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The Cost of Leadership Part 6
Please start with the first 5 posts in this series if you haven’t already. The fifth aspect of the cost of going deep is prayer, and the time it takes to pray. Deeper for me was when our daughter walked away from our family for 8 years. And God called my husband and me to continue walking and serving faithfully when the waves we had to cross got even bigger. We continued to pray for years that the Lord would bring her back, keep her safe and draw her to Himself. Sometimes as we serve and lead, God does not answer for a long time. But He is at work even…
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The Cost of Leadership Part 5
Please start with the first 4 posts in this series if you haven’t already. The second aspect in the cost of going deep involves laying down our fears through our faith in Him. For me, the deep, was when He first called me to speak in front of my church. If you know me, you’ve heard me say, I’d never be a public speaker. Deeper was when the Lord called me to LifeWay to continue serving out the call to disciple women, this time training church leaders across the country how to effectively develop ministries for women that help them grow deep! Laying down fear takes courage. Just look through…
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The Cost of Leadership Part 4
Please start with the first 3 posts in this series if you haven’t already. Cost 4: the cost of going deep. Although similar to cost 3, this is specifically talking about depth in our relationship with Christ. Just a heads up, I won’t finish cost 4 in one post, but will share 8 aspects of this cost. Hebrews 6:1-2 reminds us to leave the elementary things, let go of shallowness, and go on to maturity. We are warned to be careful not to become lazy in our spiritual life. Therefore, let us leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance…
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The Cost of Leadership Part 3
This is part 3 in The Cost of Leadership Series. If you missed it, read part 1 here and part 2 here. Cost 3: the cost of learning new things. Maybe because I love to read, and always have lots of books going at the same time, you might think this is easy for me to say. Actually, just because I read a lot, doesn’t always mean I am learning new things. I must first admit I need to learn and then I must choose to learn. But I definitely do believe in continuing to grow and learn. While at LifeWay, one huge learning challenge for me was technology. When I landed…
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The Cost of Leadership Part 2
This is part 2 in The Cost of Leadership series. If you missed it, read part 1 here. Cost 2: the cost of priority changes. If we are living to serve Christ in every aspect of our lives, there will be a refocus on what is most important. Remember, serving Christ covers every assignment He gives us. This includes family, community, workplace, and church. But priorities within each of these areas will change once we submit them to God. One way there is change is how we look at immediacy and waiting. Although there are times that God will ask us to use whatever wisdom we have to make a…
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The Cost of Leadership Part 1
Whether you seek to serve and lead, or just feel like you fell into leadership, it is a calling God has placed in your heart. Out of obedience, you must follow that call. Once you accept the assignment, often there is a season of challenges that occur. This is when you might want to give up! There is a cost to leadership and at times it will shock us! The cost is small in comparison to how God will lead us to know Him better through each sacrifice He requires as we serve Him. Over the next few weeks we will take a look at some of these “costs” and…
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Perfect? For Who?
Any other perfectionists out there? Oh, we use the cop out, “we just want to do a great job for the Lord.” But is that really the truth behind our perfectionistic tendencies? I was raised by a perfectionist dad who was a great father, but perhaps his expectations, even of me, pushed me this direction. Add to that I am an enthusiastic, optimistic, Type A, Enneagram 1 personalty, and that’s the makings for trouble if I’m not careful. I can truly say, I’m not as bad as I was in the past, I still struggle to some degree with perfectionism as I was made aware of in reading Ruth Chou…
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Empty Nest? What’s That, and How Will I Handle it?
When I married at 19, then had twins at 25, I never even considered this question. But, it’s never too early to realize, for those who have children, that this day would, and should, eventually become a reality. Today, I am sharing with you a post I wrote for LifeWay Women. I pray this will encourage you to see this stage as something amazing and wonderful. Pray and ask God what you need to begin doing TODAY as you think about empty nest! Banner photo by Robert Thiemann on Unsplash
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Why Is He So Quiet?
Have you asked that question lately? If not lately, I bet you’ve asked it more than once before. Maybe you are in a place where you are asking God a question, or perhaps you are praying for a number of things. And you get silence. I feel your pain, your frustration, and even your anxious thoughts. There are a number of things that are on my heart right now, places where I desperately want to see God move. I pray, I release it to Him, I determine to walk in faith, joy, optimism and peace, only to become angry at myself for failing to do that for more than an…
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Created for Purpose
We are told in Genesis 2 that God formed man from dust…of all things! Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7 Later we are told in chapter 2 that He made woman from the man’s rib! So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to…
