Made for More
WHO SHOULD ATTEND THE MADE FOR MORE CONFERENCE? We encourage girls third grade and up to join us! This conference is for ALL women—young, single, married and "more seasoned," as well as your treasured friends. So, [...]
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The Irreplaceable Encouragement of Intergenerational Relationships
AMANDA DUVALL | GUEST I took a seat at my assigned table for my first Bible study at our new church and was surprised to see a number of gray and white heads dotted among the tables. I wondered, what would it be like to study alongside women who were 20, 30, or more years older than I? Up until this point, my close friendships consisted of almost exclusively people in or near my stage of life. As I’ve aged, I noticed that surrounding myself with people of my own generation is like living with tunnel vision. I could sense I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Of course, I had read Titus 2:3, which instructs older women to teach and train younger women in what is good, and that’s what I wanted! But I had little idea what this might actually look like in my real life. Today, I am privileged to have friendships with women who live out the example of Titus 2 that I’ve longed to see. And it is not their own brilliance or expertise that shines, but the way they lift my eyes from the false hope of self-focus to behold what is truly good—Jesus Christ. Humility at every age Each week, friends with decades of experience following Jesus put on a posture of humility as they engage with our group and with God’s Word, and in doing so have taught me more than any lesson plan could...
Hanging up the Hustle Culture to Embrace Eternal Investment
KAREN HODGE | CONTRIBUTOR Pressure like a grip, grip, grip, and it won't let go, whoa. Pressure like a tick, tick, tick, 'til it's ready to blow, whoa-oh-oh. Give it to your sister and never wonder. If the same pressure would've pulled you under. Who am I if I can't fall or fail? I have a reputation for crying in my popcorn in movie theaters. Sometimes, I cry because of sentimentality, and other times it happens when the truth hits a bit too close to home. While watching the movie, Encanto, the scene where the older sister Luisa sings the lines from Surface Pressure, I cried the tears of a recovering older sister, workaholic, and perfectionist who has bowed to the idol of productivity for over 30 years. In the scene, she is carrying the load of her family, including the embodiment of her woe, on pack mules up a steep hill. Her song laments the insatiable drive to please others and the vacuum of the "not-enough-ness" of human limitations. Maybe you are not crying like me, but instead, you are almost giddy with the potential of productive days ahead in 2024 as you clutch your brand-new bullet journal. Ah, the possibilities seem endless! But whether it is the lines in our journal or the rings closing on our smart watch, we are always searching for ways to measure and account for how we spend our time. Time is an economic affair. Just take a listen to those around you. "There are not enough hours in the day." "I am sick of wasting time." "Let's kill some time." "I am living on borrowed time." "I wish I could turn back the hands of time." By now, optimism may be reduced to realism. We rush from here to there with little regard for rest. We live in a hustle culture— an environment that intensely focuses on productivity, ambition, and success at all costs. The idol of toxic productivity is a cruel taskmaster. If I see my value as being measured by how much I accomplish in each day, then doing will always trump being. Thinking biblically about productivity includes remembering my identity is rooted in the finished work of Jesus Christ on my behalf rather than in finding my worth in how many things I have checked off my to-do list. In this tension, we may tend towards two extremes...
Because He Knows: Encouragement for Pastors’ Wives
ALICE KIM | CONTRIBUTOR We lived on the seminary campus for the first couple of years of marriage. Shortly after settling in, we hosted our first guests and I was asked, “Do you feel called to be a pastor’s wife?” When I met my husband, he was a missionary. I didn’t know then what dating a missionary entailed, let alone marrying a pastor. Though there was a period before we walked down the aisle and exchanged our wedding vows where I wrestled with God about my future and confessed how hard it was to have open hands, I don’t recall a defining moment where I was called. Over the years, I’ve heard from many women who share their experience of being called to be a pastor’s wife. This is wonderful! However one comes to the role, the varied journeys speak to the beauty, richness, and complexity of how each woman bears the privileged position to serve alongside her husband. And given the challenging reality that nearly two in five pastors have considered leaving full-time ministry from burnout and discouragement,[1] a wife’s strong, wise, courageous, and steadfast presence is irreplaceable. GOD KNOWS AND THAT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE In Psalm 1, the comparison between the blessed and the wicked man and the similes of a tree and chaff captures our attention and imagination. But just as a good conclusion ties everything together, the three letter word “for” in verse 6 (“for the Lord knows the way of the righteous”) invites us to slow down and consider its important implication. The word “for” not only serves as a bridge to the preceding five verses, but it also signals to us that there is more. It tells us the reason why a blessed man thrives: because the Lord knows. His identity is rooted in God’s knowledge of him. And that makes all the difference...
