One morning last week, Phil decided to label the phones in our office. Since there are four of us and four phones, it's important each one bears the name of the user so it doesn't get mixed up and placed on the wrong desk.

He took my phone, mentioned that it really didn't need a label since mine was covered with the remains of my blush, but even so labeled it with the sticker he made which read, "Jennifer."

He then began to type "B-e-c-k-y" for the phone of our fabulous Correspondence Assistant. He placed her sticker on her phone and went back to the computer to finish typing and printing the last two labels.

After he stuck the sticker on his phone, Phil then peeled back and stuck the label for Kathryn, our Administrative Assistant, on her phone. Phil and I like to refer to Kathryn as our "Indispensable Assistant."

Later that morning, the four of us gathered for staff meeting, Phil directed us each to our newly labeled phones. Becky confirmed hers was on her desk and then Kathryn picked hers up and began to read. "Indispensable... ah," she paused at his sweetness and then continued. "Indispensable... aahhh" she gasped, as she tried to read what should have been the abbreviated "asst" for "assistant."

"You forgot the 'T'!" Kathryn exclaimed.

"What?!" He ran to her phone, while Becky and I began to roar in laughter. "Phil," Kathryn cried, trying to appear offended but laughing too hard to make it work. He moaned, apologized and laughed, and it was the best staff meeting we've ever had!

When labeling something "indispensable asst.," one cannot afford to forget the letter "t" for it could lead to hurt feelings -- or lawsuits! It is amazing how much importance one little letter can bear. We are warned in Scripture to note the importance of each letter, each jot and each word of God's Word. (Matt 5:18, Rev 22:18)

The presence or absence of a letter can totally change a word in the same way the presence or absence of a word can change the intent of a phrase. For that reason, it is imperative we handle God's Word with respect, precision and accuracy.

I heard a clip on YouTube recently of a very famous woman who had roots in Christianity. She now disavows the claims of the Christian Bible because of what began with the addition of just two words. She recounted hearing her pastor quote; "the Lord thy God is a Jealous God."

She was in her late twenties at the time and her response was "Something struck me... I was thinking, 'God is Omnipresent and God is also jealous?! God is jealous of me?!' Something about that didn't feel right in my spirit because I believe God is love and that God is in all things. And so, that's when the search for something more than doctrine started to stir within me."

The commencement of her "search" was based on the addition of the words "of me." Yet the verse that troubled her did not say God was jealous "of" her. The addition of those two little words sent her on a quest that landed her in a place that is far from the doctrine of truth.

My heart breaks that the truth of Scripture is offered to us freely from the Hand of God and is therefore subject to our interpretation or misinterpretation. May we all humbly approach His eternal Word with the mindfulness that we are flawed and in need of guidance that only God's Holy Spirit can provide. We need Him to guide us into all Truth.

"...But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word." (Isaiah 66:2 NIV)

Blessings and Joy,
Jennifer Rothschild
Author of Self Talk, Soul Talk: What to Say When You Talk to Yourself, and Founder of WomensMinistry.NET

This week's question.
Is it normal to be jealous of my friends who have more than me?

View Jennifer's Video Answer

Last week's question.
Most of the time I think of what I don't have, rather than what I do have. How can I learn to be grateful rather than sour?

View Jennifer's Video Answer

Judging by your responses, Crisis Ministries have struck a chord with where many of you are in ministry. This week we share more of the ideas you have sent in.

From Lupe... We provide English Literacy classes with a certified ESL teacher, and in between class times we minister to the adult learners with small group conversations on topics in Spanish. They are so needy, lonely and hurting oftentimes feeling hopeless. Several have come to know the Lord, their children attend Bible classes and we have bridged a gap.

Another area of need is Grief Loss Support Groups. I sought out training at a grief center for children and served for two years. This training became invaluable as I see so many people trying to live as they lean on their own understanding. We are going to start a community wide effort with multiple groups and a support group for Latino women, too.

