DiscipleHer Reflections
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Can you believe it has been almost a month already since the DiscipleHer conference? We have heard so many stories of how God used the time together to grow the DWITW community in the realm of discipleship! We know He is continuing to write this story for you post-conference, and so we wanted to share some of these "God stories" from three of our sisters. We dare you not to cry!
“I learned I needed something more intentional, regular, a time where we could get out our Bibles and really delve into it.”
Jessi Dunn writes, "Before the conference, I felt the need to be discipled by someone. I have a select few women who speak into my life and teach me how to be like Jesus, but through the conference, I learned I needed something more intentional, regular, and a time when we get out our Bibles and really delve into it. Before the conference, I was wondering who I should ask. And then, someone during that weekend said, 'Choose someone who has qualities that you admire and want to have yourself.' And immediately I knew who that was. But I knew also it would be hard to ask this person because I know she is seen as a mentor to a lot of women at our church and has a lot going on....
Fast forward to almost a week later, at our women's Bible study we have at FCF Dayton every other week, we were discussing the conference, what we learned, etc. Karen, the lady who I wanted to be mentored by, is the "leader" of this bible study. After that Bible study, God was tugging at me again to ask her on my drive home. To get over the lie that she would have no time for me, and I shouldn't even bother asking. By the time I got home, I had decided I would just ask her if there'd be a time, maybe a few times a month, where we could just get out our Bibles and read them together, and see where it would go from there. Well... God did His thing again, and when I got home, I realized I had a missed call from Karen. I called her back. She LITERALLY called me to ask the same thing I wanted to ask her!!!!! She talked about how we were already kind of doing it, but wanted to be more intentional, and that she saw my desire to be discipled. She also knows I have a hard time doing face to face with people, and being transparent, which I've talked to her about before, and knows this will be good for both of us. I couldn't believe it, but then I could because I know God is so good and this is ordained by Him! So now we're studying Esther, and meeting every other Monday evening. I'm so excited about what God is going to do through this!"
“I heard the message, ‘Look to Jesus’ on repeat. If we don’t look to Jesus and seek Him first before our other relationships, we will never be fulfilled.”
Shannon Miller shared, "I believe God was perfectly orchestrating this conference for this season in my life. 2017 brought with it the darkest days of my life to this point. My family was in turmoil, and I was lost. I knew that God was the only hope that I had. A friend suggested I listen to the DWITW podcast for Christian encouragement. I saw on social media that I could win tickets to this conference by just sharing the event on my Facebook page. I had this overwhelming feeling that I knew I would win a ticket. I listened to my first DWITW podcast and discovered that I had indeed won a ticket. I knew that I needed to be at this conference.
I have actively dodged discipleship relationships for a number of years after being in others that seemed to fail me. I held resentment against women in my life who didn't seek me out to ask me how I was. It was as if I felt it was their responsibility to find me in my sin and help. I never ask for help. So I have lived a lonely walk and I found myself so far and deep in mud I was stuck. This conference helped me see these things in my life. I heard the message 'look to Jesus' on repeat during the weekend. If we don't look to Jesus and seek him first before other relationships, we will never be fulfilled. Through the encouragement of the DiscipleHer conference, I am first looking to Jesus, not to a person. I walked away with a fresh view on my own heart and sin and the hope to carry on.
“We appreciate the many calls throughout the conference to READ the Bible, to reach out to others, to make sure we’re pointing one another to Him!”
One of the conference keynote speakers, Carol Benoy, sent us this encouragement: "The whole experience--preparation, participation, and post-conference fruit--has been enriching for Robyn and me. Each of the parts accomplished good things for us personally and as friends in a discipleship relationship. On our ride home from the Saturday conference, we determined to call each other at a designated time each week to catch up on our personal lives and then pray about them. This is already a blessing!
We appreciate the many calls throughout the conference to READ the Bible, to reach out to others, to make sure we're pointing one another to Him! We were both energized by the weekend and it has propelled us to the next step in our relationship! From that flows more--always more! God gives and we share--and I think our eyes are more open to opportunities and our ears to hearing God speak!"