This month we’re rolling two issues of You Glo Girl! into one as our Priority staff enjoys a summer Sabbath. We’re simplifying our responsibilities for the summer, and some of our staff have taken a break from writing their usual columns. While this Sabbath edition of You Glo Girl! may be a little lighter in length, it’s message is the same: in seasons of Sabbath rest as in seasons of labor and toil, give God priority, and you’ll glo girl!
Run Away With A Good Read
by Laurie Cole, Founder & President
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“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth,
but he rested on the seventh day and was refreshed."
Exodus 31:17 NLT
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Rest, refresh, relax, restore, revive. What a lovely list of words – and God loves every one of them. After all, He’s the author and source of the Sabbath. I wonder. Could you use a little rest and refreshment? I thought so. Then c’mon – let’s run away to the country for a little R&R with one of my all-time favorite authors.
Vance Havner was a country boy who grew up surrounded by the
North Carolina
hills in the early 1900s. He began preaching when he was only 12 years old, and years later he became a well-known, well-traveled preacher, conference speaker, and author. But when he needed a break, when he longed for spiritual refreshment, Dr. Havner physically (or mentally) trekked to the backwoods of his childhood. Let’s go there with him right now by reading a few paragraphs from his pen:
Today there came a letter from the folks back home, from the little house in the hills where this poor scribe dreamed the long, long dreams of youth. They tell me that spring has come again: “the woods are green and the mocking-bird is singing.” That is enough! They needn’t tell me any more! I know the rest, and I’m up and away on the wings of fancy, heading straight back home!
Yonder is the old house among the oaks and the plain dirt road by it. I’m crossing the pasture fence and bound for the hollow. ...I hear the wood-thrush chiming from the big oak down by the spring. It is late afternoon and I climb the hill again just in time to see sundown along the Blue Ridge skyline while the night-hawk “zooms” above and the whippoorwill marks the end of a perfect day...
We are all getting pretty well frayed in the mad pandemonium of these frenzied times. What with making a living and paying debts and keeping abreast of the times and up with the Joneses, some of us are sadly addled and not sure most of the time whether we are going or coming. ...Calm yourself: “the woods are green and the mocking-bird is singing” back home! ....
Let me relax, throw open the windows of my stuffy little soul and let the cooling breezes of a better world sweep through! What will all my petty worries amount to fifty years from now? I will rejoice in the old simplicities which no man can take away – like spring and green woods and mocking-birds. And, better still, I will rest my soul in the goodness of God and His amazing grace, that saves a poor sinner like me.
- Vance Havner, By The Still Waters
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Even a brief reading from Vance Havner feels like a mini-vacation to me – that’s why I plan on reading a couple of his books this summer. Maybe you could use a rejuvenating book this summer, too. Sadly, most of Dr. Havner’s books are out of print now, but don’t let that stop you. Our staff has created a brief list of suggested summer reading for you, beloved sister, and we trust it will point you to a relaxing summer read.
Yes, I realize you’re a busy woman with very little time for summertime reading and relaxation – so am I, but maybe that’s exactly why we need to make time. So grab a great book. Sit down in a comfy chair. Cease from your labor and enjoy a refreshing getaway inside the pages of an old or new, oft-read or never-been-read, fiction or non-fiction book. After all, if God took time to rest and be refreshed, shouldn’t we?
Priority Passage of the Month
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Here’s a summer invitation you’ll definitely want to accept:
“Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.’”
Matthew 11:28-29 NLT
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Priority Picks for Summer Reading
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Enjoy a low-cost vacation this summer – escape into a book! Our staff has picked a few of our favorites to recommend to you, and we pray one (or more) of these blessed books will provide you with some glorious rest and spiritual renewal this summer. |
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Laurie's picks:
(non-fiction and fabulous)
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Stephanie's pick:
(non-fiction and liberating)
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Jan's picks:
(fiction for rest and restoration)
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Courtney's picks:
(non-fiction with real truth for real life)
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Pam's picks:
(fiction for inspiration and relaxation)
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Shanda's pick:
(fiction based on the prophecies in the book of Revelation)
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Debbie's pick:
(fiction for building your faith)
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Janet's picks:
(fiction for spiritual refreshment)
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New! Online Giving
by Debbie Todd, Director of Stewardship & Support
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We’re so excited to announce that you can now Partner with Priority and…
Give online!!!
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Yes, we now have a secure and simple site where you can make your donation NOW, which means you don’t have to:
- Look for your checkbook.
- Look for our mailing address.
- Look for a stamp, or
- Look for time to do all of the above!
Just go to our website, click Support Priority, and follow the links to donate!
With your gift of $25 or more, you’ll receive Laurie’s CD message, “A MapQuest® Guide To God’s Will For Your Life.” Or, with your gift of $100 or more, we’ll send you a beautiful pink, faux leather One Year Bible and a cute custom journal. It’s our desire to bless you for blessing us.
