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 2007
December 31, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
Happy New Year! I greet this New Year with gratitude for so many blessings received in these past 12 months. For this first newsletter of 2008 I want to share the highlights from the past year.
January
Business started out slow in the beginning of the year. Thankfully my home parish, St Francis of Assisi, kept me busy with presentations to their RCIA group on discernment, as well as a workshop on different prayer forms at their Common Conference.
February
I was very blessed to be interviewed by a reporter from the Jackson Citizen Patriot who wrote a lovely article on my journey to this ministry. They even sent a photographer to my home to take some great photos. This article resulted in wonderful exposure in the Jackson area and brought several people to the Cottage Retreat House for a Lenten program I did there in March.
March
March brought the opportunity to conduct programs at two new retreat centers for me - Weber Center in Adrian and Capuchin Retreat Center in Washington, Michigan. Weber Center has a huge mailing list and a wonderful reputation for their programs, providing great visibility. The program itself was a real blessing, companioning those in attendance as they journeyed with Christ through His Passion, death and Resurrection. I finished off the month with a youth group in Grand Ledge who were on a weekend fast to become more aware of the homeless. While I put the youth through their paces, I had to tone things down a bit since they were hungry!
April
It was a joy to choreograph a dance depicting the creation for a Passover supper at St. Francis of Assisi. I learned the hard way just how much a large group of small children can learn and remember in a short period of time, but of course their parents loved it! Also at St. Francis I worked with about 200 parents and children in a Family Religious Education gathering centered on Pentecost. At one point we were all doing “the wave” around the parish activity center, depicting the receiving of the Holy Spirit.
May
In May I spoke at my first mother-daughter brunch at St. Lucy Church in St. Claire Shores. It was a lovely gathering of 3 generations of women and I was particularly blessed to have my mother (in-law) there with me as well as many of her friends that have become so dear to me too. I was also the featured speaker at the 10th Anniversary celebration of a Mom’s group at St. Patrick’s Church in Brighton and led a 7th grade religion class at St. Dennis in Royal Oak through Prayer in Motion.
June
I was pleased to provide Prayer in Motion programs and spiritual direction to Sabbath Time retreatants at St. Francis of Assisi Retreat Center in DeWitt on five different occasions last year. While there in June, a Lansing State Journal reporter and photographer took some lovely photos of my group in action. On a personal note, after almost two years of intensive study, I took and passed the Cecchetti Level I Ballet Exam. It was a humbling experience to stand amidst 13 and 14 year olds whose bodies are capable of so much more than mine at this age but very rewarding to pass and know that I am learning correct technique.
July
On July 1st I began working at St. Francis of Assisi in a part time (10 hours/week) capacity as Adult Faith Group Coordinator. In this position I have had the opportunity to help coordinate the parish picnic, a breakfast for business people seeking to live their faith and a holiday grief support session. Best of all, I have stopped waking up nights worrying about where my next dollar is coming from. Having a little bit coming in all the time makes a huge difference when I don’t have programs scheduled. It has truly been the answer to prayer. I am very pleased to announce that July 29th marked the 4th anniversary of Prayer in Motion!
August
Through a series of God-incidences, I was connected with the REJ Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to helping youth with parents in prison. I had the opportunity to do a program for a group of women in the Huron Valley Women’s Facility and then with their children. This was a whole new experience for me – having to be cleared and then locked into an area, having my supplies searched with not even paper clips or staples being allowed and ultimately relating to people who I wondered what in the world I had in common with. I have never been more moved, nor done more important work. I saw God clearly at work with each one present as well as in me as I realized we were really all very much alike except for our opportunities and choices.
September
September culminated months of up front work with my friend from the Spiritual Direction Internship, Bernadette Beach, to put together a seminar for nurses that was approved for continuing education credit by the Michigan Nurses Association. It was well attended and received at St. Paul of the Cross Retreat Center in Detroit in both September and November and we will offer the program monthly during the first 4 months of this year.
October
Thanks to the help of my friend Mary Shindell (and some of you who helped provide suggestions and review!) I revised my Prayer in Motion brochure. It looks very professional in layout and printing and I think represents this ministry well. When I think of how far I’ve come from the days when I sat down and made up things I thought I could do to put in the first version of the brochure, I am amazed that it now lists the many programs, groups and themes I have already done.
November
I was privileged to lead a group of grieving souls through a movement program at Christ Church Spirituality Center in Grosse Pointe Farms that was life changing for all of us. I was blessed to see healing before my very eyes as well as feel my own next level of healing. An article in the Grosse Pointe News just prior to the program brought a woman whose husband died, as well as a woman who lost a child, a Muslim woman struggling with the loss of her mother, as well as others with a myriad of losses.
December
December was my busiest month ever for Prayer in Motion with 7 programs scheduled in a 2 week period. The first was an Advent retreat day at Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in Bloomfield Hills. This group of 26 women and 9 men bonded like no other group I’ve had before and immediately set about scheduling a reunion time. During the course of this retreat day I developed laryngitis which lingered during the next 2 weeks. Thanks to lots of prayers, hot tea, Vicks Vapo-Rub and some good microphones I was able to do all the programs although at the Advent tea at St. Paul’s in Owosso I spoke only in a whisper. It was a challenging, humbling time but I felt called to persevere and was carried through it.
As we move steadily into this new year of endless opportunities and possibilities, I am most grateful for all of God’s blessingsI have received and continue to receive through each of you. Thank you for your prayers, your support, your concern, your advice, and most especially for your love. May 2008 be a truly blessed year for each and every one of you.
Prayer in Motion, LLC … Let the Spirit move you!
Janene
June 27, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
So much for my New Year’s resolution to be timelier with my newsletters! The “doing” in life just seems to always take precedence over the “recording” of life. One resolution I am happy to report that I have been keeping, is to take a day a week off from Prayer in Motion work. Even though I love what I am doing, I immediately realized the benefits of a little time away.
I was fortunate to do some programs at my home parish, St. Francis of Assisi in Ann Arbor, early in the year. I worked with the RCIA group on discernment, organized a program to acquaint new parishioners to our parish and then participated in our Common Conference Day with a program on various types of prayer.
After a couple of cancellations in January due to bad weather, I faced an entirely empty February. Pressing on through the fear of absolutely no income for the month, I tried to get a jump on the many programs booked for March. March was incredibly busy with programs at three retreat centers – Weber Center in Adrian, Capuchin in Washington, and Cottage in Jackson, as well as a trip to Grand Ledge to work with a youth group on retreat. Weber Center and Capuchin Retreat were new venues for me and both were lovely and well attended, thanks be to God! Just before these retreats I was blessed to have a reporter from the Jackson Citizen Patriot contact me for an interview. What resulted was a lovely article about Prayer in Motion and my journey with God to get there. Some great photos were taken as well. Check out the Press Release section of my website to see for yourself.
Following the flurry of activity in March I realized that the income produced was still not enough to meet my meager expenses. I could barely work any more and it was still not enough. I cried out in prayer asking for direction. Very shortly thereafter the phone rang. Fr. Jim McDougall, pastor at St. Francis, called to offer me a part-time job as their Adult Faith Group Coordinator. He explained that the position would be for 10 hours per week and I could work flexible hours in order to continue my Prayer in Motion work. And the salary? Exactly the amount I was short in my monthly expenses. How’s that for God’s providence?
And so I continue, quite sure that this is still what God calls me to do. I will write again shortly with the 2nd Quarter Newsletter to get back on track. In the meantime, my prayers and love are with you all.
Prayer in Motion, LLC … Let the Spirit move you!
Janene
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