My sister Maria at her college graduation with her kids

TA DA!

I just returned from a 5-day trip to Valdosta, Georgia, for my younger sister Maria’s college graduation. Before I left for the trip, I also just purchased a new website theme (the Genesis Lifestyle Theme) and hired wonderful website designer Linda Hernestal da Silva of Work at Home Balance to redesign my website. What do you think?

Some of you may be wondering if I am like Aretha Franklin – I Can’t Get No Satisfaction – since I just recently changed my theme!

Although I was very pleased with the outsource work someone did for me to add pages and categories to my site last time, I was NOT happy at all with the new theme I had installed. It didn’t turn out the way I had expected. I didn’t want to act like a pouty, spoiled rotten child. I tried for weeks to be content and happy about it, but it just wasn’t there!

It’s a good thing I hadn’t spent a lot of money on the theme! After seeking others’ counsel about what to do – just live with it? find another theme? – I decided to go with my gut instincts and find another Genesis theme I really liked, and hire a professional website designer for a fresh new look. That way I wouldn’t have to be aggravated with the tech aspects of it and it would be worth it all by the time she was finished! It was the right decision. Go with your gut! And take advantage of outsourcing for your business!

I don’t just like this Genesis Lifestyle theme and new design ~ I LOVE it!!! My favorite color is green, and I really LOVE the new graphic I purchased from Istock (on the left side of the header at the top of this page -the woman in the green chair with her laptop and a blue coffee cup).

Our daughter Leah tweaked the graphic for me with her graphic art program to look more like me ~ putting highlights in her hair like mine has, changing her blue eyes to green-brown hazel like mine, changing her pink shoes’ color to blue ~ and even adding some weight to her, lol, at my request (the cartoon graphic was a lot thinner than me, but I am working on losing weight. I’ve even hired a health coach to help me!). Leah did a great job with the graphic.

I love the relaxed, comfortable appearance of the woman in the chair in her jeans, with her laptop and coffee, and I want you to feel relaxed and comfortable here, too ~ like having a good, hot cup of coffee with a friend, sharing together about the great things God is doing in our lives!

Linda redesigned my header with Leah’s finished product of the Istock graphic. We removed my blog’s previous name Tablet Of My Heart from the header, to use my name for the site for branding purposes.

I also created a new tagline which I brainstormed about with several of my precious online friends (thank you, girlfriends!), Equipping Women to hear God’s voice, unlock their gifts, and pursue their passion. What do you think of the tagline? The site’s new look?

Linda did an incredible job with this redesign, going “above and beyond” the job. I am so happy and excited about it!

She also gave me great tips for reorganizing the site to improve its appearance, so you may find things a little different around here (but much easier to find!).

Linda is efficient, professional, and fun to work with ~ and very reasonably priced ~ so I highly recommend her for a website design. Be sure to check out her services for website design as well as coaching at Work at Home Balance, and tell her hi for me! Getting a new design for your website is as fun as going shopping for clothes at Kohl’s!

I have much to tell you about my Georgia trip and pictures to share with you, but meanwhile I wanted to surprise you with the new redesign. Only my family and a couple of friends knew about it…and I was about to bust to tell you!

I also have some exciting ideas for 2012, which I can’t wait to share with you soon. I’d love to hear from you about your plans for Christmas and for 2012.

Are you traveling for Christmas or staying home? Having family and friends over or going to someone else’s house? Ray, Leah and I and Heather and her family are all meeting at our daughter Eden’s house this year, which will be different (usually we have Christmas here). I still have shopping to do! :O  What about you?

What do you want 2012 to be like?

Have you written out your goals and dreams or do you choose an annual theme? Have you made your bucket list? What are some of the things that are in your heart to do?

What did you accomplish in 2011? What haven’t you accomplished yet that you would like to do?

What do you need to prune and leave behind in 2011?

What lessons did you learn?

What good things did God do for you? What prayers did He answer?

Please share your answers in the comments below. I have missed you! I was so happy to see my sister Maria and her kids and my family in Georgia ~ and to eat delicious southern fried catfish, cheese grits, and hushpuppies again! ~ but it’s good to be back!

“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” ~ Isaiah 43: 19, NLT

crystal Christmas ornament

Last night our daughter Heather and her family arrived safely home in Missouri from Florida. They hated that their beach trip was cut short, but didn’t want to chance encountering freezing rains here! Thank you so much for your prayers for them!

Tomorrow we celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for the gift of His life, so He could give me eternal life!  To Him the King Immortal, Prince of Peace, Immanuel, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, I give all praise and worship, forever and ever! There are no words to describe all that Jesus has done for me and how grateful I am to Him. He is my BFF!

