Three Star Boldness

Last Tuesday, our son Connor was asked by a friend, “Where are your Mom and Dad?” With customary confidence and typical first grade logic, Connor responded, “They are with my Uncle David, Aunt Carrie, and George Washington in State of Union!”

He was partly right! Tuesday night, January 31, Phil and I had the once in a lifetime privilege of attending the State of the Union address presented by President George W. Bush. Before the speech, we were invited to dinner with Congressman Bill Young (FL) for whom my brother David works. We met at the Capitol Hill Club for a lovely dinner with the Congressman, his wife, and several Navy Admirals and Bethesda Naval Hospital doctors.

Just before we went into the dining room, David whispered to me that our seats for the annual address were located near the First Lady! It was all I could do to contain my excitement! As we stood in the lobby waiting for our table, Senators and Congressmen passing by, all I wanted to do was start screaming “Phil and I are going to the State of the Union, and I am sitting near Laura Bush!” Sure that none of the seasoned Washington professionals would share or understand my enthusiasm, I mustered all the self-control I could and remained quietly composed; though every nerve in my body was shaking with excitement!

I could not believe we were about to sit in the gallery for such a historical event. To think that in 1913, Woodrow Wilson stood in that very hall and addressed both houses of congress in person, after 112 years of the annual message being presented only in writing, stirred my patriotism.

As I waited to be seated, I thought about that hallowed hall into which we were about to enter. It was the very hall where Calvin Coolidge's 1923 speech was first broadcast on radio. And it was the very hall where Harry Truman’s message, in 1947, was seen by the nation, as his was the first State of the Union message to be televised. But, to my surprise, I was just as awe struck by what happened at dinner prior to State of the Union Address.

We were seated by a very distinguished and intelligent Admiral. After interesting and casual conversation over dinner, our exchange took on a sweeter and more intimate flavor as dessert was served! Amidst the fragrance of fine coffee and crème brulee, he began to talk about the genuine faith of the President he witnessed when escorting him to see many war heroes at Bethesda. Without prompting, the Admiral mentioned the importance of faith, and then announced “my faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“Me too,” I chimed, “me too,” Phil added with brotherly love.

Suddenly, I felt an unexpected thrill. Here was a an Admiral, who was responsible for all of Navy medicine, unashamed to announce his loyalty to his Savior -- and this was before he new much about me or Phil.

Sitting across from that bold, brave soldier of Christ made me rethink the history and heroes that were filling my thoughts on such a special night. It's true, to be a part of such a once in a lifetime event as the State of the Union, was nothing to take lightly, but, to be face to face with a hero of the faith who wore three earthly stars on his uniform, but wore the scars of His Savior on his heart, was something that impacted me deeply.

Yes, for a political junkie like me, the speech was incredible to hear in person. The atmosphere in the gallery that night was electric. But, what happened in my heart during dessert made an indelible impact that is now a part of my history and will inspire me to make that kind of boldness part of my posterity.

Oh, that you and I would be that kind of hero! That you and I with boldness would proclaim our allegiance to Christ. Regardless of the setting we find ourselves in, regardless of the company we are with - - let us hold fast to our faith and make it known.

Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech. 2 Cor. 3:12 NASB

Blessings and Joy,
Jennifer Rothschild
Author of Lessons I Learned in the Dark, and Founder of WomensMinistry.NET www.jenniferrothschild.com JR@jenniferrothschild.com

Objectives: Information and fun... and also to realize that women have played an important part in history.

Materials: A little computer research to create bios on various women from history and/or the Bible.

Procedure: I put together a short paragraph for each of several different women from history and/or the Bible, describing who they are, when they lived, what they did, etc.

I read the paragraph, and the first one to stand up got to answer, stating their answer as a Jeopardy question. (Who was Corrie ten Boom? Who was Eleanor Roosevelt? and so on.)

If they answered correctly, they got a small prize. You could also keep score and have a "grand prize" Women's Jeopardy winner.

Submitted by: Deb Brenneman, Camp Hill PA
Email: debra.brenneman@verizon.net

Ministry Tip: Does Your WM Lack Connection?
from Issue # 157 Thursday, March 6, 2003

Our Problem: The women in our church were not attending WM Bible Studies, Activities or Events. Our Solution: We sent out an email survey to all the women in our church to find out why they were not attending. And, if they were to attend, what types of things were they looking for in WM. The response was awesome. We found out that our Bible Studies were being held during the day with no childcare and women were either working outside of the home, or needing childcare during the day.

They also told us that they felt our activities were geared toward "older" women. We found out that 85% of our women were under 45 years old. They told us that they wanted to meet other women like them (i.e., Moms with Teenagers; Moms who Homeschool; Single Working Moms; Single Women that have never been married and have no children; Professional Women; Empty Nesters; etc.). We decided to form Small Groups for each of the categories that were mentioned several times.

We held what we call "Connection Cafe" monthly. At Connection Cafe, we start out a simple dinner for $2 (spaghetti or pizza) and then a program with humor from our Drama Team, or upbeat worship music from a trio of young women. We've asked some of our professional ladies with speaking experience to be our guest speakers on uplifting topics. We do that for about an hour, and then break up into small groups. The first time we did this, we had signs made with all the types of groups the women could join. We told everyone to walk around, look for a group that interests them and then join that table. Once everyone mingled (it was controlled chaos, full of energy and excitement), they introduced themselves and made decisions like where they would meet (2x month); what day or night they would meet; and who the leader/facilitator would be. (This could also be done with assigned leaders/facilitators who lead the group.)

Then they went through a list of approved curriculum (we had it outlined by subject matter to match the groups), they chose the curriculum they would go through and study.

The groups are now off and running and ladies are connecting 2x month, plus they have started attending our fun activities (like hiking, craft night, miniature golf, movie & dessert, ladies night out, shopping, etc.). We started with 5-10 women attending a Bible Study, and have gone to over 250 women attending small groups and connecting... all in 3 months time.

We are now planning a Women's Getaway Retreat where we expect 300-350 women to attend. We hold Connection Cafe quarterly now as our "big get together." All existing groups join us for that night and new people are welcomed to join in existing groups or form new groups. It is always upbeat, fun, exciting.

For us, this has attracted the younger women who were missing and brought energy in to the overall ministry.

Organization is the key. It doesn't cost a lot of money, mainly time. Find out what your women are interested in, what they need, what they want. Leaders will emerge naturally. Put women in small groups and let them make decisions of where and when to meet. They should meet at least twice a month for a real connection and growth to occur. This all relieves pressure of finding space at the church, especially if the church is busy with other ministries taking up space on the calendar.

Submitted by: Carrie Caron
Church: Family Community Church, San Jose, CA
Size: Between 1000-5000

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