I have an awesome opportunity to participate in a 6-month long course that is being offered through the Christian Women’s Network here in my area. The course is called “Growing Women Leaders“.
The way I found the course was totally and obviously a GOD thing. Let me see if I can piece together the story here. I’ve tried to whittle it down, but it’s a great story of God’s provision so bear with me.
A friend of mine attended a M.O.M.S. Conference (Mentoring Of Mothers Society) last year and she really enjoyed it. She was the only one from our church who went, and so she invited several of us to go this year. This year, I think there were 4 or 5 of us from our church who attended.
The format for the day was: keynote speaker, with 3 workshop sessions, lunch dessert and specialty coffee, along with a MOMS boutique with local vendors set up for our shopping pleasure. The workshops were all very good topics and very difficult to choose from.
My first workshop was “Exquisitely Beautiful”. Next was our lunch. YUM. I could eat most of it even on my new eating plan. I had decided for the next workshop to go to “Mother Daughter Relationships” – not as light as I had hoped, but one of the better choices for the 2nd session. My friend and a couple of others were going to “Coaching your child from toddler to teen”. That sounded good, too, but…well I thought I was decided already.
After lunch was a bit of shopping time and then dessert. I definitely could not have ANY of the dessert there, so I spent the extra time milling around in the Boutique area. I stopped at a table covered with simple bracelets – “I Will Stand for Canada” bracelets. The women at that table were so enthusiastic and just so sweet. As I talked more with these ladies, I realized that one of the women was a fellow Pastor’s Wife that I had met at a Ministry Breakfast about 3 years ago. Our husbands know each other, and had sat together for the meal. So she and I had visited and really had a great chat over breakfast. But 3 years ago was very different time in my life, and I let that contact slip away in the survival of daily life.
So I run into this Pastor’s Wife (PW) again on this day, and we strike our conversation back up and it was great. She was almost bursting with excitement about this “new thing” catching on in our area with ministry leaders – “Coaching”. The other lady at the table is also in ministry and they both went on and on about this Growing Women Leaders seminar that was going on for the next 6 months and how beneficial it could be in ministry and in life. It sounded awesome to me. PW encouraged me to consider attending the seminar.
And as a teaser, I could go to the workshop “Coaching your child toddler to teen” during the next session and get an idea of what we’d be talking about in the course. Before I left, PW tied my new bracelet on for me and we had a good hug.
OH, it was too cool. Except for 1 thing. The course would be $180 (for all 6 sessions). Our budget has been so tight that I couldn’t imagine where nearly $200 would come from. But the value of the course would be far greater than that… so I had some thinking and praying to do.
So, what could I do but go to the “Coaching” workshop. (Women do have a right to change their minds, you know!)
In the short time we were in that classroom, the potential of this skill-set for helping in all the relationships in my life was made pretty clear in my mind. It was exciting. And while the message that day was tailored for Moms and Kiddos, it was easy to see how the info would fit with adults, friends, colleagues, etc. It was cool!
Just to finish off that conference day – My last workshop was “Updating your kitchen – quick fixes” or something like that.
So now I had to consider this Growing Women Leaders seminar.
I told my sweetie about it. My sweetie thought it would be a good deal – a good value for the money spent. He said it seemed like it would fit with the vision the Lord had given me just over a year ago for discipling women and children in real life situations – not just classrooms, etc. But I wasn’t sure he was on board, and I couldn’t tell if he was excited about it or not – especially on our budget. It wasn’t complete confirmation.
Then, I looked on the web to find more specifics about the seminars. I had really only heard a little about it all. I e-mailed PW and the other woman I had spoken with and asked for more info. I prayed and asked God for direction.
To get an good idea of how this ended up, I want to include part of an e-mail I sent to PW to let her know of my decision:
Well, if there was any doubt about whether or not I should participate in Growing Women Leaders all of that has been dispelled today.
My sweetie and I talked about it some more and he was already thinking that I should take it and that it sounded like a great opportunity. He hadn’t been able to communicate that to me based on our schedules the last few days.
So while I was waiting for confirmation for him, last night I also asked our cell group to pray about it with me, especially because it would be money we hadn’t budgeted for. I was also waiting to hear back from you and (the other lady) with your perspective and more information.
- Today I got your e-mail and it sounds really great. Very much confirming what I would like to get out of a seminar like this.
- Then I got to talk to my sweetie finally and he says YES go and do it and is excited about it.
- My children’s cell co-leader told me yesterday that she thought it would be a great thing to do, that the skills sound so much like what she does with her adult children and coworkers.
- Last night our cell leader prayed that if it was meant to be that God would make it happen and that it rang true in his own spirit.
- This evening close friends of ours (and members of our cell) dropped by and presented me with $30 as their way of encouraging me to go for it! They are a young married couple, both students, and they said they would love to be able to give me the $180 and obviously couldn’t do that, but they hoped I would feel their support and urging to participate in the seminars.
Seems pretty clear to me…
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Growing Women Leaders seminar = $180
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Discount for 1 missed session =$10
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Contributions from friends who stretched themselves and their own budgets to encourage participation = $60 (and precious beyond imagination!)
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Skills learned from seminar, and story of God’s faithfulness and provision = priceless!
Isn’t it so cool to see how God puts things together?
I have some homework to do for the first session I missed. This Friday is the February luncheon. I will definitely be posting more re: the course itself and my homework!
