laura Eades lauraeades@hotmail.com taught us last year, it should contain a beginning (what I/life was like before Jesus), a middle (how I came to Jesus and a couple of Scriptures that explain how to be saved), and an ending (what life has been like since). I've included my testimony at the end of this newsletter so folks who did not make the class can see what I'm looking for – something under 500 words.

Small group prayer and fellowship begins around 8:15.

Nursery: The Nursery runs from 7:00 to 8:30, and requires a request at least 24 hours in advance to use it. Many thanks to Sarah Gillespie sarahjpa@gmail.com for heading up the volunteers for this ministry.

Homeschooling through High School: Here's a note from Tammy Alvarez:
tjalvarez@juno.com If you know anyone else whose students are getting close to 9th grade, or already in high school, this is a great way for them to learn more about homeschooling through the teen years. Over the course of the next several months a variety of topics related to high school will be discussed and time for questions and answers will be included. In the past guest speakers have shared with us as well as homeschooled teens. Secondly, remind you friends that there is a "HS Through HS" (Homeschooling Through High School) email list where high school questions are addressed and information is shared about opportunities for high schoolers. To get on the list send an email to Tammy Alvarez at tjalvarez@juno.com See you Thursday, Tammy

Operation Christmas Child: Denise Middleton usually heads up an Operation Christmas Child collection in October, but this year Melody White will be heading it up for us. If you can please bring something to this meeting that would be great, but we'll also be collecting again in November. This is a great project in which to involve your children. Below is a list of ideas from their website. Contact Melody for more info: mels6cats@yahoo.com

TOYS small cars, balls, dolls, stuffed animals, kazoos, harmonicas, yo-yos, jump ropes, small Etch A Sketch®, toys that light up or make noise (with extra batteries), Slinky®, etc. SCHOOL SUPPLIES pens, pencils and sharpener, crayons or markers, stamps and ink pad sets, writing pads or paper, solar calculators, coloring and picture books, etc. HYGIENE ITEMS toothbrush, toothpaste, mild bar soap (in a plastic bag), comb, washcloth, etc. OTHER Hard candy and lollipops (please double bag all candy), mints, gum, T-shirts, socks, ball caps; sunglasses, hair clips, toy jewelry, watches, flashlights (with extra batteries) A PERSONAL NOTE In a separate envelope, you may enclose a note to the child and a photo of yourself or your family. (If you include your name and address, the child may write back.) DO NOT INCLUDE: Used or damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives or military figures; chocolate or food; out-of-date candy; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; breakable items such as snowglobes or glass containers; aerosol cans

The Lord is definitely leading us, and I know He will be blessing our times together this year. If you could use some kindred spirit fellowship with other women who face the same challenges you're facing, you'll love the Moms' Meeting.

See you Thursday night!

Love in the Amazing and Wonderful Grace of our Lord Jesus,

Mardy

Mardy's testimony: I was raised in a broken home with much heartache and tragedy. I was 6 the first time I was drunk because my father shared his beers with me. When I was 11 my brother shot and killed my sister, and by my early teens my mom had introduced me to her prescription tranquilizers and marijuana. I was the new kid at every school because we kept moving in with new stepfathers, a total of eight alcoholic men before I was grown, while my biological father introduced me to hypnotism, spiritism, Ouija boards and séances. Then, at the age of 14, a classmate invited me to a youth retreat where I heard for the first time that I was a sinner (my conscience told me that was true), and that God had sent His perfect Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to take the punishment for my sins, that He had suffered and died for me, was buried and rose from the dead. For me! All I had to do was repent – turn away from my sin – and believe Him. I could hardly believe it. I realized that night that I had actually been hungry and thirsty for God all of my life; I just didn't know it until I heard the truth. I asked God for His free gift, eternal life through His Son, and was "born again "(God's Spirit made my spirit alive in Him), and experienced a cleanness and joy I had never known before. Within a few years of my salvation, my father, mother and four of my siblings were also born again. I wish I could say that my life since Christ has been one of steady faithfulness and growth on my part, but the truth is I brought a lot of baggage into my new life that God is still patiently taking away, and I still have a long way to go. Even though I have sometimes been apathetic and sometimes knowingly still sin, I have found that the same God who saved me almost 40 years ago has been able to keep me, and each time I turn from my sin to obey Him He forgives me, cleans me and allows me to sense His joy once again. God has become to me the father I had been longing for, one who loves, chastens and forgives, and His Son, my faithful Savior – the same yesterday, today and forever. This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He commanded us. This is the promise which He Himself made to us, eternal life. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father – the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. From 1 John 2 & 3

To subscribe to the Moms' Group, send a blank message to: FreemanFamily-subscribe@associate.com.