What is God Calling You to Today?

regional review
May 262011

Submitted by Leona Tatem, West Region

Just recently I began a bible study with a group of people entitled, “If You Want to Walk on Water You’ve Got To Get Out of the Boat” by author and pastor John Ortberg.  I have done this study a total of four times and I have to say that each time each group is different.  One of the great things about this book (and there are many) is that it begins to help the students/readers understand a process for discerning their call.  Basically, what is God calling them to do for Him?

One of the statement’s that I found to be especially true is this, “We are not called just work for God. We are called to work with God.” (Ortberg, pg 70)  I wonder how many times we may have forgotten that piece of the puzzle.  We can get so busy doing the things that we think God is calling us to do that we forget that He has not called us to the work alone but that He has really called us to walk alongside Him as He accomplishes His purposes not just in the lives of others but in our lives as well. That is another nugget that I am able to get when I get me out of the way.  I can so easily look at what I can do for others in their walk; however, the question will often come back to me what does God want to do in my walk.  This leads me to understand how by being involved in this bible study or this ministry God ever increasing in me.

Just recently I really began to see that as I have often stepped out to minister to others that really God was ministering to me as well.  He was showing me that I am capable of doing more for Him than I could imagine or even understand because I am doing it with Him.

Another nugget for me this fourth time around also came in the form of another statement that was made.  To paraphrase the statement, I can understand my calling in relationship to my deep gladness and the world’s deep need.  What is it that God is calling me to and in relationship that I have a deep gladness in doing it and in return in will meet the need of His children? That is such powerful statement!  To know that God is calling each of us to answer the deep need of this world by understanding the deep gladness that is in each of us.

So, what is God calling you to?  I pray that you hear Him as He asks you to step out of your boat and walk with Him.  What is God calling you to?  Is He calling you to lead bible studies, is He calling you to serve on the local board, is He calling you to disciple.  What is He calling you and me to do; but what is so much more important, what are willing to do for God?

Around the West

Just recently I visited Vandenburg Air Force Base as they held their last PWOC meeting for this board year.  They hosted a two-day women’s in-house retreat entitled, “Reclaim, Recycle and Revive”.  It was a wonderful event with some women only able to come one day but some able to come both days.  What I really enjoyed is that they had activities planned that allowed for bonding time.  The first day, Friday night, there was an activity called the Blessing Jar.  It gave each women an opportunity to share five ways in which they had been blessed and then an opportunity to pray.  The second day each lady was encouraged to make a journal.  Again, it was a great event.  As I talked with the program vice president, she shared that each month they do an activity.  One month the activity is for each person to keep and the next month they do an activity that is for the community.  What a wonderful way to touch the community and leave an impression of the love Christ for all people.

 

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Alaska Regional Update

regional review
May 052011

Submitted by Elise Tobin

Dear Sisters in Christ,

I’m writing this with love and yearning that all of us will remember that Christ should be first in our lives. I was searching for a closer and more personal relationship with God and wanting to hear from Him on a daily basis.  I began to ask God, “What was my spiritual gifting and calling.”  God actually kept me up all night and told me to look inside my vessel.  My gift and calling has already been placed inside of me by Him and in order to recognize my gifts and calling He required a closer relationship with Him.  God has a call on your life also! Do you want to know what that calling is? I pray that you do and pray that you seek His face in your everyday lives.

If you are unsure about your personal relationship with God, I encourage you to please stop, pray, and ask for God to come into your life which is the salvation prayer. After salvation is when we become Gods vessels, for His purpose!  Once we receive God we can’t run from God or hide our hearts from Him. He sees all, knows all, and understands all. Others can’t see our heart, but God can. Our bodies are Gods vessels which He’ll use if our hearts are clean.  God has shown me that some of our hearts have a layer of fog, some have spots, and others are turning black. God wants to wipe our hearts clean by letting the Holy Spirit cleanse within. I believe God wants us to see that once our hearts are fully cleaned our region will be able to experience unity, love and total worship for God, Jesus Christ, The Alpha and Omega, Beginning and The End.

What might need cleaning? What’s your commitment? Look inside your vessel!  Ask God for all your answers (Matthew 7:7-8). Pray and open your Bible. God’s not gone anywhere. He’s real, alive, and working but is your heart real, alive and working for God? Don’t go along as usual God is asking us to  make changes now and put Him on the pedestal that only He deserves in our hearts, lives, families, and marriages!

Please don’t think my experience with God can only happen to me. God wants you to receive this same type of clarity in your own life, so now is the time to renew the passion you had at salvation. Proverbs 3:5-6. Remembering to always give God the glory only He deserves and exalting Him daily by surrounding yourself with Godly men and women, learning, rejoicing, encouraging, and joining to serve our wonderful maker Jesus Christ, for whoever, or wherever He sends us!

Ready, set, go to never be the same again and experience a joy that surpasses all understanding!! Are you ready??

