A new beginning…
Books!
Books. 📚
They are pretty much everywhere around me. 📚
On night stands.
In my office. 📚
In the living room.
On my kindle. 📚
Even in my car.
I’m a firm believer in books.
That’s why I read them all the time.
That’s even why I’ve written in a few of them.
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But there is something extra special that happens when you have the books that your friends have written in your house.
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This stack of books I’m currently reading are all written by women I know, respect, admire and call friends.
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Of course I have more books that I’m reading or have recently finished… I’ll share those in stories.
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But today, as we continue to celebrate Women’s History Month, I wanted to take a moment to share some of my friends with you.
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Happy 😊 reading 📚
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What are some of your favorite books that you can’t put down?
I’m always on the look out for my next read. 🙂
List of books in pic at top (these are affiliate links):
– Finding Your Leadership Voice in 90 Days, by Kadi Cole
– The Grace-Giving Leader: How to develop people, lead teams, and mentor well, by Jan Greenwood
–The Confidence Cornerstone: A Woman’s Guide to Fearless Leadership, by Catherine Gates
– I Am a Leader: When Women Discover the Joy of Their Calling, by Angie Ward
– Read the Book: One Way to Live Effectively, by Stephanie Anderson
– Mixtape: How To Stop Listening To The Recordings Of Your Past, by Kate Garnes
List of books in pic at bottom (these are affiliate links):
– Beginner’s Pluck: Build Your Life of Purpose and Impact Now, by Liz Forkin Bohannon
– The Dream of You: Let Go of Broken Identities and Live the Life You Were Made For, by Jo Saxon
– The Power of Who: You Already Know Everyone You Need to Know, by Bob Beaudine
– Invitation to Retreat: The Gift and Necessity of Time Away with God, by Ruth Haley Barton
– Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by James Clear
She Leads Church Summit 2021
After 20 years of serving in the local church it’s been a roller coaster of awesome, exhausting, exciting and overwhelming. Some of the things I’ve learned I had to learn the hard way. Yet other times there was a wise mentor or friend that came alongside me and helped me to navigate the season of life and ministry.
No matter where you are in your journey as a female leader in the church (on staff, married to one of the staff, super volunteer, ministry leader, lay leader and everything in between) you WILL walk away blessed, encouraged and inspired by being a part of the She Leads Church 2021 summit. Tickets are FREE and the entire event is online -> https://pro.churchcommunications.com/a/40220/3LypbGvg
I am truly honored to be a part of the summit this year and I will be sharing about the importance of Creating a Rhythm of Connection — oh yeah, I’m digging into who do you have around you, how is your personal time with the Lord, how about your family? These are all critically important…not just as you lead in the church, but to live out your faith.
I would LOVE 
to personally invite you to join me for She Leads Church next week March 3rd & 4th. You can grab your FREE ticket here -> https://pro.churchcommunications.com/a/40220/3LypbGvg
Here’s a little more info about the summit:
During this summit, we will be taking a look at the importance of establishing healthy rhythms in our spiritual lives, our work lives, and our personal lives. Our speakers will be addressing topics like work-life balance and how to remain intentional during busy seasons. They will offer practical tips and advice on how to juggle it all. https://pro.churchcommunications.com/a/40220/3LypbGvg
SPECIAL EXCITING UPDATE:
We are extending our She Leads Church Rhythms three day experience through a partnership with Voice of the Martyrs. We’ll be treated to a worship music performance with Natalie Grant and special guest speakers on an importance justice issue that is happening across the world today.
Your registration for SLC automatically gives you full access to the VOM experience now scheduled to extend our event online with this special opportunity to meet three Christian workers who were imprisoned for their faith.
When Grace Meets You In The Vacuum Cleaner Aisle
All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
2 Corinthians 4:15 NLT
A few weeks ago while in the vacuum cleaner aisle at Target I was given the gift of grace. She was hurt, I was hurt. It was a misunderstanding, to say the least, but months had gone by and no progress was made. This was a ten year friendship that went off the rails fast and in the middle of ministry, motherhood and marriage it fell off to the side and in a season of hurt and frustration it was just not something I could deal with at the time.
Sounds harsh, I know, but when you are in the middle of a storm and life feels like your ship is going to go down, the first thing you start to do is throw things overboard. There went the gym, friendships that were outside your day to day bubble, and pretty much anything else that might lighten the load so you don’t go under in the season of storms.
I’m not proud to admit it, at all actually, but I just had to share with you what God did next.
After wading through the storms life got busy and although I wanted to reach out it was hard to take the chance of getting hurt again. Although I wanted to talk to her again I was too afraid. I would look on Facebook every so often to see how she was doing, looking for an opportunity to reach out, but I let the fear, hurt and insecurity keep me away.
Until a few weeks ago when I needed to purchase a new vacuum cleaner. Truth be told I hated to spend a bunch of money on a new vacuum so I stood in the vacuum cleaner aisle at Target for about forty minutes comparing the different vacuums and wrestling with how expensive they are when, turning right toward me in the aisle is this friend and her husband.
In that moment there wasn’t time to decide how to respond, react or anything else, there was just sheer joy at seeing each other again.
To finish reading “Grace In The Vacuum Cleaner Aisle” head on over to the Internet Cafe Devotions site…
Here’s a little Instagram pic I made for you…as a reminder that grace can find you anywhere! Enjoy!
Keeping First Things First In Ministry, A Guest Post Over At Upgrade With Dawn
“Ministry can become all consuming, but it’s important to remember to keep first things first and that’s making your own family a priority,” Melissa says. “Every day you are given a gift—your family. Yes, you have a call to do more, serve more and love the people in your community more, but ultimately, your family is your first ministry.”
There are so many things to love about ministry, like being able to be a part of someone else’s faith journey, using your gifts and skills for the Kingdom, and doing something with your life that is far beyond anything you could do on your own.
Unfortunately the “job” can become overwhelming. You can find yourself stuck in a never-ending cycle of trying to catch up.
After fifteen years in full time ministry at a local church in South Florida, I finally realize a few things about ministry:
- You will never get it all done. There will always be room for improvement or one more thing on your ministry task list.
- It’s not all up to me. You are there to do your part, but the whole thing doesn’t rest on your shoulders. If it’s God’s will, He will make it happen— with or without you.
- Your family is your first ministry. If you are married and have children, they need to see they are number one in your life, not your job or ministry.
…there’s so much more to share about this topic. To find out what happened when I took my eyes off what’s really most important come on over to Upgrade with Dawn.
