October 2,
2007
Dear Above
Rubies Friends,
I hope that
this letter finds you all doing
well and enjoying a wonderful
early fall. It's still rather hot
down here in south Alabama, but we
have had a few pleasant days.
Lots of
changes are in the air this fall
for my family! We are in the
process of moving to South
Carolina. My husband (Melvin) has
accepted the pastorate at Mt.
Beulah Pentecostal Holiness Church
in Neeses, SC. You can view the
church website at
http://mtbeulah.org/
We are so
excited! God has moved rather
quickly and answered our prayers
about changes and His perfect will
for our family and ministry all in
the span of just a few weeks. I'm
so thankful to God for all He is
doing for us.
So, where
does this leave Gulf Coast
Rubies? I'm glad you asked!
It has been
my privilege to be your Gulf Coast
Event Coordinator for the past
five years. I'm so humbled at how
God has worked in my life through
this opportunity to serve and
grow. I have been blessed to be a
part of your lives, and I am
blessed to call you my friends.
Most of all, I am thankful to have
had a part in this life-changing,
family-changing, World-Changing
Ministry that is Above Rubies.
God has confirmed that it is now
time to pass the Mantle on.
Your new Gulf
Coast Event Coordinator will be
Misty Potter. Most of you will
remember Misty from our past Gulf
Coast retreats. She has attended
all of them, and she can
usually be found pitching in at
the book table or cleaning up or
pouring you a cup of coffee. She
is the one who made your gorgeous
name tags for the past two years,
and she also coordinated a
retreat in Tennessee several years
ago. Most importantly, she is a
godly wife and mother who loves
her family and loves her Lord
and has a servant's heart. She
accepted this leadership position
after much prayer and with her
husband's blessing and
encouragement.
Second in
Command will be Rosanne Van
Cleave. You may remember her as
my little sister with a very new
baby at the last retreat. Rosanne
has been part of the Gulf Coast
planning committee since 2004, and
she has attended and assisted at
all of them since the very first
one on the beach in 2003. You
will usually find Rosanne at the
sign-in table, coordinating with
camp staff, fixing Nancy a cup of
tea, doing an unseen but necessary
job, or reminding me of
announcements that I forgot to
make. She is very excited to
remain part of the planning team
and has prayerfully considered her
continuing role with Gulf Coast
Rubies.
My good
friend, Kate Christenson, who has
been my "partner in crime" and
co-organizer since 2003 is taking
a break from retreat planning
duties this year. She is also
pregnant with number 5!
Congratulations, Kate!! Kate
could always be found helping
set-up and clean-up, fielding
phone calls throughout the year,
collecting door prizes, wearing a
baby in her Ergo, and keeping me
from making crazy demands on
retreat attendees. Kate, we will
miss you on the team but we hope
to still see you at the retreat.
:)
There are a
couple of other ladies who will
continue to help as needed. But
we need more ladies to commit to
helping. Please pray and talk to
your husbands as to what type of
role you could help us fill for
the upcoming retreat. We will
need help with things such as room
set-up and clean-up; stuffing
conference folders; making name
tags; hospitality and decorating;
cashiering the book tables;
etc... I know that God will raise
up some more women along the
Gulf Coast to replace the ones
that He has moved into other
seasons of life.
Ladies,
please pray for your new
coordinators. They have a lot of
work to do in addition to being
wives and homeschooling mothers,
and the closer they get to the
retreat date (February 29 - March
2, 2008) the more hectic things
can get. I know they will
appreciates all of your prayers
and words of encouragement.
Contact email
addresses and phone numbers along
with retreat information for Gulf
Coast Rubies will continue to be
available on the website
www.gulfcoastrubies.com. I
will have the site updated with
more details and a registration
form over the next few weeks.
Please be patient with me as I get
everything packed and then
re-settled into our new home. I
will continue to maintain the
website and be available as a
point of contact as needed. Feel
free to call or email me. I am
praying that I will be able to
join you all at the retreat next
year!
May God
richly bless you and your families
as we enter into this time of
harvest and focus on giving thanks
to God for His wonderful gifts.
Blessings,
Darlene
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