I am also very thankful for each one of you who stops by to visit my blog each day.  It’s been such an honor and privilege to serve you here, and you have greatly enriched my life with your faithful friendship, support, prayers, questions, and comments.  I  pray that at my sites, you find encouragement and are blessed from God’s word.  Please let me know how I can pray for you and what I can do to help you at elizabethdjones@gmail.com.

May you have a beautiful, blessed Christmas with your family and friends, and may the coming 2011 be a year of the wonderful impossible for you. Nothing is impossible with God!

stacks of papers

The seasons are changing, and you might notice some changes around here, too, at Tablet Of My Heart. For one, I have permanently deleted some old blog posts and podcasts. My husband Ray, who rarely throws anything away (and I do mean that literally and, yes, opposites definitely attract!), mildly PANICKED when I told him this. Did God inspire me to write these posts, he asked.  But what if I needed them one day?  Well, I thought, they weren’t exactly the holy canon!  Really, as I read them in retrospect, they were more like – for lack of a better word – ramblings. (Some of you may be thinking, “You mean sort of like this blog post?”)  :O

Besides, sometimes we need to get rid of the old to make room for the new.  (Such as last year’s clothes in the closet, so we  have an excuse to go shopping!)  I certainly wish this was Ray’s philosophy, with all the stuff he’s accumulated over the years.  (One person’s treasure is another person’s stress!)

But I digress. You will see that I’ve also created another special report for brand-new subscribers,  A Strong Current: Being Who You Were Created To Be. This report will encourage you to discover your life purpose and to pursue your passion(s), so that you can do the things God has called you to do and to be, and to be happy!  Like a strong ocean current, I desire to be a strong current of God’s love, mercy, and power.

What about you?  Are you fulfilling your destiny in Christ? If not, what is holding you back or stopping you? God has great things in  store for you if you will pray, believe, and obey Him!

There will be some other minor changes around here in the weeks ahead, step by step. We need to evaluate our lives, our schedules, our time, even our websites from time to time, with a praying ear, a sharp eye, and to get laser-focused. What needs to be pruned and can go? What can we tweak or improve?  How can we change things for the better? What needs to be transformed in our lives to be more like Christ?

What in your life needs changing today?  Pray and ask God to show you. I have a small ad on my vision board that encourages me, which you might like, too: “Small changes, big results.”

On the way home tonight after babysitting Annabelle and Violet for Heather while she’s away at her church’s annual women’s conference in Springfield, I heard this incredible song by Mercy Me on KLOVE radio station: Beautiful. You may have heard it before, but I have not! Tears filled my eyes as I listened; I loved it!

If you have read any of my writings or heard me speak, you know that I am very passionate about women pursuing their passion, fulfilling their great purpose and destiny in Christ. You, dear friend, are the one God madly loves, enough to send His Son Jesus to die for you!  

Women and teenage girls are bombarded daily by images of “perfect,” air-brushed models on magazines, on the internet, and on t.v.  We compare ourselves to them, and the enemy satan lies to us constantly that we never measure up to this standard of perfection.  Or we compare ourselves to other “perfect” wives, moms, stepmoms, speakers, writers, entrepreneurs, internet gurus, women in ministry, or whoever in our mind is more beautiful, smart, successful,sweet, nice, giving,  sexy, talented, creative, wealthy, gifted, anointed, loved, organized, spontaneous, popular, etc.  No matter who it is that we are looking at, we are left staring into the mirror, feeling less than.  You are more than what is hurting you tonight! To God, you are so beautiful!  This song says it all.

Here are the lyrics to Beautiful by Mercy Me, followed by a great video with the music and lyrics. Enjoy!

Beautiful
by MercyMe
from the album The Generous Mr. Lovewell

Days will come when you don’t have the strength
When all you hear is you’re not worth anything
Wondering if you ever could be loved
And if they truly saw your heart they’d see too much

You’re beautiful
You’re beautiful
You are made for so much more than all of this
You’re beautiful
You’re beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You’re beautiful

And praying that you have the heart to find
Cause you are more than what is hurting you tonight
For all the lies you’ve held inside so long
And they are nothing in the shadow of the cross

You’re beautiful
You’re beautiful
You are made for so much more than all of this
You’re beautiful
You’re beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You’re beautiful

Before you ever took a breath
Long before the world began
Of all the wonders He possessed
There was one more precious
Of all the earth and skies above
You’re the one He madly loves enough to die

You’re beautiful
You’re beautiful
In His eyes

You’re beautiful
You are made for so much more than all of this
You’re beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You’re beautiful
You’re beautiful
You are made for so much more than all of this
You’re beautiful
You’re beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His

Video of Beautiful by Mercy Me

 Woman stretching

I wanted to quickly get out this exciting news out to everyone on my reader, listener, subscriber, and webinar sign-up lists, because the web page is ready now for my fourth upcoming webinar, Seasons Of Stretching: Shaped and Equipped For Your Great Purpose with Jane VanOsdol and Mary Kane of http://onlybyprayer.com. 

