ELIZABETH TURNAGE | CONTRIBUTOR

I had done all the things, packed up my car, checked my list twice, and I was finally headed to LT! On the way I stopped to have lunch with my daughter, an LT alum. She wanted to know the theme and who was speaking. When I told her it was “Clay-like Calling,” and that Vanessa Hawkins was one of the speakers, she shared a story I had never heard.

As a women and children’s ministry intern at First Pres. Jackson while she was at RTS earning her counseling degree, my daughter was privileged to attend LT several times. At one of the conferences, she heard Vanessa teach on the book of Ruth. She told me, “It was largely because of her teaching on Ruth that I gave Augusta (their two-year-old) the middle name ‘Ruth.’”

Wow! I sat in awe at God’s goodness and the legacy LT had left in my daughter’s and granddaughter’s lives.

I imagine many women would tell similar stories about LT’s impact on their lives, ministries, and families. This amazing conference is a non-negotiable on my calendar every year (unless of course, a grandbaby is being born!). This year’s LT, with its theme of God’s strength in our weakness, met me and hundreds of other women right where we needed it—with the hope of the gospel for the weariness and weightiness ministry can bring. While I could share many ways this year’s conference impacted me, I will focus on two: the refreshing gospel teaching and the rekindling of sweet gospel friendships.

“The Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God”

I arrived at LT weary after a season of rich teaching—I had been leading a Philippians Bible study at my church for ten weeks and had also taught several women’s retreats at other churches. As much as teaching floods my heart with joy, after so many weeks of pouring out gospel hope, my throat felt parched, in desperate need of long drinks from the Spirit’s cool well.

How grateful I was to sit under others’ teaching on our “Clay-Like Calling: God’s Glory in Our Weakness,” gifts of grace and glory shared with me and many others who confessed their need for rehydration. And how that teaching watered our desert ground.

Dr. Vanessa Hawkins reminded us that as “glorified clay,” we do best when we let God be the potter and submit to His shaping. She encouraged our weary hearts by declaring that God’s glory is filling the whole earth “as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14). She urged us to keep looking for— and believing—what we cannot yet fully see: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor. 3:18).

Kristie Harrick winsomely taught that sometimes our deepest need as ministry leaders, like Elijah’s, is for a “nap and a snack.” Like Elijah, we can expect to be given a ministry assignment after that nap and snack (See 1 Kings 19). That ministry assignment will again require our dependence on the Lord’s wisdom and strength. As ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20), there is only one way to accomplish our mission: by trusting in Christ’s sufficiency for the task.

Lori Sealy, in a workshop on Psalm 88, and “Heman’s ‘terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad life,’” showed us the ultimate hope to be found in this dark lament. Yes, Heman was “pained to the brim” (v.3), “felt forsaken” by his friends (v. 8), felt “trapped in the trial” (v. 8), as many ministry leaders do at times. And yet, because everything Heman (and we) face, was ultimately faced by Jesus—God’s face hidden from him (v. 14); terrors suffered (v. 15); and God’s “wrath swept over” him (v. 16), we have hope in suffering. We are “anchored,” Lori reminded us, to the one who suffered the worst for us; we are calmed by the reality that in Christ, we will never be cast away.

“Unveiled Faces”

The second significant impact came through the “unveiled faces,” faces reflecting God’s glory in their weakness, voices joined together in singing praise to the glory of God, hearts encouraging with wisdom, resources, and stories.

In our regional gathering, I joined other Bible study leaders and learned that my weariness might have a very practical solution—team teaching, which seemed to be the norm in many churches. There too, I heard questions and some thoughts I needed to hear as the Older Adults Ministry Team consultant: How do we encourage the various generations to intersect and interact in Bible study and other events?

In one of my favorite events, the Writers Lunch, I was reminded that “two are better than one.” Writers are often isolated in our work (the lonely writer’s garret is a real thing!), and we desperately need to hear from one another. Christina Fox and Marlys Roos always encourage us in our writing, sharing ideas about where and how to publish our work. Christina’s observation that articles may reach many more readers than books, was new to me and richly encouraging!

Perhaps the thing that strengthened my weary heart most was simply seeing the faces of the women I’ve met over the years who have become dear “partners in the gospel”— writing buddies, wise counselors, and winsome encouragers. To sit over meals with these women, to sing our love of our sustaining God, to pray one another home—such gifts of grace linger in our memories and bolster us in the difficult days of ministry that will surely come.

Sadly, I had to leave LT early this year because a dear friend’s funeral was scheduled back home on the closing day. While departing early grieved me (when I was already grieving), I drove home with a heart full of gratitude. Once again, God had met my weakness with the riches of His glory, refreshing me through His Word, His people, and the hope of the gospel.

As I drove, I remembered my daughter’s story, thought of little Augusta Ruth, and of the thousands of ways the Lord would minister to women young and old long after the conference ended. I thanked God again for his kindness in strengthening us in our clay-like calling. And the next day I marked my calendar with the dates of next year’s LT (February 25-27, 2027: Save the Date!), eagerly looking forward to the joy of meeting again.