For the Mom Dropping Her Student Off at College
STEPHANIE FORMENTI|CONTRIBUTOR There is excitement in the air. Soon, I will join the rest of my colleagues in welcoming new students to campus as they begin their college career. It’s a celebratory day for faculty and staff—after all, these new students are the reason we are here. It’s an exciting season of life for college students. But I have witnessed enough move-in days to know that it’s not always as singularly joyful on the parent side of things. And for good reason. Leaving your student behind is scary, uncertain, and maybe even disorienting. It goes against every instinct we have as moms. So, how do we navigate these emotions in a way that is faithful and helpful for our son or daughter? While Scripture doesn’t have a chapter devoted to dropping a student off at college, we do find a story about a woman who walked through similar emotions when she left her child at the temple. Granted, the situations are very different, but the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel provides a helpful way forward for moms dealing with these big emotions. First, Hannah maintains perspective. In 1 Samuel 1, we get a sense of Hannah’s deep desire for a child, and we see her persistent prayer for a son. It is gut-wrenching in its depiction. She longs to hold a baby in her arms and to experience the blessing of motherhood. But she also remembers that ultimately any child she is given belongs to the Lord (1:11, 22, 28). This truth works itself out through her actions. Using our sanctified imaginations, we can picture the scene in all its emotion—the tears, the sweaty palms, the pit in her stomach—as she takes Samuel to the temple and leaves him there. She does so because she knows that Samuel belongs to the Lord; it is the best place for her sweet son to be...
We Always Need Jesus
KIM BARNES|GUEST A few years ago, I found myself struggling during a worship service. If you’re like me, corporate worship has a way of uncovering emotions, thoughts, and attitudes that are more easily suppressed and controlled otherwise. During this service, I became visibly emotional. After the benediction, a friend who noticed my emotional response came over to check on me. Through tears, I blurted out, “I really need Jesus and I’m a little mad about it.” Worship confronted me anew with the fact that I can’t manage my life in this fallen world on my own. But it was more than that. I realized something I’d not previously grasped: I WILL ALWAYS NEED JESUS. Now maybe, you read that and think: “Of course, Christians always need Jesus.” And certainly, on one level, I would have acknowledged this. But what struck me was the realization that subconsciously I expected to need Jesus less as I matured in my faith. After all, as children grow in maturity, it’s expected that they grow less dependent upon their parents. Certainly, adult children who have a strong relationship with their parents seek their advice, communicate regularly, and enjoy celebrating special occasions. But it’s natural and desirable for adult children to live independently from their parents and equally, for parents to let their children go. I imagined that after 40+ years of walking with Jesus I would know enough and be sanctified enough to not need Jesus so much. I imagined that I would become more like an adult child seeking Jesus as a trusted counselor, than a baby dependent on Him for everything. I thought there would be some things I would be able to handle on my own; I thought I would turn to Him for the big things, the hard things, but the rest I would manage myself....
God’s Transforming Work in the Life of Our Sons
JESSICA ROAN|GUEST If there’s one subject I know a lot about, it’s teenage boys. I had only one brother, only male cousins my age, a male best friend, am raising two sons, and am surrounded by them daily in my high school classroom. Boys can be rambunctious, funny, squirmy, hot-headed, sensitive, and sometimes complicated. For some of us, parenting or mentoring teen boys feels frightening, like trying to tame a tornado you can’t even track. And yet, when I listen to the woes of other boy-moms or fellow teachers, I find myself smiling. Not because the challenges they face aren’t serious or concerning at times, but because I have seen the other side. My own father, my husband, and numerous past students were all once teen boys whom people were very concerned about. Were the concerns valid? Yes. Will I have many concerns about my own sons and future students? Absolutely. But I have seen God transform even the most challenging teen boy into hard working, loyal, sincere men, and yes, into men after his own heart. God Loves Making Immature Boys into Godly Men He was young and insignificant, so unimpressive that his father didn’t even consider him when Samuel came to call. The prophet was looking for a king, and David couldn’t possibly be it. He was too small, too young, and not strong enough for a job like that. While Samuel observed the sons of Jesse, “ . . . the Lord said to Samuel, ’Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart’” (1 Sam. 16:7). By God’s power, David kept Saul subdued with the sound of a lyre and defeated Goliath with a slingshot and stone....