Jane, Mary, and I are SO excited about this and we can’t wait to see you there. It’s going to be fun, you’re going to learn a lot, and you’re going to walk away encouraged and inspired.

Will this webinar be the same as my last three webinars?  NO!  Each webinar I am doing has a different flavor – it is awesome how God orchestrates things and meets people’s needs and desires in such amazing and personal ways.  Jane and Mary are anointed women of God, who sit daily at Jesus’ feet, and they will have MUCH to impart to you in this particular webinar – you don’t want to miss it!

The link to sign up today is here. http://www.bethjones.net/seasofst.html

This may be my last webinar this year!

This is possibly my last webinar for this year, as I am flying to Phoenix, Arizona in October to speak, and will be taking a break sometime after that to pray and seek God for more year-end direction and the year 2011′s direction…so please take advantage of this webinar at no charge to you today! Also, there’s no pushy, very annoying ”snake oil” selling in these webinars; we are just women of God who love Him and want to encourage you, dear friend, to draw nearer to Him!

I want to leave you with five practical tips when YOUR faith is being tested and stretched.

Call out and stay close to Jesus.  When Peter realized he was sinking in the waves, he didn’t just shrug his shoulders and let himself drown. No, he immediately cried out for help to the Lord.  Acknowledge to God that you’re over your head here and you need Him to deliver you! God is just waiting to give you His love and His strength, and to demonstrate His great power to you and others for His glory!

“I am holding you by your right hand – I, the Lord your God – and I say to you, don’t be afraid; I am here to help you.” (Isaiah 41: 13-14).

Lose your mind! As my friend Norma Washington says in the front of her book Saturday Morning Sisterhood, you need to lose your mind so you can gain the mind of Christ! Renew your mind daily studying God’s eternal word. Get God’s thoughts on the matter and His eternal perspective on the situation.

Beat it —passivity, that is! (to the tune of the late Michael Jackson’s song!)   Get physical! Go for a walk, dance, run, do crunches or leg lifts, jump on the mini-trampoline, put in an exercise tape, join a gym, swim. I am walking now and just starting our daughter Heather’s zumba aerobics class when she is teaching it again in a couple of weeks. Exercise will help you to take loving care of yourself to be fit and healthy, so that you can do and be what God has created you to do and to become!  We can’t fulfill our destiny without our bodies!  When you are in a trial of faith, you’re often under a great deal of stress. Exercise will help you to de-stress and to re-energize.

Ditch the Eeyores and find the Tiggers!  Surround yourself with positive, faith-filled people who will encourage you in your faith and your walk with God,  and who will speak God’s words of life over you and your difficult situation. For those family and friends who are always critical, negative, and pessimistic, with a cloud of gloom over their heads like Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh, thank them kindly for their concern – then run the other way from them!  Find friends who will lift you up and give you hope through God’s truth.

Sing, girl! (or boy!). Yeah, right, I can just hear you saying, and rolling your eyes at me! The last thing you feel like doing when your faith is being stretched is singing!  It’s hard to worship and praise God in the middle of a battle, but worship and praise are powerful weapons of warfare!  Let the high praises of God be in your mouth!  (Psalm 149: 5-6)  They will cut down the enemy and bring you to victory through Christ.

These tips will help you when times are tough and your faith is being pushed to its limit. Want to learn more? You will learn effective and powerful prayer strategies in overwhelming times. You will also discover what to do when you are at the crossroads in life, wondering if God can still use you, and find out how to pursue your life’s passion and purpose, at our upcoming webinar, Seasons of Stretching: Shaped and Equipped for Your Great Purpose.You will love Jane VanOsdol and Mary Kane!

Veggie Tales – Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato

How has your week been?  I have been reading lately, when I’ve been able to have a few spare moments before bedtime, and one great book that I just finished is Me, Myself, and Bob by Phil Vischer, founder of Big Idea Productions (the man who started Veggie Tales). My sweet friend Kimberly Ehlers told me about the book, and as I finally read the last 3 chapters, tears poured down my face.  As I shared with a few family members and friends this week, this book has just demolished me.

In Me, Myself, and Bob, Phil shares the story of the big dream that began in his heart when he was just a young man, to become the “Christian” Walt Disney, to build a new media empire for God – teaching children funny, touching stories using the talking, colorful vegetables (Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber and other characters) and using the truth of God’s word…unapologetically including God and His word. Phil wanted to change the world with his big idea.

