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Update
Have you been saying, “When is Betty planning to write a new update and get the Christmas greeting off?” I know some of you have, because you have told me!
To say we are in a busy season and year is an understatement, but that is not a good excuse. Let me tell you what’s happening these days in AOG. Our Board met last week. We had so many exciting things to talk about, work through, share and plan. We are working to make Apples of Gold the best it can be to the glory of God and for our classes. We have unlimited opportunities and want to use those opportunities to the glory of God.
We are excited about our new Spanish Apples of Gold classes. Manzanas de Oro classes are popping up all around. I was privileged to attend two in just the last week. The first is held in a community center building in the Bonita Bay area of FL. A seasoned mentor from a church in Naples felt led to start working with the women in this community. She started Apples of Gold, hired a cook with an emphasis on nutrition, found some dear friends to care for the little ones, and Spanish speaking mentors to facilitate the lessons. How interested these lovely women are to learn about Jesus. One clutched her book to her chest and told me, “we have never had a book like this, just for us!” A few nights later, I visited the premier Spanish class from McGregor Baptist Church in Fort Myers. As I entered the home, some of these precious women rose to give me a hug and even some kisses. Eleven countries are represented in that class. Their hearts are overwhelmed with gratefulness. The tables were beautifully set in a Valentine’s Day theme, with handmade lace tablecloths from one of the mentor’s homeland. I was so impressed with the wisdom and grace of the facilitators, and the class was intent on listening, learning and sharing. I had my own interpreter and didn’t miss a word. My heart soared with what the Lord Jesus Christ is doing with apples.
Check out the testimony section to read about a brand new, first-ever class in China! It is a most wonderful story.
We are also planning our conference for mentors in Virginia, this August 7-8. The women of Colonial Heights Baptist are working with joy and purpose to provide a most wonderful conference for us. The church has held AOG classes for many years, and the workshop leaders are all from the church. The catered food will be served to us at the church, making it easy for you the attendee. The Creative Staff, under the direction of Laurie Passopulo, is already at work planning for each beautiful table setting. In a recent e-mail to me, she wrote, “We love to decorate and feel like God has given us this gift of creativity. We want to use it to bring glory to Him. We are so excited about the conference and ideas are just flying. Our main purpose with the decorating is to help women become lovers of their family. When we decorate and sometimes it is over the top (we just cannot help it), we just want to give the women inspiration for decorating and in turn make their families feel special. We try to show inexpensive ways to decorate.” They are planning to decorate 50…yes 50 tables all with a different theme. It will be amazing!
We are so grateful for this opportunity and don’t want any of you to miss it.
Next, THE COOKBOOK IS EDITED and ready to go to the publisher and printer for cover and interior design. Board member Susan De Graaf and I worked together on the editing, but Susan did the lion share. THANK YOU SUSAN!! We hope to have it for you by the conference in August. This has been by far the hardest writing job I have ever tackled. It was tedious…… BUT you have shared some extraordinary recipes with us. At this point, the book is huge. We hope to be able to use all the recipes, and will do our best to make that happen. We are eager to present a tabletop-type cookbook for you. We are hoping for a hard-cover and a beautiful book full of recipes, ideas, scriptures and helps. This will be a memory book for many of you, and a wealth of helps for cooks, both new and well-seasoned.
October 9-11 brings the Revive our Hearts Stadium Conference to Shaumburg IL and the Schaumburg Conference Center. We have been invited to participate in the conference as exhibitors and are very pleased and honored to do so. So we hope you will plan to attend the conference. Check the Revive our Hearts web site at www.reviveourhearts.com for details and registration. Our Apples of Gold Board will be there to greet you at our booth. Do not miss this. One of the hotels is already completely booked, so act soon.
In the midst of this, Lee and I have four graduations to attend. Our oldest grandson graduates from the University of Virginia in May, a grandson and granddaughter from high schools in MI, and one grandson from high school in London. WHEW~
Life, though busy, and at times burdensome, is filled with the joy of Christ. No matter what circumstances we face, God is good. There is truly no greater joy than doing what God calls us to do in His kingdom, and each of us has a calling to serve. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” KJV