LET THE SPIRIT MOVE YOU
"For I know the plans
I have for you,” declares the Lord,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you a hope and a future."
(Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)
†
Janene Ternes,
Director
Prayer in
Motion, LLC
351 Eastlook
Drive
Saline, MI
48176
PH: (734)
429-7754
Email:
PrayerInMotionJT@aol.com
NEWSLETTERS 2005
December 31, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,
It’s hard to believe it has been 6 months since my last newsletter. So much for keeping in touch! Life has been proceeding at breakneck speed with no time to record it as it goes by! I’ll try my best to recap the last half year without going on too long and promise to get back to at least a quarterly newsletter from here on out.
Programs have been plentiful, thanks be to God! Probably the most moving program I did was at Mercy Bellbrook Retirement Community in August. Most of the 30 or so people were in wheelchairs. We did the whole experience seated as I led them through various meditations on healing and faith. A retired priest who had had a stroke spoke with me afterwards with tears in his eyes saying that all these years he had been praying to God but never felt Him like this. These are the words that remind me of the importance of my work and keep me going during the hard times.
October was quite busy. I was even booked in two places the same day on October 15th. I began the day in Lansing and ended up out near Romeo in the afternoon. As you might imagine, my gasoline bill is horrendous! The morning was spent dancing at a prayer service for the Lansing Diocese. This was my first opportunity to gather a group of dancers together and actually choreograph a couple of dances. Many thanks to 3 of the Christian Dance Network dancers who joined me, Joan O’Connell, their director, who taught the Worship Dance class I attended this summer that gave me a good foundation for creating the dances and to Sister Kathleen Matz, dear mentor and friend who helped me choreograph this in her kitchen, living room and driveway – we were dancing all over the place! Her advice to me, “Always say ‘yes’, then figure out how you’re going to do it” has become my guiding wisdom. I got some lovely press from this occasion with a lengthy article in the Catholic Times, the Lansing Diocese’s weekly paper. They even put a small photo of me with my arms raised and teaser line “Saline woman puts prayer in motion” right above the front page photo of the Pope. Not bad billing! J
Other highlights include a return trip to Manresa in November for a group of 19 who spent the day moving from healing to joy. I added a journaling component to the retreat that enabled many to go deeper. I had the lovely opportunity to do some Advent programs at an Episcopal church in Ann Arbor and at St. Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt. Most noteworthy was an Advent Tea at St. Mary Mystical Rose in Armada with 80 women gathered to pray and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. Their experience with a guided meditation and movement prayer centered on Mary’s experience of Christ’s coming was powerful. To cap off the Advent season I had the great fun of “choreographing” and teaching dances to two groups of angels, ranging in age from 5-10 years old, in the Living Nativity Procession at St. Francis of Assisi in Ann Arbor. I learned the finer points of angel wing repair and other such tear-inducing last minute traumas on the night of the program. (See above – “Always say ‘yes’…J) The children were lovely as their movements gave glory to God.
Personally these past 6 months have been a time of great healing for me, physically, emotionally and spiritually. When I last wrote you I had just begun physical therapy for my injured ankle. I am happy to say that after 8 weeks of PT and daily exercises on my own since then, my ankle is stronger than ever! The vertigo persists without change, January 24th marking the 3rd year since its arrival. Fortunately I am able to function quite well despite periodic dizziness. I began the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius in September. In doing so I committed to meet with my director at Manresa weekly as well as pray an hour daily. This has necessitated considerable readjustment to my already full schedule. However, the exercises have brought much enlightenment and healing, spiritually and emotionally for me, as I seek to be open to God’s will and truly free from all that separates me from who I was created to be.
Finances continue to be an issue as I seek to earn a living doing this work to which God has called me. I had some major panic in August when I lost my top 3 sources of income for the year unexpectedly. The two part time jobs I had been working ended due to financial difficulties with their funding sources and my most regular directee left me to take the Spiritual Exercises. However, at about this same time, on the Assumption of our Lady, I received an anonymous gift of $500, enclosed in a lovely card with a picture of Mary. The very generous gift came at such a key time and provided tangible assurance that God would provide, despite the dismal appearance of things. And such has been the case.
Prayer in Motion…Let the Spirit move you!
Janene
July 29, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,
Today, July 29th, marks the 2 year anniversary of Prayer in Motion, LLC! And what an amazing couple of years it has been! I can honestly say I’ve never worked harder but never learned so much, felt God so present and had so much fun either. It has been a time of learning to balance work, home, self, family and friends, learning to trust myself and God and move beyond the fear, learning new ways to structure my day as well as how to surrender the ultimate control and even learning how to plan programs and choreograph while driving the car!
The ladies’ retreat at St. Mary’s in Adrian was a huge success. Over 100 women laughed and cried and moved in unison to the prayers I was led to share with them. My morning retreat at Cottage Retreat Center in Jackson was a lovely diversity of women sharing in movement to replenish their spirits after a long, cold winter. In my day retreat at Manresa I was privileged to minister to many wounded spirits battling personal illness and injury as well as a host of family issues. It is so amazing for me to see how God uses me in such dramatic ways. My most recent experience was with 243 vacation Bible school children at St. Francis. I worked with groups of about 30 children ranging in age from 4-10 teaching them Jewish circle dances. They really kept me moving!My two programs for the American Business Women’s Association were a challenging adventure with a happy ending. My workshops in Grand Rapids and Atlantic City were each scheduled for the last seminars of the last day of the conferences. While I feared attendance would be low because of this, each was attended by more women than any other seminars of the conference (80-100 women each)! I learned to negotiate a lapel microphone and hotel sound systems (which on one occasion accidentally piped my music into all the other seminar rooms!) and work with meeting planners and union technicians, bringing my simple message of God’s love to a roomful of powerful, successful women. I was blessed to use some music that was written and recorded especially for me by a dear friend and superb violinist, Gabriel Bolkosky. As I witnessed the women’s tears as I led them through a meditation of letting go of whatever they needed to turn over to God, I knew I had correctly discerned my call to do these programs.
