I had the privilege to contribute a book review of Gilbert Bilezikian’s book Beyond Sex Roles:What the Bible Says About A Woman’s Place in Church and Family to the Sophia Network this month.

THE SOPHIA NETWORK aims to celebrate women in youth work and ministry, what we have achieved and what we are contributing to the kingdom of God. We want to increase the visibility of women in youth work, making the wider church aware of the fantastic work that women are doing. The Sophia Network will enable women in youth work to connect with each other, share skills and experiences and offer encouragement and support.

While The Sophia Network targets women in youth work, they also encourage women in children’s ministry or church leadership to be a part. You can check out the review by going HERE. You’ll need to become a member to access the review, but if you are a woman in leadership it’s worth it for the additional networking with some great women across the pond.

I’m a bit late with my Wednesday Woman of Influence post. I had intended to write about a group of women that I’m working on a project with at Cross Point, but our meeting was postponed so I’ll circle back to tell you more about them soon.

So in the meantime, I would like to know…

Which woman of the Bible:

• do you admire the most?

• has had the most influence on you?

• would you like to know more about?

In an effort to choose joy like we discussed on Sunday, I’m reminding myself of the blessings in my life.

One of the great points that George made was that in order to choose joy we need to focus on the things in life that can’t be replaced. So here’s the beginning of my list:

• A wonderful husband
• My relationships with family and friends
• Good health
• My Border Collie Mick who makes me smile and sing

It’s funny… as I made this list it was difficult to think of things that CAN’T BE REPLACED. As I would think of things to add to the list I put them through the filter “can that be replaced” and most of them like my job, my house, my stuff could be replaced.

So the things to focus on, the things that bring joy in our life are few and precious.

What do you need to do today to live more joyfully?

I made a list of irreplaceable things to help me focus on choosing joy.

What are you going to do to choose joy today?

I’m adding this to Positive Post Tuesday as well.

My mom used to say this phrase to me often as a kid and especially as a teenager:

“Others May, You Can Not”

Needless to say this used to frustrate me A LOT because it was usually in relation to something that I wanted to do, something that most of my friends got to do and mom said ‘no’ followed by the infamous phrase.

Now, there’s a good chance that I’m remembering mom saying this much more than she actually did, but the point is that it stuck with me. It started a thought process that I have taken into adulthood.

Because what I’ve learned is that this is still true.

I’ve been pegged as a leader ever since I can remember. I was the kid that was put in charge when no other adults were present, I was the kid that was leading our church’s VBS program at the ripe old age of 14 – and when I say I was leading it, I truly was developing the program, recruiting the volunteers and teaching a good portion of it myself (I know some of you are laughing because you think ‘Jenni with kids, are you kidding?’, but yes… I digress). I was the 15 year old who managed the local Ice Cream Shop. I had three employees (including my sister who went on to be the next manager), did all their scheduling, did all the purchasing, handled the deposits and ran the store for weeks at a time while the owner was away.

Not much has changed in adulthood. I’ve usually been in positions where I’m a little ‘in over my head’, but for some reason this is where I continually find myself and I thrive in it.

There have been days when I’ve been frustrated by the fact that ‘others may, I can not’. But what I’ve discovered is that I’ve been given a tremendous responsibility in many seasons of my life and with that empowerment comes great responsibility.

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. And from the one trusted with much, much more will be expected.”

Luke 12:48b

This scripture haunts me all the time. As a leader, I am held to a higher standard. What may be ok for others, is not ok for me. What may be inconsequential for another, has greater consequences for me.

This is the responsibility of leadership.

As a leader, how are you handling your responsibility?

The Sync series continues this week. George Stull, our interim student pastor, spoke today at Cross Point Nashville on “Syncing Through Joy” and it was a good one.

I’m embarrassed to admit (although I’m sure it’s no big surprise to many of you that know me well) that I have trouble with choosing joy. And that was George’s point today, we have to CHOOSE joy.

I’m always amazed by how people have great joy even in difficult circumstances – the people who have just lost someone dear to them, people facing life-threatening illnesses, people who have lost a child, etc. How embarrassing it is to acknowledge that (fortunately) I don’t have any grave tragedy in my life and yet I have trouble finding joy.

I was challenged today!

Here are some key points and scriptures from George’s message today:

• John 15:9-11 Joy goes hand in hand with how we love others
• 2 Corinthians 6:4-10
• We lose joy when we covet or envy others. Are we really loving people when we’re envious of what they have?
• Joy can transcend circumstances.
• What would your life be like if you were dialed into the things that can’t be taken away?
• Joy is a posture of the heart.

How can we live in more complete joy?

