READING
Listening
CATEGORY
Living Life in MInistry
Becky Badry is our guest blogger today.As a leader, do you wonder whether what you are doing is working, or even in line with what God has created and called you to do? Read this blog post and see if you are “successful.”
Have you ever tried to define success? If so, maybe you felt like you were trying to hit a moving target. Common responses found in current surveys fall into four categories.
Success is based on what I have. This was based on material possessions. However, material possessions never satisfy for long.
Success is based on what I feel. Success means experiencing particular feelings. However, feelings are often nebulous and elusive.
Success is based on what I accomplish. This means achieving goals. However, goals, even good goals, can become meaningless after a while.
Success is based on a personal mission. Possessions, feelings, and goals all take on new meaning when measured by a life mission. Do you have a Personal Mission? Do you know what God has created you to do? You will never be truly satisfied with life until you discover your Personal Life Mission.
Three Steps for a Personal Life Mission
Identify My Talents/Gifts - Ask "What am I good at?" and "What do I really enjoy doing because I do it well?" When God designed you, he put certain characteristics and abilities into your DNA structure. That combination of traits makes you unique! God wants you to do what he has gifted you to do!
Review My Experiences - Ask "What have I learned?" Our greatest lessons come from our hurts and pains. These need to be factored into a Personal Mission.
Decide What Is Really Important - The urgent is not always the important. God calls his children to invest in those things that will last. Ask, “What is of eternal value to God?”
“You are the one who put me together . . and I praise you because of the wonderful way You created me. Everything You do is marvelous! Of this I have no doubt.” Psalm 139:13-14
Becky is Director of Women’s Resources and Missions Mobilization for the Colorado Baptist Convention. She is also a LifeWay Ministry Multiplier. In addition to serving Colorado Baptists as a missionary with the North American Mission Board, Becky has been a minister’s wife for over 30 years. She and her husband have served churches in Oklahoma, Georgia, and Colorado and are currently members of Riverside Baptist Church, Denver, CO. Becky has a passion to see minister’s wives network and find the encouragement they need to faithfully fulfill God’s call in their lives. Becky has completed her Women’s Ministry Certification at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and is a graduate of Golden Gate Theological Seminary with a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership. She was also the recipient of the Educational Leadership Service in Ministry Award in 2010. Becky and Jay have two sons, Jeremy and Justin, and a wonderful daughter –in-law, Rochelle. Becky is also the founder and director of Women in Leadership Coaching .
Comments (2) || Post a Comment
You have been blessed by guest blogger Karen Alexander-Doyel several times.
Karen is a writer for the Tennessee Baptist Convention Ministers’ Wives blog .She is a speaker and conference leader, former pastor’s wife, and LifeWay Ministry Multiplier from Lenoir City, TN. Karen was married to Dr. Douglas R. Alexander, former pastor of First Baptist Church, Lenoir City, Tennessee until his untimely death a few years ago. They served in ministry in Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Ohio and Tennessee. Karen established and led women’s ministries in each church she attended and is a conference leader and writes and teaches Bible studies. She especially has a heart for ministers’ wives and wants to help them love their special calling in ministry. Karen is married to Jim Doyel and is the mother of three grown sons. Enjoy her words of encouragement…
Have you noticed that the world around us is changing moment by moment? It seems some of the biggest changes in my lifetime have happened in the past few years.
Does your cell phone take pictures, send texts, receive emails, play music, and identify callers with photos and on and on? For some of you this is no big deal because this is your generation of technology, but believe me, these are amazing things for those of us with a few years on our bodies.
With all the new inventions or what our world calls advancements it would seem logical that we would be more at peace and more secure than ever before. Is that true in your life? Do those around you seem happier, content, fulfilled and living with purpose?
In spite of all the things that we have to make our life easier or maybe just make it faster I am meeting with women all over our country who are experiencing more stress and frustration than ever before. I am hearing of depression that is drowning women from state to state. What is going on?
We must remember as God brings women into our lives, there is only one anchor. We have the foundation we need to handle the changes, but the changes themselves cannot be that foundation. In Job 38:4 God asks the question “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”
The Word of God is what we need. God’s Word is our comfort, guide, hope, wisdom, peace and answer for everything. We come into the presence of our God through His word.
