Java with Jennifer Journal

Note: First Day, Signed Up, Beth Moore Study

a note from
Jennifer Rothschild

I just had to write to let you know how excited I am so many of you have signed up to follow Beth Moore as she facilitates my study, Me, Myself, and Lies, on her blog.

 

Beth provided an introduction to the Me, Myself, and Lies Bible study yesterday by video blog. See the June 23 blog post here. 

 

You've got to see the Sign-Up feature. My Dr. Phil tells me it is one of the coolest things he has seen on the web. He read to me dozens of your posts, and the hundreds of cities represented. God is amazing. Already more than 1100 comments have been left on her sign-up post.

 

And, we're already having fun. Beth introduces the study with some fun exercises. I'm a Shih Tzu. What are you?

 

You still have time to gather some friends together, or do the study solo. If you did not purchase the Memberbook yet - don't fret.  You can find a free download of Week One here. (click See Details).

 

And of course, don't forget about the free music download too.

 

I'll be following along with Beth and you.  I'm so honored.

 

Blessings my friend,

 

Jennifer

JR@jenniferrothschild.com

P.S. My Dr. Phil put together this "quick list" of helpful links for you:

1. Buy the Member Book here at Jennifer's Store - while they last, we'll get 'em out the door to you within 24 hours. Maybe sooner.
2. Beth's Living Proof Blog - Beth describes how the study will be done.
3. Free Music CD or Download - song from the music video found on the DVDs. 
4. Want to use Jennifer's teaching DVDs? You can find the DVD KIT here. You can also download videos for individual use here.
5. Free Download of Week One

News: Beth Moore Leading MML Study via Blog

This is Jennifer's Dr. Phil - husband and number one fan of Jennifer Rothschild. :)

By now you've heard the news that Beth Moore is leading Jennifer Rothschild's Me, Myself and Lies Bible study this summer.

 

Beth plans to introduce the study on Tuesday, June 23.  You have plenty of time to join in. I've put together some reasons to do this cool online blog-based study. You'll also find some helpful links below.

 

Dr. Phil's Five Good Reasons to Join Beth Moore's Summer Online Study 

 

1. Mmmm. Mmmm. Good Teaching. Can you imagine Beth Moore taking six weeks of material and compressing it into only four "low tech" video segments? The woman is brilliant! And, the second coolest woman I know.
2. Introducing...Your Personal Coach, Beth Moore. Have you been thinking about leading a small group of women through Me, Myself and Lies in the fall?  If I were leading a group of women (I do...kinda...at Jennifer's World Headquarters), I'd want Beth Moore to give me some "take-aways" I can share in the fall.
3. Oh, About a Gillion Women Have Signed Up Already. Okay I may be exaggerating just a bit, but rumor has it LifeWay (the publisher) had to reprint just slightly less than a gillion copies because they were selling out everywhere. You'll be in good company with a gillion friends.
4. Blogs Can be a Girl's Best Friend.  The online study is being conducted on Beth's Blog -- this means, you can wear your jammies, and eat bon-bons while you watch Beth's video teaching every two weeks.
5. Extreme Makeover is Coming to a City Near You...Really. The subtitle of this study is "A Thought Closet Makeover." So...while the TV show is not coming to your city, you'll get a make-over of a different kind - one that will tear down the walls of destructive self-talk, and adorn you with God's affirming soul-talk.

We'll that's Dr. Phil's top reasons to join Beth for her summer blog study of Me, Myself, and Lies: A Thought Closet Makeover. There's lots of better reasons....like:

1. Me, Myself, and Lies is a life-changing study. I wish you could read some of the emails we receive.
2. MML is not a self-help study from pop-psychology, it is Bible study - based on Truths that will transform your life.
3. You get a Free Music CD Single or MP3 Download of the song Jennifer sings on the Bible study DVDs. 

Here are a few links you can use:

1. Buy the Memberbook here at Jennifer's Store - while they last, we'll get 'em out the door to you within 24 hours. Maybe sooner.
2. Beth's Living Proof Blog - Beth describes how the study will be done.
3. Free Music CD or Download - song from the music video found on the DVDs.
4. On Tuesday, June 23 go to this Blog to hear Beth introduce the study by video.  
5. Free DOWNLOAD of Week One in pdf form. 

