---

Enter your name and email address below:
Name:
Email:
Privacy Policy: We will never rent, sell, or share your name and email address with anyone, ever!

[ view tip archives ]

• Clean up your Apps
• How Jing Makes Screen Capturing Easy
• Lessons I have Learned from Public Speaking
• See How Easily You Can Plan Family Meals
• We Are On The Ball!





• Bible Studies
• Food for Thought
• General
  • What we're About
• Latest News
• Leadership
• Mentoring
• Planning
• Prayer
• Resources
• Shout Outs
• This we like!
• Uncategorized





• January 2012
• December 2011
• February 2011
• January 2011
• July 2010
• May 2010
• April 2010
• February 2010
• January 2010
• December 2009
• November 2009
• October 2009
• September 2009
• August 2009
• July 2009
• June 2009
• May 2009
• April 2009
• January 2009





• Fresh Grounded Faith Events - Jennifer’s Fresh Grounded Faith Event Cities
• Java with Jennifer
• Self Talk Soul Talk - Jennifer’s Self Talk Soul Talk book blog

January always has me thinking of new beginnings and a fresh start for a new year. January is also my favorite time to clean out the clutter. Things pile up in my closets and they tend to pile up on my computer too. So, as I was looking for ways to clean out my inbox, I ran across a way to clean up my Facebook account.

Have you taken any of those cute little surveys or played any games on Facebook?  You know, the ones that ask you to grant permission by allowing them access? Well it turns out that you could be giving your valuable personal information to unknown people, just by clicking the word agree. The great news is that you can begin 2012 fresh with a way to clean up your Facebook, Twitter, Google + ,as well as other applications by using mypermissions.org.

Instead of searching around, trying to find out how to delete these, Israel-based entrepreneur Avi Charkham has developed a quick way for you to remove these unwanted apps from your profile.  Take two minutes and clean out your apps by clicking here.

I took a few minutes to clean my own profile and discovered 20 Facebook app developers with access to my profile! It was a friendly little reminder that these days you can’t be too safe with your information. So take a break from your day and do a little cleaning. You will feel better that you did!

Question: What helpful computer clean-up tips do you have? We’d love to know, please comment below.

Technorati Tags: applications, apps, Resources

I want to let you in on a secret little tool that I keep in my arsenal that has boosted my productivity.  It’s a little yellow sun dot that sits at the top of my computer screen. It is ready to go at a moments notice and has made capturing my favorite photos a breeze, it’s called Jing.

TechSmith, the creators of Jing, are also the makers of other screen capturing products, including Snagit, Screencast and Camtasia. Each of these media capturing devices offer unique functionality, but for ease of use and time saving, Jing gets my vote.

Jing is a free download and is easy to install and use. Go ahead and give it a try. Here is a list of the great features you will get with Jing:

• Screen capture any image, text or computer screen -  Choose as much as you want to capture in a window, pane, or region by clicking on the Jing “sun” icon.
• Edit your captures – You have the option of writing on your capture with text box, arrow and editing icons.
• Send your screenshots – Instantly share Jing screenshots on your favorite sites: Screencast.com, Flickr, Twitter, and Facebook
• Share a Link – Paste the link into an instant message, email, blog post or anywhere and voila, instantly your screen capture will appear when clicked.
• Record a Screen-cast -  Record what you see and do on your monitor. The free version gives you up to 5 minutes of recording time.
• Free Account – the Screencast.com free account gives you a place to store the images you capture without taking up valuable space on your hard drive.

The free version of Jing meets all of my user needs, but if you feel the need for more, a Pro Version of Jing is available for $14.95 per year. It includes all you get with the free version as well as:

• Unlimited webcam recording
• Instant sharing to YouTube
• MP4 Videos

Question: What is your favorite time-saving computer tool? We’d love to know, please comment below.

Technorati Tags: productivity, time-saving, Tools

When God called me three years ago into a leadership position that involved public speaking, I knew He must must have the wrong woman. Everything within me said, “There is no way you can stand up in front of several hundred people and speak.”  To say I was scared to death, didn’t even cover the myriad of emotions that the words ‘public speaking’ brought to my heart.

I had been told that God equips those He calls, so with my faith in one hand and a bundle of emotions in the other, I stepped into the position not sure of what was going to happen. For the first time in my life, I had to surrender my total being to God.  The words I spoke were going to have to be His words. My illustrations were going to have to come from Him. Even my nerves and emotions were going to have to fall under His mighty power. The Lord was teaching me that I was going to have to step aside and let Him be the engine in my tiny vessel to work toward His purposes.

