Volume 5

Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights. ~Pauline R. Kezer

All of us have been through change - some good; some not so good. We've changed locations, jobs, churches. Some changes are necessary; some are unexpected. It is not always an easy thing to deal with, but how we deal with it will tell a lot about us. Do we accept change gracefully or do we go down kicking and screaming? I have recently started working outside the church (been working outside the home for a while) and it has been a challenge and a big adjustment. There are so many things I miss - the flexibility of working with my husband and being able to leave early to go pick up my grandchildren. I will miss being at the monthly meetings to be with you ladies, too. But I have accepted (almost) the inevitable and pray that as I enter this new mission field I will show the love of Christ to my new co-workers. Pam

Meet Rebecca Carlson...

I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home. Born in SC, I moved from GA to TN and then settled in Central FL at the age of 10. I trusted Christ as my Savior at age 5 and was baptized at age 12. As a teenager I dedicated myself to the Lord to do whatever He wanted of me. And the thing I wanted most of all, even when I was young, was to become the wife of a pastor or a missionary and to become a mother. And being the planner that I am, my plan was - graduate high school, go to college to receive my MRS, begin a family, support my husband and encourage my children, etc. But God had a plan - graduate high school, lean on Him, graduate from college, trust in His timing, teach elementary students, learn His lessons. I met my husband, Scott, when he became my Youth Pastor in 1990. We began dating after I came home from college and started my teaching career in 2001. He, at the time, had become the Assistant Pastor and had taken over the College and Career class (conveniently!). We married the following year. After the first few years of enjoying each other's company we knew that children should start coming into the equation, but none came. Because of our deep desire to have children, we believed that God had plans for our family to expand, so we continued to look toward Him and seek His plan. Just when we thought the door was opening, He shut it and said, "not this way". After a few early miscarriages, we sought medical help. After a few more miscarriages, we bagan researching adoption. This May, we celebrated our 9th anniversary and we have enjoyed 9 wonderful months with our two little boys, Clavin and Connor who were born in 2010.God has blessed us immensely, above and beyond our comprehension and we are so grateful!! Looking back, I think I know why God took me down this path, opening and closing doors. I am a planner; I like having the path lined out step by step and brightly lit. Yet this way leaves no opening to trust God, to see His grace or to receive His blessings. God is also a planner and such a better planner that I. One thing I have learned, yet continually need to be reminded of, is a verse in Isaiah. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." (Is. 55:8)


***Our meeting will be July 11 in Altamonte Springs. Rebecca has planned a ladies meeting
with special guest Traci Williams, missionary to Turkey. Make plans to be at the meeting.***

Next Meeting May 23rd - Grace Bible Baptist - Leesburg

Pastor George, Mrs. Mulford, & the "Grace Bible Baptist Family" extend to you a friendly invitation to attend our May FBBF meeting.

Directions:
Grace Bible Baptist Church
1703 Lewis Rd.
Leesburg, FL 34748
PH. 352-326-5738

www.gbbconline.com

Pastor Mulford was licensed and ordained by Faith Baptist Church in Sarasota, Florida.  He received a degree in Bible from Heritage Baptist University and is currently pursuing a master's degree from Louisiana Baptist University.  He became the pastor of Grace Bible Baptist Church in March of 1991.  He and Kathy have four children and five grandchildren.

Schedule/Speakers:
10:00 a.m. - Officer's Meeting
11:00 a.m. - Pastor Dave Janney, Orlando Baptist Church/World Hope
11:45 a.m. - Business Meeting & Ladies' Fellowship
12:15 p.m. - Lunch (Men & Ladies separate)
1:15 p.m. - Dan Jeffers - Park Street Baptist Church/State Chairman
2:00 p.m. - Pastor Ed Wilds, Palatka Baptist Temple

Volume 4

Mrs. Sunshine Report Volume 3

My what a great few days!! I wish you could have all been in Tavares to hear Cinderella Agoubi share her testimony and hear how God has used her to witness to kings of countries. I was humbled as I listened to how she trusted God, ignored nay-sayers and security to reach them. My neighbors don’t have armed guards around them, yet I am hesitant to go tell them about Christ. The store clerk, waitress or receptionist are easily accessible, yet I barely say ‘hi’ much less hand them a tract. I also wish you could have been at the meeting in Miami. How wonderful to hear from two ladies who have allowed God to work through adversity and use them to touch so many lives. Again I was ashamed at the number of times I have complained and argued with God about little things that I thought were too much for me to handle. Yet I have my son to hug and the arms to hug him with and the legs to carry me to him. Forgive me God for being so selfish and petty. Use me to reach out to others and love them to you.