One frequently asked question

Do I need to watch the DVDs that go with the study?  Nope. But if you meet with a small group, you might enjoy Jennifer's teachings? You can find the DVD KIT here. You can also download videos for individual use here. (For clarification: Beth's video blog posts will provide about fifteen minutes of teaching every two weeks about what she gained from working through the MML Memberbook. The DVDs and the Individual Use Downloads mentioned above are Jennifer teaching 20 minute segments on the topic of MML - these 7 teaching segments from Jennifer complement the Memberbook content but is not required to work through the Memberbook).

Enjoy the summer study!

 

God bless you friends.

 

Jennifer's Dr. Phil... Rothschild

phil@jenniferrothschild.com

Me, Myself and Lies: Jennifer Discusses the Study

Click here to purchase this DVD-based Bible study and/or workbooks.

Hey ladies...have you heard that Beth Moore has selected Me, Myself and Lies for the 2nd Annual Siesta Summer Bible Study through her Living Proof Ministries Blog.  If you are interested in participating click here for more information.

May 2009 Taste This!

What I Am In To Lately

 

May was one fabulous, fulfilling and full month!  We had the privilege of enjoying two Fresh Grounded Faith events:  Atlanta and Getzville.  I also went to Louisville to speak at the Southeast Christian Church Bible Study Kickoff.  The women we met were all so lovely, and our time at each place was truly meaningful and special to each of us.  I am so grateful to Mark and Katharyn Richt, Anita Renfroe and Michael O'Brien for adding the perfect blend to each FGF event. 
 
Sometime between traveling, Mother's Day happened!  Connor gave me the most fragrant crème brulee candle in a hammered bronze decanter.  He chose it to enhance my new office since it is my favorite dessert and matched all the other "rusty looking" stuff I had in there!  (I love Connor's honest and bottom-line way of communicating!)  Clay completed his freshman year at Baylor and returned home just two days after Mother's Day with gift in hand--a hummingbird feeder.  It's a lovely cranberry-hued blown glass, and he and I made the sugar water blend to fill it.  We hope to attract some pretty, feathered musicians to our back yard!  What thoughtful boys...and speaking of thoughtful, my Dr. Phil gave me a gift certificate for manicures and pedicures to last the rest of the year.  Way to go, Phil!
 
I enjoyed something old and something new this month.  The old thing was a reread of one of my favorite books--The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  First published in 1851, The House of the Seven Gables is one of my favorite Hawthorne books.  It's a colorful portrayal of American life and values, and it abounds with meticulously detailed characters. I've heard that in his later years, Hawthorne said that if he were asked to read his own books written by someone else, he probably wouldn't want to!   I bet this is because of the enormous amount of details he tucks in each word, phrase and sentence.  I happen to love the details.  His words are like parts of a picture...strokes from a paintbrush that create a virtual experience. I feel like I can see what he is seeing, feel what his characters are feeling, and observe what he is nudging me to notice.  If you give this book a taste test--savor the experience, become a part of the times, feel the mood and see the architecture of mid-nineteenth century New England.  You will be enriched. 
 
Then, if you want something new to do with your newly found book experience...you can Twitter!  Twitter is a way to chronicle your moments and thoughts and join a conversation with other Twitterers!  That's the new experience I began this month.  It's been interesting so far, and we'll see how well I do!  For my visually impaired friends, you can join me through www.accessibletwitter.com.  I'll share with you more about the experience and what I think about it in Fresh Grounded Thoughts. 
 
The coffee I tried this month is Mahogany by Caribou Coffee.  Believe it or not, it has hints of leather and dark chocolate!  I think you will really like it.  It's so strong that I jitter while I Twitter!
 


So, give these things a taste test:
 
1. A Fresh Grounded Faith event or any women's enrichment event.  We all need refreshing, so get some friends and have fun!
 
2.  Crème brulee candle
 
3.  Hummingbird feeder
 
4.  The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
 
5. Follow me at Twitter and start your own page.   Come on, if I can do it, you can!
 
6.  Mahogany by Caribou Coffee 

May 2009 Fresh Grounded Thoughts

What God Has Been Teaching Me Lately 

 

I heard someone describe Twitter as a way to slowly write your life story.  With 140 characters at a time, you can record the ordinary moments and extraordinary insights that make up each day.   So, I signed up and nervously began the process of paying attention to what I was doing and thinking at any given moment so I could "twitter" about it.  It's a fairly odd sensation for someone like me who has never engaged in technology that is both public and intimate all at once!  It feels a little indulgent, a little awkward and a lot intentional!  But, it's very relevant.  So, I decided to approach my Twitter experiment with the mindset that I was recording the story I was living.  Twitter isn't writing my story, I am living my story; Twitter is merely a way to record what I am living. We all live our story.  Each day, every minute, we etch another line of who we are, what we believe, why we do what we do, how we feel and where we're going. 
 
