• Generations,  Leadership Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  What I'm Reading

    Discipleship Today

    Last week I shared a post (read What Now? here) asking what you are hearing from women you serve and lead. Many are ready to take a deeper dive into knowing and growing in Christ. Are you ready to lead them well? I am currently leading my 4th D-Group at church since retirement in 2017. Discipleship has always been the core of women’s ministry as far as I am concerned. Of course, the first step is salvation, but that is NOT the final step in a woman’s spiritual journey. She needs women who will shepherd her through the next steps. This was not my experience as a new believer when…

  • Leadership Lessons,  Lessons,  Pandemic,  Spiritual Growth,  What I'm Reading

    What Now?

    If you lead or disciple women in any way, I want to ask you a question. What are you hearing from them regarding this past year of COVID and all the other issues we all have faced? Here’s some positive things I’ve seen or heard: Yes, there have been many negative responses and experiences as well. People have lost jobs, health, political and social unrest, finances, and the joy of being with people in person. Most of us wearied of online church and zoom meetings. But, for sure, God has been at work in so many lives. Recently, Jim Denison quoted Desmond Tutu in one of his Daily Articles: “Hope…

  • General,  Lessons,  Pandemic,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    Overwhelmed, But Praying

    You know, some days right now, after receiving another bit of news from a friend or loved one that is painful, sometimes I just want to give up. Right now the things I have on my intercessory prayer list include: a friend who has been in COVID ICU for 7 weeks, a friend whose 50 year marriage is in trouble, a child custody battle, job losses of those I care about, a friend whose husband just died suddenly, family grand-pet having to be put down, a friend with incurable cancer. And then add COVID pandemic, church reopening, politics and other issues in our country, the need for a huge movement…

  • General,  Pandemic,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    What Are You Standing On?

    Have you ever built a sand castle…for a day? Perhaps as a child you spent endless hours creating a beautiful castle only to find the next day the tide has demolished it completely. Such is the way of houses built on sand! As an adult, if you have undertaken the task of building a home, you certainly wouldn’t choose a foundation of sand, but one of something much stronger, so that your home would sustain torrential storms without collapsing. I am in the process of memorizing the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6 & 7 with my D-Group. It has been challenging, but so rewarding, for all 4 of…

  • Blessings,  General,  Generations,  Leadership Lessons,  Lessons,  Pandemic,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    Pandemic Panic

    I recently wrote a post for Revive Our Hearts leadership blog. A Veteran’s Wisdom for Ministry in a Pandemic. I am so grateful for an opportunity to serve women’s leaders, especially as we face ministry challenges in this pandemic confinement. If you are challenged by having to learn new “ways” to connect and serve Christ, please head over to their blog to read! Today, I will link to that here. Leader Connection Blog is a great one to follow! Also, check out their leadership page and ask to join their private group. Here you can see all their women’s leadership resources. P.S. I previously wrote more detail on my technology…

  • Generations,  Leadership Lessons,  Lessons,  Pandemic,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial,  Unity,  What I'm Reading

    What’s Up With All The Kings?

    Right now, in the midst of something none of us expected…social distancing due to a virus we’d never heard of until this year…we are hungry for what was and, prayerfully, what will be again…physical connection with people we care about, life before the virus, recovered income, and plenty of toilet paper! But until God chooses to release us from our isolation, what do we do? Is He teaching us anything? Am I listening well? Are you? Seems like everything I am reading and studying right now has to do with kings! Normally, 1 and 2 Kings in the Old Testament is NOT my go to for Bible study. But, it’s…

  • Generations,  Lessons,  Pandemic,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial,  What I'm Reading

    The Promise

    Has anyone ever promised you something and then didn’t come through? I remember as a little girl, I was with my uncle and we came out of store that had a mechanical horse ride. I asked if I could ride and he said we’d go to a real amusement park later. Only thing is, later never came, and I was really disappointed. Now, he had no idea how much that hurt and he wasn’t intentionally lying, but to me it was a promise from a loved one. I was really disillusioned. Has God ever promised something and not come through? Personally, I can say, no, not ever. Now, He didn’t…

  • Pandemic,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    The Difference Connection Makes

    Unless we plug our blow dryer into the socket, it flat won’t work, Right? It must be connected for the electricity to flow. I have a visual picture of what a tree connected to its roots looks like compared to what one looks like that is separated from its roots. You can see a redbud in bloom on the left side of this photo. If you look close to the other side, you see a broken trunk sticking up in front of the house behind us. In front of that, you can see a dried up, dead tree. What a contrast.  As we’ve been social distancing, this redbud has been…

  • Blessings,  Pandemic,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    I Fell For It….Again!

    What an interesting week this has been…not to mention a challenging one. After staying home, and all services and groups at church being cancelled because of the coronavirus, our discipleship staff began providing podcasts and information on how to get our life groups on line digitally. I decided to use Google Hangouts for my group since I was most familiar with leading meetings using that platform. But after getting my group familiar with that, I discovered it has a limit of 10 participants. Our life group normally has 20-25 attendees on campus weekly. Sooooo…Hangouts won’t work! So, on to plan B! What about Zoom? I’ve used it before for meetings,…