As technology grows it seems we are not less busy, but more busy. It would be easy to spend more time on those wonderful cell phones, in front of that computer or reading on that new kindle instead of listening to God through His word. Yet, God tells us in Isaiah to “Hear O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken.” He reminds us to “Hear the word of the Lord.” “Listen to the law of our God.”
Our world needs God’s word to stabilize it, you need God’s word to stabilize you, and your women need God’s word to stabilize them. Stay in the word, share His word, remind those God has given to you for ministry that God’s word is eternal stands forever!
Visit our ministers' wives web page for more resources.
Get ready to laugh, cringe, and learn from our guest blogger and women’s ministry leader, Sheila West, as you read her post today.
Listen as she teaches us from the "back of a motorcycle"...
Technically, since I ride on a motorcycle behind my Honey (my husband) and I am a mother, I guess I could be called a "Motorcycle Mama." But before you conjure up an image of an athletic, daring individual who feels motocycle riding is the definition for "born free," let me say that I believe I am more accurately a "Motorcycle Wimp.” In other words, I am "a chicken." What can I say? My mind just tells me there is something dangerous about riding motorcycles. So, why do I willingly climb on the back of a souped up machine, expose myself to the elements, experience "bun" fatigue and helmet hair? Quite simply, the love of my life loves motorcycles.
Recently, we took a motorcycle trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. On our first day, I sat apprehensively behind Honey as he maneuvered around one twisty, hairpin curve after another (a motorcyclest dream ride, but a wimp's nightmare). Honey said, "Sweetheart, motorcycle riding isn't about getting to a destination, but the joy of the ride. Relax! Don't be afraid of the curves. You have to trust that the tires on this bike are glued to the road. Just lean into me, have confidence in me, I know what I am doing.”
I mounted the motorcycle with a new resolve to “chill out.” That is, until a decreasing-radius curve took Honey by surprise. I sensed Honey slowing down as he leaned! And leaned! And leaned! It seemed my heart was stuck in my throat blocking my impulse to cry out. Then, I felt the footpeg hit the pavement. My body recoiled. Everything that was in me screamed "straighten up" -- in other words, lean away from the curve. I wanted to take control, to right the bike by my own will.
But even in my limited understanding, I knew my “will” spelled disaster. My human survivalist instinct gave in to truth: the only way to get through this curve safely is by leaning into Honey.
Life and ministry lesson: As we continued down the curvy mountain road, I kept hearing, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (HCSB) . You see, it’s not just motorcycle riding that takes you into unexpected curves, but life and ministry do as well. I don’t know about you, but I have found myself tooling down the road enjoying the thrill of serving Jesus to only come to a point of wondering, “Why am I putting myself through all these challenges?” What challenges? Have you ever found the obstacles of getting things done steeper and deeper as you navigated through them? Have you ever found yourself struggling to gain control? Have you ever felt pressured by people and projects or caught off guard by the unexpected? My human instinct can scream, “lean to your own understanding” and I want to set things right by the power of my “will.” At times like these, my human survivalist instinct needs to give way to Truth: the only way to get through this curve (challenge) safely is by leaning into God. Leaning requires really believing God is in control. In the Amplified Version of the Bible, “believe” is explained as “adhere to, trust in, and rely on.”
So, lean into God by:
· Adhereing to His Word. It is the glue that keeps us secure no matter what challenges catch us off guard.
· Trusting in His ways, not relying on human instincts to right situations.
· Relying on the spiritual skills you have learned along the journey to be His wisdom for effectively manevering through the challenges.
When you keep your focus on Him and stay in the moment, the answer to that question, “Why do I keep putting myself in these challenging situations?” is quite simple. The FIRST love of my life, Jesus, loves women. And, so do I.
Sheila West has been involved in Women's ministry for over 25 years, serving as Director of Women's Ministry for over 20 years in the local church. She is presently on the Leadership Team for Heritage Community Church, in Lady Lake, Florida, including coordinating women's ministry. She is the founder of Real Living Ministries, a 
speaking, teaching, and leadership development ministry to women. Sheila has appeared on numerous Christian radio and television broadcasts, including The 700 Club, and 100 Huntley Street. She is the author of Beyond Chaos, published by NavPress, and is a LifeWay Ministry Multiplier. She and her husband, John, are the parents of two, and the proud grandparents of eight.
