For about a year and a half I’ve been involved with a fabulous organization called Leading and Loving It. It is a group that connects pastor’s wives and women in ministry both virtually through their online community and in person through local events and a yearly 3 day retreat. A year ago I began participating in a virtual community group. We met once a month and also interacted through social networking.
Last week I had the opportunity to take it a step further and host a local event, a Leading Ladies Luncheon.
There were 8 ladies that attended (besides myself) and it was certainly God-ordained. Since I opened it up to not only Pastor’s Wives, but also to Women in Ministry we had a group with a mixture of ministry roles. 4 Senior Pastor’s wives (3 of them church planters), 2 women in supportive ministry, a missionary and a lady who runs a Women’s resource center. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and I know that the ladies were uplifted and encouraged. They are excited about getting together again soon!
As we were all introducing ourselves, it was the lady who runs the women’s resource center’s turn and as she began talking about her ministry, the presence of God descended in the room. Several of the women began to cry as she spoke about how they help young ladies who are considering abortion make the choice to have their babies, how they help single mothers learn how to parent their children, as she talked about how even when they had great needs, they always saw God come through for them. Her beautiful spirit and passion for what she does touched each of us! The ladies that are in this area are excited about coming together to reach out to the women in this community and the ladies that live in other areas are equally excited about what they can do where they live!
When I first planned this event I thought it would just be to strengthen each other, but God’s plan is so much better. Not only were we encouraged, but we were sparked to reach the community in a greater way together. If there was no other reason for this event today, I believe it was to connect us. I meant to get a group photo with everyone, but we were all so enthralled with the conversation that we literally talked until everyone had to make a mad dash to get back to their day!
For me personally, I have been looking for something our women’s ministry could do to make a difference in the lives of women outside the church. It turns out the pregnancy resource center is right down the street, only 2 minutes from our church facility. We have a single mom’s ministry that the director was excited about integrating her single mom’s into, and on Saturday she came and spoke to our women about ways we could get more involved in what they are doing for women in our community.
I am so very thankful for the vision of Leading and Loving It, and the opportunity to join with them in connecting Pastor’s wives and women in ministry. I am already looking forward to hosting another local event as well as a virtual community group in the fall.
If you are a pastor’s wife, I whole-heartedly encourage you to get connected with this group. It will be a great blessing to your life!
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