Annual Women's Retreat at Timberstone Lodge

We are planning another great weekend for the Women of Berlin Mennonite Church! Our second-annual fall retreat will take place on Friday night and Saturday, November 16th and 17th! 

Join us for a time of laughter, learning, friends and fellowship at the Timberstone Lodge in Winesburg, Ohio!

Registration is only $20 and there are scholarships are available.

Space is limited and you can RSVP to Dayna at the Church office. 

Dress for Success

It was quite the party at the Sommer's house on the evening of July 25th as the Women's Ministry hosted "Dress for Success", a ladies pick-nick.  Dinner was provided by the Women's Ministry Committee and the good Lord blessed us with beautiful weather so guests were able to dine alfresco and enjoy the mild summer evening.
With special guest Rhoda Troyer from Rig & Co. on-hand to teach us about style and fashion it was quite the multi-generational evening filled with food, fun and fellowship!

Norma might have had the best question of the evening when she asked, "There is nothing I hate more then an old lady trying to look too young...so what do you have in store for us old women?"  (HaHa!) Great question...and by the end of the evening we all had the chance to have our fashion and style questions answered!

Rhoda Troyer, local fashion and makeup consultant and owner of Rig & Co. has one simple passion, "to teach women to love themselves for who they are and believe in themselves". As she puts it, "There is great power in living a passionate and positive life." But don't be fooled, there is much more to Rhoda and her work then looking pretty and being fashionable. She also had great advice for our high-school and college aged girls about professional dress and choosing styles that are work appropriate plus tips for making a great first impression at a job or college interview as well as some great thoughts on modesty and certain styles that we as Christian women should skip all together! As for the self-proclaimed "old ladies" of the group, Rhoda's budget-wise tips and tricks are great for women of all ages! We all want to look great without breaking the bank, right?!

The evening was a great time for women of all ages to come together and fellowship around (many) tables. Here are what some of the ladies who attended had to say:

" So exciting to see ALL our generations of women at this event!!!" 

"A BIG THANKS to the BMC Women's Ministry Team! What a fun evening with food, fellowship and fashion tips! It was nice for me to be able to "talk" with others who I normally do not get the chance (or time!) to talk to on Sunday mornings."





"A lot of fun good turnout very lively a lot of fun seeing all different ages of women and getting to know different people"

"Had a great time! Very Fun!"

We hope to see you for the next Women's Ministry Event! If you don't already make sure to find the Women's Ministry of Berlin Mennonite Church on Facebook to stay connected and up-to-date on all our events!

Frugal Tip Tuesday (on Wednesday)

Well, better late then never, I guess! Please consider this my official apology for posting this a day late! (Yikes...just one of those weeks!) Can anyone relate? Well, this week is more of a product review, but it is also a bit of a frugal tip, too! (Two for one...maybe that will make up for my tardiness!)

I don't know about all of you but I LOVE the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers...I mean L.O.V.E. them! Hubbs saw at the store the other day that they have a knock off generic brand now at the Dollar Store of all places! We bought both and decided to do our own little consumer reports review!

Yep, these are my walls!

After 2 swipes of the Name Brand 

With a little more elbow grease the name brand clean up like a charm! (No Surprise)

After 2 swipes of the "Knock off" Dollar Store Brand 

Tah-Dah! 

So, based on my own little personal review, for however much that is worth...I'd say that if you have a Family Dollar near by and you pick up a few things there anyway, then you might as well pick up some of their generic Magic Erasers because they work the same (if not better) then the name brand! 

Thanks for visiting again this week here at Hosanna Hill. 

In other exciting news, next Friday we are going to start a Bible Study on the Book of Ruth and you don't want to miss it! If you haven't read Ruth, or haven't  read it in a long time I would encourage you to read it or brush up a little sometime between now and next Friday!

See you then!

Frugal Tip Tuesday and a GUEST post!

Hello Friends and welcome back to another week of Frugal Tip Tuesday! I have been so excited for this week's post. Today I get to introduce you to such a great lady.
Rachel from Adventures from a DIY Mom has a great tip to share with us today...but first check out some of her other great projects!

I'm Rachel from Adventures of a DIY Mom. 

Here is one of the ways I save money. Instead of buying a new bottle of foam soap when we run out, I refill them. 

