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Ladies Day Invitation

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Themed Travel this Week

Posted on May 8, 2025

As you’re reading, I’ll be wheels up for Wisconsin, with a couple of cohorts for a ladies day in Spencer. I’m excited because it’s been a while since someone requested the topic of  “Home” or any of those lessons about the importance of keeping the home and shining His reflected light from our homes (although every spiritual topic is related to this foundational aspect of our Christian lives). . I’ll be talking this weekend about hospitality, organization, motherhood and evangelism. All of these are topics I can get pretty “worked-up” about, because all are fundamental commands for Christian women and all have such obvious eternal ramifications.  Did you know that the New Testament prescribes a place of priority for God’s women and that place is home? SO excited to get to talk about this from the Word!

It will be a themed trip because I’m also planning to take Colleyanna to Pepin, Wisconsin, to see one of the “Little House on the Prairie” Museums, on the day prior to the ladies event. (It’s her very first time to fly! She is hoping for a window seat.)  I think this particular museum is a tribute to “The Little House in the Big Woods”. We are reading these books together and we have progressed now to “Farmer Boy.”  We are learning a lot  together. (Yesterday was a comparison of the economic disparity between childhood in New York (Almanzo) in the 1800’s and growing up all over the sparsely populated plains and prairies (Laura and Mary) in the same era.)

Coincidentally, I discovered that the annual “celebration” of Laura Ingall’s Wilder is happening in Pepin on the Friday we will be there, so we will get to watch the home-making skills of the late 1800’s come alive in various recreations on that day. We recently spoke in Branson, Missouri and went through the museum and homes in Mansfield that commemorate the author, herself. God is so  good to be in the tiny things and seemingly co-ordinate our “book-learning”   with  travels on so many adventures. I’ve been watching this providence for three generations of learning now and it astounds me.

It will also be (right on theme)  Mother’s Day while we are in Wisconsin. We’re planning to  celebrate a week late because we all want to be together. In keeping with the travel theme, Colleyanna is finishing up a hand-sewn gift project for her mom. We have ripped out a few seams that went crooked or that tucked an extra layer under the foot (and I also think a treadle sewing machine sews faster than Colleyanna does on this Bernina). “Whatsoever you sew, you shall also rip!”  But this little gift is going to be finished before we leave on this trip! (Don’t tell her mama!) Colleyanna is way excited about this.

Also right on theme, are the demands in this house today. 100 percent of next year’s Digging Deep got to the designer yesterday!  When that happens, I feel like I’ve torn a ribbon at the finish of a long marathon, lots while lots of other things have been blown by and left in the dust (literally.)  I’m not sure about the quality of the study. I had no second eyes, this time, to peruse the contents.  But I am sure about the quality of its primary reference work! I hope you’re planning to join us next September. I cannot wait!

 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Random Conversations…10 things.

Posted on September 6, 2024
  1. Frustrated about this one after three “proofings”! In chapter three, it is obvious that the Big headline near the bottom of the page should read “Samson’s Mother”; not “Manoah’s Mother”. She was Manoah’s wife. So go correct your copies. Good catch by Marlon Retana, while translating. 
  2. If you want a shirt or hoodie, hard deadline is this Sunday. We are trying, like crazy, to get everything out to you. 
  3. If you are local to North Alabama, make your plans to come to West Huntsville on Saturday the 21st, to hear a ladies day about keeping our mental “selves” healthy in the Word and helping each other stay in a “good” place. I’m looking forward to it. Kim Chalmers and Katie Holder will talk to us. (As always, if you are able to attend, you get one pass, on one assignment, in the Conversations study, and you still get to be a finisher.) Message me with any questions. Register here: http://www.westhuntsville.org
  4. First monthly podcast will be on the 24th of September at 7. Watch the Digging Deep page for details and join us! Make your comments and ask your questions live from that page! We will try to address them all. It will be a great review of Month One! Pisa Soli will be joining me as co-host. For local ladies, she will also be leading the discussion on the previous night at West Huntsville.

    Pisa is on the left. Digger Rachel from Illinois is on the right.