I have learned many lessons in the last three years that have helped me develop into a better speaker. Here are some tools and insights that have helped me grow along the way.

1.  Rely on God – This is number one, because without it you are just someone making noise. The power in your speaking will always come from the Holy Spirit. Depend on God in prayer, not yourself, to give you all that you need to bring His message.

2. Speak clearly and slowly -  When nerves bubble up, people have a tendency to talk fast and ramble. Slowing down your speech will help you think more clearly. Your message will have more impact if people can understand what you are saying. Here are some great tips on how to speak with clarity.

3. Share stories – Women connect with personal stories. Sharing stories that relate to daily living helps them gain confidence in their own situation.

4. Don’t let technology bog down your message – Technology is a wonderful tool, but it can distract from your message. Michael Hyatt gives some great advice on this in 5 Rules for More Effective Presentations. Use technology, but sparingly.

5. Interact with your audience – No one likes to be lectured. I have found that by engaging my audience in questions or calling out their names in my examples, they listen more attentively to what is being said.

6. Practice – It is when I am going through this process that I begin to see the flaws in my presentation.  Hearing yourself deliver your message is different than looking at it on paper. Many times I will come up with a better way to word a statement or completely remove an illustration that just isn’t working. Click here to find more ways to help you practice your presentation.

God, through His power, has brought me a long ways from where I began. Do I still get nervous? Sometimes. But, the Lord has broken me out of my cocoon and enabled me to break forth in the confidence He alone provides as I fully rely on Him.

Question: What are your best speaking tips? Please share in the comments below.

Need more help with speaking? Check out these helpful articles from womensministry.net

VIDEO: How Can I Overcome Nervousness When Speaking?

4 Things Every Novice Speaker Needs to Know

Technorati Tags: Public Speaking

As a busy mom my plate is full.  Between working a part-time job, chauffeuring my children to sporting events and  fulfilling my ministry duties I have little time left for such things as meal planning. My intentions always lean toward providing a well-balanced meal for my family, but often end up in the drive-thru lane.  Which is why when my friend Val told me about a new way to plan great meals and save tons of time and energy, I had to check it out for myself. Presenting foodonthetable.com, a website where planning healthy meals, checking out the latest items on sale and printing your grocery list is just a click away.

Here is how it works:

1. Select your Store – Type in your city/state and it will locate the grocery stores near you. Then, click the store you shop at and foodonthetable.com will customize your menu to fit the stores sale items to help save you $$! You can even compare prices between stores saving you tons of time and money.

2. Select your Food Preferences – based on what foods you and your family like to eat.  Choose from items such as Pasta, Salads, Casseroles etc.  It even has a place for you to select dietary restrictions such as vegetarian and gluten free.

3. Compare Store Sales - Check out which store in your area has the best price on your selections. No more looking through the circular ads. All the work is done for you!

4. Select your Recipes -  You can add your families favorite recipes or try foodonthetable.com’s recommendations based on your food preferences. It even lets you know how much money you will save from the recipe you selected (love that!)

5. View and Print your Grocery List – review, edit, and print your grocery list with a click of the mouse or, if you prefer, download the free smartphone app that sends it straight to your phone.  (Available for both iPhone and Android). It also includes great features such as emailing or texting reminders to you when it is time to plan your grocery list.

A limited free version is available for you to try and use, but if you want the full experience you can try a premium membership.  They offer a 3 month trial for $15 and $9.95 for each additional month.

Hopefully this will have you saying goodbye to the drive-thru and hello to a healthy meals! For more meal planning ideas check out saymmm.com, mealsmatter.org, and e-mealz.com.

Question: What is your favorite family recipe?

Technorati Tags: Meal, Planning, Resources

Ringing in the New Year often means setting those resolutions to get into shape. Here at womensministry.net we are no exception. We have been experimenting with a simple way to get in shape using  the exercise ball. Yes, you heard me, we have replaced our ordinary office chairs with the exercise ball. The ball allows us to activate our core stabilizer muscles, which not only improves our posture, but helps us easily burn calories, just by sitting. Sounds too good to be true right?

Here are some benefits of using an exercise ball as your chair.

1. Forces proper spine alignment - Because an exercise ball is not stable, your body will have to use your core (stomach) muscles to provide stability.Your body is forced to align itself in the proper posture position, since this is the one that causes you to sit straight.  Over time this will improve your spinal health and help eliminate back pain. A strong back needs good tummy muscles.