1. See Joy more clearly as a choice.
2. Wear Joy no matter what – allow joy to permeate the way you see the whole world. Psalm 30:11
3. Sing for Joy because sometimes we just have to. Psalm 71:23, 100:1-5

Here’s a great quote from Henri Nouwen to leave you with:

“Joy is what makes life worth living, but for many joy seems hard to find. They complain that their lives are sorrowful and depressing. What then brings the joy we so much desire? Are some people just lucky, while others have run out of luck? Strange as it may sound, we can choose joy. Two people can be part of the same event, but one may choose to live it quite differently than the other. One may choose to trust that what happened, painful as it may be, holds a promise. The other may choose despair and be destroyed by it. What makes us human is precisely this freedom of choice.”

I hope you’ll choose Joy this week!

If you have been in ministry or church circles for any length of time, odds are you have been influenced by these two women. Nancy Beach and Nancy Ortberg have had an amazing amount of influence in recent years and I am so excited about the “Gifted to Lead” workshop that they are hosting at Willow Creek in August.

Gifted to Lead: The Art of Leading as a Woman in the Church is described as:

This event, the day before The Leadership Summit at the Willow Creek campus, is designed especially for women with spiritual gifts and abilities in leadership. This interactive forum encourages intentional development as you interact with and learn from others who also want to develop and use their God-given gifts on behalf of His work through the local church.

I am registered and ready to go! I am so excited about hearing these two influential ladies speak to this issue that I am so passionate about.

I would love to know:

1) How have the Nancys influenced you?

2) Are you going to “Gifted to Lead”?

Yesterday I read about The 40 Day Fast over at Brody’s blog and it got me thinking…

What cause or need makes my heart leap, burn, hurt, bleed? What need keeps me awake at night? What problem do I feel compelled to solve? If I were to pour my heart and soul relentlessly into something, what would it be?

I don’t know.

And then again maybe I do know, but I don’t like the answer?

You see the topics of clean water, starving children, the homeless, the abused, sex trafficking, etc., etc., concern me but they don’t keep me up at night.

Maybe they should. After all “whatever you do to the least of these”, right?

Heartless? I hope not.

My burning passion is to support and equip women to lead well, to lead strong, and to shine in the gifts God has given them.

But sometimes I feel like that isn’t enough. Maybe that’s too petty when there are starving children to feed, deadly diseases to eradicate and the broken and abused to rescue.

What do you think? What’s your burning passion?

Let’s add this to the Watercooler discussion today as well.

I’m one of those people who has trouble disconnecting from work when it comes time for vacation. This is especially troublesome on short trips like my current one to NYC. I’m only here for 4 days and it usually takes me at least 5 to quit worrying about work and checking my phone every 5 minutes.

So I’ve tried to be pretty intentional about not stressing about work during this time away and here are some other things I’ve decided to not stress about:

• working out every day
• eating dessert EVERY day, sometimes twice a day
• keeping a schedule
• checking my blog stats
• trying to do everything that I would like to do or think that I should do
• going to bed late or getting up early – no alarm clocks on this trip!

Well, the fact that I’m writing all of these down means that I’m stressing about them enough to tell myself not to stress…

…but really, this is progress for me

baby steps.

What baby steps do you celebrate?

As many of you know, I usually reserve Wednesdays to highlight women of influence, but this week I would like to hear from you on the subject.

I recently read Stephen R. Covey’s definition of influence:

“The real beginning of influence comes as others sense you are being influenced by them – when they feel understood by you – that you have listened deeply and sincerely, and that you are open.

I love this description.  It’s really saying that influence is about putting others first… sincerely listening to them – as a result of that attitude you earn influence.

So, who do you know that does this well?  Who needs to be highlighted as a person of influence?

She’s witty.

She’s smart.

She’s beautiful.

She loves God.

She’s one of those women you watch from across the room and immediately think ‘I don’t like her – she’s too perfect!’

But seriously,

Brandi Wilson is one of the few women I know that rivals the Proverbs 31 woman in character, integrity, beauty and Christ-likeness… and I am blessed to call her a friend.

And this is a friendship I hold most dear.

You see, Brandi has plenty of reasons not to like me. Three years ago I took the job as Executive Director at Cross Point and on most days I probably spend more waking hours with her husband than she does. I attend meetings with him, travel to conferences and other churches with him, and work alongside him to lead Cross Point.

For many women this relationship would be difficult to accept, jealousy would rule and tensions would be high. Not with Brandi.

I feel incredibly blessed to have her trust, support and encouragement!

As a woman of influence, Brandi:

• displays a quiet confidence
• doesn’t need the spotlight
• maintains the Wilson household allowing her husband to focus on his calling
• speaks into the lives of the female staff and the wives of staff members
• is an amazing mom of three fabulous boys
• is a true friend

There are rare relationships in life that you form and don’t even realize just how significant they are for quite some time. This is how it has been with Brandi and me…

and I am blessed!

** This is also part of Brody’s Positive Post Tuesday