This week flew by!

Fortunately it was a very good one.  Here are some things on my mind today:

• An important project that I’ve been working on (which happened to be one of my thorns), is officially complete today!  Holy cow, that’s a wonderful feeling.  I’m not sure how to adequately celebrate it.
• It’s been a roller coaster week for all things Cultivate Her.  Some good news, some bad news, some big dreaming and then a great event this past Wednesday with our guest speaker Tami Heim.  We’re dreaming and scheming some amazing stuff for all things women in leadership, so stay tuned.
• Our Cross Point missions teams are back home this week.  Our team in the Dominican Republic came back Tuesday and our Honduras team gets back tomorrow.  So proud of each of these teams for serving so big!  You can check out highlights from the Honduras trip HERE.
• Almost finished with Steven Furtick’s new book Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible.  This one is making me think and pray BIG!  It doesn’t release until Sept 21st, but you can pre-order by clicking the title.
• Gotta finish up my talk for The NINES this weekend.  Are you registered to attend?  It’s FREE!  Our entire staff is going to attend this year.
• Can’t believe July is almost over.
• I’m working on some big planning and leadership development stuff for our team for this fall.  I’m getting so excited – love people development stuff – LOVE IT!
• My thumb which I smashed during flood week is growing back really funky.  Kind of afraid it’s going to stay that way. 
• Going to the beach for a few days the end of next week with my sis.  Can’t wait!
• Walking with Ash in 30 minutes!  Love that sweet little Audrey Beth but she has messed up our weekly run/walk time.  Excited to get back to it!
• Hoping to see Inception this weekend.  Everyone is raving about it.  Have you seen it?

Find some joy in your weekend and tell us about it!

One of the greatest monsters that I wrestle with in my leadership is being confident in the calling and gifting God has for me.  I battle the usual suspects of insecurity, fear and playing the comparison game.

Last month at our Cultivate Her event in Nashville, I shared the story of Deborah and the confidence she displayed in her calling.  Deborah is one of my favorite leaders from scripture and I’m continuing to unpack layers of her leadership that fascinate me.

If you need a refresher on the story, hop over to Judges chapters 4 & 5.

Here are some key things I find in this story:

• Deborah is Judge of Israel during a time when Israel is being cruelly oppressed by the Canaanites
• We know she’s married and that she holds court under a palm trim on a hill (sounds like a nice office)
• She gets a command from God for Barak to rally 10,000 men and face the Canaanite army
• Barak refuses to go unless Deborah goes with him
• You never see Deborah waiver; she continually reminds Barak that God promised he would give Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army, into his hands.
• Chapter 5 is their victory song

I wish the writer of Judges had been a bit more descriptive about the relational and emotional dynamics going on behind the scenes in this story.  The writer tells us what happens and the decisions that Deborah makes, but doesn’t give us a ton of insight into how she felt or what she was processing through each decision.

It’s at this point that I start trying to place myself in the story.  How would I have felt?  What would I have been afraid of?

Here’s what I observe to be the keys to Deborah’s confidence:

1) She had EARNED INFLUENCE.

Deborah was a prophetess and judge of Israel at a time when it was highly unusual for a woman to serve in such positions of leadership.  It makes me think she must have had some significant influence to have been appointed to these positions to begin in.  She also must have displayed consistency of character, love for people, sound judgment, etc in her role as Judge.  Barak and the 10,000 leaders were willing to follow her lead and trusted what she said was God’s command.

2)  She displayed INCREDIBLE STRENGTH

I can’t imagine living in the times that she lived in.  Israel was weak, defenseless and far from God.  I suspect moral was low and hope was barely a flicker.  But Deborah had hope and a vision from God and out of this she summoned the strength to still the voices of doubt and timidity, and as one author describes, “called the people to battle, leading them out of idolatry and restoring their dignity as God’s chosen ones”.

3)  She showed CONSISTENT HUMILITY.

