Let us take care of you for an evening. Come to relax and rest with all the other great women at Terra Nova. Take a break from your busy September and come indulge in a manicure or pedicure and other fun treats and of course great food!

Hear about the plans for the coming year…

Even if you forgot to sign up, you can still show up. The more the merrier.

“Suffering and Glory ~ Following the path of Jesus”

Silver Bay Retreat Center, Lake George

July 14 – 16

Can you believe that this year’s Women’s Retreat is only 7 weeks away?  I hope you are getting excited for a weekend away with God and your sisters from Terra! Below you will find info on the most pertinent retreat details…

Cost: $150 ~ includes 2 nights’ stay, 5 full meals, 2 evening snacks and desserts, all retreat materials, full use of all Silver Bay facilities and equipment. (Registration is on the City in the Women at Terra Nova Group).

Time:  The retreat begins on Thursday, July 14^th @ 7 pm, and ends on Saturday, July 16^th at 2:30, though you’re welcome to enjoy Silver Bay until 4.

Place: We will be staying in lovely Hepbron Lodge, a classic example of the early Adirondack lodge style.  Each room is a double, with its own sink.  Take time to explore their website:  www.silverbay.org, and refer to their Guest Services Handbook at www.silverbay.org/index.php/site/guest_services where you will find answers to many of your questions

Content: Our topic this year is suffering.  Many of us are currently struggling through trials, and in our pain, may be feeling lost, confused, or disappointed with our lives.  Maybe you are trying to sort out God’s purpose and plan in the aftermath of suffering.  We know that suffering is going to be a real part of the life of any Christ-follower.  As we delve into the way of suffering together, we will include discussions from A Path Through Suffering by Elisabeth Elliot.  Please take the time to read this book before the retreat.  If you own a copy and are willing to lend it out, please post that here.

More retreat details will be posted in the coming days.  If you have any pressing questions or concerns, feel free to post them here and we will do our best to answer them, or email Diane Marcelle directly (diane@terranovachurch.org). If you are a retreat veteran, you need to share your experiences with other women ~ post comments here!  If you have yet to attend a Terra Women’s retreat, be open and willing to sign up this year.  You will not regret it!

“Silver Bay YMCA of the Adirondacks is a 100-year old YMCA family retreat and conference center on shores of Lake George.”

How do we live in the world and not of it? How do we fully embrace our femininity without feeling like we’re somehow being demoted as a gender? What does God really say to us specifically as women? How much of our perspective is muddied by current cultural cues and/or Christian cultural cues?

Carolyn McCulley’s book addresses these issues, tracing us back to the roots of feminism, then back to scripture, and then to the present day. She does not shy away from the tough questions but rather presses deeply in, desiring to wring out all that God wants to say to her and to all of us as God’s daughters.

Here’s a brief excerpt from the book:

“Slowly it began to dawn on me that the Bible was not presenting just a new set of rules for successful relationships or a peaceful life. It was presenting an entirely new game – with radically different goals for victory. Winning was living a life that glorified God. Winning was growing in humility. Winning was trusting God and serving others. Winning was cultivating the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galations 5:22-23). Winning was growing in Christlikeness.”

Join the women of Terra Nova as we discover the anthropology of woman as we were designed to be, according to our Creator, and learn how to live that out in our times.

Book Study meets every thursday from October 22nd till November 19th from 7-9PM in the Gallery. The book Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in Feminist World by Carolyn McCulley will be available at the opening study for $10. Please email life@terranovachurch.org to request a book, or sign up in the lobby on sunday.

But what about first Eve? She, after all, sinned first by believing the crafty serpent rather than God, and then giving in to temptation by eating the forbidden fruit. She didn’t stop there – she gave it to her husband to eat as well. But before she sinned, she experienced perfection – knowing who she was, knowing what to do, being fully and perfectly loved by God and by her husband, having everything she needed, and not wanting anything else…At least she didn’t want for a little while…

So, who is the second Eve? We know as Christians we all follow Christ, male and female, and that Christ is the One who restores all. But is there a woman whom we can model our lives after, a woman who knows who she is, and is content in who she is because she is called to it by God, fulfilled by Him, not lacking, not stressed, not pressured, not doubting, but content, resting in the One who made her?

Over the next year, Poiema will be delving into the question of who we are as women in order to fully realize God’s design for us and call in our lives. Once we get the cultural, familial, and even church teaching out of the way, we hope to see clearly the anthropology of woman from the perspective of the Creator of woman, shedding the ideas and perspectives that are not from Him and embracing all that He has called us to be. Then we can glorify Him in a world that does not know Him, in a world full of sad, cheap substitutes for life He wants to give us.

This year’s retreat will be the foundation for next year’s journey through this topic. We will be focusing on the book of Philippians, delving into the surpassing greatness of Christ…what does it mean to live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ? We will study humility, having the mind of Christ, who gave up everything, making himself nothing, so that He could give His life for each one of us. We will learn about prayer, encouragement, and joy by meditating on God’s word, unencumbered by the day’s demands.

We will spend time alone with God, and time in small groups, sharing together, praying together. We will worship together through music, and by soaking in the beauty of God’s creation We will laugh together and cry together…it will be the “feel good” women’s retreat of the year! I hope you can join us!

