Wrapping Up Season One of The Ministry Wives and Women Podcast
Updated: 5 days ago
Hello friends, as we wrap up season 1 and look ahead to season 2 of the Ministry Wives and Women podcast, I wanted to pause and share a few reflections and thoughts with you directly. This is the script from my Season One wrap-up episode, and I’d love for you to listen along on the podcast too. Hearing these conversations about resilience is a gift, and I’d love for you to be part of it.
If you’ve been listening to this podcast for any length of time, you have heard about the online cohorts I have had the privilege of leading through The Church Hub. Each time our group gathers, we ask a Joining Question. This month, the joining question was: Tell us about a time of rescue in your life. Over the last two days, I’ve heard incredible rescue stories. They ranged from salvation stories to car wrecks to being rescued from terrible choices, to being alone in an obscure place, and acquaintances showing up at just the right time and place for the rescue. If one point came through, it is that Jesus is a rescuing God. No other explanation accounts for these unexplainable stories. He rescues us from ourselves, from sin, from harmful situations, and from the brokenness of our circumstances. Even when we don’t see Him coming, He is at work, orchestrating a rescue.
Season One of this podcast has been an unseen rescue that God prepared for me. Talking about resilience and hearing trusted friends talk about it has been a grace, a rescue I didn’t see coming. In episode one with Ann Wilson, we defined Resilience.
Resilience is the strength to endure hardship, suffering, and challenges without losing faith, hope, or love. It is not merely the ability to bounce back, but the grace-driven capacity to persevere through difficulties while continuing to trust in God’s promises.
The words grace-driven jump out at me every time! We will be resilient only if we are rooted in the gospel of grace, and hopefully Season One of this podcast has pointed us all to that. Each woman we have heard from has pointed us again and again to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Turning to Jesus, as my 17-month-old granddaughter turns to me for everything she needs, is where we find and live out resilience as we face hardships, disappointments, and perplexing circumstances. I love to help her, and I love it when she turns to me and asks! If I, as a broken, fallen person, love to give my granddaughter good things, how much more does our Perfect, Loving Father love to do the same thing? As soon as she turns to me, I am filled with joy. How much more is that true of our Good Father?
We find resilience in the life and work of Jesus. We live out resilience by abiding in Him. 2 Peter 1:3 tells us that through the true knowledge of God, we have everything we need for life and godliness. As we come to know Him, He gives us everything we need to be resilient.
Last week, I made 24 pumpkin muffins and burned every one! With that in mind, I started the day before, getting ready for my in-person group. It’s fall, so I made the batter for pumpkin muffins, apple crisp, and a sausage-and-egg casserole. I prepared everything the day before, but I waited to bake it on the morning everyone arrived. That morning, as I juggled oven temperatures, baking times, getting myself ready, the morning schedule, and everything I needed to lead the 3 ½ hour group, I again realized how hard it is to be resilient. Remembering the not-so-great muffin result from the week before, I knew I had to see this through to the end!
That’s why resilience is tough. We get tired; we become weary; pain in life is real (usually more drastic than burned muffins) and doesn’t resolve quickly; our own willpower and determination only go so far. It’s hard to see things through to the end. We need Someone who perfectly understands us and our circumstances and can give what we cannot muster on our own. Jesus perfectly endured to the end, and if we are in Christ, God has graciously given us Jesus’s record of resilience. So as we seek to be resilient, we do it from a place of already being gifted with resilience, not striving for it.
As we have journeyed through Season One together, Isaiah 40 has come up a couple of times. I love Isaiah 40 because it reminds me that He knows exactly where we are and what we are facing, and He gives power and strength to the weary.
We have quoted Mark Vroegop, and I quoted it again today on the phone with a friend: “We are living in what we know to be true about God when we don’t know what is true about life.” By reminding ourselves who God is, we can endure what we don’t understand, because resilience is built not on our strength but on God’s faithfulness.
Psalm 9:10 says, "Those who know your name will trust in You." To know God, we have to carve out time to be with Him. One of my favorite episodes was with Megan Thompson, who shared that she stopped thinking of her time with God as a duty to check off a list. Instead, she began to see it as an invitation: each morning, as she opened her Bible, God was inviting her to come away with Him, almost like being invited to a party, a celebration, a place of joy. And when we truly come to Him, that becomes the best part of our day!
We have heard from woman after woman who has told us of a God who rescued her from herself and empowered her to keep loving, pursuing, and living for Him, no matter what difficulties ministry brought her. God is faithful!
Thank you for listening. Many of you found me through social media and have shared how much these conversations have meant to you, and that means the world to me. My hope was that you would feel seen and not alone, encouraged, spurred on to love and good works, and drawn to know Jesus more deeply.
As we’ve been releasing these episodes, we’ve been busy recording Season 2, which focuses on Faith, another Spirit-produced characteristic I desperately need. We will be taking a short break, about a month before Season two releases. Follow the podcast so you’ll know the moment it drops.
And while you wait, if you want to keep growing in resilience, I’d love to walk with you through my Bible study, The Resilient Soul: Enduring Faith in Weary Seasons. It’s nine weeks of opening God’s Word together, and it’s available now on Amazon.
Thank you for being here this season. I can’t wait to see you for Season Two, on Faith.
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