Trusting God with the Future
Listening to the news, I’m challenged to believe for a better tomorrow – or at least one that’s no worse than today. Sometimes I slip into worry. I have to remind myself that God is sovereign.
Stop Trying to Keep Young People in the Church
It was only recently that I started noticing the trends of young people’s indifference to, frustration with, and abandonment of the church. As I paid more attention to why my friends felt the way they did about church, I realized that a major aspect for them was involvement.
Breathe, Rest, & Listen
As I settled into my chair for our opening evening of welcome and worship, I reveled in having nothing to prepare, nothing to lead, nothing I had to be “on” for. I could smile at each woman entering, or bow my head in preparation, just breathe, rest, and listen to God. Each and every year I attend, I find that I am renewed, uplifted, and refreshed.
What Does Apollo 13 Have to Do with Church Ministry?
He expects us to understand that lives are at stake – eternal lives. He expects us not to look around for someone else to do it or to stand about complaining about our assignment. Instead, He has equipped us to utilize every person He welcomes into the family and the supplies He’s provided to deliver a “square” gospel into the “round hole” of the times in which we minister.
How Long, Lord? David’s Move from Fear to Song in Psalm 13
Do you ever get the irresistible urge to laugh during a serious moment? Chalk it up to immaturity, but I find myself in these moments frequently. I was in church recently during the pinnacle of a lesson and discovered a large spider slowly crawling up the speaker’s shirt.
Seasons of Refreshing
The word refresh means “to give new strength or energy to; reinvigorate.” With technology we refresh our devices – we restore their settings and clean out clutter so they function better. We need to refresh and restore our souls so we function better. Everyone around me is looking forward to having vacations or family reunions, but now that we are freer to enjoy life “as we think it should be,” how will you refresh your soul?
Leaving a Powerful Legacy of Prayer for Our Families
My grandmother’s regular prayers for her family made a lasting impression, and not only on me. When my grandmother died some years later, my mom and my aunt stood in the kitchen of our home and wailed: “Who’s going to pray for us now?”
Ready to Serve: Encouraged & Equipped
Knowing the by design ministries’ mission “to develop women who are servant leaders for the equipping of God’s church and the enlarging of His Kingdom” was freeing, as I wasn’t being recruited for something new but being fed, encouraged, and equipped to go back to my home church and serve where God had called me.
Designed for Community
In a quick Google search, you can easily find multiple studies that speak of the loneliness and isolation that can come along with being in ministry leadership. Leaders are often overextended, lacking in support staff, and so focused on serving others that they can forget to actually jump into the communities they are bringing together. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I know that, for myself, the first things to go when I am stressed or busy are spending time with God and quality fellowship with others.
A Night of Sweet Satisfaction: Reprise
On April 6th close to 200 women from over 40 churches spanning 4 states gathered at Trinity Baptist Church in Nashua for some sweet treats and fellowship and listened to speaker, Jan Carlberg, as she shared her talk on “Love Lifts for Sagging Spirits”.