Thanks for listening in,

Pam Jeffers

Meet… Cynzia Hardy

I grew up in Michigan attending a small church where my dad worked with the teens. I received Christ as my Savior at the age of 16 and moved to Florida when I was 19. Dale and I met while he was attending Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville and we were married three months later. When Dale finished school we moved to Gainesville where we met Pastor Bill and Charlotte Bales. We worked with them to establish a church there. We then moved to Arkansas, then to Port Charlotte to work with the Bales again. We have been serving in Lake Mary for three years. I am currently working at a bank. We have three children. Gretchen is an 8th grade teacher at Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Laurel Anne is a 3rd grade teacher at Metro Christian Academy in Madison, TN and Zachary is in his first year at Trinity and very involved in several different music venues. My favorite verse is Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.”

I would like to give you a “purse”onal invitation to attend the meeting in April. We are going to get to know each other a little more “purse”onally.

Psalm 139:23 “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts”

Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me”

The meeting in Tavares offered us some wonderful money saving tips using coupons. You can check out www.truecouponing.com to learn more and get printable coupons from coupons.com, redplum.com and smartsource.com.

Megan Jennings, youth pastor’s wife at Sonshine Baptist in Port Charlotte, has found another great way to save time and money in the kitchen. She has written a review of E-Mealz. You can read it below.

I personally have found readyseteat.com to be very helpful in finding new recipes. They use common ingredients and give you a variety of choices. You put in your zip code and it will give you the stores in your area that have the needed items on sale.

So, try something new this week!!!

It's 4:30pm, What's For Dinner?

Have you ever had your kids or husband ask you the infamous question, "what's for dinner?" and you stared back at them with a puzzled look? You have no clue what is even in the fridge or how long it’s been there. Then there is the cost of food. A little over a year and a half ago I was reviewing our expenses from a previous month and was floored by the amount that was spent on dinning out and groceries. I also knew that I hadn't done a very good job at planning meals even though my grocery receipts stated otherwise. Meal planning has been an area I have struggled with since we first were married almost 5 years ago. It wasn't that I didn't want to cook, I just had a hard time planning things that sounded good. I tried cutting coupons for a while and saved all sorts of money on various products, but at the end of the day what am I going to cook with 10 bottles of ketchup and 6 boxes of mac and cheese? Once my daughter came, I felt extremely overwhelmed with trying to raise my family, be a ministry helpmate, work part time, and plan meals. My husband saw me overwhelmed and encouraged me to just do whatever I needed to do to make things work. I dropped the coupon clipping (except for diapers and wipes) and just planned whatever I could. This is when I stumbled upon E-Mealz on Facebook. I visited the website and after some research my husband agreed to take 3 months and $15.00 to try and see if it could work for us. I signed up, and the ease of meal planning and shopping became a burden lifted off my shoulders. Not only that, but it has allowed us to save money on dinning out because we are doing it less. We are actually eating the food we purchased at the store for our meals. E-Mealz is a weekly meal planning subscription that will help you save time and money. The cost is just $1.50 per week, purchased in 3 month plans. There are a variety of meal plans to choose from: "meal plans for 2" for those of us with smaller families and for those who are empty nesters, or "family plans" for families of 4-6. They base their plans on in sale items from stores like Publix, Kroger, Wal-Mart, and ALDI. They also make plans that are for point systems, vegetarian, low carb, low fat, and even gluten free diets. You choose the store and/or meal plan and they give you the plan with a complete aisle by aisle grocery list. Your grocery bill based on the plans typically run around $40-50/week for the couples' plans and $60-80/week for the family plans. I have used E-Mealz for over 6 months and I know it has saved me time and money, not to mention the stress of planning. There is also a program to help you earn money as you promote E-Mealz to your friends and family. One of the other benefits is that it gives me new recipes that I might not have otherwise tried. Everything is very simple to make and typically uses ingredients that you have actually heard of and probably already have at home. Give E-Mealz a try and see for yourself how much time and money you can save.