As Big Idea Productions grew bigger, so did its budget – and its enormous debt.  Veggie Tales sold more than six million Veggie Tales videos in 1998. Between 1996 and 1998, its revenue grew by 3, 300 percent – from $1.3 million to $44 million. Between 1996 to 1998, their marketing department grew from 1 person to 30 people. Big Ideas had grown from an original staff of two creative, enthused college guys to 315 people.

Yet by the time Big Ideas produced its first feature film, Jonah-A Veggie Tales movie, Big Ideas was in serious financial trouble. The company eventually went bankrupt and was auctioned to Classic Media, at $19.6 million in 2003. 

Phil wrote on pages 227-228:

“…I entered adulthood (1) absolutely committed to spending my life to doing things for Christ, and (2) determined  not to be a “parked car.”  I had to get going. I had to get busy. But busy with what?…Eventually, I found a place where my storytelling gifts seemed to line up with a need that was tugging at my heart – a need to express God’s word through popular media. And that would be my work for Christ.”

“That issue resolved, I got busy. I built, and built, and built. Even when I wasn’t building, I was thinking about building, dreaming up the things I would build next. And in the midst of it all, God showed up, blessing my efforts. Great! I thought. Look at all the good I’m doing! But I was just getting started…And so, I got busier. …”

“…And then, in the midst of my great goodness, everything started to go wrong…Good thing I was the good guy, I thought, because the good guy never falls off the cliff. Except that I did. My dream and I fell all the way to bankruptcy court, where a gaggle of lawyers picked through the wreckage, packed up all the good parts, and mailed them to Franklin, Tennessee, leaving me alone, with nothing. Nothing but my old Big Idea office chair, my thoughts, and the God who had watched me bounce down the stairs without raising a finger.”

Nothing left but him and God. Ultimately it’s where we all end up.  

Phil also quotes an old family friend, pastor Richard Porter:  “If God gives you a dream, and the dream comes to life and God shows up in it, and then the dream dies, it may be that God wants to see what is more important to you – the dream or God.”

What matters more to you – God or your big dream?

Phil also shared from  Henry Blackaby, author of the devotional study Experiencing God, who wrote a book studying the life of Samuel.

“If you start something and it does not seem to go well, consider carefully that God, on purpose, may not be authenticating what you told the people because it did not come from Him, but from your own head.” (p. 239)

This is where I couldn’t stop crying. The thought that I may have been doing many things over the last year (such as writing, speaking, blogging, podcasting, creating information products, writing a bi-monthly ezine, forming relationships through social media), the possibility that these things may not have come from God, but came from myself, was devastating. Only God knows if this is true and that is what I am praying about this week, for clarity and wisdom.

I don’t want to do anything that God doesn’t authenticate or authorize. I don’t want to be like Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu, offering unauthorized fire (Leviticus 10: 1), or to be like the foolish man who built his house on the sand, instead of the Rock of Christ, and when the rain, wind, and floods came, it collapsed and was destroyed. (Matthew 7: 24-29)  Anything apart from Jesus will not bear fruit and won’t last.

As a result of this book, I have taken some time this week to pray and seek God on His will, His purposes, His vision for my life. I am still thinking things through, asking for Him to speak to me clearly. My dear sister Maria said God may have used this book as a warning to me about future success – to not let my dreams become an idol.

 Yes, there are dreams in my heart, big, big dreams!  I don’t want to live a medicore, boring life and want to do great things for God!   I believe God is the one who put those dreams there in my heart, because He’s a big God and has big plans for His glory.     The Bible says nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37)  God is the Dream-Giver and the Dream-Fulfiller.

But I never want my dreams to mean more to me than God does. I only want to please Him and do His will, not my own. (Luke 22: 42) While I desire to do great things for God in this lifetime and to make an eternal, significant mark on the timeline of history, influencing and impacting others’ lives, most of all what I want is an intimate relationship with God. For every part of my life to glorify Jesus Christ.

As Phil writes on page 251, “The impact God has planned for us doesn’t occur when we’re pursuing impact. It occurs when we’re pursuing God.” 

