Today Was An Interesting Day...

Today was an interesting day. I talked to a Vineyard woman who pastors a church of 200+ calling to say that they just closed on the first building the church will own, perfectly placed between the university community on one hand and the suburban developments on the other, with whole new neighborhoods now open to them. I got an email from a mom wanting some accountability as she digs deeper into the ministry of intercession. I had lunch with a sharp young woman leader working on a MBA with an emphasis on the intersection between social services and community development and for-profit businesses and micro-loans for start-up ventures. I came home to an email from a single mom facing surgery and worrying about how her teenage kids were going to handle her absence and recovery. I spent five minutes with our 40-something community life pastor as we figured out just how many new small group leaders from her burgeoning list we could fit into a Christmas party in my still-new empty-nest condo (now occupied not only by Steve and me but our recently-graduated son who is job-hunting and my 90 year old mom who just moved in with us; sandwich generation indeed!). And that only represents a small handful of the amazing women I interacted with just between breakfast and lunch!

In this blog, we'll be exploring questions of leadership, opportunity, challenge, theology and practice, not shying away from the hard stuff but insisting on mutual respect as we comment. We'll talk about books, and we'll dig into scripture. I'll also be introducing you to some amazing women in the Vineyard who do all sorts of things, because there is no such thing as a woman who is "just" anything. So we'll have guest bloggers from time to time. We'll also spend some time exploring ideas about teamwork and community life, because I am convinced that when we are part of mutually supportive teams, there is a power God releases on what we do that is greater than what happens when we fly solo. Finally, this will be a place where I'll share some of the amazing Holy Spirit stories that come my way.

The bloggers who are my heroes change their content daily, and I certainly have hopes and plans in that direction, but like every leader in the Vineyard I also have a full portfolio of other responsibilities, so pray for me. Dianne Leman and I are eager to see every woman in the Vineyard encouraged, trained and released and blessed to serve God as He has uniquely gifted her, at any and all levels of leadership and service. We're looking forward to the many conversations we'll have in this space.