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When Someone Else Writes Your Song

Leadership Development, Testimonies
Oct 272010

I love music. I love to listen to music and sing music. I love praise and worship and anything that focuses my thoughts and heart motives on Christ. I have many favorites; they draw me closer to our Savior and Creator. They fill my heart with His love.

But with this song, it’s like someone else saw deep into my soul and wrote what I wanted to but didn’t. It’s by a group called downhere. I saw them in June of 2008 at Stone Mountain Park while attending AtlantaFest, and while struggling with something for a while (putting my name in for leadership selection for this board position), they sang a song that was like God saying, “Go For It.”

Have you ever had a life verse from Scripture or some kind of motto in your life that was more prominent than others? For most of my life, mine has been from the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah. I learned this verse when I was a young girl attending church and missions conferences, always in reference to giving our lives over to God and His work in the world.

The song includes some of these lyrics….

You reach for the deepest hope in me
And call out for the things of eternity.

That’s what God was doing. He had to dig deep into my relationship with Him to pull out something eternal. He was calling me into a God-sized assignment, something I couldn’t do in the flesh, but that was promising to bless many and reap something big. For Him.

Here I am, Lord send me
All of my life, I make an offering
Here I am, Lord send me
Somehow my story is part of Your plan
Here I am

This has been the chorus of my life….that whatever He has given me would be able to be returned as an offering unto Him. That He would call me, that I would answer. That He would continue to write His Name on my heart. That I would continue to acknowledge His work in my life and in my service.

These broken parts you redeem
Become the song that I can sing

He took a mess of a heart and still is recreating it in the image of His Son. He is just that loving and forgiving!  I love how He uses our natural talents, learned skills and spiritual gifts for His purposes. Are you seeing that this message is not just about me but also about you? Yes, you! YOU have so much to offer the Body of Christ, and I encourage you to listen to God’s song over you. What is He saying? How is He calling? Look for the confirmations of His calling in Scripture, in prayer, in conversations with trusted godly people, and just maybe, you’ll hear Him singing His song to you at an outdoor music festival. I did.

Thanks for the opportunity to serve you in the area of Communications for these two years. It’s been an incredibly sanctifying journey.

Somehow my story is part of His plan.

Love,

Melinda

“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” Isaiah 6:8 ESV

____________

The Communications – 3VP update is published on the fourth Wednesday of the month. For questions or comments please email communications@pwoc.org

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Get out of the Boat

regional review, Testimonies
Oct 262010

Submitted by Stacie Dorris, Southeast VP

Last summer, (2009), our family moved from Ft. Leavenworth, KS back to Ft. Bragg, NC.   I started attending the local PWOC where they were studying, “If You Want To Walk On Water You Have To Get Out Of The Boat”, by John Ortburg.  This book reflects on the passage in Matthew 14 where Christ bids Peter to meet him on the water.  God used this study in a powerful way to reveal His calling on my life.

First, I was challenged to facilitate a workshop at the Southeast Regional Conference 2009.  I had facilitated local Bible study classes but had never facilitated a workshop at conference.   This was a huge step for me.   Once out of the boat I found myself saying, “What am I doing? I can’t do this.”   Like Peter, walking on water seemed an impossible task.  Little did I know, this was only my first step on the water.

While at conference, God began to speak to my heart regarding serving on the Southeast Regional board.   As the regional Chaplain prayed for the women who would be serving on the upcoming regional board, I heard the Holy Spirit whisper to my heart, step out.   Then, one of the leadership selection committee members spoke and said, “I believe God is calling some of you to get out of the boat!”   I knew God was speaking to my heart.   I guess God thought, your already out of the boat just keep walking.   So, here I am, out of my comfort zone, out of the boat, walking on water serving as the Southeast Regional Vice President.

Let me share with you some of the lessons I am learning as I am out on the water.   First, as I mentioned previously, the first step is always the hardest.  Once you surrender to the call and step out God is so faithful and meets you there.  He grants you the grace, strength and vision to do what He is calling you to.   Like in the old Indiana Jones movie when Harrison Ford steps out over a cliff because he knows it’s the right path to take.    As soon as he steps out over the ledge, the bridge appears.   That’s the way it is with God.  “We walk by faith and not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7)    We take the step of faith and His strong arm appears and holds us up.

Secondly, I am experiencing God in great ways.   God has so clearly guided and provided for our conference site, speaker and praise and worship facilitator.  I can’t wait to share those stories.   I wouldn’t want to have missed this adventure with God for anything!  It is definitely more comfortable in the boat but it is certainly more exciting on the water!

Lastly, let me encourage you, if God is calling you to get out of the boat and serve Him within the ministry of PWOC, you can rest assured, He will met you there!

_________________

The Southeast region update is published on the fourth Tuesday of every month. For questions or comments please email southeastpresident@pwoc.org

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The Call to Missions

Devotions
Aug 092010

My family recently traveled to the tropical and very hot Kingdom of Cambodia. It is a third world country stricken with poverty; not only physical, but spiritual too. I was disheartened by the many Buddhist temples and shrines that lined the main roads and were scattered across the county side. My heart felt joy when I identified a small number of churches that displayed a cross above the building; a visible symbol to me and a remnant of HOPE that TRUTH was being proclaimed in this land. There are people who heard the call to missions in this country. A mission is defined as an assignment, task, job, work, charge, undertaking, duty, or operation. “Missions” is the Great Commission that Jesus calls us to fulfill in the book of Acts and the four Gospels.

