Women Actively Sharing God's Love
Welcome to the Activate-Your-Life website. We take a unique approach by encouraging all christian women to be active, knowing that you can be effective just by being yourself.
With 4 decades of experience behind us and an exciting future ahead, we'd like to invite you to join our community of 'girls getting out there' sharing God's love in natural, meaningful ways.
Our aim is to offer stimulating articles, fun ideas and challenging topics for discussion. We need you to join in and help us by posting articles, joining in forum discussions, or simply telling others about useful resources you've discovered. So read on, log on, donate, or sign up for our training day and weekend away. We look forward to welcoming you...
Fiona Castle - President | Mandy Catto - Director | Sarah McKerney - Director
Christmas Cooking
Gingerbread Men and Homemade Vanilla Fudge
This year I plan to make some home made presents for friends and family as a personal touch. Although my children are 12 and 15, I think they won’t be able to resist decorating biscuits and making sweets for our Christmas tree.
Christmas is the time for tasty treats – so why not have a go at making some gingerbreads and homemade fudge! No matter how times change, or how Christmas traditions evolve, treats like gingerbread and fudge will still be Christmas family favourites.
History of Gingerbread Men
A fresh start for friendship evangelism- a reflection by Fiona Castle.
During the Sunday morning reflection on our weekend away, our president Fiona Castle shared her thoughts on 'Love is...'.She invited us to look at 1 Corinthians 13 by spending time with a fresh version of the famous words.
1. A friend is patient. Rather than giving her opinion, she listens.
2. A friend is kind. She doesn't assume. She is thoughtful.
3. A friend doesn't envy. She's content with what she is and has, and wants the best for others.
4. A friend doesn't boast. She knows that God alone is on the throne.
Christmas Crafts at the Weekend Away
This year in Coventry we had the opportunity to make some beautiful Chrismas gifts and crafts. The options included -
Cranberry hearts - using green 1.6mm garden wire in a heart shape, threaded with fresh firm cranberry berries then finished off with ribbon and rafia.
Fabric Remnant hand sewn postcards - Claire showed us how to make beautiful cards using strips of coordinating fabric laid over each other and sewn toegther using various stitches.
Enterprising Women
This is Global Enterprise week and Wednesday is Women's Enterprise Day. There's never been a better time for women to start up small businesses and your local business link can give you lots of free advice.
But the other big advantage is that you can join networks - there are masses of them out there - and share your interests with loads of like-minded women. You can even look at setting up a Community project or Social enterprise.
It's a whole new pond to fish in so get networking and making friends in the process
'I am Loved'
When the day is dark,
And my strength is gone,
When my work is hard,
And I cannot go on,
A new strange joy arises
Within the storm a calm.
I know that I am loved:
You keep me from harm.
I trust in your great power,
I am confident in your might.
You are with me every hour,
I am never out of your sight.
'I am Loved', from Music of the Heart
by David Adam
The God You Already Know
'The God You Already Know' by Henry Morgan & Roy Gregory opens by looking at how to recognize and build upon our experiences of God, and how we might learn from those times when God seems silent and absent. Offering stories of a number of people who have found helpful ways of praying in particular circumstances, in sections headed 'God in our passions', 'God in our Pain' and 'God in the midst of life'.
The God You Already Know: Developing your spiritual and prayer life by Henry Morgan and Roy Gregory (SPCK, £10.99 (£9.90); 978-0-281-06155-6).
Making an advent wreath.
Before the rush of Decemeber begins, take an evening out, invite your friends and neighbours round and be crafty together! Serve some winter Pimms with warm apple juice as you gather round the kitchen table.Ask them to bring some greenery from their gardens that you can share together and you are all set,,,
To Rwanda with Love
From Rwanda with love…
I spent Wednesday evening at a new business networking group where one of the speakers was Martin Garner. I’d heard of Martin but never met him and he’s one of those guys who although they come over as quiet and unassuming, have a radiance and peace about them that’s tangible and infectious.
THE NATIVITY
Another helpful resource from our friends at DAMARIS (www.damaris.org) who just keep producing brilliant, relevant ideas we can all use. Read more about their latest festive resource -
God is Back / The Case for God
‘God Is Back’ by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge of The Economist and ‘The Case For God’ by Karen Armstrong are two books that explore our relationship with God.
The number of people claiming to believe in various forms of God is rising fast almost everywhere.
Karen Armstrong's The Case For God demonstrates that
throughout history, religion was not something you thought, but something you did. It required discipline, ritual and hard work with the aim of discovering an inner dimension of your being.
