DW Celebrates 4 Years...Quietly

For the past 3 years, this date has come with much fanfare and usually some giveaways. Today, Deliberate Women quietly tip-toes into its 4-year anniversary. 

2016 has been a year of quiet as far as this site and this blog. When I {Mandy} moved from Pennsylvania to Texas on January 1, 2016, I was all geared up to take Deliberate Women to the next level. The plans I labored over were aggressive and exciting. I was on fire!

It didn't take very long for me to see that all my carefully laid-out plans were going up in smoke. I felt crushed under the stress of a big move, unfamiliar surroundings, and the disappointent of my plans crumbling.  

God had been telling me for a while that the ministry I labored over wouldn't be like the others--those I'd emulated and admired. I wouldn't be like Lysa TerKeurst, She Reads Truth or any of the other "big name" women's ministries. Instead, my life would be my ministry. That phrase, "my life will be my ministry" kept echoing inside my head. I ignored it for a while, not sure what to make of it, but eventually, about 4 months into our new city, I started to see the picture God was painting. 

Instead of writing about sharing Jesus, I was going to live it out wholeheartedly. Writing would come second to real life, in-person relationships and experiences. As I began to embrace that, the Lord brought amazing people and opportunities, quite literally, to my doorstep. 

I can't begin to list all of the opportunities and God-orchestrated situations that the Lord has brought to me, but I will say that the walking-out part of ministry far supercedes the writing-about-it portion. 

I'm just beginning to see what the Great Commission really looks like and the way Jesus lived His life on earth. It's scary, yes, but it's addictive. I promise you, it is. No amount of fear (and many of you possess a GREAT DEAL of fear when it comes to thinking about sharing your faith with others) can compare to the eruption of joy and peace that surges through you when you walk into a situation that the Lord places before you--and when you see it through. 

Reading our Bible, engaging in Bible studies, regular church attendance, reading books by quality, credible authors, and the like all have a place in our lives, for sure. But there comes a time when we have to take a step out of our comfort zones, in faith, and put to practice all that we're learning. 

As we say goodbye to 2016 and usher in a new year both on the calendar and for Deliberate Women's ministry, our focus here will be to Educate, Equip, and Encourage you to step out. 

The beauty of this will be that even as we're challenging you to move outside your comfort zone, we will be doing the same. We're in this together. 

Let's strip away the fanfare, the hoopla, the bells and whistles, and get down to business. Let's take the next step--wherever the Lord is leading each of us--and allow Him to grow us, mold us, and stretch us to fit into His plans. 

In that vein, we have some things lined up for 2017 that we're really excited about, Lord willing. The first: The Hide Your Word 2017 Challenge. You can find the details for that HERE. We will commit to memorizing 50 selections of scripture throughout the next year so we get to know the Lord better and so we are equipped and ready to handle the challenges the enemy will throw our way. 

Some other things we're working out the details for include:

• EDUCATE: A new Deliberate Women Devotional called REVEALED, is set to publish in the first part of the year. This devo features seven women from the Bible to whom Jesus REVEALED different aspects of His character, and how that applies to women even in the 21st century. Meet Jesus through fresh eyes in REVEALED. 
• ENCOURAGE: We'd like to incorporate a new feature for praying for our community. On occasion, I post on our Facebook page that I'm available to pray for any who would like prayer. Beginning in the New Year, we plan to integrate some technology in our prayer sessions using Facebook Live so you can HEAR our prayers and comment your needs in real-time. 
• EQUIP: We're chewing on a new concept that {we believe} is largely missing from the Christian marketplace. This tool would provide practical, easy ways to share your faith. We're stepping beyond t-shirts and bracelets to engage others and actively live out the commision to GO (Mark 16:15).

We hope you join us here. Not because we want to boast about large numbers of people on our subscribers list or our Facebook page, but because one day we hope to stand beside you in Heaven while the Lord boasts about the large number of people we shared our faith with. Let's be DO-ers. Let's GO out into our circles and LIVE the Commission. Are you with me?

Here's to 2017 and 4 years of being Deliberate Women...