“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.”

— Matthew 28:19-20, ESV

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

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

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!”

— Carol Benoy

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!"

Today's team journal is written by the DWITW blog and podcast coordinator, Jillian Vincent.

“He said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

— John 19:30b

We can’t be trusted with fragile things.

I’ve been cleaning up broken glass for three days straight. The first casualty was my coffee pot, may it rest in peace. I let my two-year-old do the dishes, which was my first mistake. (Because he asked and was I really going to say no to that?) Alas, it did not end well. I think there is still some coffee pot lingering in my garbage disposal. Yesterday, I was rushing and dropped my bowl, splashing yogurt granola parfait all over my living room. Today, I dropped a mason jar while emptying the dishwasher, spraying shards all over my counter, in my tupperware and silverware drawers, and onto the floor. Each time, I’ve been shocked at my own helpless clumsiness, and the sudden fragility of my every day life. The dangerous disruptions have me snatching up my toddler, donning tennis shoes and hand-vacuuming the corners and crevices for minuscule, invisible leftovers.

Recently, I’ve been studying the book of Isaiah. Isaiah’s audience, God's wayward people, are hopelessly dropping the glass ball. Isaiah calls out their habitual sins and describes the just judgment coming for those who follow that path. They, like me, can’t help but drop the precious gifts God gives them. Their hands can not be trusted.

Yet, over and over again in Isaiah, God speaks of a solid, unbreakable hope. There would be a Messiah. He would be broken for us, breaking sin and death forever.

“He will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face and remove His people’s disgrace from the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken. ”

— Isaiah 25:8

Leading up to Easter, I’ve been pondering three words: “It is finished.”

With shaky hands, I try to death-grip my relationships, my roles and even the state of this fallen world. Everything seems so fragile! I’m frightened of my capability to shatter all that God has given me, as if a “Whoopsie Daisy” could fracture God’s plans.

If you asked me if I trust that God has the victory, I would say a resounding, “YES!” But my life doesn’t practically speak of a victory won.

It is not an “It is finished” kind of life.

You know how I know? I’m treating the roles and tasks and relationships God has given me as if they are parfait bowls, coffee pots, and mason jars. Like some comedic act, I’m flailing dishes in the air. I catch a dish and immediately throw it back up again because another is in clear gravitational jeopardy. I don’t have enough hands to carry my own stuff, let alone to carry my children, my husband or this ministry. And lately it seems God is giving me more to juggle. I'm living as if it all still depends on me, after all this time of knowing this good news: it doesn't. My to-do list reflects my desire to be an "Energizer Bunny" for the kingdom, and often my heart slips into anxious hustle. It is no secret that the Savior of the world is not me, and it certainly is not one of The Three Stooges.

In all the juggling, it doesn’t occur to me that I can set it all down. I’m afraid to let go, because what if everything breaks?

I forget. Everything was already broken, so He broke himself! We no longer bear the responsibility and the impossibility of keeping everything whole or cleaning up the mess when everything shatters. He is unclenching my hands from all the dishes and the brooms. I am learning, like Mary, to sit at Jesus' feet. I am learning, like Peter walking on the water, to keep my eyes on Jesus. God himself is whispering the gospel to me. He is gently lifting my chin so I might look at the cross and gaze upon Jesus Christ himself.

Sisters, can you grasp it as I’m beginning to?

God’s Kingdom is not a coffee pot, Amen? It doesn't need bubble wrap! There is nothing precarious about what God has done for us. 

It. Is. Finished.

Over. Complete. Doneso.

“I have said these things to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

— John 16:33

What if I took Him at His Word? What if I trusted God that it was done already?

I would live in peace. I would not take the burden of guilt back on myself that He paid for in full.  I would repent and move on. I would rejoice, awe-filled, because (in the words of my toddler) my sin and this world's can be “all gone.” I would live in expectancy for how God will complete what He has started. I would worship Him for every victory I see displayed on earth now and not fret for the times the victory is hidden and the battle feels far from over. I would not take my eyes from the Savior, who, in becoming broken, made the victory unbreakable.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts you.”

— Isaiah 26:3

It is finished.

It isn’t a question. It’s a statement. It’s an exclamation! It’s a victory cry!

Praise the Lord! The victory does not lay in my clumsy hands, but in his nail-pierced ones.

And because He loves me, He is using my shaky hands. But it ultimately does not depend on me. So I can lift my hands to worship Him! It is finished!

Lord, thank you for finishing it! My hands and heart can’t even grasp the mystery of it, the freedom of it. I confess I’ve been grasping on to my own feeble attempts to do the work that has already been done perfectly by you! I’m sorry when I don’t trust you, your unbelievable work on the cross, and your death-defying declaration. I’m craving an “It is finished” attitude, an “It is finished” kind of day, and an “It is finished” kind of life. And I trust you are already doing it, and in fact, that it has already been done. Amen

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Jillian is a lover and follower of Jesus. She's a wife, mother of two boys and a Dayton enthusiast. Jillian currently is a stay at home mama and spends nap times writing and discipling other women. She would (almost) die for an avocado, a cup of coffee made by her husband, a novel that makes her cry, and a bouquet of sunflowers. 

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you.”

— 1 Peter 5:6-7

On this week's Dayton Women in the Word podcast, we had the privilege of hearing from our friend, Linda Martin. During the episode, Linda mentions how much wisdom she gleaned from studying The Acts or Offices of Humility, a work written by Reverend Jeremy Taylor in 1856. After reading, she decided to paraphrase it in her own words from the original old English so she could understand it better and share it with others. In preparing the episode to air, Jillian requested a copy to share with us here on the DWITW blog. 