The first time I ever felt like God “gave” me a life verse, I was on my first international missions trip to the Central American country of Belize. After praying about it for almost three years, I knew without a doubt God had tapped me on the shoulder and said this was the time I was to go. Being married to a state trooper, my husband was not very excited about my going to a “foreign” country and was concerned about my safety. My dad actually told my supervisor that he would be held personally responsible for my safe return!
But when the need for those who knew how to sew to go and take several donated machines to Belize, I knew I could teach the women that skill. So, I knew I was to head south. But the first morning I was having a quiet time looking out over the Caribbean, I felt my inadequacy. What could I do to reach these people…I couldn’t speak Spanish, but gratefully English was the main language of the country. I didn’t know how to effectively witness…what if I said the wrong thing?
That morning I was reading in Ephesians, the book our team was studying together that week. When I came to Ephesians 2:10 it was as though God picked that verse up and stuck it right inside my heart. It says, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which He prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” That is actually the New King James version, the one I was reading and memorized at that time.
I am not sure what that verse says to you, but it says to me that I was created to serve Him. That is something I was aware of, but what I had totally not gotten till then was that HE HAD ALREADY PLANNED HOW I WAS TO DO IT! He knew the places I would go, the words I should say, the people I would meet, and what the results would be. So what is my part? To be in such a close relationship with Christ that I knew where He was leading me and I obeyed each step of the way.
What an incredible relief I felt that morning. It didn’t take away all fear, nor did it eliminate the bugs, humidity, language barriers, and snakes from the country, but it certainly assured me that if He asked me to do something, I could do it through His power and trust Him with the results.
Over and over since that time, that verse has continued to give me strength to obey Him when He asked me to do things I couldn’t do: speak in public, take on a denominational role, and face family crises. What a joy to watch Him do THROUGH me what I can’t do on my own!
What is one of your “life” verses and how did God reveal it to you? Share it in the comments section.
Helpful resources:
Comments (2) || Post a Comment
Once again, our guest blogger is Karen Alexander-Doyel.
Enjoy her words of encouragement…
Yesterday a big, fat rabbit was eating some of my tomatoes. As I was washing dishes after dinner, Jim came walking through the kitchen with a rifle in his hand. I looked up and asked where he was going. He told me the rabbit was in the garden and he was going to shoot the rabbit! I immediately said, “NO!” “Please don’t shoot the rabbit, just shoo him away.” Jim assured me the rabbit would continue to come back.
I thought about the rabbit and decided I had enough tomatoes for all of us. I did not want him to shoot the rabbit. I know this means I may find more veggies on the ground with bites out of them. The tomatoes are just not more important to me than the rabbit. It may be a mommy, it might have babies, and it is really cute!
This morning my Bible reading was in Romans. Paul was giving instructions on how to live with each other. Let me share a couple verses with you.
Romans 12:10 “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.”
Romans 12:17 “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.”
Romans 12:18 “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”
Ministry means working with people. Whenever we work with people we will find ourselves in the position of sharing, changing, disagreeing, forgiving and learning.
If I am willing to forgive a rabbit and share my garden with it, how much more should I be willing to forgive my brothers and sisters in Christ? Yes they sometimes take from me what I do not want to give. It seems they can sneak around when I am not looking and take a bite out of me. So, do I shoot them or forgive them?
Paul knew it would not be easy. He actually used the words, “if it is possible”, but as I get ready to use those words as an excuse I am reminded that God’s word says, “With God All Things Are Possible.”
Karen is a writer for the Tennessee Baptist Convention Ministers’ Wives blog .She is a speaker and conference leader, former pastor’s wife, and LifeWay Ministry Multiplier from Lenoir City, TN. Karen was married to Dr. Douglas R. Alexander, former pastor of First Baptist Church, Lenoir City, Tennessee until his untimely death a few years ago. They served in ministry in Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Ohio and Tennessee. Karen established and led women’s ministries in each church she attended and is a conference leader and writes and teaches Bible studies. She especially has a heart for ministers’ wives and wants to help them love their special calling in ministry. Karen is married to Jim Doyel and is the mother of three grown sons. Visit our ministers' wives web page for more resources.