When I was a young teenager, I felt in my heart God called me to the mission field. However, I didn’t surrender to the call to go into foreign missions and went my own way. I pursued a college degree and upon graduation, married an Airman from my home town. Even though I didn’t step out in faith and obedience when I was young, God had His way of accomplishing His purpose and plan in my life. God foreknew I would marry an Airman who would take me all over the United States and the world. I have had wonderful opportunities to be a missionary in several states and live abroad in predominantly Islamic and Buddhist countries. God is amazing!! Only He could have orchestrated the plans He had for me. I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve my God, husband, children, country and church in the wonderful places He has sent me and will send me.

God has a purpose and plan for each of our lives. It is His plan for us to share the gospel; not only in word, but in actions too. There are many people with physical and spiritual needs. Jesus did not come only to save the lost from their sins; but He fed the hungry, cast out demons, healed the sick, and even raised the dead. That is the power of God! He told the disciples that anyone with faith could do greater things if they ask in His Name. (John 14:11-13). The Holy Spirit will give you boldness and endue you with power to witness and minister to a lost world. He will be the light shining through you in a dark world. Where has God placed you? Are you sharing the gospel and fulfilling the mission that God has planned for you? Are you a living testimony of His salvation and are you demonstrating His love and power in your actions? It is His plan for you to be where you are right now and to use you. Listen to His voice and allow Him to guide your footsteps. Surrender your ‘will’ and step out in faith and obedience to serve Him wholeheartedly. Don’t limit the power of God. Trust in Him and not in your own ability or the gifts of others. God calls us to live by faith, not by sight. Love, minister and proclaim the gospel of HOPE and TRUTH to the people He has placed in your home, neighborhood, school, workplace, and church. If your husband has a military “mission” in a foreign country, take the opportunity to reach beyond the gates of the base. The mission field is all around you. Have you heard and surrendered to The Call to Missions?

What you can do:
* Share the Gospel
* Live the Gospel
* Support missions with tithes and offerings
* Pray for missionaries around the world
* Pray for salvation of the lost

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Acts 1:8

But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Psalm 33:11

Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.

John 14:11-13

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Blooming where you are planted

Testimonies
Sep 302009

Submitted by Katherine Wilburn, Fort Polk, LA

Have you ever heard this phrase before? Bloom where you are planted. This is a common phrase among Military Wives for sure, as we barely get time to grow some roots before we are plucked from the soil and seemingly cast to the wind, only to try to bloom someplace new. How about Home is Where the Army Sends You? I always stop and admire the charming signs that the concessionaire’s sell at the PX, the kind where you can purchase little tabs to hang underneath them designating each station you’ve lived at before. It hardly seems fair that they generally only come with three or four tabs when we need six or seven, and possibly more before we’re done.

As Military Wives we can often feel like we are just tagging along behind our husbands, moving at the Military’s whim. An afterthought. It can seem discouraging, and may be tempting not to unpack at all or meet the new neighbors. After all, you’ll only be moving again soon. In a world where the rule of thumb is to always use pencil in your address book, it’s easy to feel like you are being cast to the wind. But the truth of the matter is we are where He wants us. He sees each of us individually, loves us each individually and has plans for each and every one of us. You have a calling and a purpose unique to you.

When we received unexpected orders to PCS to Fort Polk in Louisiana with only six weeks notification, it was easy to feel buried under all the responsibilities and things that had to be done. It sure didn’t help that all of my friends expressed their sorrow that we were heading to Polk, their faces looking more appropriate to speaking to someone about the unexpected passing of a beloved family pet. I had planted firm roots in Heidelberg and the prospect of leaving made me feel like crying. I knew that I would be leaving part of myself when I left and wasn’t sure I wanted to set those roots in my new community.

I did though. God reminded me that I was never buried; only planted. I would Bloom here too and if I was willing, I could fulfill His plans for me here. I’m not in Louisiana at the whim of the Army, and not because I am tagging along behind my husband as he serves all over the world. God has a unique purpose for me. Me alone. And unless I open myself to him, and plant my roots, I’ll never be able to bloom and bear fruit for Him.

Look at Ruth. She left her homeland to follow Naomi, even though she could have gone home. She might have felt as we do sometimes, just another victim, tossed about by the world with no control over her own fate. Yet trusting in God, she followed the path he set her on, and was the ancestor of our Lord and Savior. Just as Ruth, we have to trust in His plan for us.

Home is not where the Army sends you. It’s where God takes you. When you stop letting yourself feel like a victim of the Military’s wants and whims, and see yourself as the Heroine of your own story, you will Bloom, you will bear fruit, and you will grow stronger in your Walk with Him

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