Treasure Boxes to Open All Year Long (They'll Save You Money)

I just found out about a pretty amazing ministry that I believe has the capability of helping a lot of people not only make it through these challenging financial times but continue to be good stewards of the family budget AND provide an inexpensive way to lend a hand to others in need. It is called "The Treasure Box." Here is a description from their website...

"The Treasure Box provides families and individuals with a substantial box of grocery store quality food retailing between $65-100 for just $30 each...Each Treasure Box contains between 21-25 pounds of high quality, frozen foods, including chicken, pork, beef, or seafood, as well as vegetables, fruit, a side dish and a dessert. One Treasure Box is enough food to nutritiously feed a family of four lunch and dinner for almost a week or a senior citizen for nearly a month."

Our church just signed up to be a host site and that even might be something that you could look into for your church or charity organization. We found it to be a very low commitment of time and energy but with potentially huge impact. It basically required our church to open up our parking lot to The Treasure Box truck for two hours once a month so that people could show up to pick up their pre-paid box of food.

Our family not only signed up to get a box once a month to help with our grocery bill but we are considering ways we might be able to give the gift of The Treasure Box to friends and family that might be going through some tough times.

If you sign up before Saturday you can receive the December box. Here is a great link that will show a brief video with more information about the program and what the actual food in the box looks like. I hope you find it as helpful and hopeful as we have.

http://www.thetreasurebox.org/video.php

Blessings to you,
Tracy Klehn

Your First Christmas Blessing

Sunshine let it be, or frost,
Storm or calm, as Thou shalt choose;
Though Thine every gift were lost
Thee Thyself we cannot lose.
-Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861-1907)


"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever."
Deuteronomy 29:29 NIV

God Bless you all and may this be the beginning of your "Most Magnificent" Christmas season ever! May you and yours always live in an awareness of what truly "belongs" to you...the gift that can never be taken away and may that awareness spill over to those around you that they might soon possess that which you do as well.

Love Your Sister in Christ,
Tracy Klehn

Thanksgiving Dinner Idea

"Crazy, jumps and screams a LOT, and is a good cook"

This was my twelve year old daughters' answer to the conversation starter card that said "describe your mother in one sentence." I'd say she pretty much has me pegged wouldn't you (for those of you who have spent any time with me)?

With pending "Dinner Conversations" just around the corner (Thanksgiving) I thought it might be fun for you and your kids to sit down and brainstorm some fun conversation starter questions for your Holiday Dinners. You can even let the kids print them up on the computer or write them in crayon on file cards and let them decide how best to present them at Thanksgiving dinner...a basket, a box, a little bag...

It might just be a new tradition in the making and a way to get people talking, laughing and feeling even more thankful for the love that surrounds them.

Happy Thanksgiving from your crazy, jumping and screaming girlfriend,
Tracy Klehn

New Bible Study by one of my Favorite Autors (Jennifer Kennedy Dean)

Hi Ladies,

Here is a new Bible Study from an author I really enjoy. I hope you enjoy the interview and the excerpt from her new study.

Blessings,
Tracy Klehn

New Hope Publishers

ISBN: 10-1596692634

ISBN: 13-978-1596692633

Release Date: 9/1/09

Retail: $14.99

Jennifer Kennedy Dean is Executive director of The Praying Life Foundation and a respected author and speaker. She is the author of numerous books, studies, and magazine articles specializing in prayer and spiritual formation. Her book Heart’s Cry has been named National Day of Prayer’s signature book. You’ll find articles and daily quotes from Jennifer at the National Day of Prayer website. Her book, Live a Praying Life, has been called a flagship work on prayer.

Jennifer was widowed in 2005 after 26 years of marriage to Wayne Dean, her partner both in life and ministry. They are the parents of three grown sons. Jennifer makes her home in Marion, KY.

An Interview with Jennifer Kennedy Dean

You are known for your extensive research and your fresh insights. Do you have a method for gleaning new concepts?

