SPRING 2012

Let the New Begin!

Its almost Spring, the start of a new year and the dusting off of the treadmills we use as clothes hangers, already seems like a distant blur. Our enthusiasm might have dwindled a bit, our resolve faltering a hair. We have, perhaps analyzed our bad habits, and made those New Years resolutions not so long ago with statements like, This time I am doing this thing, no turning back for me!. And heres how those resolutions usually work: we make em and we break em! In fact, studies suggest that fewer than 12% of us keep our New Years resolutions. Yet weve been making them for thousands of years. Its true! Records suggest that as far back as four thousand years ago, the Babylonians were making (and undoubtedly breaking) New Years resolutions. Why have we been making resolutions for so long? Its our human nature to constantly evaluate and want to change things. We ask Whats wrong with me? and then vow to give up our favorite coffee shop in the morning and head for the gym. But history has a way of repeating itself, and soon our steering wheel is inching its way back toward luscious mocha-whipped cream-forgo-the-skinny land. After four thousand years with an 88% failure rate, its obvious that resolutions are long overdue for retirement. As Spring is approaching and you may be needing a new perspective on your reality of broken promises and weak knees, say goodbye once and for all to the old way, and let a new way begin. Because a better way of looking at things has come. The Message translation of 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 makes it plain that we dont have to ask whats wrong with me? or evaluate ourselves (or others) the same way anymore: we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Time to get rid of the old mirrors and start looking at a new reflection! Our human way of evaluating ourselves just doesnt work! It really is whats on the inside, not the outside that counts. Stop looking to the same old resolutions to change your life this year, and look instead for the new changethe inside-out changethat is your new life. Not in what you do, but who you truly are. Rather than a list of resolutions, make a list of revelations! And celebrate the true joy of a happy new year!

Cord of Three Ministry

Gather & Grow Small Groups for Women Connecting women with the Word of God

THE WORD
So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:1617, NLT

THINK ABOUT IT
List out your Inside Beauty Revelations that are reflecting Jesus in you more & more as you walk with Him in faith: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

SPRING 2012

Girlfriends Gather & Grow Idea Box

Brown Bag Breakfast/Lunch/Supper Meet-Up (you choose) Go to the park (while the kids play), mall, home or hit the trails! Discuss Gods provisions of our daily bread and share stories of thankfulness. Exercise Emphasis Meeting Use a fitness video together to workout or meet at Zumba at BWC! Walk a local walking track or route together as a group (a great way to enjoy chatting together) Meet up afterwards for devotional and light refreshments. Go Natural Everyone brings a healthy appetizer & you can even forgo the makeup if you wear it! Bring the recipe to share and plan to discuss, how just like additives & preservatives in food are unhealthy, adding too much to our plates so to speak can cause us a great deal of unwanted stress. Discuss a few times you have added unhealthy things to your life or struggles with over-committing, outcomes & Gods grace to lead you in a better direction. Painting Place Fun Head to the painting place in Whitehall. Pick out a piece to paint. Read about refining silver and the potters hand found in Isaiah 64:8 as you discuss God molding our lives to be like Him. Coffee and Praise Night Have all kinds of coffees and flavorings at home or hit Panera! Have an espresso machine if you can. Enjoy the evening chatting and include short choruses, testimonies and devotion. Sing A Long Praise & Worship music together Movie Night Show a great movie. Don't forget the popcorn (the movie theater buttery type and some lite for those who wont indulge) Have snacks you might get at a movie theater such as M&Ms, peanuts, soft pretzels. Tell funny stories. Share testimonies. Share childhood slumber party memories.

Who Would Have Thought?

Manicures and massages, move to the back of the line! The newest and most popular activity at a recent Girls Night Out event was coloring! Women lined up for a spot at a table filled with colored markers & crayons and black and white posters. Why? Here are a few of their comments: This is so relaxing. I love to color, but I would never give myself permission to do this at home.

A World-Changing Idea
Its an idea called the One for One movement, a give-back business model started in 2006 with the creation of TOMS Shoes. At TOMS, one pair of shoes is donated to a needy child every time a pair is sold. This buy-one/give-one philosophy has resulted in over a million pairs of shoes being donated to needy children around the world. TOMS One for One movement was also recognized in 2011 by CNN as a Top 10 world-changing idea. Want to be a world changer? Start your own One for One movement by donating a used book or magazine every time you buy a new one. Or gather a group of friends and pick up an extra toiletry item to put in a basket for a needy family or local shelter. Have your own One for One movement idea? Read more at: www.toms.com/movement-one-for-one.