My church leadership has been supportive in joining efforts with my community social service agency. The people we serve trust us and know they will get 'real' help.

From Cindy... Wanted to share the crisis ministries we currently support on our campus!

GriefShare - a safe place to share with others who have recently lost loved ones through death and how to cope with everyday life after such a loss.

DivorceCare - for adults experiencing the loss of a spouse through divorce.

DivorceCare 4 Kids - for the children in families who are going through a divorce or have been through a divorce.

DivorceCare 4 Youth - for teenagers and older who are experiencing difficulties in a family going through or that has been through a divorce.

Pre-Divorce Counseling - couples confidentially work with trained Christian counselors to prevent divorce before it happens.

AA - weekly meetings to help members and anyone from the community that has an addiction to alcohol.

All of these programs are open to the community. The GriefShare, DivorceCare, and AA list the locations of meeting on their websites and printed materials.

From Southland Christian Church.... Each of the following support groups exist for a common purpose: To provide a safe place for people to share hang-ups, habits and hurts. To help individuals transition from pain and despair towards wholeness in Jesus.

Adoptive Families - A support group for those who have adopted a child, are waiting to adopt, or are considering adoption.

Celebrate Recovery - a 12-step, Christ- centered approach to recovery. The goal of this ministry is to integrate worship, large group teaching, and special focus small breakout groups. The peer- led groups will be another avenue to lock arms with a community of individuals seeking healing and restoration.

Finding God in Your Finances - Helping people learn biblical principles of financial planning, saving, investing, spending, and giving.

Foster Parent Support - Offering support and encouragement to those who are currently parenting foster children or are interested in becoming foster parents.

Gift of Life - A group offering support, guidance and love to women of all ages and walks of life who are facing unplanned pregnancies, and those who have placed a child for adoption.

Grief - A group of caring, compassionate men and women who share a common goal of healing from the death of a spouse. Open to individuals of all ages who have lost a spouse recently or in the distant past.

Hearts for Heroes - A group of men and women offering Christ's love and support to military families. We invite family of military members, past or present, to join us for prayer, sharing, and Christian fellowship as we encourage our troops and one another.

Pink Touch - A group of caring men and women who understand the pain, fear, and difficulty associated with breast cancer.

Sticks and Stones - A safe place for women in emotional and verbally abusive relationships to receive support, encouragement and prayer.

Thin Within - Learn God's plan for our freedom from the struggles with food.

Thanks Ladies! It is great to see what you are doing and how God is at work where you serve.

In Him... Robyne Beaubien

Visit these past sponsors:

Beauty by The Book Bible Study by Laurie Cole

Before His Throne Bible Study by Kathy Howard

The best information we receive about the nuts and bolts of Women's Ministry is when we hear what you all are doing "in the trenches." Our weekly poll is your opportunity to share your expertise and knowledge with all of our subscribers!

Each week we ask a question, and share a link for you to post your answers. The following week we provide a link where you can see the results of the question, along with a new question. It takes just a minute, and your input is immediately added.

Here is this week's question:

How often do you meet with your leadership team?

Answer the question HERE.

Here are the results from recent polls.

Our most recent poll question asked readers to indicate the reasons they might choose a particular venue as possible Bible study locations.

Interesting Finding: Other possible venues included public schools, nursing homes, libraries, bed and breakfasts, public meeting rooms, workplaces, and hotel conference rooms.

"What are you working on planning right now?"

• Summer 2008 Activities 56%
• Fall 2008 Bible Studies 55%
• Fall 2008 Event 53%
• Outreach Opportunities 39%
• Mentoring Ministry 24%
• Spring 2009 Event 21%
• Spring 2009 Bible Studies 17%
• Mission Trip 5%

Interesting Finding: Many of you told us about other plans you're making. These included developing a team, preparing discipleship classes, initiating a prayer ministry, making selections for book clubs, planning upcoming retreats and conferences, compiling budgets, preparing a full 2009 schedule, networking with other leaders, starting a ministry for working women, training your leadership team, beginning plans for a 2010 event. Looks like you're in just about every stage and phase of ministry. We hope that these insights will help you as you plan for the future of women's ministry in your church.