Thanks in advance for considering partnering with us in this way – and you didn’t even have to look for a pen!
To make your gift as a Priority Partner, register online today!
Email Debbie
Priority Ministries is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Journey With Janet & Laurie
by Janet Valentine, Executive Director
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Laurie and I have unpacked our suitcases for a couple of months to enjoy a summer Sabbath from teaching and traveling. But our final event in May was such a gift from God – I’ve just got to tell you all about it and share a few sweet snapshots with you.
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This past Mother’s day was very special for me. My mother, Peggy Whitlock, flew in from
Oklahoma
just in time to go with me to hear Laurie speak at our final event for May at
First
Baptist
Church
,
Silsbee
,
TX
. This is an annual Mother/Daughter event at their church. How precious it was to be able to take my mother and enjoy the festivities.
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My mother, Peggy Whitlock, and me
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Laurie talks with Lori Moody
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Lori Moody, Women’s Ministry leader and pastor’s wife at FBC Silsbee, created a sweet feminine flair for this very special event complete with little girls in their Sunday best and some great praise and worship music. We all were challenged by listening to Laurie’s teaching from Titus 2 reminding us of our responsibility to be godly examples to other women – young and old.
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Laurie’s evening was enriched by having her daughter-in-law, Stephanie, with her. Stephanie is the precious mother of Laurie’s grandson, Ezra.
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Stephanie & Laurie
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We especially want to welcome all of our new glo girlfriends from FBC Silsbee. Thanks for subscribing to You Glo Girl! It was a joy and a blessing meeting so many of you at the Mother/Daughter banquet. We pray this newsletter will bless and encourage you each month.
Laurie and I will hit the road again in August and head to
San Diego
,
CA
, for a glorious women’s retreat with The
Rock
Church
,
and we certainly want to invite all of our
California
glo girlfriends to come and glo with us! Click here for more information.
Our calendar for 2008 is filling up faster than ever – glory to God! If you’re interested in possibly booking Laurie to speak at your women’s retreat or event, I’d love to hear from you. You cannot imagine how much we appreciate your prayers and support for this ministry. Blessings to you!
Email Janet
New! Glo Girl Updated Archives
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If you like You Glo Girl!, you’re gonna love our archives! We just finished uploading all of our past issues onto our new site, and whew! It was a lot of work, but it’s sooooo wonderful. It’s kinda like having a Priority scrapbook right on our site. |
Special thanks to our brand new techno glo girlfriend, Shonda Hector, who spent many hours updating our archives for us. In a little less than two months, Shonda pasted and posted almost two years worth of You Glo Girl! newsletters to our site. What a woman!
Glo on – drop by for a visit at our You Glo Girl! archives. It’s just one more way we’re encouraging and equipping women just like you to give God priority.
Keep glo-ing – visit our archives
Fall's a coming!
Sure it’s still summer, but it’s not too soon to begin praying about picking a fall Bible study for yourself or your group. Priority Bible Studies – There is a Season and The Temple – are perfect for groups or individuals. Written by Laurie Cole, these video-based studies are intensely biblical, extremely practical, and totally female friendly.
Find out more about Priority Bible Studies and view workbook, leader guide and video samples online. Give God priority by getting into God’s Word!
New! Priority Sorority!
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Priority Sorority is an exciting new place on our website where you – our sisters in Christ – can share your praise to God for the way He’s working in your life, read notes and testimonies from other sisters in Christ, and request prayer.
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If you’ve ever participated in a Priority Bible Study, attended an event where Laurie spoke, or read this newsletter, we invite you to glorify God and encourage your sisters in Christ by sharing what He’s doing in your life through Priority Sorority.
Coming Soon! Priority Sorority will allow you to register your Priority Bible Study group so that sisters in your area can find out about your group. Priority Sorority – where sisters in Christ encourage other sisters to give God priority!
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Gotta Glo
We gotta glo for now, but we’ll bring you a brand new issue of You Glo Girl! in August. Please keep us in your prayers this summer, and we promise to pray for you, too. And always feel free to email your prayer requests to us – it’s our privilege to intercede for you, dear sister.
Enjoy some sweet, Sabbath rest this summer – we certainly will! Keep loving God most and seeking Him first all summer long and you’ll glo girl!
Your sisters,
Laurie Cole, Janet Valentine, Lezli Busbee,
Pam Henderson, Debbie Todd, Stephanie Cole,
Jan Hart, and Shanda Stiles
Priority Ministries Staff
“Love the Lord your God with all of your heart…soul…(and) mind.” Matt. 22:37
“Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness…” Matt. 6:33
Contact us at
www.priorityministries.org
Priority Ministries
P. O. Box 590663
Houston, TX 77259-0663
Priority Ministries is a 501(C)3 non-profit ministry.
