Mountain Top Experience….

This past weekend we had our Annual Pure Joy Board, Advisors, Staff and Spouses Retreat. We held it in a location we have lovingly named “God’s Mountain”. We have met in that location for the past 3 years. It is awesome! And to our friends who allow us to use their home to retreat annually, words are not enough!! Thank you for giving in so many ways!!

I’m so thankful for that mountain top experience because we needed to be refreshed and rejuvenated ourselves as a ministry staff… especially since we opened registration Monday for the Italy retreat and we have already had 30 women sign up as of this writing and it is growing by the minute! Yea, God!!

Also due to the location of the retreat we are increasing sponsorship per missionary to $600 instead of $500. We have looked at several locations. Either they are not in a safe area of Naples or the conference rooms are too small, which we deal with often in foreign countries. Most of our time together is spent in the conference room so it is important for it to be very conducive to what we hope God will accomplish through us while we are there. So, if God is moving on your heart to give, please give. You can donate on line or by sending your check in the mail.

I want to give you a challenge I gave our Board, Advisors, and Staff along with a journal. (Sorry, you are on your own for the journal.) The challenge was to watch for God to do AMAZING things this year. Make sure and write ONLY the AMAZING things God does this year. Do not use it for a grocery list. Ha, ha, ha. Next year when we come back together they were all instructed to bring their journals with them and share. Maybe you could send us some of your journal entries at the end of the year.

By the way, “amazing” is defined by Webster as great surprise or wonder. That is what we desire to do every time we leave the country to go minister to a new group of missionary women. We want them to be amazed by HIM. Hopefully, Pure Joy brings that to the field on all our trips. In Mongolia He did that through a gift someone provided from home for one of the missionary women. Who would have thought Cheez-its could be so amazing!

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Please pray for the Italy team as we prepare for our departure in April. Lots of details need to be taken care of and missionaries need to be sponsored.

Love you all…

His,

Vickie

A Hearty Salute….

This past week I was blessed with an opportunity to sit down with a pastor from a local body of believers in another area of our state. As we began to visit about Pure Joy International he shared with me that he and his wife had served on the field in Venezuela in South America. He went on to explain that so many men in ministry do not recognize what their wives carry in the area of responsibility on the field. He shared how he was gone much of the time as a church planter, how hard decisions were regarding schooling for the kids, etc. As I showed him the videos from a couple of our trips where the missionary women shared what Pure Joy meant to them and how refreshing it was and how needed it was he said, “We men don’t get it.” I appreciated his heart. And I appreciate the hearts of the men that do get it. Many times women have showed up at a retreat because their husbands have told them, “You have to go, you need this.” And I appreciate this pastor that gets it now and recognizes other men in ministry need to get it. Thank you pastor!

Today I just wanted to give a hearty salute to our missionary men on the field that have supported your wives in taking time to come to a Pure Joy Retreat. Thank you that you recognized the need and we are prayerful that you benefited from it as well as your family.

Registration will open up for the Italy later this week. Again if you have missionary friends in that part of the world please tell them to keep a watch on the web site Home page www.purejoyinternational.org.

Click here to view video.

Have a Blessed week…

His,

Vickie

Italy is coming up quickly...

Well, we are off and running again. Naples, Italy, is on our schedule for our next retreat for missionary women, April 22-25, 2015. We are presently in the process of negotiating with a hotel and the team is already tentatively full with a waiting list. We haven’t opened up registration yet and this is the first time I am sharing about the retreat publicly. If in reading this you believe you are supposed to be on this team, please contact me and get on the team member waiting list. Having said all of that, would you please be prayerful concerning potential team members who are making a decision regarding this trip? Pray their hearts are pure before Him in seeking direction about going. Italy sounds so romantic to a woman. And, yes, we can be deceived in our hearts about motives for a trip. As always, we just want God’s team for this group of women, at this time, and in this location of the world.  

If you have a missionary friend who is located in that part of the world, please get the word out that registration will be opening on-line at www.purejoyinternational.org very soon. Keep a watch on our web page for the registration link and announcement.