Cord of Three Ministry began January 2011 as a group meeting in the loft at BWC. We have grown by becoming smaller! Our new platform is Gather & Grow Small Groups for Women!
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SPRING 2012

Media Morsels
Movie Review: Lets Go Classic & Family Friendly!
Anne of Green Gables
Rating: G Release Date: 1986 television miniseries Genre: Family/Drama Runtime: 199 minutes Sure, this movie has been around for agesbut its a classic thats always relevant! Times are tough at the turn of the century for Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, so they decide to adopt an orphan boy to help with their farm, Green Gables. But they get an unexpected surprise when feisty redheaded Anne Shirley shows up instead. A dreamer with a knack for getting into trouble, Anne is allowed to stay on a trial basis if she can curb her troublesome ways. Despite her repeated failures, she eventually endears herself to the Cuthberts, who decide life is so much richer with Anne at Green Gables. Gather a few girlfriends (or do a mother-daughter get-together), watch the movie, and discuss these questions: What was the true influence Marilla had on Anne? What was the true influence Anne had on Marilla? What do you think is the true influence you have on your friends and family?

Gather & Grow Book Club 2012! New for 2012! Want to share a good book and chat about it? Not sure how? Let Cord of Three Ministry get you started. We will provide you with all the tools you need to have your very own book club. We will provide a list of great reads, links to printable discussion questions for the books,tips & recipes. You gather your friends, share and grow
This page is designed to inform and educate you and is not an endorsement. Our prayer is that you will make informed decisions on what you see, read, and listen to.

3 Copyright 2011 Group Publishing, Inc., Loveland, CO, group.com/women. Permission to photocopy granted for local church use only.

Whats Springing Up?

Cord of Three Ministrys New Gather & Grow Groups!
A new Make Over for Cord of Three Ministry is on the horizon this Spring 2012. Cord of Three has sought to reproduce a home-like setting with all we do in the loft. It dawned on us in conversation, we already have that in place in our homes, why not start at home? It is less intimidating to newcomers as well, and somewhat more welcoming and intimate. One thing I hear a lot from our women is, "I would love to come to Cord of Three on a Thursday night, but, I work late that night, It is a little too far from me, I have to get my son to practice, my husband works late that night, I need child care." We miss a lot of people limiting our ministry to Thursday night, twice a month. It is like the distribution of weight on a surface area. The more evenly the weight is distributed on the surface of the platform area, the more stable it becomes to bear the weight. The more we disperse and scatter the more effective and stronger we will become to meet more needs and more schedules. This is really the heart of the issue for women. We long to connect, but often put ourselves last on the list of priorities because life sometimes just demands it from us.In a recent conversation with Pastor Scott, Small Groups, I shared the vision, I see God's leading in bringing Cord of Three to a small group platform. I see the home as the place where leaders can model their own home-life as the tangible example of being attainable. Some just feel so lost in their womanhood. I have been there, sometimes still am in ways, but, I press on! Our goal is to connect women with the relevant, timeless Word of God. It all starts at home. Gather & Grow Groups Made Simple for Todays Busy Woman! Cord of Three will plan to tackle the resources in a uniquely simple way: An online tool box created through a monthly eNewsletter with live links to download a recipe card for a Gather & Grow Small Group Experience. We do all the work for you; hostess/leader guide, girlfriend time group experience, worship music suggestions, recipes (stop and grab at the store to homemade), conversation starters, key theme synopsis with scripture focus & wrap-up ideas will all be included. Remember, these are tools. See fit to customize them to suit you and your group or do ours to the last letter, you decide!This is an experience to share, not a dry, boring classroom setting. As this develops, more Gather & Grow Experience downloads will be available. We will also include optional mailable invitations you print & send, what a personal touch! This Summer will launch the forming of groups and training of leaders to facilitate them. The Heart Spa Series for Women will be our first installment ready this Fall 2012. So, are you ready to get connected and journey along with your group to see how relevant Gods Word is in our lives today as women, no matter what stage you find yourself? Each recipe for your Gather & Grow Group is stand alone. No books or workbooks required, just a time of uplift and refreshment to experience with sisters in Christ! We know most women struggle with comprehensive studies. We are not down on them, we love & encourage them, but realize they are not for everyone in certain seasons of life. Comprehensive studies will be a resource rental offering from Cord of Three Ministry. If you are looking for meaningful get togethers with no guilt, this is for you! Whether you like deep study of Gods Word or only have time for small commitments, this is a fit for all women growing in their faith! Gather & Grow Groups Here is the spring board idea: Women have a desire to meet together and share life. Gather & Grow groups give women a reason to meet. They are small groups that will form throughout the church & community and will meet on a regular basis in homes, churches, parks, coffee shops; wherever it is most convenient for the group (reaching the community!). The groups will study, watch, or listen to resources from Cord of Three Ministry, then meet together to discuss the material. Gather & Grow groups are designed to be flexible. Each group determines meeting specifics, such as place and time, as well as materials offered by Cord Of Three Ministry at the time and that fits their season and demands of life. With today's hectic pace, women tend to have many demands on their time. We want these groups to be a place for women to go and connect with their friends, and to be a place of encouragement, restoration, and fun.

Contact for more information

Cord Of Three Ministry Phone: 610-767-1239 E-mail: pekurny@ptd.net

Design and base content 2012 Tracy Pekurny,Cord of Three Ministry

Permission to photocopy granted for local church use only.