It seems like it would have been easy in her shoes to try to take the credit.  God gave her the command, so she could have easily told Barak, “God told me and you to lead the army”, but she didn’t.  She told Barak that God had called him to lead the army.  At that point, she probably had no idea what her role would be.  She was turning the power and the potential glory over to him.

I also love that in Judges 5:7, Deborah doesn’t refer to herself as judge, prophetess or leader.  She describes herself as “a mother in Israel.”  She didn’t need to prove herself or remind others of her positional power.

4)  She was FAITHFULLY OBEDIENT.

Deborah drew her confidence from her relationship with God.  God gave her the directive for the battle with Sisera and she didn’t lose sight of this even in the heat of it.  Judges 4:14 says “Then Deobrah said to Barak, ‘Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand.  Has not the Lord gone out before you?’” After the battle was finished she and Barak sang a victory song in which they repeatedly thank God.

Deborah’s story is such a key reminder to me of God’s faithfulness through our obedience.  I’m sure she didn’t sign up for all that her leadership would demand, but her confidence was in God’s power, not her own.  She was pursuing His glory, not hers and as a result the people she led experienced freedom for 40 years.  That’s remarkable influence!

What challenges do you face in being confident in your calling as a leader?

We just announced our special guest speaker for our July Cultivate Her event here in Nashville!

Hop on over to the Cultivate Her blog to get the scoop!

I tend to keep a stupid pace.

I commit myself to too many additional projects.  I try to squeeze in just one more call, email or blog post.

You know what I mean.  Most of you do this too.

Every once and awhile, I find myself dreading even the things that I would otherwise enjoy.  You know that “why in the world did I commit myself to this?” question that runs through your mind as you’re frantically trying to prepare?

But there are two unique events that I’m privileged to be a part of that no matter how frazzled or unprepared I feel going into them, I always leave completely energized with that euphoria that I’m doing exactly what I was made to do.

As a leader in ministry, I find myself in a lot of environments where I get to talk leadership, but lately the opportunity to speak into the lives of other women in leadership has become a passion that I just can’t shake.

My friend Lori Wilhite started an amazing community for pastors wives and women in ministry.  I’ve had the privilege of hosting the leadership virtual roundtable discussion a couple of times now and I absolutely love it!  Sitting in front of a computer screen chatting about leadership with 8-10 other women leaders is a true gift.

Our next Leadership Virtual Roundtable is June 10th.  If you are interested in joining us, you can sign up HERE.

Cultivate Her is quite possibly the scariest adventure I’ve ever embarked on.  Birthed from my dream to create a place to inspire, encourage and empower women in leadership, Cultivate Her has already been a wild ride.  And when I say wild, I mean pee-your-pants scary, exciting and overwhelming all at the same time.

Currently we host monthly breakfasts in Nashville, but are working on plans for on-line broadcast, regional events and more.

If you live in Nashville, be sure to join us for our next event June 23rd.  More details HERE.

As much as involvement in these events stretches me, I’m amazed at how full I feel and how confident I am in where God is leading me.

What fills you up?  What drains you and yet completes you at the same time?

Today’s Friday Fun is just a rundown of my week and my random thoughts… enjoy!

• I started my week off by joining the Faith Promise team for their staff retreat.  I had a blast with these guys.  Such a great team!
• In my musings this week I’ve determined that I’m not really a blogger… I’m a leader who happens to blog.  I wish I was a better blogger.  Got any tips for me?
• I’m convinced that local honey works for allergies.  I went two days without eating any and my allergies blew up!
• ONE WEEK until April’s Cultivate Her event! I announced our panel speakers who will be talking about the subject of confidence.  So excited!  Have you RSVP’d?
• My dad and his girlfriend are coming into town this weekend.  Dad and Merlyn are doing some golfing, the girls will do some shopping and they’ll all be able to watch Jes and I cross the finish line for the Country Music 1/2 Marathon!
• Speaking of the 1/2 Marathon… really praying it’s not a tornado infested, violent hail storm like they’re predicting tomorrow morning.
• Cleaning the house… always cleaning the house
• Really wish I had been able to go to Catalyst West this week… enjoyed all the tweets about it!
• Planning to post some updates about Faith, Hope & Love and the Bellevue Campus tomorrow – so exciting!

