Gifted To Lead - Willow Creek Leadership

The conference was great, besides learning great things that I can apply to work, ministry & family life I got to spend the day with amazing Journey ladies and be reminded of how grateful I am that God, Jeff, Heidi & the entire leadership team of the Journey have created a place where women are respected, appreciated and encouraged to lead!
A couple key points for me:
* “when you don’t feel like you can give it your all…just show up anyway, God will take care of the rest!” We get so caught up in our perfectionist worlds that we worry that if we can’t give 100% we shouldn’t try (they stated 50% is really good…what an eye opener that was for me)
*name the gifts we see in others… what an encouraging yet simple thing we can all do everyday to inspire & encourage others
*don’t envy the gifts others have… be glad they have those so you can lead with your own gifts… those other tasks can be taken care of by them…hmmm it really is ok that we can’t do it all :)
Carol

I’ll echo Carol’s comments that the Willow Creek Association’s “Gifted to Lead” Conference was excellent, and that it’s great being involved in a church family where leadership by both women and men is equally encouraged!

The Conference touched on much broader life areas than purely leadership. Much of the day was spent exploring topics such as personal/God vision for our lives, how to create a rhythm of life (with that vision in mind) that works, and finally how to pass on our own experience through the mentoring of others.

My favorite tid-bit from the day was the following quote: “Your calling is where your gifts intersect with what the world needs.”

I’m already looking forward to Willow Creek’s Leadership Conference on August 6-7!

Christine Rose

Another portion that I really appreciated was the reflection on the David and Goliath story. David was a shepard who spent his days protecting sheep. He had fought and killed a bear and a lion while protecting his flock. Little did he know that these battles were really a priming for God’s plan for him. When David offered to fight the giant, the king dressed him in armor fit for a warrior. But, David wasn’t a warrior, he was a shepard. The armor didn’t fit David and he wasn’t used to wearing all this so he decided to shed the armor and go fight as God made him. As a shepard.

This really struck a chord with me. It was a great reminder that God only expects me to use the gifts that he has bestowed me. If you are wondering about what gifts you have or where you can use those gifts, we have access to a great, quick profile called Uniquely You that you can take. Kyle Guichard can give you the information to take the profile quiz online and he will then follow up with you with a report all about your gifting. His email is kyle.guichard@gmail.com if you would like more info.

My question that I have been asking myself this week has been:
“Am I living a rhythm of life that establishes the wonder of God?”
Because of the Gifted to Lead Women’s conference, I am seeing how I can make my whole life about spiritual formation. Everything that I am a part of can have a God intersection. It is my responsibility to create a good rhythm of lie and casting myself as the victim of circumstances creates resentment towards the people in my life. As I look for the wonder of God in all things, I have been amazed even this week how He has shown me new things. I don’t want to miss out anymore!