Posted in shared insights, tagged busyness, rest, self-care on October 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Photo by Per Ola Wiberg ~ Powi
Shared by Tammy Peng
In the past two months, I’ve come to realize that my life has become too packed. Our church was planted in 2007, and that was a job in itself. I was also working a full-time job and starting a business on the side. Eventually, I ended up quitting my job which helped, but somehow my life just got filled up with other things. (more…)
Posted in shared insights, tagged boldness, courage, finding one's voice on September 27, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Photo by Xanetia
Shared by Maria Liu Wong
God has always pushed me to cross boundaries and go beyond my comfort zone. Prior to my doctoral program, I found that many of my circles were too limiting; I had too many Christians in my circles, and I began to feel convicted that I needed to have more hard conversations with non-Christians. But how can you be a witness and testimony if all the people around you are Christians? (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged empowerment, marginalization, mentorship, self-perception on September 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Photo by kevindooley
By Young Lee Hertig, as published in CBE‘s Arise E-Newsletter
Every leader can point to numerous mentors who have refreshed and renewed them like an oasis in the desert. These are people who foresee our potential and guide us to reach our God-given calling in life. My PhD mentor, Paul G. Hiebert, was a third-generation Mennonite missionary to India and a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in the 1980s and 1990s. (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged burnout, functional atheism, rest, success-driven on August 23, 2011| 4 Comments »
Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography
By Joy Wong
In Parker Palmer‘s book, Let Your Life Speak, a common shadow among leaders is named as “functional atheism” — “the belief that ultimate responsibility for everything rests with us,” along with “the conviction that if anything decent is going to happen here, we are the ones who must make it happen.” According to Palmer, functional atheism often leads to depression, despair, burnout, and embitterment. Boy, did I resonate with this! (more…)
Posted in shared insights, tagged meditation, spiritual exercises, time management on August 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Photo by Athena's Pix (Away for a few weeks)
Shared by Sharon Kim
What have you been learning lately?
This past year, I’ve been practicing the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, also called the “19th Annotation exercises,” which involves setting aside an hour a day to meditate deeply on Scripture and to use your imagination in order to enter into the setting of the Scripture passage. It has been absolutely awesome and life-transforming for me.
It’s so easy to be distracted and to let physical and temporary things consume your mind. It’s also easy to let your mind wander during quiet times and to not take the time to still yourself before God in a focused manner. (more…)
Posted in shared insights, tagged financial security, flourishing, fulfillment, gratitude, happiness on July 19, 2011| 1 Comment »
Shared by Grace Haah
Recently, I got together with friends whom I hadn’t seen in a while. These friends led, from an outside perspective, a very comfortable and stable life – financially, socially, relationally – in almost every way. However, they were not very happy in their walk with God. At church, they didn’t feel very connected, and they didn’t feel like they were really experiencing God’s goodness and power in a strong, real way. (more…)
Posted in shared insights, tagged human striving, letting go of control, submission, success-driven on July 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Shared by Christy Hyun
What have you been learning lately?
Lately I’ve been learning that I can start with a godly goal – church planting, ministering to others, doing all sorts of things — but if I lose focus of God, then it becomes driven by me, not by God. In my human condition, I have a tendency to pervert my goals to become a glorified thing for myself. I’ve also been learning that not everything God wants us to do is going to flourish. Sometimes through that process, He wants us to be broken, and perhaps He’s teaching us that He’s the one doing it, not us. It’s a blessing that God has that kind of interest in our lives.
For me, a red flag is control, and I have to continually ask myself, How much of this am I controlling? (more…)
Posted in reflections, shared insights, tagged being good enough, expectations, perfectionism, raising a family, self-worth, striving, successs-driven on July 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Shared by Jeney Park-Hearn
What have you been learning lately?
One of the challenges I have as an Asian American woman is resisting the Superwoman image. For instance, there’s a part of me that wants to be a good mom and wife and a domestic Martha Stewart. There’s another part of me that says I have to excel in everything (more…)
Posted in shared insights, tagged family, Kingdom values, missions, obedience, personhood, raising a family, self-worth, women's roles on June 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Photo by Joel Olives
By Christine Chou
What have you been learning lately?
I recently read a short article in the Biola University magazine entitled “Who’s Yo Mama?” in which Joseph Hellerman discusses the passage in Luke 11:27-28 in which a woman calls out to Jesus, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” Jesus replies, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Hellerman points out that the woman’s statement points to the patriarchal values at that time. (more…)
Posted in reflections, tagged creativity, diversity, empowerment, marginalization, minority, respecting others, speaking on June 14, 2011| 2 Comments »
By Margaret Yu
I have a love-hate relationship with Mike. No, not a person, but the lapel microphone I call my friend, Mike.
I love Mike because it helps me to have a voice. I have a soft voice and do not like to raise it. Mike allows me to speak in my own style without screaming. Specifically, I love Mike because it was made to give speakers the freedom to teach with hands free for other instructional purposes. (more…)
Click image for more info
aawolsisters.com 