We are two weeks into our new year. I have to share something with you that is sooooo funny to me. My little great nephew is 2 ½ years old at present. Last year his picture on Santa’s lap looked like he was auditioning for a role in a children’s version of Scrooge. Let’s just say we weren’t running out making copies of that picture. This year ran a close second on the picture taking. He just couldn’t quite handle the guy in the big red suit and white beard thing. He did get that it is Jesus’ birthday but then again he likes to sing "Happy Birthday" on a daily basis to whatever name rolls up on his little brain. While we were looking forward to him at least enjoying his gifts a little more this year, that too fell short as he was sick during the holidays for a substantial amount of time. HOWEVER, the one thing that has stuck with him this Christmas is the movie Polar Express or as he calls it, “The Color Express.” We don’t know how he got that name but he is locked into it. It took us forever to figure out what he was asking for the second day after he had seen the movie. He has (really, we have) watched it many times since then and literally this past weekend he got all excited about Christmas. He wants to know if he is getting presents (so much for what we all got him for Christmas, ha,ha,ha), loves the reindeers, the train (All aboard!), dancing with the serving of chocolate to the passengers, and any other time there is an opportunity to get us to dance with him. Yes, I think he might be able to come up with a smile if he was having his picture with Santa now.  

Why did I share this? I want to encourage you...We all have people in our lives who we want to understand the excitement and joy of knowing and living for Jesus. Sometimes just when we think they are there, it turns out to be not such a good picture. Don’t give up! You never know when that moment is going to click in them and they are going to finally get excited about Jesus. There may be a few bad pictures along the way, but don’t lose hope!

Proverbs 13:12 (ESV)

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

 

Love you all,

His,

Vickie

2015.......

Well, here we are - another year before us. Remember when a year seemed like eternity? Of course we were only 7 or 8 then. Ha,ha,ha,ha. In all seriousness growing up we got to spend the summers with my grandparents on the farm. Those 3 months were awesome and it seemed like they lasted forever!! The older I got the time seemed shorter. Much shorter. I know those of you that are over 8 years of age reading this understand. Ha,ha,ha

Time is an interesting thing, isn’t it? It can seem like forever, or go by so fast you can’t believe it, or be just right. I’m thinking most of us aren’t experiencing the ‘just right’ part. Hmmmmm

So, what causes time to feel like it is moving slower than we want or faster than we want? Why does one person seem to get everything accomplished they desire during a day and another is stressed out of their mind with a lack of time issue? We all know this truth…..we all get 24 hours in a day. So what’s the difference?

I’m thinking that my answer will be taken flippantly by many as “oh yeah, I know that.” But, seriously, we may know it in our heads but we don’t believe it in our hearts. But, here it is….

It is the object of our Trust. You know God’s word tells us in Isaiah 26:3 -

Isaiah 26:3 (ESV)
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

Just think with me for a minute on this verse. It says in essence… God does keep in perfect peace those who have committed to focus on him, because they trust Him. Now let’s apply that to our day. This morning you woke up... What was the first thing on your mind? Was it God? Was there even a thought towards Him? Like “good morning, Father”? Like “thank you that your mercies are new every day”? Like “I exalt Your Name today, LORD”? Like “this is going to be a crazy day and I need you to guide me through it”? I think you get the picture. I would say most times we wake up with thoughts like “what time is it”? We hit the snooze button a few times. We start thinking, “I have to get the kids up, dressed, to school, work, or homeschool…the house, laundry, work deadlines, bible studies,” etc., etc. NONE of which are bad things. But, when we start out without a thought toward Him we are, without thinking about it, putting our trust in ourselves to accomplish all those things during the day. We leave Him out and we have no peace because our focus isn’t in resting in Him and His plan for our day but is on ourselves and others and the expectations we have placed upon ourselves and/or others to perform a certain way. Thus, time becomes a sub-focus because things are moving slower than we want or faster than we want and now our anxiety level grows and our self-condemnation of what we did or didn’t do in that 24 our period takes over. We lay our heads down at night exhausted, feeling like we missed something, frustrated with self and others and all the other junk we do when we are driven by the flesh.    

I love a term my sweet friend Iva May uses in her W3 discipleship material for women when she references the verse from Titus 2 about the older women training up the younger women. After giving a word study on admonish or train, she concludes with this statement: 

"She (the older woman) is to train the younger women to think sanely or with a saved mind; in a word, to be disciplined."

Girls (and guys reading this), when we “Keep our mind stayed on Him (trust Him)” from the moment we open our eyes until we close them daily, we will have perfect peace. Does that mean your day will be circumstance free of crazy stuff? No. It just means when our mind is stayed on Him and we trust Him and not ourselves, we think sanely and/or with a saved mind when we deal with the day. BIG DIFFERENCE!! Peace and time do have a cause and effect relationship so may I encourage us to keep your mind stayed on Him

His,

Vickie

2015 Upon Us……

I was recently reading an old Calvin and Hobbs funnies newspaper clip about New Year’s Resolutions. Calvin was upset with Hobbs’ obvious insinuation that Calvin had made a New Year’s Resolution - to which Calvin responded defensively with an overall attitude of “I’m perfect- what’s to change”.   