How’s your weekend shaping up?  Make sure you enjoy it!

This month’s Cultivate Her event is next Friday, April 30th!

I’m excited to announce that we’ll be featuring a panel of amazing women who will join me in a discussion about:

CONFIDENCE

Lack of confidence is one of the greatest things that I believe affects our leadership as women.  I am so passionate about each of us understanding who God has made us to be and confidently embracing that uniqueness.

Our Special Guests will be:

Brandi Wilson

Diana Sumpter

Sarah Lai

Make plans to join us for breakfast, great discussion and a dose of confidence!

Date: Friday, April 30th

Time: 7:00 – 8:30 AM

Location: Cross Point Church Gym (corner of 44th & Charlotte)

RSVP by leaving a comment below!

If you live in the Nashville area, don’t forget that our next Cultivate Her event is THIS Friday!

My dear friend Kat Davis will be speaking this month on “From Dreaming to Doing”.

Last month we encouraged you to pursue your dreams and to begin to create your dream anatomy (go here to catch up if you missed it).  This month Kat will be challenging us to take that a step further.  She’ll share thoughts on:

• keeping your vision/goal front & center
• implementation
• saying “yes” to the right stuff
• learning to say “no”
• accountability
• celebrating

So mark your calendars and be sure to invite a friend!

When: Friday, March 26 from 7:00 to 8:30 AM

Where: Cross Point Church (4301 Charlotte Avenue)

Who: Free free to pass this invite along to a friend and/or bring someone with you.

Hop on over to the Cultivate Her blog to RSVP.

Hope to see you there!

There’s a lot on my mind today, but nothing that sees to be formulated into a compelling blog idea.  So let’s call it “Monday Morning Musings” and we’ll see if it sticks…

• Yesterday was an unbelievable day at Cross Point.  I don’t have regular Sunday highlights because the entire message was a video documentary of our vision as a church.  Interspersed with segments of Pete sharing vision were stories of radical life change of people who are a part of Cross Point.  It was such an inspiring time for us to recognize that we “get” to be a part of the work that God is doing through this place.  As soon as the video is posted on the website I’ll be sure to let you know.  You NEED to see this!!
• Saturday my husband and I celebrated our 11th anniversary.  11 seems so crazy!  I’m so thankful for him.
• Another highlight of my weekend was getting to meet Alece in person.  This girl is inspiring.  If you don’t know her, you need to go read her story.
• Cultivate Her was fabulous on Friday morning.  I’m amazed at how hungry women are for leadership development.  That just makes me giddy !!
• The Olympics are over.  That kind of makes me sad.
• I’m troubled by the earthquake in Chile.  Lots of prayers going their way.

What’s on your mind today?

I’ve been hanging out at the Velocity Conference hosted by ChurchPlanters.com yesterday and today.  It’s been a great time to connect with some great church leaders!

Yesterday my dear friend and mentor Sherry Surratt led a break-out discussion about “Engaging Women in Leadership”.  Its exciting to see this topic growing in church circles and I love to get the chance to talk more about it.  I also had the opportunity to share what we’re doing with “Cultivate Her”.  It makes me so proud to be working with a team of women who are passionate about creating leadership environments for the women of Nashville.

Don’t Forget! Our next Cultivate Her event is THIS FRIDAY, February 26th at 7:00 AM.  You can RSVP HERE.

If you don’t live in the Nashville area, I encourage you to join the discussion on the Cultivate Her blog!!

This is me, somewhere around the age of 4 or 5 in my “fancy dress.”  Truth is… this is nothing more than a nightgown that I somehow determined was my fancy dress.  When I put my fancy dress on I believed it transformed me into this amazing entertainer, wowing the crowds with my vocal prowess… and my gorgeous dress (of course).

This was back in the day when I still dreamed… uninhibited.  I wasn’t insecure, self-conscious or reserved.  It never cross my mind that others would question whether I could achieve my dreams.

Continue reading over at Cultivate Her…