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”  (Psalm 42: 1)

I encourage you today, pursue God, not the dream. Because He alone satisfies. And when we pursue God, then He will make sure the dreams that HE has for us come true. Even beyond our wildest expectations! (1 Corinthians 2: 9)

***What are your thoughts on all this? I invite you to comment below.

Family picnic

I haven’t been ignoring you lately with not blogging as much!  I’ve just been busy getting ready for three major events coming up:

• My Step Up! webinar on August 31 with Lois Graham and Kim Ehlers
• My Wash Over Me retreat on September 17-18
• My speaking engagement in Phoenix at in October. https://www.normawashington.org/Home_Page.php

To help me stay on track, I use a task management system that I love, Manymoon. It will help you to  keep focused on your priority to-do’s, breaking down your tasks each day. You receive an emailed copy of your daily tasks as a reminder after you have entered them on the site.  This helps if you’re really busy the night before, and when you open your email in the morning and see the list, it’s an “Oh, yeah!” moment – and then you don’t forget your important to-do’s!    

I also use a Franklin Covey Dayplanner to stay organized, and am the queen of sticky notes.   (I LOVE sticky notes!)  What tools do you use to help you with your busy schedule? Many people use their palm pilot, laptop, cell phone, or Ipad.

No matter how much I have to do each day, though, I don’t ever want to be so busy that my family comes last place. One of the reasons wahm’s have an at-home business is to be able to spend more time with our families. Yet how often does the business take over our lives and things get out of balance – and we’re putting our husbands, kids, and friends on hold so we can get just one more thing done for the day? 

It’s important for us as wives to connect with our husbands each day to build that relationship. This is especially true if you are a woman who is struggling in her marriage and feels very alone – and needs to draw closer to her man.

This morning at work, Ray had to respond to a call  that was a house fire. His patient was a man in his 70′s, whose arms had been burned. The reason they were burned is that he was trying to pull his wife out of the fire. She was allegedly stuck in a window, and he would not let her go. Unfortunately, the wife did not live.

I thought this was an incredibly sad, but potent story.  A man who loved his wife so much, he would not let her go to save her, at the risk of his own life.  It is what Christ did for us the Church. He died so that we could have an intimate relationship and live forever with God.

I encourage you, take some time today to spend with those important people in your life, making your husband, children, family, and friends a top priority.  Hold onto those you love, making each moment count.

Woman stepping up

Are you fulfilling your great purpose right now, today?  Or are you struggling to just  get through the day?

Are you an overcomer – or are you overcome by the stress in your life?  Do you need an afternoon to relax and to be encouraged that God has a wonderful plan for your life and a great purpose? Then this webinar is just for you!

Join Lois Graham and Kimberly Ehlers at my third webinar, Step UP! You will LOVE these precious friends of mine. They are anointed women of God!

 There is no charge for this webinar, and you will receive bonus goodies just for coming.

To learn more, click here!

Wash Over Me retreat – woman in waterfall

One of the most loved stories in the Bible by women is that of Queen Esther. Hadassah was a young Jewish girl who was taken with other virgins to the palace of the King Ahasuerus in Shushan to replace his wife, the Queen Vashti.  Vashti had refused to come to to the king to display her beauty to the people and the officials, during his 7-day feast when he commanded it.

Enraged, he took her crown and was going to give her royal position to another woman more worthy of the crown.  God raised up beautiful Hadassah, also called Esther, “for such a time as this” – and ultimately she was used by God to save herself and her people the Jews from destruction at the hands of their enemy Haman, promoted above all princes in the palace.

It is an incredible love story of a King and the bride Esther, and is symbollic of Christ and the Church.  One of the things which Esther did in preparation to meet the King was to prepare for six months bathing in myrrh, and to prepare for six months in beauty treatments and perfumes. She was made ready before coming into the presence of the Royal King. 

Are you preparing your heart to meet with the King of Kings, Jesus?  Is your heart, your life, beautiful before God?  That is the theme of this One Day Intensive retreat, Wash Over Me. You will enjoy a day to just pull away and spend time with God and His Royal Daughters.

This teaching and much more are going to be shared at the Ladies’ One Day Intensive in Butler, MO, this fall. Here are some of the topics that will be covered:

You will just love it!  Join Patty Bartlett, Diane Bishop, me, and other anointed women of God for this fun, refreshing ladies’ conference. 

 The preparation “Beautifying” session will be Friday, September 17, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. CT. The One Day Intensive, including a ladies’ brunch, will be Saturday, September 18, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT. 

The price includes both the Friday night and all-day Saturday worship, teaching sessions, and brunch! 

The Early Bird special is $25 by August 30, 2010, and after August 30, 2010, the price is $30.  You pay by check, money order, or Paypal.

Ladies, mark your calendars today!

Why this conference?

1. You will have lots of fun, with fellowship, food, and door prizes!

2.  You will receive inspiring, Biblical teaching that is relevant for you today, to encourage you to walk in  your God-ordained, great purpose and destiny!

3. You will be able to just relax, de-stress, and soak in God’s presence, worshipping Him.

4. You will enjoy a preparation “beautifying” session on Friday at 7 p.m., and a tasty brunch on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Want to learn more? Click here to sign up today! And bring a friend!

