We like to take the time twice a year to write to you and tell you all that Imago Dei is offering to grow your spirit, soul and body as well as share how God is using Imago Dei!

Last year was a spectacular year for our ministry. We had our first large fund raiser, Divine Dining, where we had over 100 ladies for an amazing evening of fellowship, worship, food and an uplifting message. It was an enchanted evening that raised more money than we could have asked for or imagined. It also brought us many new friends to be a part of Imago Dei. Glory to God! We would once again like to thank the 15 table hosts that helped to make the night such a memorable evening.  You ladies are amazing. We look forward to hosting another great fund raiser in the future and pray that you will want to be a part.

Our ministry continues to operate as a three faceted ministry. This letter serves as an invitation to invite YOU and all of your friends to attend our events for 2012. We are making an effort to keep our calendar on our website updated so that you will be able to keep up to date on all of the fun we are offering.

OUR EIGHTH IMAGE QUEST WEEKEND IS COMING UP FEBRUARY 3-5. Our adventure will take place in the mountains of North Carolina and you absolutely will not want to miss what we have in store for you! Our Heavenly Father has already set divine appointments for those ladies who are meant to join us. Will you show up? It will be a weekend where God is sought and adventure is pursued. Are you ready for your Image Quest weekend? We already have a list of fun loving, adventure seeking women joining us, but we need a few more. Please contact us to get your registration in for a getaway for the spirit soul and body!

The Imago Dei leadership team has devoted much time to scheduling IDA’s (Imago Dei in Action). Anything that we organize outside of bible study or Image Quest weekend is considered an IDA. We enjoyed a wonderful defense class this fall and 43 women and children spread the love Imago Dei offers along by caroling at Christmas in a local nursing home. We are repeating our blanket distribution in downtown Winston Salem JANUARY 12. This event blessed so many of the homeless in our community last January, but truly we were the blessed ones by the end of the day. Please come be a part or donate a gently used blanket. Contact us for more information. Other upcoming events will be a time of sharing by an amazing nutritionist and friend on February 12 and both back by popular demand the Labyrinth walk in March and boot camp in May. More details will be available as we come closer to these events.

Our bible study offered both in the morning and evening will have its introduction meeting on JANUARY 26^th. On this day we will have the book for purchase.  Details will remain the same as the previous study. The morning study will meet in the home of Becca Chase from 9-12 with child care offered in the home of Tina Parker. We start with fellowship and munchies at 9. Large group teaching begins at 9:30 am. We then break into small groups and lastly finish the morning with an exercise class for the exerciser of any level.  By giving us (and yourself) from 9-12 every other Thursday, you feed your spirit, soul and body the Imago Dei way! The evening study will continue to meet in the home of Peggy Tolerico beginning at 7 pm and ending at 9. We do not offer childcare or an exercise portion for the evening study however we always seek to enrich our lives spirit, soul and body!

Finally, the leadership team is thrilled to announce not only the book we are using for bible study this season, but we would also like to tell you about things to come! We want you to plan your next year growing your Image to reflect more of Christ along side of the women of Imago Dei. The book we will use for the study that begins JANUARY 26^TH is Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts. This book is a dare to live fully right where you are, to live deeply human, deeply spiritual, deeply and authentically fulfilled.  This summer (during our typical laid back study by the pool) we will join many women across the country in The Resolution for Women. This book is written by Priscilla Shriver in conjunction with the recent movie Courageous. This will be a great way to spend your summer! In the fall of 2012 and continuing for our study that begins in 2013 we will use The Story. This study which includes 31 chapters covering Genesis to Revelation, is sweeping the nation.  Max Lucado and Randy Frazee help us to find our stories in His story, the greatest story ever told.  We are looking forward to embarking on this journey in the fall of 2012 and ending in the spring of 2013! Make your plans now to join us for ALL three of these amazing and very different pieces of literature as we grow more in the image of Christ, spirit soul and body!

We are looking forward to seeing all of you at bible study, Image Quest winter 2012 or one of the Imago Dei in Actions.

Blessings to you in this New Year!

