Over the years, the Lord has so graciously given me the sweetest mentors and friends. Older women (well, not really old, because they were probably my age now ;)) came alongside me those years when I was a single teacher living away from home. When He stirred my heart to want more of Him than I knew, He sent this young mama to an awesome fellowship of Bible study ladies who introduced me to Beth Moore. In the last few months, He's sent me the dearest prayer partners and wisdom-givers who are holding me up as He grows a speaking ministry in me.
He's sent me some awesome mall buddies and chocolate chip cookie bakers (and eaters) and coffee-drinking gals.
I love worshipping alongside my sisters in Christ, and I love women's ministry.
This weekend, our church hosted our second Ladies' Gathering. We had an amazing day of God's Word in testimony and in song, and sweet times of laughter and prayer.
Besides the planning team, there were 14 people there.
Our church is not huge, but it is not small enough to consider 14 people a crowd. Don't get me wrong. I know numbers are not the point; hearts are. The Most Important Guest showed up and showed off. The women who came left blessed and full of the Spirit. They want to come back.
My question for you is this: what does your church do, or what do you wish your church would do, to draw women in ? I'm asking for the spiritual and the practical. How do you make women hungry for more, and how do you schedule and plan so that the ball game or shopping or a nap doesn't seem like the better deal? I realize our hectic lifestyles ( which I would argue are not of God, but that's another post) often make prioritizing extremely difficult. I know everyone can't do everything; several women let me know that they wanted to be there, but life happened in the way it does.
How do you, my far-flung group of imaginary friends, stay connected with the ladies of your church? What binds your heart to those sisters in Christ?
Thanks for sharing your collective wisdom with me. The Lord is binding my heart to yours, even though we can't see each other. Let's sit over our coffee cups and share how God moves among the women in your church body. I'll eat your chocolate chip cookie for you.
Blessings,
Ginger
Well, that mug is pretty, as is the background, and the cookies look good too. We've just started back at church. I've been doing an Esther study and it's awesome. Learning a lot. Sometimes, and I love it when it happens, I get confirmation as to what I've been going through ... it really isn't my own self but God working in and on and through me. I love the group of ladies I'm finding in cyber land. I shout for joy when I find a young woman 2 years old in Christ, an older woman having been through everything and finding God's faithfulness. And all those in between. Thank you for your post. So glad to read it. Love ya, Jenn (have a cookie for me please!)
ReplyDeleteGinger,
ReplyDeleteStaying connected in our busy world is difficult, but I'll give you a few of the suggestions that we use.
Obviously, small group Bible study is crucial. We offer at least 4-5 different options for ladies each week. After that, we have MOPS, support groups like Divorce Care and Celebrate Recovery...all of which are wonderful ways to connect with the ladies of the church and those in need from outside the church.
We do a ladies' conference every year which is a great way to bring ladies together. We also take a group to the Christmas Tour of Homes in Towns County. That is always fun and the ladies seem to enjoy it so much.
One thing that I do is send birthday cards. Our monthly church newsletter lists everyone's birthday for the upcoming month and that is a great opportunity to connect with someone.
Since I teach a ladies Life Groups class, I have a wonderful opportunity to connect with many ladies.
Leah