The Poiema Retreat will be held from June 4 – 6, 2009 at Christ the King Spiritual Retreat Center, Greenwich, NY. Total cost is $200, $100 holds your spot. Checks may be made out to Terra Nova Church with “POIEMA RETREAT” in the memo box. Please give checks directly to Diane Marcelle or Phil Taylor.

Also, a word about the cost of the retreat::

I wanted to extend a brief explanation of the place and cost of the retreat this year. Upon reading the evaluations from last year’s retreat, they were overwhelmingly positive. The one “complaint” was that it was too short – women wanted more time together, more time alone with God, more time being taught, etc. so we decided to make one major change – two days rather than one. We also decided that the two days needed to be Thursday evening to Sat. afternoon, not Friday through Sunday, due to the large number of women who make Terra Nova run on any given Sunday.

Then came venue…we loved Christ the King Spiritual Retreat Center (CtK) – the food, the setting, the staff, the accommodations, the distance from Troy – all of that was extremely positive. The one negative was the cost. Last year it cost $89 per night, which included food and use of all facilities. This year, the price went up to $96 per night, which doubled is $192.

Even though we loved CtK, we didn’t just want to stay with the status quo, so a group of Terra Nova women researched every retreat venue within a 2 1/2 hour drive of the Albany area. The criteria we decided on was a place that was not too “campy” where we didn’t have to cook or provide our own food, and where we didn’t have to sleep 10 or more to a room. We felt that a real retreat for women should include as few barriers as possible to relaxing and resting and refreshing in the Lord.

After thoroughly searching, we came up with nothing comparable to CtK in terms of value, and only a couple of options that were really in the running. A group of us visited CtK again this fall and we all agreed that the serenity, the beauty, and what they provide for us is worth the cost.

We sent out an early “save the date” announcement with the cost so everyone who wanted to go would at least have ample time to save. Of course, this all preceded the economic downturn we have all experienced.

I encourage all of you to prayerfully consider investing in relationships – a relationship with God, and relationships with other women who seek to follow after Him. This is the crux of our faith, and I am confident that this year’s retreat will provide unique and powerful opportunities for growth in not only these relationships, but into your relationships with yourselves and everyone God has placed in your lives.

Please note that Terra Nova cannot take up the financial burdens of individuals wishing to go to the retreat, but that through New Tribes or other individuals, there is money to offset the cost for those who need it.

If you have any questions, please contact me at: diane@terranovachurch.org

This is a great question! There are so many things to do, to spend your time on, and when you make a choice to do one thing, you are also choosing not to do a whole slew of other things.

I know the pressures of using time wisely. I hardly have any discretionary time. So why am I asking the already way-too-busy-women of Terra Nova to add one more thing to their calendars?

Because I believe it’s a critical part of becoming the women God has called each one of us to be.

Poiema means “masterpiece” and comes from Eph. 2:10, which states that, “We are his masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which He planned for us a long time ago.”

So, God’s been booking things in our ical’s and day planners without our knowledge…To me, that’s kind of exciting – God has plans for me, things He specifically wants me to do. In God’s reality, as fascinating, as beautiful, as inspiring and thought provoking as any work of art ever created may be, none of it compares to God’s creation – His masterpiece – you.

Really??? I don’t mean to question God but it’s not like I wake up every morning and think, “Wow! I’m a beautiful work of art, a masterpiece! I wonder what God has in store for me today! Whatever it is, I know I can do it because He created me to do it!” It’s more like, “Dear Lord, help me get through this day because I can’t do anything right without you!”

We can do it, but we can’t do it alone. We need the Lord first, and we need other women to walk with us. God designed us to need support and instruction from our sisters. Titus 2: 3-5 tells us basically that whether we are navigating through the challenges of being wives, mothers, mothers-in-law, daughters, daughters-in-law, professionals, friends, or laborers for Christ, we need other women to help us so we can live in ways that honor and glorify God.

Through bible studies, social gatherings, book clubs, and a yearly retreat, Poiema provides instruction, encouragement, prayer, and a chance to develop meaningful friendships with other women. Let’s carry each other’s burdens, and encourage one another to fulfill the good work that God has planned for us.

Come on out to the Poiema Fall Kick Off Party on Friday September 19th at terra409 from 7-9PM.

Refuge, seclusion, privacy, spiritual meditation…ahhh….deep cleansing breath…no cooking, long walks in the woods, fun with just the girls…uninterrupted time, insightful teaching, discovering the next step…

If any of this resonates with your soul, consider attending our first women’s retreat, Terra Nova style. We have secured space in the serene Christ the King’s Spiritual Life Center in Greenwich, NY (near Saratoga) for a 24 hour getaway. This place has been described by retreat-goers as “hallowed ground.” They exist to provide a peaceful, carefree and beautiful environment for people just like us and they do an amazing job.

The focus of the retreat is praying through your purpose. No matter where we are in terms of career, family, and our development as a person and Christ-follower, we all face the challenges of finding balance, wellbeing and fulfillment. Jean Fast, a certified Life Coach, will guide us through a Life Design Workshop in which we will begin the process of assessing those areas in life that create or diminish avenues of wholeness.