"Please rate how helpful the following networking opportunities would be to you." Here are the top five answers. All of these had not only the highest vote percentage but were also all ranked to be extremely useful:

• Learning from articles written by other women's ministry leaders
• Connecting with WM leaders from churches similar in size to mine
• Attending conferences with WM leaders from around the country
• Meeting regularly with local WM leaders
• Having an online forum where experienced ministry leaders respond to questions

Java with Jennifer is an informal monthly ministry update specifically for friends who want to keep up-to-date on what is happening with Jennifer Rothschild's ministry of writing, speaking, and singing.

Obviously, because you are receiving this eNewsletter, you are signed up for the Jennifer's "weekly" WomensMinistry.NET eNewsletter. However, if you want to get up close, and personal with Jennifer, just click on the Update Profile link at the bottom of this email, and select the Java with Jennifer interest group when asked to update your profile.

Still not sure?

See the Latest Issue here.

For a Ladies Night Out event, we asked our ladies to dress-up in their "thrift store best" ... from tacky to elegant.

The ladies came in everything imaginable, from poodle skirts to pajamas to princess dresses! The ladies did seem nervous about what to wear to the event, but we assured them they could wear anything.

We held a pre-event thrift store shopping spree. Our ladies donated quality, gently-used ladies clothing and accessories. As they arrived for the evening they could shop in our thrift store. All the money received is going to an upcoming ladies mission trip.

Prior to the event, we sent two groups of ladies to separate thrift stores where (with permission from the managers) we videotaped them coming in and out of the dressing rooms in ridiculous outfits. Our talented church audio/visual man, took all the video and created a "Thrift Store Silent Film" where he played the clips faster than normal and set the clips to 20's style silent movie music. The video was the hit of the night! We laughed so hard.

We played the "Toilet Paper Bride" Game with a few alterations. Each table of eight had toilet paper and colored streamers. They were told to create a formal for their volunteer model using only the tp and streamers. It was hilarious and while the models showed off their dresses, and the judges picked a winner, we played "I Feel Pretty" in the background.

The stage was decorated like a store window, and we put a card with Thrift Store Shopping Tips at all the place settings.

Our speaker spoke on the "Quality" of Relationships and we served dinner.

We also held a silent auction for some nice clothing items, but if we do the event again, we will opt to have a silent auction for purses.

Submitted by: Cindy Estes

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When you visit our Featured Sponsor link, you will automatically be entered to win a free book, cd, or other resource from WomensMinistry.NET.

We randomly select the winner from those that click through the featured sponsor links in last week's issue.
This week's winner is...connie.randazzo@ccc...

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Here's what some of our recent Ad Sponsors are saying:

" ...got a call from a woman in Mississippi this morning who called in her order since her dial-up was slow. When I asked her if she saw the product at the EWomen Conference in October, she replied that she read about them in Jennifer Rothchilds' newsletter. She's introducing them to her church's bookstore and expressed such complimentary things about Driving Reflections...I'm so happy that I ran the ad!"
- Jane Brown, President, Get It In Your Soul, Inc.

Our popular WomensMinistry.NET Directory of Speaker, Authors, and other Gifted Communicators is where Women's Ministry leaders and event planners find great speakers for their events. Also, Silver and Gold Listings receive special pricing on eNewsletter Sponsor Ads.

From one tool to another, I thank you from the very depths of my heart for your wonderful article, "Tool Talk." It was amazing timing on God's part as I am sitting in a hotel room right this very minute. This weekend, I am one of two speakers at a conference in North Carolina. By the way, they found me through womensministry.net and flew me in from California. May God continue to use and bless your fabulous ministry! ~ Dori Drabek