Sept 13 ~ Hope To See You THERE!!

Alvin and I (Joy) would love to see you this Sunday, at our new land, and the future home of Women Refreshed at the Well ministry.

We are having a “come and go” event – so that you can come, walk and pray at the site…
WHEN: this Sunday ~ Sept 13
TIME: 3 – 5 pm Come for five minutes or two hours or anything in between ~ you choose!!
WHERE: we are the lot immediately NORTH of Corpus Christi Catholic Church – 5819 Henderson Hwy.

Directions: from Henderson and the North Perimeter – drive NORTH for 13.3 kms. We are the lot next to (north of) the church on the EAST side of Henderson.

WHY COME? We would like to bless and pray over the land prior to the beginning of our build ~ we want to include the Lord in all parts from the beginning to the end of the build and into the ministry!

So, we invite you to come. Wear good shoes if you want to walk. Bring a lawn chair ~ as we will have a fire going ~ and some refreshments.

This is GOD’s Vision ~ and we are just the vessels He is going to use ~ and I have a feeling He is going to use many more of you too.

So please come ~ if you need any more info ~ call me at home 866-3638 or that day on my cell 223-5467.

Hope to see you then!! Remember bring your LAWNCHAIR!!
See you Sunday!

Thank you Lord! One step closer!

Well as promised, I am writing to update you on how the council meeting went at our Rural Municipal office!!  We thank God for answered prayers!  We thank you for standing in the gap on our behalf – and on behalf of Women Refreshed at the Well ministry.  I would be lying if I said I was not nervous.  You sit there and they have your future in your hands – with a yes or a no vote!!  But then again, they didn’t stand a chance with God on our side, and this is HIS Vision – his ministry.

So, we were there, and asked to answer a few questions.  We left at about 7:30 – relieved that it was over and very thankful that we found favor in the eyes of council!

Lord, we thank you!  We thank you for going before us – for helping us to find favor.  This is your plan Lord – and we are only your conduits.  Thank you for everything you have done and are going to do! We love you and praise your name!!
Great are you Lord!

Please pray that we will find favor in their eyes tonight!

I am sitting here at home, with a couple verses running through my mind and over my heart.  BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.  BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING BUT IN ALL THINGS WITH PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION LET YOUR REQUESTS BE MADE KNOWN TO GOD.

Sorry, I may have quoted that a little off, not sure ~ but the reality is I know why God laid those on my heart just minutes ago.  You see ~ tonight is the night that we hear whether or not the Rural Municipality that we are moving into (Lord Willing) will grant our requests or not.

We had to take our information to them ~ the plans, the site plan, letters and reasons why we want to do what we are asking them to grant!  And  almost $500 per request.  ($1000 total)

We had to do that three weeks prior to their council meeting, which is tonight at 7.

We had to do this, as the plans that Jerald and we have been pouring over, are plans to first of all build a “barn” and then next summer to build the “house”.
And, the thing is ~ the barn is bigger and higher than they allow.  And the house, in order to do the ministry, we need to apply for the bed and breakfast permits.  And, under that ~ they allow 2 bedrooms for use as B&B.  We are planning for 5.  (Jerald had wondered why I picked 5 vs 6 for instance ~ and all I can say is that 5 is the number that God gave to me for the max number of women at any one time for retreat)

So ~ tonight we find out if we are permitted to do both requests.  Once granted – we can begin to build.  Flip side ~ if not granted, we lose the money that accompanied the request, and there is no appeal.  SO…. “Joy, be anxious for nothing…”

This is HIS Vision ~ and we are just the vessel God is using to do it.  We are trusting Him to move their hands on this one and we have been asking our friends to pray!

So, please pray that we will find favor with the council tonight!  I will let you know later!

Be anxious for nothing!  Lord God ~ ruler over all things ~ you are the one who laid this Vision on my heart, and have entrusted it to us to bring to fruition.  Lord, I am anxious,  perhaps I am “council shy” in some ways, but I ask for peace as we go tonight and sit in on the meeting.  I also ask Lord, that you would help us to find favor in their eyes.  Lord, this is your Vision ~ I have absolutely no doubt of that ~ so I know that you are in control.  Not me.  Lord ~ we give you all the honor and the glory!  Amen.

~Come And See ~~Walk And Pray ~

We would like to invite YOU to a: Come and See ~ Walk and Pray event at the future site of Women Refreshed at the Well!!

WHEN:  Sunday, September 13th from 3-5 pm

WHERE:  the land right next to the church (Corpus Christi) at 5819 Henderson Hwy.  We do not have a number sign yet, but it will be marked!!

WHAT:  we would like to give you the opportunity to come and see where we are Lord willing, planning to build and where the ministry will operate from.  When you come, you will be invited to walk and pray!  And then, make sure to pull your lawnchair around the fire and enjoy a cup of coffee and some refreshements and fellowship. 

WHAT TO BRING:  a lawnchair, and good walking shoes.

Please mark your calendars and plan to attend!  It will be a day of blessing the ministry and the land!

If you need more info – feel free to email us at  womenrefreshed@gmail.com

Unexpected gifts from God!

Well ~ God works in mysterious ways and gives “gifts” to us from time to time. I love that. One of the unexpected gifts I have experienced lately is the interview I had with Angeline Schellenberg with Christian Week.  Long story short ~ through Ashley (my daughter) working at the Canadian Conference office and talking about Women Refreshed at the Well ~ someone she works with told Angeline that perhaps it was an idea for a story for Christian Week.  And, sure enough, Angeline and I met and talked. Okay, I talked. For two hours. Yep, it is such an exciting story!!