Of course, the truths are not new, but I think I sometimes am able to frame old truths in new ways. I always find that when I put the words of Jesus into their original Hebraic setting and experience the scene through the viewpoint of His real-time audience, some new little fragment of truth finds its way into my thinking. I like to let the Scripture breathe. To let it sit in my heart until its full aroma has time to emerge. There's the hard-core research, and then there's the marinating. Turn your imagination loose and unfurl your curiosity, and listen to the living Word.

You have a series of Bible studies in the format of Set Apart, designed to be interactive. This series of studies has video series and leader's kits available. What is the advantage to this kind of format?

I try to produce a new Bible study with video series every year. I like the interactive format because I like to pull the reader into the Scripture to experience the Word. I like to challenge the reader to interact with the thoughts and ideas and to take the time to absorb them and apply them, rather than just to read. The other thing I like about this format is that it can be done by an individual, or as a group. In the video series, I like to be able to teach the main points of the material and set the learners' up for a productive week of personal study. I love feeling like I get to be part of your Bible study group! The kits have lots of other resources for leading a small group in the study.

Several of your studies have theme songs that go with them, as Set Apart does. How do these songs come about?

I have developed a song-writing relationship with a talented musician named Roxanne Lingle. I write poems, we turn them into lyrics, Roxanne composes and arranges the music, and Roxanne records the songs. For Set Apart, we have the theme song in the form of a music video, which is a new addition. In the leader's kit you have the audio track, accompaniment track, lead sheet, and the music video. The theme song becomes an important and worshipful part of the study experience.

About the Book:

(Marion, Kentucky) - In a world of self-love and materialism it's reassuring to know that God's Word has a better plan for living. Renowned author and speaker, Jennifer Kennedy Dean, provides insight to the life of Christ, specifically the Sermon on the Mount, in her new book, Set Apart: A 6 Week Study of the Beatitudes.

Through careful study of the Hebrew traditions of biblical times, Dean leads participants into a deeper awareness of this early ministry sermon series by Christ.

Jennifer guides readers to a heightened understanding of each beatitude, correlating the Ten Commandments with the Sermon on the Mount to tie these Old and New Testament principles together. Dean shares how living the Set Apart Life is an exciting and life-changing spiritual journey. Participants surrendered to Christ will see a total transformation: outward actions of holiness as well as inward attitudes of joy. Believers following along in this workbook will experience the life God intends. This blessedness comes from seeking and knowing God. Anything outside the realm of Jesus Christ results in emptiness--the ultimate opposite of blessing.

Each chapter includes interactive questions for readers to answer, emphasizing God's desire to reproduce the character and attitudes of Jesus in each Christian's life. Along with the Bible study book, there is a Leader Kit that includes six DVD sessions and a CD with bonus material for small-group leaders. Jennifer's website, www.prayinglife.org, provides opportunities for previewing the Set Apart materials and extra resources for pastors and leaders.

If you'd like to see Jennifer teach an excerpt of the book click on the link below...

http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=7a2a32c15229df5a5359

Adapted from Set Apart by Jennifer Kennedy Dean

"I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor 12:9-10).

My weakness is my greatest asset in the Kingdom. My weakness is where God meets me. My weakness is where Christ's power is most clearly displayed in me. Only when I am confronted with my own helplessness can I experience the power of Christ in me.

"Your helplessness is your best prayer. It calls from your heart to the heart of God with greater effect than all your uttered pleas. He hears it from the very moment that you are seized with helplessness, and He becomes actively engaged at once in hearing and answering the prayer of your helplessness." (O. Hallesby, Prayer)

I recently had the tiniest glimpse of how powerfully helplessness speaks. A few years ago, I lost my husband to brain cancer. During the final months of his illness, he became utterly helpless. The man I had leaned on for 26 years, whose strength I counted on, was now dependent upon me for his every need. During those weeks, my ear was tuned to his every sigh, his every restless movement, every change in his breathing pattern. If I had to be out of his room for even a few minutes, I had a monitor with me so I could hear him if he needed me. When he was strong, I was not so attentive. His needs did not fill my waking moments, when he could meet them himself. His helplessness spoke louder than any word he might have spoken. Because of his helplessness--because I knew he could do nothing on his own--I was on watch day and night.

