This past weekend I traveled with five of our Lean into Jesus board members to Knoxville for LifeWay’s You Lead women’s ministry leadership conference. That conference whetted our appetites for the Priscilla Shirer Live event. You Lead helped remind us of important leadership principles, but it was Priscilla who allowed us to feast on three square meals of the Sovereignty of God, Mundane Obedience, and Hearing the Voice of God. It was a banquet I’m glad I didn’t skip.
If you’ve read any of my posts over at perfectionroad.com you know how strongly I believe in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Last weekend proved He was sweetly nestled within every crumb of time. He paid attention to the smallest dash of ingredients in our mix of minutes. He turned up the heat only long enough to challenge us, and caused us to rise to our feet in praise. We tasted. We saw. We are convinced more than ever that He is good!
Each one of us listened to the exact same message, but when we returned to the sanctuary of our vehicle we realized we had all heard a different message. None of us shared the same take-away. Isn’t that just like the Spirit to personalize a message just for us? Some needed encouragement, some needed reminders, and others needed assurance that everything would turn out right.
Listening to these five women describe their love for God and watching how the Spirit leads each one in a variety of ways blessed my soul beyond measure. Knowing that He folded all of our unique personalities together in just the right proportions made for a delicious weekend.
I believe the Spirit longs to do that for us more often. He knows female hearts need to express their thoughts and feelings to other females who, not only share their burdens, but also, most especially, share their happy dances! Let’s all become more intentional with our time with one another. Don’t wait to be available only in a crisis. Be just as available in the good times. Laugh. Snort. Cackle. Raise your hands in the air like you just don’t care. And do it on purpose.
I think the Spirit will honor your time together in ways that if He told you, you wouldn’t believe it!
“And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25 CSB)
Donna Jackson
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#donnajacksonblogs