One of my favorite stories in the Bible is Matthew 14:25-33, when Jesus told Peter to get out of the boat. The disciples were in  a boat on the lake, and about 3 a.m. Jesus came by, walking on the water. When the disciples saw Jesus, they were terrified, thinking it was a ghost.  Jesus told them to not be afraid, it was Him.

“Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”  “Yes, come,” Jesus said.”

My husband Ray likes to joke, “What if he was really a ghost and had called Peter? What if Peter had walked to him and found out it was a ghost? Then what?” 

Despite the contrary wind and the waves, despite the human impossibility of the situation, Peter stepped out of the boat, walking toward Jesus. But Peter did not get out of the boat until Jesus called Him!  “Lord, if it’s really You…”

A lot of people focus on Peter sinking into the water after he looked around at the strong wind and the big waves. Yet Peter walked on water!  None of the other disciples did this!  This story is one of Peter’s incredible faith, courage, and trust in Christ.

Over the last couple of months, God began putting it into my heart to do a webinar.  For those who know me well, they are aware of how tech-challenged I am. I didn’t know how to do a webinar, and was so afraid of something technical going wrong if I did one!  But in my heart, God told me to do one, and I obeyed.  “Lord, if it’s really You…”

Over the last two months, I have done two webinars, 3 P’s in a Pod: Prayer, Purpose, and Passion. God’s presence was there, several women signed up, attended, and were blessed like Hope, and there were no major technical problems. The webinar services at CWA are excellent. The software is VERY user-friendly, and I just LOVE all their cool webinar features, like video and chat capability during the webinar! 

 Tara McClenahan did wonderful speaking on leaving a godly legacy, and I shared about discovering and fulfilling your God-given purpose.  Thank you, Jesus.  Now I can’t wait to do more webinars in the coming months, and am so excited! (Get signed up today on my mailing list at the top of this page on the right hand side to stay updated!)

All I had to do for these webinars was to step out of the boat of my comfort zone, and to trust God. I had to have faith in Him. I had to do it afraid, as Joyce Meyer says. 

What about you? What is God telling you to do today? 

Don’t look at the winds and the waves. Keep your eyes on Jesus, and just start walking. “Lord, if it’s really You…”

Last night our oldest daughter Heather left with a team from her church, Eagle Creek Church in Lee’s Summit, MO, to drive all night to Tennessee to help with Nashville’s flood relief efforts.  The teams will be going into houses with flood damage and ripping out all affected materials (drywall, carpet, etc.) and also will be helping to organize and distribute goods at a warehouse to the families in need.

It will be hot, hard work.  The floors and walls may be unstable from the water damage, and may not allow much weight on them – posing risks for floors falling through and walls collapsing.

Yesterday and today, I babysat Kyle’s and Heather’s daughters, Annabelle and Violet. Tomorrow and Saturday, Kyle and his mom Becky will watch the girls until Heather comes back home late Saturday night. It’s been six years since Heather’s last missions trip, and she is VERY excited!   

When Annabelle was a baby, Heather went to Mexico for a week with our former church for a missions trip. Prior to that, after graduation from our homeschool in the year 2000, Heather went to South America in remote jungle villages for a month and to India for a month for missions trips with YWAM. YWAM and these missions trips changed her life, and they confirmed her desire to be a missionary.

This morning about 2:45 a.m., I got a text from Heather that they safely arrived in Nashville.  They woke up at 6 a.m. today for devotions and went right to work in the houses.  This afternoon, she sent me a cell phone picture of herself  wearing the face mask and eye goggles (for protection against mold and mildew.  These are non-construction teams.) 

When I asked via texting how she was doing, she replied, “Hot.”    They were just about to call it a day.  Tonight the team was able to relax and go out to dinner, then tomorrow they’ll begin work again on the houses.

Please continue to keep Heather and the missions team covered in prayer.  Eagle Creek Church has live video streaming of their missions team while in Nashville through Ustream.   You can view the live stream here. 

Below is a video of Heather sharing about the work they will be doing there, just before she left yesterday.  The video below that is a humorous vlog of Annabelle and Violet, explaining what a train sounds like, when we stopped to look at the big, black train after we ate lunch.

Vlog of Heather about Nashville missions trip

Vlog of Annabelle and Violet on train

Whether you are just starting out or you already enjoy a thriving, profitable business, God is interested in every aspect of it. God loves you, He cares about you and your business, and He wants to bless you – in ways you can’t even begin to imagine!  (1 Corinthians 2:9).

My friend Laurie Neumann asked me to write an article for her website Christian Home Business Connection.  Here is her blog post with the link to my article.

While you are there, be sure to check out Laurie’s website. Her site is a wealth of information on having a home business. She’s a wonderful, giving person, an anointed writer, and she has great, practical resources available to encourage you and to help you in your home business. I just love Laurie!