Imago Dei leadership team,

Tina Parker-Angie Brockman-Becca Chase-Staci Hedglin

Jill Johnson-Karen Simmons-Gwynn Smithdeal

We want to make you aware of our marketing video that you can use to spread the word about Imago Dei. If you google Utube and then search Imago Dei NC video you should be able to play it through your computer. You can even upload it to Facebook! Help us to spread the word that God is changing the lives of women, spirit soul and body through Imago Dei ministries. Thanks!

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=FB1B9CNU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QwVekS886w&feature=youtube_gdata_player

It will be forty long days and nights before we can rise from the ashes of this day to the bright dawn of Easter. Lent has begun. It is fitting, I think to myself, because I am in a season of longing.
I am longing…
for warmer days.
for growth in the garden.
for time alone with my husband. (Funny how two people can live together, but miss each other.)
for life to push up through the ground (physically and metaphorically).
for time spent well with family and friends.
for renewal…
For too long, I have been isolated, tucked away, hunkered down, cozied up, or snowed in for winter. I am longing to feel connected.
I am not alone in my longing. At times, it seems to me as if all of humankind is longing. It is palpable. Fifteen minutes of television watching, internet surfing or social networking is enough to confirm that people, by and large, are aching, trying in vain to be sated by anything and everything – except what would finally feed us.
We crave. We demand. We beg. We lust. We just want something to fill the gaping hole in our souls.
Lord, I whisper, please… breathe new life into me. I want to feel alive again.
I am assured that spring follows winter. Life follows death. Seasons of longing are just that – seasons. The ashes of Lent will blow away, and a new light will spread over the horizon as Easter dawns.
Longing will be no more.
We wait. We hope. We believe. And we will, at last, be renewed.

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31, KJV)

Christianity | URL: http://wp.me/pL6p4-6V

Hope you enjoy this song as you take time to worship this week!  No Matter What by Kerrie Roberts

We hope you join us March 10th as we study chapters 9-12.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through, May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless…the one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.

The mission of Imago Dei was borne out of the above verse and thus dear to the hearts of us on the ministry team! Let’s take a closer look. Sanctify as defined by Webster’s means to be set apart, to be made holy or to purify, to be freed from sin.

So, to paraphrase this verse, the author of Thessalonians is saying that our Heavenly Father, who is so faithful to do as He says, will set you free, purify you, set you apart, free you from sin and in doing so make you holy! WOW! Don’t you want to be sanctified? Have you ever thought about it like that? I have come to love the idea of sanctification. I believe the Lord has given me a vision of just how He will do this in me and I would venture to say in you as well. God doesn’t just want to work with part of a person. He created us in body, soul and sprit and He wants to work with the whole person sanctifying us “through and through”.

Prior to leaving to lead the first Image Quest, I began waking in the night somewhat still in my sleep, I found myself saying “not my words but Yours, not my heart but Yours, not my hands but Yours, not my ways but Yours…” This happened for several nights in a row. I related the story to my sister. Not thinking about the scripture we had chosen to build our vision on, she said, “You are being sanctified.” WOW! I reminded her of the scripture and we both were overwhelmed with the amazing work of our Heavenly Father.

I am far from being completely sanctified. I remain a sinner in need of a Savior. But our Christian walk is a process in which God desires to “sanctify us through and through” along the way. Don’t you want to be set free, made holy, purified and set apart? Don’t you want to be different so that people can see a true change in you? Only God can do this in our lives through the blood of Jesus Christ our Savior. It is already been accomplished on the cross for you and me. Now, do your part. Begin to pray Lord not my________, but Yours. Fill in the blank with as many things as you need to take to Him. Below are some more that I have brought before the Lord in a variety of situations.

not my feet, but Yours, not my eyes, but Yours
not my child, but Yours, not my desires, but Yours
not my thoughts, but Yours, not my race, but Yours
not my tears, but Yours, not my idea, but Yours
not my work, but Yours, not my opinion, but Yours
not my life, but Yours, not my money, but Yours
not my mouth, but Yours, not my ministry, but Yours
not my home, but Yours, not my church, but Yours
Beth Moore states in her book, Praying God’s Word, “God deeply desires for us to grant Him total access to set apart every single part of our lives – body, soul and spirit – to His glorious work.” Take a step today, open the door, and give Him access so that He may “sanctify you through and through.

Come as just as you are. We will wait with expectant hearts for God to meet us in the midst of our journey and reveal to us the beautiful image He sees when He looks upon us…