My experience is but a pale shadow of the reality of the Kingdom, but still it helps me understand how my weakness is the opening for His strength. The fact of my helplessness is the only prayer I need. It speaks louder than eloquence.

Let your helplessness and your weakness be the offering you bring to Him. He is not waiting for you to be strong. He is waiting for you to recognize that you are weak.

GRAND PRIZE DRAWING

Please leave a comment to be entered in a drawing to win the following items from Jennifer. If you are a leader (small groups, book club, Bible Study, Women's Ministry), please note that you are--you will automatically be entered in the contest. If you are a member of one of these groups at your church or community, mention that you are a group member.

You will be entered to win:

A Set Apart Leader's Kit (video and leader resources and a student book) retail $79.99

A copy of Fueled by Faith (retail $19.99)

Jennifer will have a live web event just for your group

An Amazing "No Guilt" Prayer for Moms

I found this prayer/poem several years ago in the book When I'm on My Knees by Anita Corrine Donihue. The author of the actual poem is listed as "unknown" which I think is classic because there are so many moms out there that feel that their work and worship is going on "unnoticed" and they are "unknown" but the truth in God's Word says that "He is the God who sees." Let this prayer encourage you...

Lord of all pots and pans and things

since I've no time to be

A saint by doing lovely things,

or watching late with Thee,

Or dreaming in the dawnlight,

or storming heaven's gates,

Make me a saint by getting meals,

and washing up the plates.



Although I must have Martha's hand,

I have a Mary mind;

And when I black the boots and shoes,

Thy sandals, Lord, I find,

I think of how they trod the earth,

each time I scrub the floor;

Accept this meditation, Lord,

I haven't time for more.


Warm all the kitchen with Thy love,

and light it with Thy peace,

Forgive me all my worrying,

and make all grumbling cease.

Thou who didst love to give me food,

in room or by sea,

Accept this service that I do-

I do it unto Thee.

Blessings this week as you serve your family and worship your Lord,
Tracy Klehn

Ping Pong Conversations

Labor Day Weekend marks the anniversary of the first time I met my husband. He hosted a barbecue and invited my roommate and she brought me along. That weekend I played my very first game of ping pong and it just so happened to be with a tall, handsome man with a great smile and big brown eyes. About twenty minutes into our "match" I announced with shock and enthusiasm "I didn't know I was so good at this game!!!" For indeed I was making contact with every swing of the paddle. It was probably about a year later that Russ confessed "I knew that if I got the ball right to your paddle that you would keep talking to me and that our conversation wouldn't have to end."

Okay...how sweet is that? He didn't want to stop talking to me!

How awesome is it to know that you have a Savior who never wants your conversation to end? How terrific is it that Jesus doesn't need you to "hit the ball right to his paddle" in order to keep talking to Him? That all day, every day the One who knows you best and loves you most is ready and available to talk and listen to every concern of your heart.

Why don't you take a minute right now to share a moment of sweet conversation with your Savior?

"pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children."
Lamentations 2:19

I Think I'm In Love...Help With Meal Planning

If you are a mom and your kids have gone back to school, you may just be doing what I am doing right now...trying to figure out what to have for dinner this week so that you can make your grocery list.

I was recently told about a website that can help with this process. In fact, the gals that operate the website make it as easy as possible by scouring the stores for the items that are on sale and then formulating a menu plan. They also include recipes (that are EASY) with their menu plan AND they tell you what groceries you'll need for the week to make the recipes. They do all of this work and charge a VERY minimal amount per week to do so ($1.25). This service called, E-mealz may just be an answer to prayer. Check it out and let me know what you think and how it goes...I'm going to start it with you okay???

Here is the link to www.e-mealz.com