We will have blocks of time for prayer, quiet reflection, and communion with God. We will also have girl time – time to get to know and be known by other women in the Terra community. There will be opportunities for artistic and physical expression. And yes, we’ll throw in a little pampering too!

Come with an eager heart and be ready to experience more of God’s masterpiece in process.

• Till We Have Faces by CS Lewis, led by Cathy Blanch beginning Friday April 4th from 7:30 – 10 pm @ Cathy Blanch’s home, 6 Riverside Ave., Apt. 2, Rensselaer meets 6 times meets every Friday, ending May 16th (with April 11th off) Book Description:: “This tale of two princesses – one beautiful and one unattractive – and of the struggle between sacred and profane love is Lewis’s reworking of the myth of Cupid and Psyche and one of his most enduring works.” email:  murrecat@gmail.com
• The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, led by Julie McClean beginning April 14th from 7-9:30 @ Terra Gallery meets every other Monday night, ending May 26th meets 4 times Book Description:: The red tent is the place where women gathered during their cycles of birthing, menses, and even illness. Like the conversations and mysteries held within this feminine tent, this sweeping piece of fiction offers an insider’s look at the daily life of a biblical sorority of mothers and wives and their one and only daughter, Dinah. Told in the voice of Jacob’s daughter Dinah (who only received a glimpse of recognition in the Book of Genesis), we are privy to the fascinating feminine characters who bled within the red tent. In a confiding and poetic voice, Dinah whispers stories of her four mothers, Rachel, Leah, Zilpah, and Bilhah–all wives to Jacob, and each one embodying unique feminine traits. As she reveals these sensual and emotionally charged stories we learn of birthing miracles, slaves, artisans, household gods, and sisterhood secrets. Eventually Dinah delves into her own saga of betrayals, grief, and a call to midwifery. email:  mcleanjc@att.net
• When Two Become One – Enhancing Sexual Intimacy in Marriage by Christopher and Rachel McCluskey, led by Tara Bremer beginning Thursday,  May 8th from 7-9 @ Tara’s home, 228 Kenwood Ave., Delmar Meets every Thursday night, ending May 29th Meets 4 times Book Description:: Ignite the intimate, passionate love God created you to enjoy with your mate. That’s what this book is all about. Now in paper, When Two Become One shows couples how to make their love life the fulfilling experience it was meant to be. Christian counselor and certified sex therapist Christopher McCluskey and his wife, Rachel, introduce The Lovemaking Cycle, an innovative model that helps readers see the difference between sex and making love. Much more than a how-to book, this practical, detailed resource offers a vision of lovemaking that facilitates a deeper experience of intimacy on all planes of marriage. Discussion questions and honest advice make this a must-read for all married couples, counselors, and anyone considering marriage.  email:  faithful1983@alumni.purdue.edu 

 

Sex is one of those things that really makes me want to scream… (and I don’t mean it that way, so take that cheesy self satisfied grin off your face, ED). It’s supposed to be this wonderful, passionate expression of love, but the world, Satan, sinners like you and me, violent, evil men and women, capitalists, control freaks, religious extremists, peace lovers and war mongers, (sorry if I left anybody out – it’s an oversight) for generations all over the globe, have misused and abused sex.

God created men and women in His image, and He declared that all He created was good.  He told us to be fruitful and multiply – to have sex.  Sex is powerful and pervasive.  God made us sexual beings.  He designed sex to give us new life, intimacy, oneness, and pleasure, all within the exclusive relationship between husband and wife. 

So, how do we discover or regain purity in a world wrought with sexual sin?  Romans 12:1 –2 tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, which is spiritual worship.  It tells us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, to be able to test and discern what the will of God is, the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

We need help when it comes to giving ourselves as a living sacrifice to God, when it comes to changing how we think so we can understand God’s mind on sexuality, and how to have healthy relationships, We need to talk about sex, whether we are single, married, or divorced, and learn how to live in every stage of life in purity.  We need to bring to light our own painful pasts in order to experience God’s healing and wholeness.  

It’s a realization that began with another realization, which was that God really does know and want what is best for me. The only way I can live that out is by following His word. Whatever God says – about my life as a child of God, and then particularly as a daughter of God, a woman – must be what is absolutely best for me. It must be what will give me the most abundant life – the life Jesus came to give me. What is best for me, that abundant life, doesn’t stop there. The more my life is His, the more it can be used for His glory.

This has set me on a course to really delve into what it means to be a woman of God, which brings me back to my original realization – that I need other women. The book of Titus is very clear on this point –older women are to be teaching younger women to love their husbands, love their children, to live wisely, to be pure, to be kind, to care for their homes (thank you Martha Stewart for putting the bible into practice!)

This coming fall Poiema,(which means masterpiece -Eph. 2:10), will begin the first of several intensive 4 week bible studies. Poiema will also provide various large group learning opportunities, ministry experiences, and times of fun and refreshment. The goal is simple – to grow in Christ while helping others grow in Christ. You have needs, and you are needed. I hope we can journey through this together.