2. Causes you to frequently change positions -  An exercise ball causes you to change position to balance on the ball. For example if you turn to answer the phone or to get into a file cabinet, your body will have to readjust to maintain balance. This will cause you to work other core muscles in your midsection. It is also great to keep you moving continually.  More movement=more calories burned (smile).

3. Improve your balance – It just makes sense that sitting on an unstable surface all day will improve your balance. As your muscles are strengthened your center of gravity will improve and better balance will result.

4. Killer Abs – Sitting on the ball can offer you a great low-key abdominal workout.  While we all would like to sport the six-pack, obtaining that goal is not an easy thing to do, but the exercise ball can get you one step closer to it. Think about all the time you spend at the computer at home or at the office.  Those hours can build up and result in a stronger more muscular core.

5. Improved Circulation – An exercise ball will keep your blood flowing, while an ordinary office chair can reduce your circulation after prolonged use.

6. It’s inexpensive – We purchased the Gold’s Gym Stay Ball at Walmart for $17.00 each. The Stay Balls have sand in the bottom of them and provide more stability.  They are a little more in cost, but worth not having to chase your ball every time you stand up.  A regular ball runs anywhere from $9-$12.

7. It’s tons of fun -  Who doesn’t like the idea of bouncing around on an exercise ball all day? An exercise ball not only burns tons of calories, but the best part is you have fun doing it and it doesn’t feel like you are working out at all.

We challenge you to go ahead and give it a try.  I think you will not only find it fun, but give it a day or two and you will start to feel it in your core.  It’s never to early to get a jump on bathing suit season!

Question: What is your favorite way to stay in shape?

Note: As with any exercise, always consult with your physician before beginning. Also, start by slowly incorporating the ball into your routine. If you have a sedentary lifestyle begin with one hour a day and work up from there.  Happy sitting!

Constant Contact is a third party email marketing service that I use at womensminstry.net to communicate with our readers.  If you are looking to get your material into the hands of a bigger audience you might want to consider a third party email distribution system like Constant Contact. There are others you should compare to like Mail Chimp, iContact and VerticalRespsonse.  We’ve used Constant Contact since 2006.  It can get a little pricey when you reach larger quantities of contacts, but we haven’t found anything better, so far.

Constant Contact is great not only for eNewsletters but for any type of email communication or news you want to share with your readers. It’s so easy to use that even a non-designer (like me) will feel comfortable creating content that pops! Here are the top 5 reasons why I use Constant Contact.

1.  Easy to Use Design Templates –  I love the easy to use design templates.

2.  Keep up With Your Email List – Easy to read reports help me monitor the growth of our contact list. I can update and import our contacts easily by uploading a spreadsheet file (i.e. Excel). Excellent opportunities to grow your contact list with Forward to a Friend and Join My Mailing List options.

3. Track the Success of Your Links – I can measure the performance of our email campaigns by monitoring the open and click rates of each email and view which links generate the most click-throughs and interest.

4. Enter the Social Media Field – With a click of a button I can send the same email out to all of our social media channels. Then measure our social media success with the Social Stats feature.

5. Great Online Support and Resources – If I have a question, there are multiple topics available through the online Learning Center, as well as, live coaching to help improve our email campaigns.

As you consider how to reach out to your audience, remember that your time is valuable too.  There are many third party email distribution services out there that offer a free trial. Check out several before deciding on the one that works best for you.

Technorati Tags: email, Resources

Michael Hyatt, the Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishing said, “If there’s one thing I have learned, it’s that young men and women are desperate for mentors who will build into their lives.”  A mentor is a  person that can drive you to become all that you desire to be  in your physical, spiritual and emotional journey through life. Even though mentoring can be a serious commitment of time, effort and money, it can be well worth the reward you gain from the experience.

At 35 years of age, I have had the  privilege of being mentored by two godly women, both of whom have dramatically impacted my life. I long to pass on what I have learned from my experience to others and have found these resources to be  a tremendous guide to help me accomplish this goal.

• In his blog post, Michael gives a peek into his own mentoring group. He shares the requirements, commitments, opportunities, schedule, agenda and costs of his mentoring group. Although Michael mentors men, there are some great tools that can be used in mentoring women too.

• One of our womensministry.net contributors, Robyne Beaubien, has compiled a list of her 3 favorite books on mentoring. Check out her article on mentoring resource recommendations for women.

