Jennifer had the opportunity to appear on The Dr. Phil Show last February. Using her personal testimony of blindness, she was able to encourage the parents of the only blind/deaf triplets in the world. This week, the show will air again on Thursday, June 28. Be sure to tune in to see this touching story.

I would like to gratefully announce that the bicycle built for two (which you were introduced to last month and has been a constant source of irritation for me) is now hung in our garage! I broke out into the Hallelujah Chorus as Phil tightened the final screw lifting it to its exalted and eternal position. I begin with this declaration because that rickety piece of rusted sentimentality wasn't hung until June 17th!

Mid-June also marked the time I ate my last piece of Godiva chocolate that Clayton gave me for Mother's Day. It was a lovely truffle from an even lovelier box that contained 27 assorted dark chocolates. I tried to make them last, so don't do the math! If you do, you'll discover I had more than one chocolate a day!

Just when I ran out of Godiva, I received a gift of dark chocolate from a friend. He runs the Victory Mission here in Springfield. As Jim puts it, he ministers to the poor in his rescue mission, and I minister to the poor in spirit in auditoriums! Anyway, we share a love for Jesus and a love for dark chocolate. He and his wife, Mary, bought me a bar from our newest Springfield chocolatier. It's called ASKINOSIE Chocolate. The bar of seventy percent cocoa was amazing! It wasn't just a taste - it was an experience! This particular chocolatier uses cocoa beans from Ecuador, and let me tell you - the flavor, bouquet, and texture is beyond words. Chocolate really makes me happy! (Can you tell?)

My love for chocolate has been validated. Check this out: "Chocolate of good quality calms the fever, nourishes the patient and tends to restore him to health" (Francis Joseph Victor Broussais, French physician, 1772-1836). Chocolate contains potent doses of the polyphenol antioxidants that are also found in green tea. These polyphenols not only protect chocolate from
oxidation, they also protect the grateful partaker against cancer and add to heart health! The darker the chocolate, the better it is for you. Doesn't that make you happy, too?

I rounded out the month of June by going to the St. Louis Women of Faith event, and it was a blast! I saw old friends from the Porch and the Crew! I was captivated by the wit and depth of the conference this year. I was also transported by the sweetness of sitting in the same seat I occupied for the last two years as a guest speaker, remembering how kind God was to introduce me to this wonderful group of people. I think I enjoyed the experience so much because it gave me a chance to reminisce. C.S. Lewis once said; "You cannot study pleasure in the moment of the nuptial embrace, nor repentance while repenting, nor analyze the nature of humor while roaring with laughter." As I remembered my two years with the Women of Faith conference, I experienced even more pleasure while attending this one. It made the conference a multi-layered experience for me.

So, here's a taste for you:

Marilyn Meberg counseled that we must feel in order to heal. Patsy Clairmont showed us how to live lively, love lavishly, and forgive frequently. Sheila Walsh sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" so beautifully. She reminded us that God has a dream for our lives. Anita Renfroe lifted our spirits with her comical tribute to the under wire bra- "You Raise Me Up." It will now be impossible for me to ever listen to Josh sing it without cracking up! And then there was Luci Swindoll. Luci, Luci, Luci! She lost her composure before telling her last story and giggled, laughed, and then cackled uncontrollably. Of course, the ladies in the arena erupted in laughter along with her! The laughter lasted as long as her story was supposed to and was as therapeutic as Marilyn's sage advice! Sandi Patty brought the house down as she sang "How Great Thou Art," and as she sang, Lisa Smith signed with innocent abandon showing how truly great God is! I could go on and on, but you just need to grab a girlfriend, get a babysitter, freeze a casserole (so your husband won't starve), snag some chocolate (that you hid from your kids), and hit the road to a WOF near you! Then you, too, will have a lovely memory to make you smile.

So, give these things a Taste Test:

1. Stand in your garage and sing the Hallelujah Chorus after finishing a long awaited task (like hanging my bike!)

2. ASKINOSIE Chocolate

3. Women of Faith conference

I've had some interesting thoughts percolating lately, and I've decided that as we sip our Java together over the next four times, I am going to pour from this fresh brew. We're going to talk about legs - my legs, your legs, the legs of any woman you know! Don't panic! It's not what you think.

Imagine with me for a minute that you are a table. (Now work with me here, okay?) It really doesn't matter what kind of table you imagine yourself to be- you just need to have four legs! You can be a card table from Wal-Mart or a polished piece of cherry wood from Ethan Allen.

The reason you need four legs is for optimum balance. If even one leg is missing, loose or damaged, your table will be shaky and imbalanced. It will be unable to perform its appointed tasks. You get where I am going with this, don't you?

It's the same with you and me. When one of the four essential areas of our lives is loose, damaged, neglected, or removed, we will be shaky and imbalanced. That's when it's easy to tip and fall into despair. Since it's impossible for a damaged table to bear any extra load, when the stress-load piles up, we wobble, lean, or just collapse. We need all four essential supports to keep an even keel.