Finding My Place in the Battle
JENNIFER HARRIS|GUEST 1980’s cartoon shows were a daily entertainment in my growing up years. After school, my sisters and I would come home, turn on the 13-channel television and make our snacks. We’d settle down on the couch for an afternoon of respite from the world and our studies before jumping into piano practice, homework, and midweek church activities. One of the shows I loved the most was G.I. Joe. My heart was drawn to the idea of fighting for goodness and taking action to defeat evil. I grew up in a relatively peaceful part of the world near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. There was no fear of war arriving on our shores in that era. The sight of military vehicles was so rare that whenever we spotted an army truck on the road, we stared. Although the conservative anabaptist denomination I grew up in upheld the virtue of pacifism, the focus in our family was more on intentionally promoting and working for peace, not merely just avoiding confrontation. Why was I drawn so passionately to this tv show about soldiers and warfare? What was I fighting for? I didn’t know, but God was going to take me through boot camp. Facing Fear in a Fallen World Perhaps I first learned endurance as an infant, though I have no memory. My parents recall watching from behind a glass window, their baby daughter fight to breathe for days in an oxygen tent, as my little body battled to overcome the deadly Pertussis virus. Perhaps it was because I was a sensitive soul, timid, yet at times brave enough to stand up to a bully at school and tell him to back down from hurting a weaker student. Maybe it was because God gave me a very early awareness of the existence of evil. Perhaps also I was more affected than I knew by the secondary trauma I experienced during college from learning that a dear family friend was violently murdered. Whatever it was, this sensitive soul was learning endurance, perseverance, and how to stand firm in Christ. There was a battle to fight...
Entrusted to be Invested
KAREN HODGE|CONTRIBUTOR You are rich friend! Maybe you don't believe me because you bumped up against the "not-enoughness" of life at some hard point today. Perhaps you do not think you have enough time, resources, or energy to do what you feel like God is calling you to do. This scarcity mindset depletes our joy. This summer, I pray as we study First Timothy together that you will survey your spiritual life and find yourself overflowing with contentment and gratitude for all the deposits of sound doctrine entrusted to you to be invested for His glory. At the heart, this is all about stewardship. If you grew up in the Hodge household, you would have heard on the regular, "All of life is stewardship!" We like to define stewardship as something of inestimable value entrusted by the King to be invested for kingdom purposes. A steward's chief responsibility is to be faithful to the Master. I want to open my First Timothy treasure chest and share some of the glorious riches God has entrusted me through studying this pastoral epistle. As one gospel friend to another, I invite you to hold me accountable when I forget these deposits of truth and pray that I will be a faithful steward as I seek to invest them in my church. Deposit #1- Sound doctrine leads to sound and healthy churches, homes, and living. "…the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service…" – 1 Timothy 1:11-12...
Parenting in the Age of LGBTQ+
KELLY URBON|GUEST An “age” is a cultural period marked by the prominence of a particular item or a particular way of understanding the world. By that definition, our current cultural moment certainly represents a new age with respect to identity, sexuality, and gender. Never before have sexuality and gender been so persistently centered, and so drastically redefined. The numbers related to this change can be a bit shocking. According to a recent Gallup poll, the number of individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or by some description other than heterosexual and cisgender, doubled from 2012 to 2021. By far the biggest change is seen in those who have come of age as a member of Gen Z. A surprising 20% of those born between 1997 and 2003 self-identify as LGBTQ+. Given these statistics, it is no surprise that there has been an enormous increase in the number of parents who have a child sit down with them to reveal that they are gay, bisexual, nonbinary, trans or queer, to name a few. Many parents struggle to respond. Especially for parents whose firm theological convictions are in conflict with outright acceptance of these identities, this part of the parenting journey can be especially challenging. While there are no cookie cutter responses sufficient to meet all of the questions and tasks before these parents, the following are a few suggestions that will lay a basic foundation for a godly response. Cultivate compassion and patience Several months ago I came across a quote by Christian author Tim Challies. It has become a foundational principle in my current parenting. Challies wrote, “Remember that your children are sinners who are beset by the fierce enemies of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Be gentle with them and have pity for them. Don’t be yet another enemy to them.” Colossians 3:12 immediately comes to mind: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”...