Want to go even deeper with your business?  I especially recommend Laurie’s membership site, The Christian’s Guide to Starting a Home Business. It is packed with wonderful info for your home business – AND for the first month’s resources, Laurie interviewed me, so I want you to hear it!      This membership site will truly bless and encourage you with all of Laurie’s goodies – even with bonuses from experts like Jimmy D. Brown, Alice Seba, and Kelly McCausey.

PS:  Don’t forget to check out my article at Laurie’s site here. I also love her site’s newest article on business success for introverts.

God created all of us differently – men are different from women, we all have different personalities, we have different learning styles, we love different things. It is the same way with our interests.

Some of us are interested in traveling, seeing new places, meeting new people, trying different ethnic foods. Others love sports, internet marketing, gardening, crocheting, running, getting more education, painting, writing, or just staying at home, loving on our families. Whatever it is that you enjoy, God created you that way.

Maybe my ebook Walking With God or my 7-audio devotional series is not for you. You don’t have time to listen to seven different audios, or even want to!   But a webinar that is as short as a lunch break may be just the thing for you!  It will encourage, refresh, and inspire you to draw closer to God, to discover and fulfill your purpose, and to leave a godly legacy to your children.  In other words, you’re not in the mood for spaghetti, but you might just love the duck l’orange!

This week check out Tara’s website. You will just LOVE her. (While you’re there, fill out her survey as  a favor to her.) This lady is classy, anointed, and will encourage you about Biblical parenting.  If you’re not already registered for our webinar on Tuesday, July 27 at 11 a.m. CT, sign up today as space is limited.  With this webinar, you will be sure to dine with your destiny! 

To register for our webinar, just click here.

Do you need bite-sized portions of the Bible sometimes in your busy day?  One great online resource is from the Life Application Study Bible (NLT).  You can receive short but powerful devotions in your email inbox each day, that takes the Bible and makes it relevant and applicable to our lives right now. 

Today’s message shed new light about prayer from a scripture I’d read many times before, and I wanted to share it here with you. 

“These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”  (Luke 10:2, NLT)  

Jesus was sending 36 teams of two to reach the multitudes. These teams were not to try to do the job without help; rather, they were to ask God for more workers. Some people, as soon as they understand the gospel, want to go to work immediately contacting unsaved people.  

This story suggests a different approach: begin by mobilizing people to pray. And before praying for unsaved people, pray that other concerned disciples will join you in reaching out to them.

In Christian service, there is no unemployment. God has work enough for everyone. Don’t just sit back and watch others work—look for ways to help with the harvest. ” ~ Life Application Study Bible (NLT), July 18, 2010 devotional

Let me know what you think. If you have any comments or questions, email me at elizabethdjones@gmail.com.  Just click on the link and enjoy!

Video tour

Whether you are a first time visitor or a faithful reader and/or subscriber, I want to welcome you to my website Tablet Of My Heart. I am so glad you are here!  There are so many websites online, and they all navigate differently.

I LOVE WordPress and believe it is simply the BEST, but I wanted to give you a tour of my home on the web which includes screenshots (my newest learning curve!). This article can help you understand how to more easily navigate my website – a more personal tour guide.   

Just click on the link below for your pdf article, and enjoy!  If you have any questions, email me at elizabethdjones@gmail.com.

Tour of my website

Our oldest daughter Heather is about to do a  missions trip at the end of this month in Nashville, TN.

From Eagle Creek Church’s website:

In May of 2010, middle and western Tennessee experienced the worst flooding in it’s history. There were 33 people who were killed in Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee due to the flooding, and nearly $2 Billion in damage was done. It was Tennessee’s worst disaster since the civil war. The national average for media coverage during this disaster was 15 minutes, so people outside of the affected areas have little idea as to the scope of this disaster.

From January to May of 2010, Nashville had 18 inches of rains in a 36 hour period.  Beginning May 1, they received 18.4 inches. Many people lost everything and few had insurance to cover the loss. In what’s being called the “Katrina of the Midwest,” the disaster will take months and even years to clean up before life returns to “normal” for many of the people there who have been devastated by this disaster.

Eagle Creek Church in Lee’s Summit, MO, is partnering with Anchor Christian Fellowship Response to reach out in support of and minister to people affected by the flood. There are two ways that Anchor Response works with flood victims:

1. Takes teams into houses that have flood damage and works at ripping out all affected materials (drywall, carpet, etc). These teams are strictly demo and don’t do any construction, so there isn’t a need for volunteers to have construction experience.

2. Anchor Response has a warehouse that collects and distributes goods to families that have need. The warehouse literally distributes everything from toys to toothbrushes. Workers help organize and distribute goods that are donated.

So whether you can  go or not, you can definitely be a part of helping those that are in desperate need of help. Here is the website for more information. 

From Beth:  Please keep our daughter Heather in prayer as she leaves July 29-31 with a team from her church, Eagle Creek Church, to help in Nashville. I will be helping to babysit her two girls, Annabelle and Violet – and praying a lot!   There will likely be mold and mildew in these houses, so please pray protection over the health of Heather and the team (they will be wearing masks, gloves, and heavy work boots as they are ripping out materials of drywall, carpet, etc.), as well as for traveling mercies .