Each of us has stories full of moments and musings, meaning and mediocrity.  The benefit of something like Twitter is that it demands you take note of your story.  It gives you a chance to make more conscious choices of what you do and note why you do it.  It helps you observe your life.  It helps you write your story with intention. 
 
I remember a bulletin board in one of my middle school classrooms that read in big black bubbly letters, "What is your goal?  If you aim at nothing, you will certainly hit it."  Even as a teen, it was a haunting reminder to live intentionally, to be aware of each moment, each choice, because if I didn't, it was the same as living aimlessly.  I sure don't want to live aimlessly, and I know you don't want to, either. 
 
So, how do we make each moment meaningful without becoming the center of each moment?  How do we engage in intentional living and purposeful story writing without becoming self-centered?  I think for me it comes down to monitoring and measuring each thought, because thoughts lead to actions and habits.  The habits become the stuff of character and make up the substance of our life story.  If Emerson is right that "A man is what he thinks about all day long," then what do my well documented, Twittered thoughts say about who I am?   What does each page, each chapter of your life story say about who you are?  Are you satisfied?  Am I? 
 
Not every moment of every day has to be or can be packed with what seems to be "big purpose," like saving the planet and eradicating homelessness.   It's impossible to live that way; but it is possible to groom and develop an attitude of purposefulness by finding meaning in each moment. 
 
So, what am I aiming at?  I am aiming at practicing the presence of God like Brother Lawrence did.  I am aiming to measure each moment against the awareness that my life is not my own but I still have the privilege and responsibility to live and manage it. (1 Cor. 6:19-20)  That thought alone makes every moment meaningful! 
 
Pearl S. Buck once said, "Purposeless activity may be a phase of death."  I am convinced that finding meaning in each moment is the substance of life...of really living, whether you Twitter or not!   
 
Think about the story you are writing today. Could it be a "best seller?"  "The life of man is the true romance, which when it is valiantly conducted, will yield the imagination a higher joy than any fiction. "  (Emerson)

Well, that's what's been percolating in me lately!

May 2009 Spill the Beans

 

You Ask It, I'll Answer It

 

Question:  I think women struggle with perfectionism and feelings of never measuring up. What do our attempts to achieve perfection say about ourselves and our relationship with God?  What do our attempts say about who we believe God to be?
Dori, TN
 
Answer:  Great question for me because I am a recovering perfectionist!  Here's what I've learned: When we focus on achieving a perfect image, we don't receive our identity from God.  It's a tiring, dissatisfying way to live.  Perfectionism is our belief that our acceptance is based on our abilities or performance.  It shows a misunderstanding of God's grace.  We simply receive who we are "from" God, not achieve a status "for" God.  Ultimately, believing we need to be "more" shows we believe God is not enough.  We trust ourselves and our opinion of ourselves more than we trust God and His opinion of us.  To live with the very human, unconditionally accepted and graciously redeemed identity Christ gives us is the only "perfection" we need!  Thank You Lord!

 

And now the beans are officially spilled!

May 2009 Prayer Requests

I need your prayers - if you have time, will you please consider praying for me? Here is my prayer list for this month:

1. Please keep my Dad in your prayers.  Treatment is taking a toll on his stamina and he is dealing with some difficult pain.  He has two surgeries on June 12 and 19.  Thank you for remembering him. 
 
2. God has met us at the last Fresh Grounded Faith events and brought many women to His Son.  We are so, so grateful.  Please pray for the women God has brought into the family.  Pray for Kimberly as a representative of all the new sisters in Christ that have come to faith in the last month. 
 
3. Our wonderful assistant, Kathryn, is going to India for the third time on missions. Please pray for her safety and that God will use her to show His love and truth.
 
4. Thanks for keeping the CD project in your thoughts and prayers.  It's coming along and I will be in the studio this month.  
 
I appreciate you all.  Blessings upon you.