  5. Be patient about your orders, especially if your order included a tote, shirt, or hoodie. All of those were hugely popular and are back-ordered. The good news is that all items arrive next week, so we will be shipping the back-orders next week. Thanks so much for your understanding. 
  6. Julie Orr, once again, is doing a phenomenal job in the virtual group “Mama’s Monday Moments” Details are all over the DD page and the Mama’s Monday Moments page, as well. She is a great Bible student, who is a faithful Digger, as well. I have to trust someone an awful lot to endorse without hearing every word of the MM virtual study. (It’s not that I know everything about the Bible, of course. It’s that I am fiercely protective of the study we do together. We ask hard questions, but we are ever dependent on the Word for the answers.) She is that kind of student/teacher. 
  7. This one is huge! THANK YOU! I have never, in all of my days, seen women who are more like Jesus, than the women who study along in our big group. Sometimes, when we (the Colleys) bungle an order, I cannot believe your grace and kindness. Thanks so very much! Proverbs 12 says “The tongue of the wise brings healing.” You bring us healing all the time and we are ever grateful!
  8. Please keep inviting. It’s such an easy catch up all the way through November, so fall is the “invite” time. Our book supply is running low, but we will order more, if the need arises. That’s a great problem to have. Invite! Then invite someone you failed to think of before. (And don’t forget there’s a free download!)
  9. Pray! Please pray daily for the study. Prayer changes things. And prayer changes my study from rote to real every week. He is so good.
  10. As you study Eve, resolve….Resolve to be keenly aware that the old devil has no new tricks, but he will surely use every one that made Eve succumb in the garden. He is crafty and quick and can ruin your life in a matter of moments. Don’t let him get all up in your fruit tree. Keep bearing good fruit.
Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

If you just get to one ladies day this fall, make it this one!

Posted on September 20, 2021

This will be the best expenditure of your September, by far. If you’ve never been encouraged by Carol Dodd, this is YOUR morning! She’s showing us all how to take the darkest of times and turn them into his glory. A stage 4 cancer patient, at present, she is using every day–through pain and mishap and treatment and sometimes what’s extreme difficulty– to continue to maximize the offering of glory she can give to our great God during the sunset days of her life. I continue to stand amazed at how very encouraging she is to the ladies–the body, even– at West Huntsville and beyond. She recently spoke on our PTP Spark program, and I think I can say, without hesitancy, she was the favorite speaker of the week. Her passion is Bible study. Her goal is heaven. Her Lord is Christ. her sovereign is Jehovah. Her purpose is His glory. Her husband is Don (he’s a great blessing, too.) Her people are the Christians at West Huntsville. Her little distraction and game-changer, for the moment, is cancer. And that’s really the order of things in her world. I’m saying…you just don’t want to miss it. Child care, lodging, fellowship and spiritual strength–all available here:

(Digger Bonus: If you make it to this ladies day, you get one free pass  in the Digging Deep study this year. One incomplete chapter in the 2021-22 study and you can still be a finisher next August! Just for fun!)
Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Get Plugged In

Posted on September 8, 2011
Today, there are just a few things about which I want to raise your awareness. If there is something I have learned from the Digging Deeper study that many of you are doing, it’s that we accomplish a lot more…grow a lot more… when we communicate with those who are likeminded. So today –just some stuff that, depending on where you live and what you are studying, may be of interest to you.
  1. The Digging Deeper lessons from which the ladies’ study originated are available on audio and video at www.polishingthepulpit.com. To get the Digging Deeper audio set of four lessons, you may have to call the number on the website. The others should be available online. If you want to check out the study, itself, you can read about it in a couple of previous posts on this blog or check out the facebook group “Digging Deeper in God’s Word.”
  2. Something I didn’t know is that the video lessons from all of PTP (including all of the ladies sessions) are now available at the www.polishingthepulpit.com for six dollars each. I am very excited about the availability of these speeches as I had to miss a lot of sessions that I very much want to hear.
  3. Here are some upcoming ladies’ days that would be worth your time if you are in these areas:
  • The Oliver Spring church of Christ in Oliver Springs, Tennessee, will host a Ladies Day on Saturday, September 10. Dolly Leighton will be the guest speaker on the theme of “Falling Into Faith.” Lunch will be provided. Registration starts at 9 a.m. and the program will start at 10 a.m.
  • The Karns church of Christ in Knoxville, Tennessee: “For Such A Time As This” is the theme of our Ladies Day on Saturday, September 24th. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. and the program will be from 9 a.m.—12 noon, at which time lunch will be provided. Our guest speaker will be Dr. Belinda Anderson from Henderson, TN. Steve Higginbotham is the preacher here.
  • The ladies of Sevierville church of Christ in Sevierville, Tennessee, will be hosting a Ladies Day with Peggy Pharr on October 8th.  The theme is “Pass It On.” Registration starts at 9 a.m. with the program starting at 9:30 a.m. Lunch will be served.
  • Ladies Day at the Jacksonville Church in Jacksonville, AL. Registration: 8:30-9:00 AM. Date: September 17, 2011. Theme: “Keeping Things Sweet and Simple”. Speaker: Cindy Colley
  • Ladies’ Day at the Miami Church in Miami, OK. Speakers: Cindy Colley and Hannah Colley Giselbach. September 24, 2011 
And finally, a couple more Bible study tips from readers. Thanks to all who responded to this Bible study post.
Here is my best tip. First I should say that I am a full time full Professor of Communication and a Ph.D. So, I find it best to approach my Bible study with the same vigor as I do my PhD work. A simple “good/best” tip for me is “sticky notes.” That sounds strange, but I color code the information as I sit with my Strong’s, dictionaries, etc. and color code the verses with the sticky note color that corresponds with the idea of the study. It helps me keep track of the information easily and allows me to “mind map” it as I study for easy retention.— Tracy Frederick, Winfield, KS