Thank you so much for your prayers.  Below is a brief video that was on Eagle Creek’s site to give you an idea of some of the damage in Nashville.

Nashville Flood Relief from Mike LaBerge on Vimeo.

Are you experiencing purposeful, passionate living for Christ – and passing it on to your children?  Join Tara McClenahan and Beth Jones for an exciting, fun webinar coming up on Tuesday, July 27, 2010, at 11 a.m. Central Time!  This is Module #2 of 3 P’s in a Pod: Prayer, Purpose, Passion.

Tara is an anointed speaker and writer, and is a Christian Parenting/Life Coach associated with Ibloom, an organization dedicated to inspire Christian women to allow God to have an impact in and through their lives.  Tara’s focus is helping Christian moms have an impact on their children’s spiritual development by being a Godly example and nurturing them as God gives us guidance in His Word.  Her website, Live Your Legacy Today, is  at http://taramcclenahan.com/.

I am SO excited Tara will be joining me for this event! I am also thrilled that this time, attendees WILL be able to chat during the webinar. Now I have my own webinar room at Christian Women Affiliate, which has great webinar features.

Now, why should you attend this webinar?

• It’s fun! You will make new friends and be able to network!
• You will be encouraged and empowered to discover and fulfill your purpose, pursue your heart’s passion, and intentionally pass on a Godly legacy to your children!
• You will learn something new!
• No expensive costs! (It’s free to attend.)
• No hassles, no crowds or waiting in line, no parking places to worry about!
• You get great bonus goodies just for coming!
• You will both see and hear the speakers on video and be able  to chat with the speakers and attendees in real time during the webinar presentations!

It’s going to be great.  Are you excited? Well, I am. I can’t wait! 

To learn more, just click here.  Listen to the video testimonials about my first webinar, 3 P’s in a Pod: Prayer, Purpose, Passion, which was the launch-off for this July 27 webinar and more to come.

But hurry!   Space is limited for this webinar, so be sure to sign up today.

What about you?  Are you a social media rebel?  Do you dislike it when the internet gurus tell you that you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO BE ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK, or you are surely going to be left behind in the dark ages along with door to door selling, newspaper advertising, and email?  

It’s not the social media that bothers me because I really love it and am so thankful to God for it.  I’ve made some of the best friends in my life online through social media  (like the one who emailed me) .  I’ve ”met” people across the world because of social media, something I would never have had the privilege of doing before the internet.  

It’s just being told what I HAVE to do that I resist.     Will our lives (or businesses) really fall apart if we’re not using social media every single day?  Maybe not…but they might not ever get to where we want them to be if we don’t learn how to tap into its power!   Social media is a VERY POWERFUL TOOL, especially for your business as a speaker and writer!   We do need to find consistent time to use it.

Social media has changed the planet. It is here to stay; it’s not a temporary fad, no matter how much some people are uncomfortable with it (especially senior citizens set in their ways or other people who may not understand it).   

Personally, I LOVE the internet and could stay on it all day long if I didn’t have any self-discipline at all, or a life off my laptop.   Facebook is easily for me a giant black hole that I could get sucked into for hours every day, if I didn’t set some kind of limits —-you know, so that I could do OTHER things like work on my business, clean, cook our family’s dinner, or sleep.  I love looking at all my friends’ Facebook status updates, links they share, pictures at the beach or at their kids’ birthday parties, etc.  But sometimes I just have to say NO! 

And sometimes, I admit, I don’t WANT to be on there just because I’d rather do something else. (shocked gasp)  And in my head, I hear the gurus’ chant:  “Social media, social media!”  That’s where the rebel part comes in!

This past year I also began dabbling with Twitter.  Yes, dabbling is the right word.  I am still learning about it!  Recently at Half Price Books store, I bought the book Twitterville to help me understand it more!  There is supposed to be a method to the madness of Twitter, and I’m still trying to figure out  HOW to turn the more mundane aspects of my life into retweetable, viral tweets like so many others do.     

With Twitter I have made more wonderful friends, networked, found out important national news faster, and learned so many fascinating things from others!  (My Twitter name is @refreshingwater – look me up and let’s connect!)  Just as with Facebook, though, Twitter can absorb your day for hours.  Some people actually use a timer to set their limit on Twitter.

For other people, reading blogs is their favorite form of social media. Google Reader and other RSS feed readers are like having your own lovely, personal reading room. But if you’re like me, some weeks you get really busy and by the time you get to your reader after a couple of weeks, you have to scroll through 615 posts!  :O

How much time do you spend on Facebook and Twitter and other social media sites?

Are you a social media rebel – or an addict? 

What do you think are the blessings and advantages of social media?  How do you think it negatively affects our society today, if at all?   

Do you believe that social media can help you with achieving your life purpose and fulfilling your destiny in God? In what ways?

How do you think social media will change our lives, and future generations, in the future?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Here is an INCREDIBLY well-done video, Social Media Revolution. Enjoy!