I am happy to report that I have many new programs booked for the coming months. Most immediately upcoming is a program at Mercy Bellbrook Retirement Community on August 19th. Thanks to my sister Jan for marketing me there! October will bring a couple of programs close to home for a change – both in Saline! I have a women’s retreat at First United Methodist Church. This program came about because the woman planning the retreat saved an article published about me in the Saline Reporter when Prayer in Motion first started. Talk about the Spirit moving in amazing ways! Also in October I will give a program for the mom’s group at St. Andrews Catholic Church, a great lead provided by Pam Smith, a wonderful supporter of mine. I am also thrilled to be holding another retreat day at Manresa on November 19th. Much to my delight I am getting to be a regular out there. I will do an Advent Tea at St. Mary Mystical Rose out in Armada thanks to a referral from my friend and fellow dancer in Christ, Joan O’Connell.
Amidst all the wonder and excitement of doing God’s work the vertigo persists. It has been 18 months now. Fortunately I have been blessed with an ability to keep moving despite it. More debilitating than the vertigo though is an injury to my ankle I incurred in late April. I strained the sub-tibial tendon which has made walking, let alone dancing, quite painful. Much to my sadness I had to cut my dance classes from my usual 7 per week down to 2. After weeks of waiting and calling daily, I finally got into an ankle specialist with the University of Michigan’s Sports Medicine clinic. He referred me for physical therapy and I am beginning to feel evidence of healing. Praise God! Between the exercises for the vertigo, the Alexander lessons and now my ankle, I have pretty near another full time job!
Also on my blessing list for these past few months is a class that I was privileged to take through Concordia University, Introduction to Worship Dance, taught by Joan O’Connell. It was a 2 credit class that met for 4 Saturdays this summer, jam-packed with information and experiences for learning. While I learned a lot about the history of dance in the church, choreography and modern dance itself, I was affirmed in many ways by the knowledge that I somehow mysteriously already had without any training or education. It was amazing to read the words of great liturgical dancers that were exactly the same as I have used in my programs during these past 2 years to explain how and why praying through movement works. Clearly these insights were already put in me by One greater than I.
It has been quite a full and amazing few months! And I am so blessed by all of your love and support throughout these past two years. Each one of you has given me a special and unique gift in you. I cherish you all and this wonderful life I get to live!
Prayer in Motion…Let the Spirit move you!
Janene
March 2, 2005
Dear Family and Friends,
It has been an exciting new year so far as I have booked many new programs. Visit the Upcoming Events section of my website and you’ll see what I mean! Most immediately I am preparing for a ladies retreat at St. Mary of Good Counsel in Adrian on March 12, 2005. Their retreat theme is “Surrendering to God’s Love” which has many wonderful options for music and movement. I have been asked to speak to a group of people considering parish ministry work for the Diocese of Detroit on April 2, 2005. I have also been accepted to present at the Ministry Fair for the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan on May 7, 2005. This has some wonderful possibilities to connect with many different Episcopal churches. Thanks to Ann Putallaz for the lead on this one!
After a long proposal process, complete with recommendation letters from dear supporters Marian Love and Noraleen Renauer, I was accepted to present workshops at two conferences for the American Business Women’s Association. The first will be in Atlantic City, NJ on May 14, 2005 and the second will be in Grand Rapids on June 4, 2005. I prayed long and hard about whether I was called to bring Prayer in Motion to the business world and how I might do this. I moved ahead in confidence submitting the proposal having discerned that indeed I was called. As the dates approach I trust that God will reveal His plan.
Additionally I am preparing the program for the Cottage Retreat Center in Jackson on March 19, 2005. This workshop will include those from non-Christian faiths as well as Christians. It is a rare opportunity to reach those of many different faiths and I trust that I will be led to create just the right program. I thank all of you that have provided music, books, ideas and prayers. Keep them coming! Please pray for my openness to God’s will for this program as well as the participants that will attend.
Last month I experienced the loss of my first directee who died after a two-year battle with cancer. From the first time I met her, a widow, with vertigo and cancer, I knew we had a special journey to travel together. We developed a close bond as she wrestled with the disease and I was privileged to minister to her and her family during her last hours.
Speaking of vertigo, I’m afraid mine has been back in full force for the past month or so. Having experienced several emotional upheavals in the past couple of months as well as the stress of the programs looming ahead, I am in need of healing. I continue to focus on doing my exercises, getting proper rest, and managing stress. I am planning a trip to my dear friend and confessor, Fr. John Esper, on the 6th anniversary of Don’s death (March 15) for healing prayers. In the meantime I pray, trust and keep moving!
Prayer in Motion…Let the Spirit move you!
Janene
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