The morning of my twentieth wedding anniversary, I didn't awake in a five-star hotel to room service knocking on the door. No, I awoke to five loads of laundry!

I rushed out of bed, threw in the first load, and woke the boys up for school! By midmorning, I had placed the wet, clean clothes in the dryer and was planning my evening out with Phil.

Later, I passed by the laundry room and noticed that there was a clink, clink sound coming from the dryer. I assumed it was a pebble from Connor's pocket, or some loose change from Clayton's.

The day went on, and when Phil came home, he went into laundry room for a clean T-shirt to wear to dinner. He came out of the laundry room with his shirt and a hesitant admission...

"I found your wedding band in the dryer."

I couldn't believe that I had done such a thing. I was so careful with that ring! My mind rewound back to washing the dishes the night before. I remembered taking the ring off. In a hurry, and distracted, I had shoved it into the pocket of my jeans.

Surely the denim protected its journey through the dryer... It came out fine, right?

Phil didn't speak. He just handed me the ring.

The band was fine, but the prongs, which once held the diamond, were all bent outward, like a flower that had blossomed, petals fully open toward heaven.

He told me that he had carefully pulled out all the clothes, listened for falling stones, and felt methodically through all the fabric. I was sick. That ring was my treasure! It was not only the most monetarily valuable piece of jewelry I owned, it was also the most emotionally valuable. In fact, it was irreplaceable.

I lost what was most valuable to me because I was distracted by the urgency of dirty dishes! But I couldn't let it end like this, so I went into the laundry room with Phil.

We carefully pulled the lint cage out of the dryer. I heard the tiniest little clink against the tile floor. Phil moved the dryer away from the wall, unscrewed the back panel, and there it was!

The diamond. My diamond. The diamond that Phil bought me in 1986. The diamond that cost him his life savings! The diamond I wore proudly to all my college classes that last semester. The diamond that had been on my finger when I said "I do"... when my two boys were born... when we laughed together... when I cried alone. The same diamond I wore at my brothers' weddings and grandparents' funerals. The same diamond I had worn every day of my life since 1986.

How could I have treated such a treasure with such casualness?

The same happens to you and me... We ignore what is most precious when we get busy and distracted.

Temporary distractions sidetrack us. The din and clatter or glitz and glamour of life diverts our attention from what we truly treasure.

When we aren't "tuned in" to what is true, we are "taken in" by what is transient.

The apostle Paul reminds us we have a treasure in jars of clay. That treasure is the truth of the gospel. Don't let the tasks, feelings, goals, or problems of your "jar of clay" distract you from the amazing treasure you possess.

"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." 2 Cor. 4:6,7 NIV

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Ladies, we asked you for ideas on developing an event around the book of Esther and you delivered! I wish we could feature all of them, but here are some that represent the different ideas for themes that we received:

We are using this theme for our summer retreat and are calling it Queen Esther's Heart Spa Retreat. We will use Group's Heart Spa curriculum and add "Esther." One of our ladies will do a Queen Esther monologue in full costume. We will have bronze looking flower containers for our centerpieces that will have a tiara worked in with a fresh flower arrangement. (Our original idea was a Bible open to Esther with a tiara on top of that but decided to use the centerpieces as door prizes.) The ladies will be given spa items in a bronze container to take home. We will emphasize that they are royalty. We want them to come away feeling pampered and refreshed in Jesus.
~Sandy

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"For Such a Time"

Decorations: Big clunky alarm clocks, antique clocks, wall clocks, flashy watches - perhaps even calendars and hour glasses (anything that measures time).

Large Group Sessions: 3-4 sessions, teaching through the book of Esther, emphasizing the sovereignty and eternity of God. Esther came into the kingdom for "such a time as this" --- and because she was prepared, obedient, and patient, God used her in a mighty way. We cannot always know the why or where, but we can know that all of our what is in control of the Who, who knows exactly when!

Small Groups: Sessions on topics related to time that women struggle with, such as seasons of life; time management, delayed, interrupted, or even cancelled plans; biological clock issues, procrastination of living for God, etc.
~Christi

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"Queen for a Day: Preparing Yourself for the King of Kings"

This could be a one day or evening event or you could easily turn it into a retreat.

Possible speaker topics:
 

• Preparing our hearts to be used by God
• Making right choices in difficult situations
• Making a difference in our culture today
• Overcoming obstacles that keep us from serving

Have pampering stations set up either around the room or in separate breakout rooms.
 

• Contact local beauty school to come give free manicures
• Have mini-massages (lots of people have the self massagers)
• Make one station a place to make scented bath salts
• Have soft music playing and scented candles burning
• Bring in several foot baths and have a foot care station
• Have a chocolate fountain or chocolate and fruit indulgence station

Have Spiritual pampering stations set up as well.
 

• Prayer room with guided prayer sheets
• Prayer room with counselors to pray with you over your personal issues
• Extended worship time or on-going worship area
• Guided devotional time (especially good for a morning retreat time or a prayer walk)
• Manned Resource tables with bible study helps for personal Bible Study (examples of references/Greek/Hebrew dictionaries, etc), Bible study books (current session or ones for the next session) along with registration capabilities
• Examples of quiet time baskets, books

Show clips of "One Night with the King" or if on a retreat, show whole movie.

Door prizes:
 

• Solicit free hair cuts/manicures/pedicures
• Scented candles
• Chocolates
• Bath/body products
• Bath scrubbies for everyone in attendance with a tag with a verse and a reminder to daily remove all sin from their life to prepare for the day with the King
• Bible Study books
• Prayer journals

Decorate:
 

• Royalty theme - purple and gold
• Or for a lighter tone, a bath theme - bubble bath, scrubbies, towels, lotions

~Sheri

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We held a Women's Retreat last September based on Esther 4:14b entitled "Now is the Time," a takeoff on For Such a Time As This. We decorated with large paper watches as centerpieces for each table. In the invitation to the retreat, we encouraged our women not to wait... now is the time to memorize scripture, minister in the marketplace, raise Godly children, be a loving wife, walk in intimacy with Him--now is the time for what God has in mind for us.

We did short commercials (5 or 6 minutes) on various topics relating to our theme--time to listen to the Lord, spending quiet time with the Lord (gave away a prayer basket filled with things to help in our quiet time), journaling from reading His Word, time to memorize God's Word. We gave away watches as "in your seat prizes" for those present at the beginning of each session (drawing names from a hat). Instead of having workshops in the morning, we had "Time with the Lord" and had them journal on discovering who you are, based on the speaker from Friday night.

Our speaker's topics were "Now is the time... to Discover Who You Are, Now is the time... to Network in What You Do, and Now is the time... to Receive and to Give." At the final session, we had the older ladies pray with younger ladies. It was a very powerful time.
~Jettie

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Wow! Aren't those great?! There were a few of you (you know who you are) that sent in several pages of descriptions and details of the event you have done or plan to do with this theme. Look for them in future issues as featured event ideas.

Keep up the amazing work sisters... You are making a difference in the lives of women - in the name of Jesus!

In Him... Robyne Beaubien, Editor

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This is a great icebreaker for a small group or leadership team to work together and learn more about each other.

Divide the group into teams of four to five women. Read the following scenario:

You are marooned on a island. What five items would you have brought with you if you knew there was a chance that you might be stranded.

Note that they are only allowed five items per team, not per person. You can have them write their items on a flip chart and discuss and defend their choices with the whole group. This activity helps them to learn about other's values and problem solving styles and also promotes teamwork.

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