We all probably know some people that see themselves that way! Ha,ha,ha,ha,ha But, truthfully you cannot be a follower of Christ and not recognize the need to grow daily in our likeness of Him which is part of the journey.

I spoke with a precious young man this past week that has lots of things on his heart and plate.

I loved something that he said, which is so true. “Well, no matter what I do there are going to be consequences.” Absolutely, I responded to him. For every choice you make there is a consequence, maybe good and maybe bad, but there will be one or two or three or…….

That is why many years ago I made a decision to choose to seek after the LORD in all things. All things, yes! Is it hard? Yes! Do I fail at it? Yes! Do I just want to give up sometimes? Yes! Would the world’s way of handling life, emotions, thoughts, words, behaviors/actions, etc. be easier? Yes, temporarily. But aren’t you tired of watching and living with the consequences of how the world does things that impact your life? Yes! Why would we want to contribute to that?

As we step into a new year I want to encourage you to hide these verses in your heart! Memorize them!  

Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith!” And remember this, He endured the cross, because of the joy set before Him. He knew where He was headed! Precious ones….we know where we are headed!

If you are going to make one New Year’s Resolution that will lead to major changes and good consequences when it is all said and done, choose to look up and become more like Him in 2015.  

Love you all and I am praying for a Blessed and Growing in Him New Year for us all!

His,

Vickie

Priceless…

A couple of weeks ago I was playing with my 2 ½  year old great nephew in the living room floor. He is kind of a hat fanatic as long as it isn’t the hat you need him to put on for the cold weather outside. He likes to put on pans, and cups, bowls, books and anything else he can balance on his head, which he then identifies as, “look at my hat”. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that he found great joy in balancing an empty popcorn can from Walmart on top of his head at just the right angle to stay long enough for me to capture a precious picture moment. Seriously, we are talking it sat there on his head all of 2 seconds. But, isn’t it sweet when the timing of something is perfect and it wasn’t planned. Don’t get me wrong I plan lots of pictures for the little guy to be in but they don’t work out so well. Ha,ha,ha

OK, so no that isn’t my 2 ½ year old nephew but you get the idea. 

In a few days, Christmas Eve and Christmas day will be upon many of us. And I suspect lots of planning has gone in to it for many of us. Trying to figure who is going to be where, when, and what gifts will be opened at what house. What is meant to be a joyful, peaceable, and exciting time of celebration and good will towards man can so easily be lost in the middle of the chaos of it all.

My point: Keep those hearts, ears, and eyes open because you never know when that perfect timing of something not planned takes place right in front of you and it is priceless! 

Two thousand years ago, that moment happened not according to man’s plans but God’s plans. And the amazing thing is, if you will open your hearts, ears, and eyes you can still experience the sweetness of the birth of Christ in your own life. It is a priceless moment when that takes place!

We at Pure Joy International want to wish you and yours a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

His,

Vickie

The Joy of Moving in our Spiritual Gifting…

The week of December 1 -7 was a pretty fun week for me. While I didn’t have a voice most of it, I did experience the joy of moving in my spiritual gifting. I had two opportunities to share with women about Pure Joy at Christmas dinners: one in Olive Branch, Mississippi, and the other at my home church.

The tables were decorated so beautifully. I am including a very small sampling of tables but maybe you can see some others in the background of some of the pictures. 

Something very exciting took place in my heart that week. I was reminded of the joy of moving in our spiritual gifting. Those two speaking events allowed me to spend time sharing the message God would have me bring to those women specifically, along with sharing about Pure Joy and my people group: missionary women. If you really want to see me experiencing some joy, it is when I’m exhorting my people group or talking about them!

I’m not sure what any of the women got out of those two meetings but I know God reaffirmed in me the joy of moving in the gifting He has given me: to encourage and exhort people in their walks with God by being in the Word and applying the Word to their lives daily.

  

I want to encourage you in your walk with God. Please if you are not growing in your walk with God get in the Word. Yes, God gives us others to encourage us and feed us regarding His Word but honestly you better know how to feed yourself because most of the people around you are probably starving. Also, you can’t afford to eat out all the time! And you can’t afford not to eat if you are going to withstand the struggles of this world! It isn’t going to get easier! Don’t be deceived! As believers we need to be in the Word and we need each other!

  

I pray you know and are reminded of the joy of moving in the gifting He has given you so you may experience the joy of His presence!

Love you all,

His,

Vickie