I love talking about the Vision and what God has done since 2000. She seemed very interested in the story too. So, it will be in the September edition which will come out the last week in August. This, is a gift from God, and I am so thankful. I just continue to see how God’s heart just beats and beats for women! If only we all knew and lived in the love that he has for us ~ even though I KNOW it, so often I just forge on ahead without him. Not sure why! Guess it doesn’t matter whether we are women or men ~ we all often try to be self-sufficient.

Anyhow ~ this conversation we had over coffee at Mountain Bean ~ it was a gift and Lord ~ I thank you for these unexpected surprises.

Stay tuned ~ and watch for the September edition.

Coffee talks & plan making and a request for PRAYER!

So ~ it has been a while since I have written on this blog and a lot has happened. We have met twice to go over plans for our house/retreat house combined.  What an exciting time it is! Believe me ~ after we meet, I can hardly go to sleep. The conversations, the plans, all of it just continues to run around and around my mind.

The last time I met with Jerald ~ he shared some preliminary plans with me.  Alvin was at work, so I had to relay all the exciting news and papers with measurements, plans, etc. I really love meeting with Jerald, as it seems that God is laying as much on his mind as on ours and it shows up in the way that we come to the table with the same ideas, and seem to be on the same page.

Right now however, we are at the point where we solicit your prayers!  Before we go too much farther, we have to get permission from the council of the Rural Municipality that we are in (St. Clements) as we are wanting to build a bigger and higher barn than they allow, and we are also asking if they will allow us to have 5 rooms committed to bed and breakfast (which is the closest thing we can find to describe what will happen).

So, after also soliciting the expertise of my son, and his knowledge of photoshop (see the picture of the land with the barn in it

~ and writing up a letter and putting copies of some preliminary plans together, off I went to the municipality planning office to pay the fee and submit our request for a variance in the above areas.  The request had to be in by today, so that it is ready for council to peruse it, talk about it, and decide on it at their council meeting on August 25th.

So, please pray!!  Pray that we would find favor with them, and that they allow us to build the size we feel we need to build, for both shop and for the house.  From the beginning God has indicated that we should put in enough bedrooms for 5 people!  Okay, I didn’t write that in my letter ~ that would have perhaps been pushing it if one isn’t used to getting their instructions from God! (smile)

So, please pray!!  Pray without ceasing.  Pray believing that God has begun a good work and will bring this ministry to fruition.  To God be the Glory!

Land purchase!

The other day when our son Josh gave us a little pep talk and said, “if you are going to do it, you have to just DO IT” I told him it would be really hard, and tear-filled when it came time to move away from the place that we have called home for the better half of our lives!  He agreed! 

Funny thing is it seems like THIS IS THE TIME. For the past year when God kept saying with even more urgency “GET THE BALL ROLLING!!”  It seems that within the past year, many people have asked me, and told me that for some reason, God had laid WRATW on their heart.  People are praying, telling me of dreams and visions they have been given in regards to it.   While it has been “simmering on the back burner” over the past few years, now it seemed that God was turning up the heat! 

So it was, with a combination of anxiousness and excitement (actually great excitement) that on the morning of March 18^th – Dave (real estate agent) came to where Alvin was working, to write up an offer to purchase.  I have to say that we fully expected to have to respond to a counter offer.  We were praying about it.  If this was the time – God would make that clear.  We had no doubt about that.   So, would this be the land that would become the future place of our home and Women Refreshed at the Well? 

David was one guy who I had shared the Vision with back in 2001 and I will never forget him praying for WRATW in Perkins that morning years ago.  He was going to share the Vision with the people who owned the land.  Only God knew what would happen.  We trusted Him for the best answer.

Later that day, while I was having supper with my daughter and son-in-law – my cell phone rang.  I recognized the caller, even though it said “BLOCKED ID” on the call display. I knew it was David, our real estate agent. My heart picked up a few beats. My thoughts were, well here goes, we will have to give a counter offer.

David began….”well Joy, they didn’t like the offer.”  (I think my heart sank momentarily) You know somehow I had really prayed that I would trust and not worry or fret, and let God be God. Lately I have had a hard time with this one, and the waiting part of God’s timing.   Perhaps they didn’t like the offer because it was low.  It was $25,000 less than their first listed price, and $15,000 lower than their “reduced” listed price. BUT THEN….this is where the “GOOD NEWS” comes into place!   David continued on ~ “they didn’t like the offer, but they were glad to hear what the place would be used for, so they will accept the offer you gave.”

Oh my ~ God, you have decided that this is the time, this is the place~ I was wonderfully caught off guard! 7 years ago David and I had talked about the Vision and now ~ he was telling me that we have just bought some land!  I am sure that my smile was a foot wide!

I think both Alvin and I were shocked, as were our kids. (Isn’t that so like God to shock and surprise us!) Shocked, surprised, excited. Thankful!!  God, I am so thankful. We are one step closer to the vision that God entrusted to my heart many years ago.  The ball is rolling!

I want to say again – this is not my Vision. This is HIS vision laid on my heart…. I am just the conduit…. the clay vessel that He is using to bring this about. God give both wisdom and strength to follow on.  Oh that He would find me faithful!

To GOD BE THE GLORY….. and as my good friend Lynda said to me many years ago, in regards to this vision, “fasten your seatbelt Joy, you are in for a ride!”
I think we all are!! 

Location of the land:  about 13 kms from Henderson Hwy and the perimeter.  Travel NORTH on Henderson and you will come to the community of NAROL.  We own almost 19 acres right beside (to the NORTH of) Corpus Christi Catholic Church.  We are on the EAST side of Henderson Hwy.  (not the river side).  Not sure what our number is, but the Catholic Church is 5819 Henderson.  Go and check out the location!