jana's three dresses

Stop fighting.

Give yourself permission to rest in the darkness of your pain. God will find you there. And, when He does, let your stillness be His invitation to enter your soul.

newly purposed,

jana

A memory flashes before me this morning as I sit down to catch up on correspondence.

My five-year-old self sitting at the kitchen table, clumsily clutching a pen over an ever-shifiting paper.

Thank you Cards. 

Dear Grandma, Thank you for the new doll. She is pretty. I love her a lot. Love, Jana 

Check.

Next.

My mother was very disciplined about having us write thank you notes to friends and family. I remember Saturday mornings sitting at the table getting this “chore” done while my friends played outside. Such drudgery at the time.

Sometime later, a note would arrive for me from my Grandmothers’ thanking me for my Thank You Notes. They would often compliment me on my beautiful handwriting or thoughtful remembrance of them. Bound together in a dusty shoe box, I now treasure their notes like they once treasured mine.

I never told my mom this {I don’t recall anyway}, but I actually learned to enjoy writing thank you notes. My quipped three sentences, quickly turned into pages of script. I sharpened my handwriting and my writing voice. I took pleasure in painting pictures on the page as I described my family’s adventures. We moved often, lived out of the country some. Penning those letters and notes connected me with them across the miles.

I am reminded of the many scenes from Jane Austin novels as the heroine sits erect at a dark-stained roll-top desk, pen in hand. With a flushed face, she writes of her adventures and mishaps. I felt like that heroine sometimes.

My son recently received a thank you note following his friend’s birthday party. He seemed surprised that other children have to write thank you notes, too. I chuckled to myself. Maybe next time he won’t moan and groan when it is his turn to write his thanks.

I also just received a hand written invitation to a lunch party. Beautiful script from a 76-year-old friend. She had sent an email to “save the date”, but still believed it necessary to send a hand written note as well. I was humbled by the tradition of that one act. My grandmothers would have approved.

I am glad to see that the art of hand written notes is not yet lost.

I have many to write today, but am looking forward once again to putting pen to paper. I hope to craft a few sentences that will capture my appreciation and admiration for these people for whom I have come to love.

Putting pen to paper one thought at a time,

jana

This Saturday will be a final culmination of a work that began in November. I have been rather silent here in my writing because all of my energies have been focused on this one task.

Ancora 2013 is a new and exciting opportunity for members of the Military Community, specifically the Military Spouse.

Registration is Open. Email ancora2013@gmail.com for more information.

Location: Army Heritage and Education Center. Carlisle, PA

Saturday, May 4th, 8am to 5:30pm

Ancora 2013 will be addressing the Reality of Suffering in our military community and answering it with the Certainty of Hope in Christ Jesus. Our theme scripture is Hebrews 6:19,

 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place. 

It is no secret that the military community is suffering after ten years of uninterrupted war. Military spouses are no exception. We all carry stories of hurt and pain with us, whether they are our own, our spouses’s or a friend’s. Healing will come if we begin to share our stories with one another, replacing walls of isolation with bridges of hope. Ancora was created with this in mind.

Friends, I ask for your prayers.

We do not know how many will attend. As you can imagine, this topic is one people often run from rather than to. God’s favor has been on Ancora 2013 from the beginning. Time and time again our efforts have been affirmed and supported.

So, I enter this week in prayer, releasing Ancora 2013 to Him who is able. Will you join me in prayer for the speakers, volunteers and participants? Thank you.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,  to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1: 24, 25)

newly purposed,

jana

I want to write something to inspire you today. I want for you to finish reading this and say, “Wow!”.

I have to be honest. I want to be the best writer I can possibly be. Why? Because writers change our perspective, influence our thinking, alter our paradigms. When you read something and it causes you to look at the world in a new and completely altered way…..that is the kind of writer I want to be.

I don’t know that I will ever achieve that. I don’t know if my dreams of being a fantastic, published writer are selfish. I don’t know if I will grow bored of tapping out my thoughts onto screen. {It is hard for me to imagine that!} But I suppose it is possible that I could run out of things to write about.

I have purchased an online writing course, called Tribe Writers, through jeffgoins.com. I am super psyched about it. I have high hopes that it will help me refine my writing voice, identify a platform, and build a tribe. {What’s a tribe? Yeah, I hope to learn about that, too.}

I have you to thank.

…..

That is what I come here to write about today.

Thank you.

It is because of you, dear friend, your support, encouragement, kind words, and faithfulness that (1) I feel confident enough to call myself a writer, and (2) I feel brave enough to pay money and make a commitment to an 8-week writing course.

Thank you.

Thank you for believing in the ministry of jana’s three dresses. Thank you for helping me refine my message, my voice through the comments you leave. {Feel free to leave a comment any time. I really do read them and appreciate them.} Thank you for trusting the words God has placed on my heart to share with you.

Thank you.

The calling God places on our life does not often make sense to us. The calling often changes depending on the season of life we are in.

In my late teens and early twenties, I felt called to train as a Registered Nurse and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner. I was going to make changes to the way we provide services to women on the fringes of our society. I have the degrees and certifications to prove it!

Yet, here I am, a completely new call – To Write. To Share my Story of Redemption through Grief. To Encourage others to Press into Christ in the Darkness. To have Hope in the Waiting and the Wandering. Had it not been for that fateful day, when it all changed, that one moment which created a before and an after, I would not be here at jana’s three dresses sharing with you.

I am excited to see where God is leading.

2013 is a new year and I am confident that God will continue to use the story He has weaved into my life for His glory.

…..

jana’s three dresses may be a bit silent over the next couple of weeks. We will be traveling to be with family for the holidays.

Advent is a season of waiting and of resting in the Promises of our Savior.

Allow yourself to Rest and to Wait in Humble Expectation.

I pray God’s Blessings and Grace on you and yours this Christmas Season.

newly purposed,

jana

“anonymous:

Jesus’ hidden years…and

yours”

by Alicia Britt Chole |

A Book in Review

Why review this book?

Why Give Away 2 copies – for FREE – no strings attached?

Because, we have all experienced times in our life when we have felt hidden or anonymous – knowing we have gifts and talents, but feeling they are not being recognized or used to their fullest potential.

No book has more accurately captured my spirit

or spoken words hidden in my heart.

I am confident you will find yourself

in the pages of this book as well.

…..

My journey through this book has only just begun. I am certain this first reading will not be my last. With every paragraph, and nearly every single sentence, I found myself nodding my head in agreement, putting the book down to let the words sink in, and letting my mind, heart, and spirit marinate in the profound wisdom presented by Ms. Chole.

The pages of my copy contain highlighted sentences paragraphs, underlined words, and notes in the margins.

{My favorite way to read a book is with pencil in hand, armed for the ready for when that “ah-ha!” moment jumps off the page. Pencil on clean, unmarked text…bliss. Yes, I am a bit weird.}

…..

The following is an excerpt taken from Part One: hidden treasure, pages 5-7.

 “Have you ever felt hidden? Have you ever moved to a new place or entered a new environment where no one knew who you were, what you could do, or what dreams ignited your soul?”

…..

To continue reading please follow this link to, Finding Purpose in the Pain, where I am a contributing writer.

newly purposed,

jana

Congratulations to S. Price and Kim Johnston!! You are the winners of the 2 copies of “anonymous: Jesus’ hidden years…and yours”. Thank you to all those who entered and left comments. May you have a blessed Christmas and New Year. ~ jana