Photo by Darwin Bell
Posed by Grace Lung
The main source of formal teaching I receive is my husband’s sermons (some of which I hear multiple times) and many of them are targeted at youth. I also lead bible studies which prevents me from attending a regular service (although preparing bibles studies has been helpful for my growth). In addition to the lack of accountability and mentors out there, it’s been hard.
Do people listen to online sermons? Are there any in particular that have been helpful to you as a woman? Or does it just come down to self-discipline in daily quiet times and prayer? This question may seem pretty general, but I’m interested in hearing other people’s ideas and methods as it’s something I find to be difficult in my own walk.
Grace Lung is a lay leader at Sydwest Asian Christian Church, where she ministers to female leaders and young people. She is currently working full-time while supporting her husband through seminary. Grace is Chinese in ethnicity, while born and bred in Australia.
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Thanks Grace for your question. One of the reasons AAWOL was created was to help women realize that we are never alone. God himself provides so much for us if we can recognize His lead and we can find encouragement from so many places in 2011. For nourishment and spiritual support to learn from others how they learn from God is one of the best ways I like, and yes, sermons are good. I myself like to read and over the many years of being in ministry, I find that encouragement comes from like-minded thinkers, so I praise God for attention to writers that I know have similar journeys and have had opportunities to record their experiences. Beyond the scriptures, I have read works from InterVarsity Press, and browse seminary reading recommendation lists. My recent book readings include our book, Ruth Haley Barton’s Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership. I also look to blogs and websites to give insights on what to read like Christianity Today’s Leadership, Kyria’s Gifted for Leadership, denominational newsletters that affirm women. I also get to know the women that feature blogs on this site and look for them on facebook or the web to see what they are writing. Finally, I like to find other women and learn from them be it in person or on the internet…I will pray for you to gather a community of women around you for support and encouragement, both near and far.
Typing error, my bad. I meant to say our book, Mirrored Reflections, and Ruth Haley Barton’s book and instead the title of our book was left out with the and.
Hi Melanie
Thanks very much for your comments and prayer. Yes I’ve found this website really encouraging along with Mirrored Reflections which I recently purchased and read. Thanks for those recommendations, will definitely check it out 🙂
Hey Grace! When I look back, I find that with each new season of my spiritual journey, I’ve been “fed” by different means and methods. For instance, when I was in my youth, verse memorization, daily Bible reading, and journaling was important. In college, worship and setting aside time for quiet times was what nurtured me. More recently, I’ve been finding that consistent peer women relationships with which to process my spiritual walk has been extremely helpful.
For me, it’s always been important to attune to the spiritual season I’m in, find what nourishes me, and then follow that trail. I realize this deters from the usual mandated spiritual diet of “sermons, bible studies, and quiet times.” But I do believe that each of us have different ways that connect us to God (as laid out in Gary Thomas’ book, “Sacred Pathways,” where he talks about different spiritual temperaments). I don’t want to downplay the important role that the Bible has in our faith journey, but I do want to emphasize how helpful and freeing it’s been to identify my own spiritual temperament, as well as take into account the fact that I may be in a different season than before. It empowers me to assess my own needs and keep my tank full with sensitivity to whatever new thing God is doing in my life.
Anyways, I hope this helps a bit!:)
Grace, I love your sharing your heart and your question. I think it is helpful to always think about as to how we replenish our spiritual tank. I agree with my friends Joy and Melanie. Great books.
I would say, I have found a few things to be true for me:
a) Mentors, older and younger ones keep us fresh in our faith with new perspectives to faith in God. I also have found peer mentors are huge for ministry leaders because so often we are the older mentor who have so much power and influence over others. But yet, we need to submit ourselves to others who are peers or even younger to learn from them. Peers mentors/ friends are an important part to the spiritual journey, I believe.
b) I concur with all of the above books being great.
c) I seek to have one or two venues for my own spiritual and ministry growth. Going to conferences that teach me to look deep within my heart or soul. Last year, I did How we love by Milan & Kay Milovich to learn how to love in relationships. Another year, I did Peacemaker ministry’s mediation training for myself. (It was NOT required by my ministry or work. I chose to do this for my own growth and development.)
d) I also have spiritual solitude for my own spiritual tank. I have personal retreat once or twice a year.
Grace, keep on asking others. That is how I get great ideas for my own spiritual journey.
warmly,
Margaret Yu
Joy – it never occured to me before to take into consideration the season of my spiritual journey and temperament, that’s really helpful to think thru thanks 🙂
Margaret – thanks for sharing what’s been helpful for you. At times I often place too much emphasis on ‘older mentors’ without placing enough value on what I can be challenged by from peers and those who are younger
Ladies appreciate your sharing and thoughts I’ll have to allocate some time to have a good think through all of this. I’m sure others will find this very helpful also!
Glad to be of some help, Grace, and I hope we can continue dialoguing and offering each other insights in the future!:)
I was a ministry director for several years and felt extremely alone in the field I was in even though I was married to another fellow minister. What I was not prepared for was the dry loneliness which plagued me as a full time minister’s wife.
In so many ways being in a supportive role is such an isolated journey. No glory – no appreciation…then I met other women who were in the same shoes. We share, we cry, we struggle together in Christ centered vulnerability. These women are the ones who have poured into my life and given me breaths of sanity. They have been precious to me.
These are the women who can hear me complain and whine without judgement and at times nudge me in the right direction. For me reading scripture, listening to sermons and corporate prayer have been blessings, but what I found most needed in my life was fellowship with like-minded, like-hearted women. I am so thankful for them and networks like AAWOL which draw us together.
Hi Christy,
Thanks for sharing your story from a minister’s wife/support perspective.
I think I found it really hard at first because I thought it was somehow sinful or something, for a while I tried to suppress by complaints and have a veneer of ‘being ok’.
It was only after having the privelige of getting to know some other women in similar situations and seeing them ‘be human’ and complain, I realised it was ok to feel that way and reading through Psalms has further established the fact.
Next year we’ll officially starting after my husband graduates so hopefully I’ll be able to get to know the kind of women you’re talking about
It’s really encouraging what you have here at AAWOL 🙂
woops sorry now that I’ve re-read what I wrote there are a couple of bits that don’t make sense – hopefully you know what I’m talking about