I limit the amount of scripture to a reasonable amount (1 chapter or event) and I read the passage, refer to any related passages and also break down each verse by determining answers to several questions: who, what, when, where, why & how.  Also addressing pronouns and figuring out who they refer back to is very helpful.  Many times this ties several verses together in a way that is focused and more understandable as a whole. 

My other tip is to keep in mind events and people in chronological order instead of just the order that the books are assigned. Hope this helps!—  Susan Olinger
Please visit Cindy’s Blog at cindycolley.blogspot.com/
Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Let’s Get the Word Out and Let’s Get in the Word!

Posted on August 29, 2011
It was the first big extra event at the new location of the West Huntsville Church of Christ at Providence. There were 331 ladies (that number would include a few children) assembled to learn better how to militate against the forces that would steal the joy of Christianity from our homes and infiltrate for evil the precious souls of our children. It was 2.25 hours of intense teaching and the rest of the day was spent in singing, prayer and sweet fellowship. It was just the best ever kind of day. It was the best because it drew us together in a common determination to win this war against a culture given over to immorality. It was the best because its influence will penetrate lives not even present in years not yet upon us. Its full impact for good cannot be known this side of eternity. I know if you were present and left without a blessing, you did not bring your blessing bucket with you. 
If you did not come, get out your blessing bucket now and take the time to listen to the lessons given by Sheila Butt at the “This is WAR!” seminar Saturday. Just click on the link, turn up the volume and enrich your life.
This is WAR! – Session 1 Audio
This is WAR! – Session 2 Audio
This is WAR! – Session 3 Audio

If you would like to order an audio CD or a professional DVD of these lessons the prices are as follows:

Set of all three audio CDs – $ 5.50
Set of videos on one DVD – $ 4.00

These prices include postage. Simple specify which items (CDs or DVDs) you want, specify how many of each you would like, and enclose your check. Send this order to West Huntsville Church of Christ at Providence, 1519 Old Monrovia Road, Huntsville, AL 35806. We will expedite your orders as quickly as we can. It’s our prayer that these lessons can do much good, for many people, for the lowest possible cost. That’s why we are offering these lessons at cost. So let’s get the word out. While we are at it, let’s get in the Word. Find below the link some of the suggestions submitted in a recent BYH contest for digging deeply in the Word.
“My tool for deep bible study is a combo of God’s Word and wise men of God with much knowledge and insight! Or wise women of God!”—Stacy Nance, Arlington, TN,

“My favorite deep Bible study tip is to get denominational literature and pamphlets then study and write out how to discuss the content of that literature with someone who gave it to you. Lots of issues are brought up that I wouldn’t typically think or study on without them being discussed in these pamphlets. When we lived in Smithville, TN the local circular ran a spot by a seventh day adventist group and I would read it every week then get into the scriptures to really study on the points that were discussed. I also like when I can get my hands on a Watchtower or something so I feel prepared for that knock on my door.”—Gina Simpson.
Please visit Cindy’s Blog at cindycolley.blogspot.com/
Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

This is WAR! Enlist Today!!!

Posted on August 17, 2011
Today I am really soaking up the fellowship and feasting at a program called Polishing the Pulpit in Sevierville, TN. About 2400 people have assembled (or at least been present for part/all) for PTP and the singing is incredible. It must be a preview of the soundtrack of heaven! There has been lots of interest expressed here in our West Huntsville ladies seminar to be held on August 27th. We’ve entitled that seminar “This is War” because we are angry at the devil for his no-holds-barred-all-out-attack on our families and we are ready to shout, “…Over our dead bodies are you going to get into the hearts of our husbands and children and destroy our families.”  Come hear practical ways to protect your family from immodesty, pornography, indecent forms of entertainment and the insatiable desire for material things that our culture feeds. There really may be something on the spiritual table at this seminar that can prevent disaster in your home at some point down the road. For some, it’s later than we may think. The information is below. Our ladies are working hard to make this available, extremely relevant, and cost effective (no charge for anything including housing). Only you can make it effective for your family. The deadline was officially yesterday, but consider this your special “Bless Your Heart” extension. Register today.
Please visit Cindy’s Blog at cindycolley.blogspot.com/