My next step with God....

Hallelujah statue by Ken Smith currently displayed at the defunct
Spirit of Freedom Garden in Fredericksburg, VA

I am taking my step next with God today. You will learn about it with the following letter, my only request is that each of you pray and follow God's leading.

Hello Family & Friends,

God has provided an opportunity for me this July to attend the She Speaks 2012 conference. This is a conference that focuses on writing & speaking.

The last 6 months have been an unusual time in our lives and I am taking a big step in sending this letter. Without boring you with all the details, just know that during this time God has reinforced in us that He is in control in all circumstances. Furthermore, I am trying my best to be obedient to my Loving Savior; because I have personally seen what disobedience can do.

The conference being at the end of July will have given me plenty of time to recover from my upcoming surgery. I have committed $100.00 to the conference fees. This $100.00 will not cover the complete $650.00 fee (the fee covers conference materials and lodging). The other $550.00 needs to be secured before May 15^th to hold my spot in the conference. I know that nothing is impossible with God.

The remainder of the fees is where God is giving you an opportunity to be a part of this endeavor. You can read my sponsorship letter by following this link.

No money is sent to me. As stated in the sponsorship letter, all monies are sent to Proverbs 31 ministries with the donor designating the funds to Dawn Whitmore.

My one word for 2012, given to me by God, is focus. I am trying to learn what God wants me to focus on. Yes, He wants me to focus on Him. Yet, through this focusing on Him, He is revealing to me many things. I share these in my blog on a regular basis…Dawn’s Dialogue.

My prayer is that each of you will pray and ask God if He wants you to be a part of this ministry opportunity.

In Christ,

Dawn Whitmore

P.S. All donations are tax-deductible. 

You can learn more about the She Speaks conference at their website: 

http://shespeaksconference.com/

Linen Clothes & Naked Men...(originally posted on Biotikos Blog by Dawn Whitmore)....

“And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.” Mark 14:51-52 ESV

The past week, I have been reading through the Gospel accounts leading up to Jesus’ betrayal, death & resurrection. While reading Mark 14, the above verse jumped off the page at me. Yet, it wasn’t the man running away naked that got my attention. No, it was the “linen cloth” part of the verse, which caught my eye.

Upon reading it, my  mind instantly thought of the linen cloths that Peter found when he went to the empty tomb. Upon reading Mark 15:46, we see Joseph of Arimathea buying fine linen (cloth) to wrap Jesus’ body in before placing Him in the tomb.

 Further in Mark, it is interesting that Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James) & Salome encounter a young man dressed in a white robe at the empty tomb.

What does all this mean? Possibly, no more than I am an eccentric person. One whose mind wanders while reading the scriptures or could it be God revealing more? At times it seems, I always end up with so many questions while reading Scripture.

Does this happen when you read the Scripture or is just me?

Stop by one of my social sites and let me know:

FB: Dawn Whitmore

FB Page: dawnwhitmorespeaks

Twitter: @DawnWhitmore

Look forward to hearing from you!

God amazes me....

I am still digesting the fact that God has decided to make me a deaconess at my local church.

My first official meeting is tomorrow (Sept. 18th). Myself and one other person will be filling the two slots being opened by the two men rotating off.

This is not the first time our church has had a deaconess.

That is pretty much my news for now.

Playing church not being THE CHURCH

I talk with young people (no, I am not one), good, honest, wanting to serve God teenagers. One thing I see happening is these young people are getting fed up with the organized church playing church and not being THE CHURCH!!! They want to go outside the four walls and minister to people, and tell them about Jesus.

We the adults in their lives would learn a valuable lesson from these young people....they are open and honest with each other about their struggles....none of them put on the "I'm fine" persona. Come on we all know what I am talking about....

A typical Sunday morning or for that fact any morning when we see someone we know (however, Sunday morning irks me the most):

"Hi! How are you?"
"I'm fine." (While you are not fine!)

This response is so automatic that last week, I was out and someone saw me and all I said was "Hi" the person responded, "Just fine, thank you for asking." That is the response I got for merely saying "Hi"!?!?!!?!?!

The thing that scares me is that somewhere along their college years something happens and before they know it these same young people start questioning why the hurt inside....why do they not tell someone how they really are doing. DO WE SEE THE DISSERVICE AND SAD THING HAPPENING HERE....they are turning into us. IS THIS WHAT SCHOOL TEACHES THEM OR IS IT WHAT THEY THINK HAPPENS WHEN THEY GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL AND IT IS TIME TO GROW-UP!!!!

I for one am going to tell all the young people around me that becoming responsible and maturing DOES NOT mean to start "playing church" and to no longer be THE CHURCH.

WAKE UP AND LEARN FROM OUR YOUNG PEOPLE....SOME OF THEM HAVE IT MORE TOGETHER THAN US!!!!