“I thank my God every time I remember you.” Philippians 1:3 (NIV) A winter Saturday afternoon found me cleaning our basement storage room. There were boxes of papers to sort, bins of holiday decorations to shuffle and other assorted items to realign neatly on the shelves. I’d estimated it would take me an hour or so to tidy up the space. Except I hadn’t factored in one thing. Memories. The items I straightened and stacked weren’t spectacular; they were common articles found in many basements and garages. But the fragrance of precious memories clung to them. Memories of events that changed my life. Memories of people who touched my heart. My pace slowed significantly...continued Karen Ehman is a Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker and New York Times bestselling author. Described as profoundly practical, engagingly funny and downright real, her passion is to help women to live their priorities and love their lives as they serve God and others. She has co-authored two books just for moms with Ruth Schwenk of The Better Mom - Hoodwinked: Ten Myths Moms Believe and Why We All Need to Knock It Off and the newly released ECPA best-seller Pressing Pause: 100 Quiet Moments for Moms to Meet with Jesus. She is also the Speaker Track Director of Proverbs 31 She Speaks Conference and a teaching staff member of their writers' training site COMPEL.
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I wish I could be more confident! So many times I’ve whispered this prayer. Sometimes God asks us to do crazy things. Following Him requires a great deal of faith, and confidence is a good thing—or is it? Confidence: a full trust; belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing. This culture heralds strong, confident women. But strength and confidence in what? In ourselves? We need to guard ourselves from this bad idea. What happens when we come to the end of our strength? Or when someone comes along who is more talented? As a social worker, I have watched the feminist movement champion the power of femininity and self-reliance...continue reading. Kimberly Waldie is married to an incredible man, mother of four great (sometimes challenging) kids, and pastor’s wife to an awesome church in Traverse City, MI. She has served over 20 years in ministry to children, youth, women, and alongside her husband as lead pastors. She has a passion for speaking, teaching, and mentoring women to discover their true identity in Christ and navigate the challenges of womanhood. As a social worker and adoptive mom, she has worked with families dealing with the difficult issues of foster care/adoption. She enjoys using her horses for ministry, writing, running, and spending time with her family. Thankless It’s not a great word. It’s not a word that I want to describe my life, or me. It’s definitely not the way I want to live out my faith. But sometimes this is who I am. When that starts to happen I need to slow it down and count the cost of my ingratitude. It damages my faith. I start to see God as my personal genie I get upset when He doesn’t do what I think He should do, in the timing I think He should do it. I forget that Jesus willingly suffered humiliation and pain to stand in the gap for me, and that if He never did a single thing more, He’s given me more than I ever deserve. Lord, thank You what You did for me. It stunts my growth...continue reading
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6). As I took the steps onto the stage to deliver the Word for the last time as the Women’s Ministries Director of my district, the Holy Spirit stopped me and said clearly, “Well done. You have been faithful. Now go and do what I have for you next.” As much as I long to hear those words at the end of my life, in the moment they stung. I knew those words meant it was over. Serving the leaders and ministering to women of my district had been a joy, a passion, a dream fulfilled. I loved every minute of it and in my flesh I did not want to give it up; but that would be disobedience. We were mobilizing to the foreign field in three months. I had been called to the ends of earth at a youth camp altar when I was thirteen. I had been praying for and dreaming of this for decades and now the Lord was leading our family there. Yet in order to embark on this new beginning, what I was doing for the Lord had to come to an end. It seemed as though both passions could not flourish at once. I was so expectant for this new chapter but simultaneously mourning the closing of the last. It was not the first time we had transitioned to a new ministry, and likely not the last...continue reading
In the middle of a workshop for corporate women, I received one of my most powerful spiritual lessons. One minute we were discussing team-building and communication — next thing I knew the Holy Spirit was drilling a hole in my heart. A seasoned, successful woman was telling us about a meeting she facilitated with her co-workers. In her presentation she got a bit agitated and expressively harsh. She became very heavy handed. After the meeting one of her peers called her out privately about this pattern of leadership she was displaying. When challenged about this incident she sort of blew off the correction with a cavalier “I guess it’s just my blind spot.” At which her co-worker replied, “It’s only blind to YOU, Wendy.” ...continue reading Kathy lives in Mobile, AL with her husband Ed Litton, Pastor of Redemption Church. Both lost former spouses in car accidents, and God uniquely gave them new love and life together in 2009. Kathy enjoyed 26 years of life and ministry alongside pastor Rick Ferguson. She has 3 children and 7 grandchildren. Presently, Kathy serves at NAMB as National Consultant for Ministry to Pastor’s Wives. The Bible is filled with scriptures about difficult times in life. In John, chapter 16, Jesus tells us that we will have trouble. In the first chapter of James, he exhorts us to consider trials and tribulations as an opportunity for growth. Peter says that when times are challenging that we are to cast our cares on Him. Difficulties will come our way. They just will. How we handle them is a totally different thing. Which brings me to drama. Drama is a medium that is filled with intensity and depicts a serious subject. While we are not talking about a TV series or play on Broadway when referring to drama, it can certainly come into play here. (See what I did there? Play? Okay, I’ll stop.) When life gets tumultuous and things don’t go according to our plan, we have options...continue reading Blog written by Cindy Beall for LeadingandLovingIt.com.
Leadership is all about developing other leaders. It allows you to multiply the work by equipping and sending them out to do the work of ministry or service. Learning to lead is a process. Leading volunteers, as a volunteer yourself, is challenging. But when we have bonded and born fruit with other believers nothing can describe the joy it brings. Five things I’ve learned the hard way as a leader:
LORI FRANK serves the people of Biltmore Baptist Church in Asheville, North Carolina where her husband of 25 years, Dr. Bruce Frank is Lead Pastor. Lori teaches a weekly women's Bible Study and offers local group mentoring for pastors' wives and women in ministry. Lori and Bruce have two sons in college. Lori writes for Flouish.me. I am so grateful for the leaders who have poured into my life and development over the years. It’s those same leaders you find yourself quoting as you mature into your leadership voice. When you start to lead a team, these treasured nuggets of advice are put to the test. Here’s some of the best advice I’ve ever received: 1. Cultivate Relationships. More than 20 years ago, a very wise leader told me to work hard and build a lot of relationships. No matter the size of the company or your team, make sure you know everyone...continue reading Faith Whatley is Director of Adult Ministries at Lifeway Christian Resources.
Leadership is all about developing other leaders. It allows you to multiply the work by equipping and sending them out to do the work of ministry or service. Learning to lead is a process. Leading volunteers, as a volunteer yourself, is challenging. But when we have bonded and born fruit with other believers nothing can describe the joy it brings. Five things I’ve learned the hard way as a leader...continue reading Lori Frank serves the people of Biltmore Baptist Church in Asheville, North Carolina where her husband of 25 years, Dr. Bruce Frank, is Lead Pastor. Lori teaches a weekly women's Bible Study and offers local group mentoring for pastors' wives and women in ministry. Lori and Bruce have two sons in college. |
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