• Be sure to visit  womensministry.net to check out several mentoring articles including WM101:Mentoring Ministries to help you avoid or correct mentoring ministry hiccups.
  

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.”
 – Benjamin Disraeli

Question: Who has God placed in your life to mentor? What action steps will you take to make a difference in the life of someone? Add your comment below.

Technorati Tags: Leadership, Mentoring

Christmas evokes a spirit of giving that should continue throughout the year. So, if you were wondering if it is too late to give a Christmas gift to those in need, it’s not. The door is still open for you to be the hand of Christ to those who need Him.  Check out these organizations that are committed to making a difference in the lives of the less fortunate. Then open your heart and maybe your wallet too and give.

• Samaritan’s Purse -  This organization provides spiritual and physical aid to victims of war, poverty, natural disaster and disease. This global ministry, led by Franklin Graham, touches thousands each year and is the hand of Christ to those who need Him.
• LIFE Outreach International – LIFE’s extensive Mission Feeding program gives 500,000 children per month nourishing, life-saving food. They drill hundreds of fresh water wells to provide clean drinking water and reduce the risk of waterborne disease and deaths. LIFE also reaches into the depths of human trafficking to rescue young girls and women from the streets and brothels  centered in Cambodia, Thailand, India and Romania. Click here to give and find out more.
• MyCharity:Water – This non-profit organization brings clean and safe drinking water to developing nations. 100% of your donation goes to fund water projects. This site also allows you to create campaigns and collect donations in lieu of gifts for Christmas or your birthday. A great way for others to give on behalf of you.

Matthew 25:35-40 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

These days, with all the bells and whistles we have at our fingertips, we are never far from instant access to all of the latest news, weather, entertainment, and yes even Bible study.

Mobile technology like smart phones can provide quick access to the Scriptures wherever we go, whether in a church service or nail salon.

Just the other day, I was sharing with a friend a new way of meditating on the scriptures through a great application called YouVersion. This app allows me to listen to favorite Bible passages in the car or while waiting in line.

• YouVersion is free, available for both iPhone and Android, it includes 18 of the most popular English Bible translations. The app allows you to bookmark and share favorite passages, add your own notes and share meaningful scriptures through social networks like Facebook and Twitter.If you enjoy reading the Bible through a daily reading plan, it has that too!  But, perhaps one of the coolest ways speakers can use the app is through YouVersionlive. This is a excellent resource allowing you to you distribute content through mobile device technology during live events. It enables note and scripture reference sharing as well as audience polling. This allows maximum audience engagement and all in real time.

• The app that travels with me to the gym each week is OnePlace. This free app gives instant access to audio sermons from favorite Bible teachers such as Chuck Swindoll, James Dobson, and Adrian Rogers just to name a few. It is compatible with all Apple devices and allows me to concentrate on God’s word and not my workout.

• Two apps you might not be able to live with out are the Logos app and the Bible Reader app. Both add a great deal of value to my Bible study. They are packed full of helpful resources such as dictionaries, concordances and commentaries. Click here for a side by side comparison of the two. Both applications are free with the option of purchasing additional content. Available for iPhone and Android users.

How grateful I am for the ability to have instant access to God’s word. These helpful tools will help you put into practice Psalm 1:2, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

What are some of your favorite smart phone apps?

Technorati Tags: smart phone apps

Our hearts are grieving with Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar as they were given the heartbreaking news that their 20^th child, who was due in April, had miscarried.

During a routine checkup it was discovered that the newest little Duggar no longer had a heartbeat and had already passed into the arms of Jesus. Us weekly reports that Jim Bob stated, “Michelle is resting comfortably at home with the support of the entire family. We are grateful for all the thoughts and prayers, but ask for privacy during this difficult time.”

Although, I have never personally endured the heartbreaking loss of a child through miscarriage, I have watched many couples around me go through this very difficult process. We will never fully understand why God works in the ways that he does, but Michelle put it beautifully when she said, “The Lord is the giver of life and he can choose when that life is ready to go on and be with Him.” Those who know and believe in Christ find great comfort and hope in trusting all of life’s circumstances to the sovereign Lord.

At a recent Fresh Grounded Faith event, I had the privilege of hearing the Duggar’s speak to the audience about their family and how each child is viewed as a gift to them from their Heavenly Father.  I admire their family and their testimony. I pray that God will give them many opportunities to proclaim His glory through their story. Click here for the Go Gutsy audio series featuring Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar.

keep looking »