Did you miss yesterday’s post – an article (pdf) giving a tour of my website, using screen shots? Well, today I went a step further and created a video tour of my website for you if you need more help navigating on my website.  

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

Stairs

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

Pod

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.

Do you need a best friend who will be there for you forever?  Have you been praying for something for awhile and haven’t seen any answers? Do you have dreams in your heart but haven’t seen them manifest yet? Has the enemy satan been having a heyday with your life?   Then cling to Jesus!

As we draw nearer to God in prayer and in reading His word each day, we will begin to understand our true identity in Him, tap into our great potential and destiny, and walk in His authority wherever we go.

Your prayers matter. Your prayers make a difference. Your prayers are effective.  With faith and trust in Christ, you will discover GOD’S UNSTOPPABLE POWER in prayer!

God hears your voice. Do not stop praying! 

To learn more about this unstoppable power in prayer, click here for my LIVE recorded audio of my teaching in Phoenix, Arizona, Clinging to Him.

As Christians we know we should pray and that we need to pray more. But there’s an even better reason than Christian duty to pray. It’s that God just wants to be with us! He is just WILD about you and me!

Would you like a closer, more passionate relationship with God through daily prayer and studying His word? Spending time with Jesus at His feet like Mary of Bethany did? 

You don’t have to pray for hours every day, or get up at the crack of dawn either.  God never goes on vacation. He doesn’t have call waiting. And He doesn’t have to try to squeeze you in on His Dayplanner. God is always there for you!

This ebook also includes BONUS goodies  – two of my articles on prayer, plus Session #2 of my 7-audio, bundle set on quiet time with God.  To learn more about my ebook Walking With God for sale for only $10.99, click here.

Celebrity new hairstyle

If you have noticed Tablet Of My Heart’s website appears different, it has gotten a little bit of a new look. The “search” feature is now underneath the RSS and email subscribe button at the top of the page on the right hand side. My personal mailing list sign-up for the weekly ezine has been moved down a little on the page. 

I have temporarily made some articles and other pages private to make room for some new articles and products for sale, and have added a new heading on the black navigational bar (7-audio sessions).

Kelly with FreshNets helped me with the change to my website’s search feature, so I could add the new heading (7-audio sessions) on the black navigational bar at the top of the page. The new changes are preparation for Cindy Rushton’s group coaching program class’ BIG LAUNCH in January 2010, and to make room for the new products I am working on this coming year. 

Some of the students  in Cindy’s coaching group who are EXCELLENT writers and speakers will be teaching and sharing words of encouragement on Cindy’s upcoming show in one month, so stay tuned for a VERY exciting event! You don’t want to miss this one! I can’t WAIT!

All of us students in her coaching program will be introducing our brand-new products that we began creating in her class during the four weeks in December.  I HIGHLY recommend Cindy’s coaching program. Cindy is a mighty woman of God, and she just pours out His love, wisdom, and very practical, helpful advice on making information products, based on over 20 years of great success in writing and speaking. She has another coaching program coming up soon. You can find out more at www.cindyrushton.com or email her at cindy@cindyrushton.com.

For my product in Cindy’s class, I am finishing up a 7-audio series on prayer, based on my book Walking With God, that will include freebie session questions, freebie session articles, and other goodies, in a bundle set for sale.

This audio set will include practical, useful tips for how to have that daily quiet time with God in the midst of a noisy, hectic, rushed world! So many of us wives and moms have a long to-do list every day, and we feel like we can’t squeeze in just ONE more thing.  This series will encourage you to make prayer to God a #1 priority in your life, and will give you helpful  tips for HOW to make that happen – and it does not have to take an HOUR, but in just a few minutes a day. You will see what a difference prayer can make in YOUR life and in those around you!

If you are not already signed up for my personal mailing list for my weekly ezine, sign up today so you’ll be sure to not miss any new updates or announcements about this upcoming launch in one month! 

Just go to the top of the page on the right hand side, and fill in your email address. Your email address is safe with me; I will never sell, rent, or give it away; you will NOT receive spam from me! What you WILL receive is a weekly ezine with encouragement from God’s word in mini-articles, updates on what’s new here at Tablet Of My Heart, a link to my newest podcast, and freebie articles and audios to bless you and to encourage you in your friendship with God.

Beth Jones, featured speaker, for Cindy Rushton’s Ultimate Women’s Expo(s):

Welcome to the Ultimate Women’s Expo(s)!

Ready for a big dose of encouragement?
No time to travel?
No extra money for hotels…parking…and eating out?
Can’t break away from your family?

Well…we have the PERFECT solution!