Next Meeting - Lighthouse Baptist - Lake Mary

Lighthouse Baptist Church

Pastor Dale, Mrs. Hardy and the lighthouse "family" extend you a friendly invitation to attend our April 11th FBBF Meeting.  We will have a day filled with preaching, BBQ and Fellowship!  There will also be a few special surprises.  Please dress comfortably as we will be eating outside under our pavilion.  We will serve an old fashioned Florida BBQ starting at noon.

Our theme for the day... "Reaching the next generation of servants"


Our schedule for the day...


10:00 a.m.  - Officer's Meeting 
11:00 a.m. - First Speaker - Joel Johns
12:00 Noon - "Old Fashioned" Florida BBQ Lunch (Bring a big appetite)
1:00 p.m. - Second Speaker - Russell Johnson
1:00 p.m. - Ladies Activity
Final Speaker - Bill Bales


There will also be a few special surprises.  We look forward to hosting you.  Come and enjoy a day planned with you in mind, we want to be an encouragement to you and your ministry.

Directions
6815 Markham Rd.
Sanford, FL 32771

407-829-4400

March 14th - IBB Miami

 FBBF @ IBB

17701 NW 57th Avenue - Miami, Florida 33055

MIAMI:

The Rules are different here.

Several years ago, that was the pitch for South Florida tourism, and for many, that probably holds true.  However, the rules for hosting pastors are the same everywhere:  Good food, challenging preaching and real fellowship - the verb.

WE ARE HERE TO SERVE YOU

God has blessed us with a great group of people that will do their very best to serve you in any way they can. If there is anything you need, please call me at (786) 525-6468.

IF YOU NEED A HOTEL

If you wish to stay in the area, I would highly recommend PRICELINE.COM

Under “Name Your Own Price” put in Miramar, FL (#8).  In the past few weeks we have been able to get a

3 star hotel for a bid of only $65.

If you will make the drive, we will strive to make it worth it!

We invite ALL MISSIONARIES to set up display areas at this meeting.

Program Highlights

10:00  - Officer's Meeting

11:00  - Women - Sharon Smith; 

            -  Men - Brian Burkholder * Church Planting Candidate.       

 Cuban Meal

1:00 - Jeff & Burnadette Todd

2:00 - Jim Smith

Musical Guest: Wings of Morning & Other Surprises

Driving Directions

BRIAN & VICKIE BURKHOLDER

Hollywood Community Church

 (Formerly First Baptist Church

 of West Hollywood)

   JEFF & BERNADETTE TODD

   Mission of Hope

   International Missionary

   & Inspirational Speaker

 JIM & SHARON SMITH

Thirty year missionaries in Ecuador

Presently serving at BBFI Missions Service Center

Next Meeting - February 14th - Jax Metro Church

Schedule:
10:00 a.m. - Officer's Meeting
11:00 a.m. - First Speaker - Pastor Kevin Hale - East Pointe Church Jacksonville
11:45 a.m. - Second Speaker - Pastor Frank Cerisi - University Baptist Church - Jacksonville
12:30 p.m. - Lunch & Business Meeting
1:30 p.m. - Testimonies and dismissal

Special Note: Since this meeting is held on Valentines Day, here is a great opportunity for you preachers to gain some "love points" with your spouse!
     One Ocean Resort is a gorgeous new 5 star hotel on the ocean in Atlantic Beach.  Just two miles from the church.  Jax Metro Church used to meet in this building, and they are offering some great rates for either Sunday night (Feb 13th) or Monday night (Feb. 14th).

Remember guys,  this is a 5 star ocean front, so don't be stingy.  Rates are $179 for an ocean view without a balcony, and $199 for an ocean front with a balcony.  There is also a $25 charge for all of your room goodies, coffee etc. during your stay, and $15 parking if you park at the hotel.  There is generally lots of public parking close to the building.  I am very familiar with this hotel, and there is nothing like it in the entire Jacksonville area.  Your wife will LOVE it!

Blessings!
Dan Pride, Lead Pastor


Directions to the meeting:

Held at the Majestic Room
1315 North 2nd Ave.
Jacksonville FL 32250