So, what are the four legs of our table? We have the emotional leg, the physical leg, the mental leg, and the spiritual leg. In this article and in the coming three Javas, we will check out our "legs" to make sure we are balanced and able to bear up under the weight of life. I begin with the most essential leg- the spiritual leg. C. S. Lewis said, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." Hopelessness, fear, and depression often grow out of unsatisfied longings.

There is a deep longing in each of us that only can be met in God. Neglecting this longing doesn't make it go away. It will continue to grow, and if left untended, it leads to a melancholy of the soul. You begin to feel homesick for a place you have never been!

We can try to fill the longing with relationships, religion, volunteerism, or just being good. But the deep ache from the bottom of our souls can only be satisfied in a relationship with God, and God alone. Intimacy with the one who shaped your heart will truly and deeply satisfy your soul.

It isn't always obvious when the spiritual leg of your table is not secure. This seems to be the invisible leg, but it is really the weight-bearing leg of our table. When the spiritual leg is neglected, the symptoms often show up in the other three legs. We might feel emotionally frazzled, physically spent, or mentally confused. When our spiritual needs aren't met, it affects us physically, emotionally, and mentally. When this one leg wobbles, the whole table trembles.

Your spiritual nature is the part of you that is eternal. It's the part of you that will live forever and longs to commune with the eternal God. Because we are finite beings and can't reach the infinite God on our own, He came down so we could know Him. Jesus clothed His deity in our humanity so the deepest longing of our souls could be met. As we transfer trust from ourselves to Him, we find a deep satisfaction and longing fulfilled. In that fulfillment comes emotional tranquility, mental clarity, and physical energy.

Have you had that longing met? Until you do, you will have a shaky table.

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

- Jennifer

Question:

My question is how do you maintain balance with the responsibilities that you have to your husband, children, community and church as well as meet the demands of the ministry that God has given you to serve His people?

Phenecia M.

Answer:

Here's my formula for balance -- It's found in Micah 6:8! God says (in so many words), "Here's a way to live - it's good, it's what I want for you." Here you see, He even broke it up into three parts! A formula, a pattern for all of us type A's, God made it perfectly concrete!

To be balanced we need to do justly - that means we implement fairness and rightness toward our family and ourselves as we fill in our empty calendar slots. That means in order to do justly we say no sometimes in order to be fair to ourselves, our family and our God. To do justly means we DO something - we don't pull back and shrink away from all demands. It simply means we execute our limited time and resources in the most fair way possible.

We also must love mercy. This pulls our heart into the equation. Mercy mandates a whole lot of forgiveness and forbearance. That means we lose the rigidity and celebrate the fact that none of us received what our sins really deserved. Loving mercy helps us not obsess over a perfect house. It helps us be flexible with our time and shifts our priorities.

But then, we are to walk humbly with our God. This is the best part of Balance because we simply put ourselves in a position to intimately journey with God. We find ourselves not running ahead of Him with our agenda and commitments but rather walking with Him, in His shadow, with a retiring attitude in His presence. I'm pretty convinced that the times I'm the most imbalanced are times I'm operating out of the most pride. Oh, I don't mean I'm all inflated and impressed with myself. No, I simply mean I'm operating with the kind of pride that has little time for God and His ways because I'm busy, spinning around in my routine. That may not look arrogant to the outsider, but it's not a picture of walking humbly! Notice, the verse doesn't say, "running" humbly or "spinning" humbly. It's simply a walk. When we keep God's pace, all will be balanced!

And now, the beans are officially spilled!

1 Thanks for praying for a producer for my next CD. Travis Cottrell has graciously agreed to oversee my next project. I am thrilled! Now, please pray for the time table, song selection and all the details that need to be fulfilled.

2. My boys have a busy summer of traveling. Please pray for their safety and that they will have meaningful memories.

3. The Dr. Phill episode will rebroadcast this Thursday. Please pray that viewers will be drawn to the hope of Christ.

4. We just moved our ministry office - moving is stressful! Please pray for a smooth transition and that the many details won't distract us from the main things.

I sure do appreciate your prayers and support. What would I do without you?!

- Jennifer

Each month we will give away something from the JenniferRothschild.com Store. All you have to do is click on the link below, to let us know you were here. Your name will automatically be added to a random drawing to win.

 

At the Women of Faith conference, Jennifer met up with her dear friend Patsy Clairmont, who helped us upgrade our giveaway to 'ultra GRANDE' this month. We are serving up five copies of Jennifer's book "Lessons I Learned in the Light" which are autographed by Jennifer and Patsy (who wrote the Foreword). And the winners are:

Alison Sweeney
Janie Gray
Elizabeth Engelberth
Linda Harris
Ida Toliver

Ladies, please email us your mailing address.

Jennifer Rothschild is the cover story for the May/June Issue of Today's Christian Woman.

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