Join us for our:

Ultimate Women’s Expo(s)!

The Women’s Conferences that NEVER END!

 Ready for a fun Virtual Women’s Convention??? One that promises to inspire you, encourage you, and equip you for your call as a godly woman? This is your event…or EVENTS! (Yep! We host regular events here just for women!)

Right there in the comfort of your home you can join us! We always have an amazing speaker line-up PLUS a Mommy Grab Bag that is completely amazing! Just imagine….

No crowds!
No makeup!
No parking!
No walking for blocks and blocks!
No expensive trips or hotel stays!
No babysitters!

Talk about FUN! This is one that you will not want to miss!

Everything is recorded live online so you can join us for each and every workshop–no conflicts with the schedule! You can listen bit-by-bit to every one of our wonderful speakers! AND! We have a WONDERFUL Membership Site available for all attendees–filled with articles, audios, and free ebooks to help you kick-off your best year ever!

PLUS! That is not all! We have the most AMAZING gifts for you from fellow writers/speakers/sponsors. They are already being added into our Membership Site, ready for you to dig into expo week. It is one of the most amazing offers ever! You will definitely want to join us!

PLUS! When you sign up! You get more!

• Free ebooks!
• Free bonus audios to help you get started on the right track!
• Doorprizes and special gifts–ALL WEEK!!
• Membership to our Ultimate Women’s Expo Membership Site–With lots of free articles, bonus Mp3 download audios, free printable planning pages, and wonderful savings from our speakers and sponsors!

What do you think? Want to know MORE?
 

Lord, Capture My Heart!
Our Fall Retreat!
Grab the whole set NOW!

New Year, New You!
Our 2009 NEW YEAR Expo!
(One ULTIMATE Set!!)
Grab it today!

We promise  for every event to be ULTIMATE!

Makeovers can make such a difference, such as with the woman here at the right. What a transformation!  Beauty may only be skin deep, but it sure can make a girl feel better!

How about your  blog? Does it need an extreme makeover?  Have you thought about getting a fresh, new look for it for the fall?

Kelly McCausey with Fresh Nets does a beautiful job with your website makeover,  has great prices, is very professional, and will work patiently with you to give you what you desire and need with a  WordPress design.  She will help you to understand how to work with WordPress.

With FreshClub you get several graphics, plus an hour of coaching or WordPress editing for one monthly price with great savings. FreshNets also offers a customized Twitter background. Kelly offers a free, 20-minute consultation  to discuss your blog’s needs. Just click on the link below to find out more information today.

We’ve all heard how important a good brand is for your business and/or website.  Love is the ultimate app and brand. Based on Tim Sanders’ book, Love Is The Killer App and 1 Corinthians 13, I shared today on the key for success in business and personal fulfillment. 

If you missed today’s live Blog Talk Radio show, Love is the ultimate brand, you can listen here today or download the show to your computer, Ipod, or Iphone from Blog Talk Radio here.

Paypal should be up and running now when you click on it, to purchase my ebook, Walking With God.

I am taking a little time out today to watch a chic flic to unwind.

What are some of your favorite chic flics?  I love almost anything with Reese Witherspoon, Meg Ryan, and Meryl Streep.  What do you do to relax and have fun?

We’re getting ready to go! My blog and my webiste are moving to http://www.bethjones.net.  Kelly with FreshNets has done a GREAT job on the new WordPress design. My blogs, website, and podcasts will all be at ONE website for your convenience!

I wanted to keep my blog’s cute header graphic, and Kelly has been an answered prayer to this new website design! I LOVE my new site, and hope you will, too! I am SOOOO excited! God is so good!

We are still working on the website this week, so I appreciate your patience during the transition. Stay tuned for new upcoming blogs, articles, and podcasts to encourage your heart.

The Lord bless you!

Unselfishness is a rare quality these days. We’re all so busy, preoccupied, and distracted with our hectic lives, that we often don’t think about or even want to help others.

Yet it is what Jesus did. Jesus had an extremely busy schedule. He had a full day’s work every day when He began his ministry in his 30′s, after the test in the wildnerness. People would not leave him alone. They were always trying to talk to Him, ask questions of Him, and get something from Him. Talk about people being in your space and draining you! He had to go up to the mountains late at night, just to get away from the crowds. He had to get alone with God to hear His voice, and to get the instructions, strength, and anointing that He needed for the next day.

But the people were why Jesus came…to save them. To love them. To help them. To befriend them. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3: 17)

Jesus is called the Living Water (John 4:10), and we are to be pitchers of His living water, to give hope, encouragement, and help to others. I have seen this rare, precious quality of unselfishness and God’s heart of giving in Jo-Lynne, who is the blog designer at DCR Design, and who just finished my new blog design. DCR Design is at http://www.dcrdesign.com/.

