Women in the Church

     So this is a pretty hot topic right now, especially in SBC circles.  Well I hate to disappoint but this is not going to be an overly opinionated or highly politicized blog post.  Honestly I've just loosely followed the articles, comments, tweets, etc about women in the church.  I personally feel that many such conversations and discussions should happen face to face, not over social media.  But that's a whole other topic for another day. 😄   What I do want to let you guys in on is what God has done and is doing personally in my life as a result of numerous Godly, wise, humble, articulate, level-headed, compassionate, passionate, (and the list could just go on and on) women.
     Let me start most recently.  We recently wrapped up our women's small group meeting we have been having for the last few months.  But it is only wrapped up temporarily!  We will definitely be starting it back up as soon as some of the busyness and craziness of the summer starts to die down in August.  As I think about these last few months that we have been gathering together as women, God has greatly encouraged me.  Church planting is hard.  It is slow.  It is completely different than what church is like back in Texas and Oklahoma.  And if I focus my attention solely on Sunday mornings I can easily get discouraged.  This year God has given me I guess what you could call like a word or theme for the year.  And that word is blindness.  Matthew 20 tells the story of 2 blind men healed by Jesus.  They started crying out to him when they heard he was passing by but the crowd told them to just be quiet.  Instead they called out even more.  When Jesus spoke to them and asked them "What do you want me to do for you?"  they said  "Lord, open our eyes!"  (verses 32 and 33).  That has really been my prayer this year.  That God would open my eyes really in all aspects of my life.....as a mom, wife, pastor's wife, church planter, etc.  I can so easily get tunnel vision and just a narrow viewpoint focusing on the day in and day out work of planting a church.  And that is where Satan just waits for me, as doubts and fears and insecurities start to creep in.  However, as I pray and ask God to really open my eyes and let me see just a glimpse of what He is up to I can't help but be encouraged as I mentioned previously, especially by this group of women who have been gathering in our home.
     The picture you see above is our women's group praying together.  God has already begun a good work here in Pelham Parkway by gathering together a group of women of all ages.  Some life-long New Yorkers to some who have only been here a matter of weeks.  All are part of God's plan for Everlasting Church.  All have already had a profound and lasting impact on me and our family.  There are prayer warriors who I KNOW pray for my family on a daily basis, especially my kids.  There are recent sisters in Christ who are just longing to make an impact for the kingdom and share with others what God is doing.  There are the first people that we trusted in NYC to watch our children so that Jordan and I could spend some much needed one on one time together.  There are those who gathered around me and asked me how they could pray for me specifically, and then did it right there on the spot!  There are those who have loved and welcomed and helped our family get adjusted to NYC as neighbors, which was a HUGE answer to prayer.  They are feeding the homeless, prayer-walking the neighborhood, being family to those who have none, and living out during the week what it truly means to be a child of God.  Church here is not all about Sunday mornings, and these ladies are being the church throughout the week.  God has gathered together a diverse, unique, wonderful group of ladies through Everlasting Church and I am extremely grateful.  And not even all of them are pictured.  HE is on the move through these women in our church and I fully believe the possibilities are endless of what He wants to do through each one individually and us together as a whole.

    Jordan is currently preaching on the family of God out of 1 John 3 and this past week we looked at what it means to be brothers and sisters in Christ.  Yes of course we need both but I believe there is just something special about gathering together as sisters in Christ.  The Lord has gifted the ladies in these pictures with unique talents and gifts that I need, that our church needs, that our community needs, that our state needs, and that our world needs.  Through our times on Wednesday nights I have seen these ladies encourage one another to step into our gifts and our callings, powerfully pray over each other, rebuke Satan from our lives, and not to mention physically bless one another through food!  I mean, can you really have a women's small group time without food?

    Finally, I cannot help but think about all the women who have had a profound impact on my life growing up.  I would not be where I am today without these Godly women.  I cannot even begin to name them all, but you know who you are.  From a devout Christian mom and mother-in-law to wonderful Christian grandmothers, from Sunday School teachers in the nursery to college small group leaders, BCM directors, youth pastor's and pastor's wives, friends and roommates along the way, young women I've had the privilege to disciple and women who have discipled me, God is at work in the lives of women.  So my prayer would be that we step into the calling God has on each of our lives, speak up and speak out when He leads both inside the church and outside the church, lead and guide younger generations of women, and keep pressing on.  Know that as we teach Sunday School, raise daughters, submit to our husbands, pray for the lost, disciple others, go to school, go to work, engage with and love on our neighbors, or do whatever it is God has called us to at this time in our lives, God has uniquely equipped women to play a part in advancing His kingdom here on earth.  God's still working on me and obviously will be until He calls me home, but my hope and prayer is that I remember what God has delivered me from and where I am headed, and boldly proclaim the name of Jesus as the Bible says in 1 Peter 2:9 -

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of HIM who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."