I first started doing this with a special bottle that was made for this. It had two lines on it showing where to fill with soap and water. I didn't particularly like it because the pump would get stuck in the down position. So I tried it with another bottle I had and it works even better. 

To start with you need a bottle that dispenses foam soap. 

 I got this one from my mom for Christmas. Once it's empty it's time to refill it.

I use this soap from Walmart. As of this week the price is $3.88. 

It comes in a new bottle - it just shows you how long it's been since I've bought any. There are 3-4 different scents to choose from.

Next fill the bottle approximately one inch full with soap.

Then fill to the top with hot water.

Then shake well.

Hot water is important because it helps to dissolve the soap so it will mix better. If you don't mix it well enough the first few pumps will be quite soapy instead of foamy. Just shake it again and it should be fine.

I have one bottle in the bathroom and one in the kitchen. Since you only have to use such a small amount for each refill, that big bottle of soap lasts us well over a year. I also like it because I don't feel like I have to monitor usage. You know how kids are - either they try to skip the soap step, or they use six or seven squirts. Since it costs so little, I don't mind if they waste some -
at least they're getting clean!

Silent Sunday

Source: dustjacketattic.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Frugal Tip Tuesday - DIY Pancake Mix

My trouble today?...only about a 1/4 of a cup of Bisquick mix left in the bottom of the box! And, then it hit me...why in the world do we buy Bisquick mix?  Because it's easy, right? Very little measuring. You don't have to haul out all the ingredients, find your mom's pancake recipe...blah, blah, blah. Here is a quick way that you can make your own mix that you can pull out and use just like Bisquick, but cost me a lot less the $4.00 bucks a box! 

This is what you will need: 

Large canister or container to store your dry mix:

Measuring cup

Tablespoon

Knife - to measure flower

Fork or hand-sifter to combine ingredients

Here is the recipe:

6 cups of all purpose flower

4 cups of powdered sugar

4 tablespoons of baking powder

2 tablespoons of salt

It's pretty much a no-brainer...mix it all together REALLY WELL, and store! Pull it out to use just like you would any other boxed mix. For pancakes, specifically you will need to combine 1.5 cups of the dry mix with 1 slightly beaten egg, 2/3 cups of milk and 1/4 cup melted butter. That's it!

Make sure to really measure your ingredients.

You are going to end up with what looks like a big bowl of flour! :) But, Trust me, it's the same as the stuff you buy in the box.

Here is the run down on the how the numbers look: 

Bisquick from Walmart = $4.10 for a 3 lb box which works out to $1.36 per pound

Our Mix = .41 cents for flour, $1.15 for powdered sugar, .10 cents for salt, and .25 cents for baking powder = $1.91 and this made 2.5 lbs so we are looking at about .76 cents per pound. 

That means that at the store you'd save about a buck and a half for every 2 lb box! Not too shabby!

But, that's not it for this post! Here is a super cute idea for a quick little gift that you can bless someone with using the FAB pancake mix that you just whipped up!

Get a mason jar, a piece of your favorite fabric, or some scrap that you have lying around, some ribbon and a recipe card and make a little gifty-poo for someone sweet!  My receipe card reads something like this: 

Sweet Summer Pancakes: 

1 1/2 c. dry mix 

1 egg, slightly beaten 

1/4 butter, melted 

2/3 c. of milk 

Combine with wisk and drop by 1/2 c. onto medium-hot griddle. Cook 2 minutes on each side. Enjoy.

Here is how mine turned out. Be creative, maybe put a basket together with bowl, wisk, measure cups,  syrup, walnuts and blueberries for a newly married couple, or someone  that just moved to your neighborhood.  

Hope that you enjoyed this Frugal Tip Tuesday.

Be Blessed!

Women of God

Good Morning! I found this little gem on Pinterest
(where else) and thought that it might be a
good reminder for us all! 

In a fallen world that seems to always glorify the vile, ugly, hateful, lustful, and crude we as Christain women must remember that we are always to mirror the image of Christ. Some people may not understand. They may think we are backward, weak or narrow-minded but I believe that over time a consistent, true presentation of Christ, a presentation that seems  to them humanly un-managable, a presentation that showcases a true JOY and not simply a temporary "happiness" is what will speak to the hurt and lost women of the world and give them hope.  This is not an easy calling that we have places upon us, but it is a necessary one and one that we should be proud to live out!