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To Hold the Ropes
We are about to transition from our busy spring schedules of graduations and end-of-year activities to an equally busy summer season. Mission trips are a big part of church and ministries’ summer schedule. In preparation for that, I suggest we prepare to “hold the ropes” for those who are venturing on mission adventures, church camps or even just helping in VBS. One of Christianity’s most compelling mission stories is of William Carey, called “the father of the modern missionary movement.” In 1792, William Carey, a poor English shoemaker, felt God’s call to take the gospel to the unreached in India. The mission society of his church appointed him to go,…
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Supporting My Spouse by Focusing on Me
“I’m feeling very anxious,” my husband told me. As a young bride this revelation shook me. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to take it away, to make it better so I wouldn’t have to watch him suffer. Since I didn’t experience anxiety in the same way, I could not understand what he described. I’m a student and teacher of the Bible. Studying a verse, explaining the principle, identifying the lies, and believing the truths help me. As such, I’m tempted to quote verses to him, to give information as a way to help. But over the course of our thirty-four year marriage, I learned that my methods…
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Praying for and Supporting Those Who Struggle
With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and petitions for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18 One of my responsibilities is to pray, especially for some loved ones who are fighting personal battles and for global workers planting churches in unfriendly environments. After the last few difficult years, it is easy to give up. After all, prayer is hard work and doesn’t always garner visible results. I can’t do it alone. Thankfully, I have prayer partners who intercede with me and for me. Together, we follow the example of Moses, the leader of the Israelites. As Moses led the people out…
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Women and the Workplace: A Critical Crossroads
All of us have experienced change and transition recently. But whether yours has been a season of loss, new beginnings, or both, one constant remains: you have been created for, and called to, purposeful work in your everyday workplace.
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Cultivating Friendships & Female Allies
Listen to the nightly news, read just-released statistics, talk to a few friends––and you’ll hear over and over again the hard realities of mandated isolation, increased challenges in daily life, and mounting obstacles as working women navigate the lingering effects of this pandemic. Now more than ever we need to forge bonds of sisterhood with the women in our circles.
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Handling the Commotion in Emotions-Growing in Supporting Others
In 2015, Barna Group did research on factors changing women’s relationship with churches.[1] One of the factors researched was the amount of support women felt they received at church. Sixty percent of women felt no support or not much support at church. The lack of support women feel at church is a sad fact. I think we can increase the percent of women that feel support. One way to increase support for women is to become more attentive to emotions—our emotions and other’s emotions. Emotions can create commotion deep within. Because we are embodied souls, God uses our emotions to let us know what is going on in our souls.…