Jo-Lynne did an incredible job, and I absolutely LOVE it! She went beyond the call of duty as a blog designer, being so patient with me as I made the difficult decisions on which graphics to use, the new blog title, what I wanted for the navigation bar, etc. I am extremely technology-challenged, so she had to endure the longest email thread in probably her and my email history combined, with all the uncertainties about what I really wanted and my relentless questions.

The final product is great, and one that I feel truly reflects me, my essence, and my blog’s purpose. And I would love to hear your comments and feedback on this blog’s new design, title, and, of course, the posts.

I just want to thank Jo-Lynne publicly for her generous spirit and her long, hard hours of work on this. I pray God’s greatest blessings on Jo-Lynne, her family, and her business/ministry. I encourage you to go to her site and to do business with her.

There are a variety of blog designs to choose from for your blog; she can do a custom design. They are just so cute, so pretty, so unique! Her prices are very reasonable. She is extremely creative, has great ideas, and will work with you until you find what it is that you want ~ even when initially, you are not sure what that is! She is professional, extremely prompt, efficient, and was such a pleasure to work with on this blog design. And her work is excellent.

Thanks, Jo-Lynne! You’re the best!

Tonight I’m cooking New England boiled brisket with baby carrots, onion, red potatoes, and cabbage. The meat is boiling, and I can relate. I’ve been working on the web site today to try to find a new, pretty skin for it that is more “me,” and to work on the margins (the margins need to be left justified, and tech support won’t get back with me). It’s been a frustrating afternoon, and it seems as if little was accomplished. But let’s put things into perspective here. I just got a phone call that our friend’s daughter Stephanie, who was in labor since 8 a.m. today, just had a C-section. She’s in a lot of pain right now. Stephanie has had a heck of a time with this pregnancy with pre-eclampsia, was admitted to the hospital a month ago to monitor her and keep her on constant bed rest. She was only 36 weeks along today, but now at least 7 lb 4 oz, healthy baby girl Erica is here! Praise the Lord! The web site irritations seem minor now, and I am taking a moment to adjust my vision and to focus on the more important things like prayer.

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10: 41

Brisket boiling, with baby carrots, onion, red potatoes, and cabbage.

Don’t let your troubles cause you to “boil over” with frustration….choose like Mary did, and sit at Jesus’ feet, listening to Him, and pray.

Last night and today I got some things accomplished; I figured out how to put a signature on my blog, registered for Feedburner, added an email subscription on this blog site, and an RSS feed. This morning I moved my RSS feed (Feedburner) over to Google, but from some posts I read after this apparently irreversible step, there are still some problems that Feedburner and Google are working out and it may take some time to resolve. Once again, the Lord teaches me lessons in patience.

My plans are to begin podcasting soon. Ray and I are waiting on an email reply from the “skin” designer, about some technical difficulties with the left margin justification on my web site, so that is “under construction” right now. Hopefully this week, we will get some of these minor problems worked out, and I can begin blogging to my heart’s content with no more techy~hold-ups. God has laid some things on my heart to blog about, and I am excited about sharing them with you!

For now I will share Psalm 37: 4~7: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.”

My Willow Tree Angel of Patience

Last night and today I spent a lot of time researching blogging, Feedburner, ads, etc. Blogging is like a completely different culture with its own unique language, and various dialects within the language.

Several years ago, I finally got to go with Ray to Haiti on his third mission trip there, for him to do some work for a pastor there for a week. I helped to teach in the Christian elementary school, while Ray trained security guards for the pastor’s compound there. French, Creole, and English are the primary languages in Haiti. Creole is a combination of French and several African languages, and it is very different from the textbook French I barely remembered from high school many years ago. It was difficult to understand… and all this stuff about blogging is as well!

And yet I am so excited to join other bloggers and learn all I can about this new, adventuresome place. I have been finding other mom bloggers online, reading their blogs and articles, and it’s been like drinking a cold, refreshing glass of Coke (or lemon-water or sweet tea, for you non-Coke drinkers). Eventually I will have to get off my laptop and stop feeding our daughter so many peanut butter-honey sandwiches, paying more attention to her.

Soon I hope to find someone to help me design a new, professional-looking blog site that is more my personal taste, with a signature, and have an RSS feed on here. My husband Ray and I are working on my web site this week, and hope to have it finished soon (having some technical difficulties with the margins!). I also plan to begin doing podcasts through my web site soon. Meanwhile, walking through the streets of “blogging,” getting a new view on life, is lots of fun!

Common “tap-tap” transportation in Haiti