Linda responded, "I searched high and low and couldn't find my original translation so I re-did it. What a pleasure to be reminded of these most challenging exhortations! I feel that God did not want me to find my original but wanted me to study these again. They are so convicting! But so thankful for God's grace through Jesus; that he does not hold our sin against us or repay us accordingly! Truly, this list is only for those who are in Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The world would be outraged by it since it clearly doesn't promote "self-esteem".

We are praying that these practices become our own. We hope you will read and ask the Lord to humble you as He is humbling us!

Click to download and read the PDF of Linda's translation here. 

Today's team journal is written by our Event Coordinator, Sami Hudgins.

“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched…And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched … And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.”

— Mark 9:42-47

“Am I your ONE and only? Is anything else placed above ME in your heart?”

This is the question that echoed in my head after recently hearing Mark 9:42-47 read aloud by my pastor. As he went through his sermon, he clarified that we are not called to literally cut off our own hands, but we are indeed called to deliberately flee from temptation, and to pursue righteousness (1 Timothy 6:11).  Sitting in that pew, I found myself (yet again) asking God to reveal the sin that entangles me, and He answered with that simple question: “What do you place above me in your heart?”

In response, I found myself just as Peter did, pleading with Jesus after denying him so many times: “Lord, you know I LOVE you.”

He has convicted me of denying Him for my own glory.

I have an ideal image of myself, and I have made a habit of pursuing it daily, disregarding the consequences. In attempt to amplify my own worth, I’ve turned down His will and carried out my own agenda instead. I’ve denied the Lord by striving to make myself known in this world.  My heart longs to be a woman of God, but part of me thought I could be that and so much more. The truth is, I'm always striving to be my best person, but if I’m being honest, I've put this striving to achieve my ideal image above my call bring glory to his name. As a result, my work, however good or productive, becomes sinful.

I confess to you that my attitude toward God has often been conditional and on my own terms. I've been willing to go to where he sends me as long as it fits into my own schedule and routine. I confess that I have denied the Lord. 

Oh, but Lord! You know I love you.

In Mark 9, we are called to make radical changes against the sin in our lives. I am learning, yet again, to go against the grain of the world, turn away from old habits, and be made new in Christ. Peter warns us against such sin; he tells us that we must be sober-minded in order to guard ourselves from the devil, who seeks to devour us (1 Peter 5:8). God is teaching me how to be sober-minded. He continually whispers in my ear, “my daughter, there is only One.”

There is only one hope.

There are days that I find myself hoping in the most temporary of things. I put my hope in relationships with people that will surely ebb and flow. I put my hope in my latest hobby and project, for which my passion will surely fade. I put my hope in a young and fit body, which will surely start sagging sooner than I would prefer. I put my hope in the latest and greatest health strategy, which will surely be disproved by next year. I put my hope in new organization tools, which will surely fail to keep my life in order for longer than three consecutive days.  There is only one hope, it is the hope that Jesus promised: the kingdom of God will never fade, will never fail and will forever be. “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.” (Psalm 145:13 NIV) My striving distracts me from the one and only hope that will endure forever. 

There is only one mission.

Do you have a power walk? I do. My striving steps become even longer when I have set my mind to my work.  To say the very least, Jesus did amazing work here on Earth. He completed missions that I would never even dream of attempting, things no power walk of mine could accomplish. Yet, as I read through scripture, I don’t get the feeling that Jesus had a power walk. He didn’t puff his chest out and walk daringly to revive the girl who had already taken her last breath; but instead, he walked slowly and humbly, allowing the Father to guide Him with every step. Jesus was willing to bring God glory in whatever way he was called, even if it required a diversion from the path he had initially set out to take.  Jesus accomplished many things in his short time here on Earth, but he lived for only one mission: to glorify the Father. This mission was reflected in everything He did, from his daily encounters to his dying on the cross. We, too are instructed to live out one mission! Philippians 1:27 (HCS) says, “Just one thing: live you life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” There is only one mission- to proclaim the name of God.  There is no mission worth striving to accomplish if it not bringing glory to God’s name.

There is only one way.

Look around. We are constantly nudged by this world to go in one direction or another.  If you were to spend just ten minutes on the Internet, you might feel the urge to start a new house project, begin a certain diet, or set a new life goal.  In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He did not say, “I am one of the ways.” In my attempt to go above and beyond, I have strayed from the one and only path.  We must be sober-minded, responding only to the Lord’s voice, following only His guidance. We must take radical action against the diversions offered to us in this world so that our direction might be clear.

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

— James 4:7-8

I am learning how to submit to God in new ways.  I am walking away from life as I have known it, looking to Him as I live in this world but resist the temptation to be a part of it. I am drawing near to Him, and He is purifying my desires to reflect more of Him: the one and only.

I pray boldly for God to destroy the name I have built up in my striving. Will you join me in that prayer? Lord, help us to flee from sin so that your name may be made great.  Make us women who will speak of nothing but your greatness. Your name is the only name that must be made great.

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Samantha "Sami" Hudgins serves as the Event Coordinator for Dayton Women in the Word. She is an Air Force wife and fur-baby-mama to Charlie. Her heart longs for women to join together to seek and find truth in God's Word. 

This week's team journal is written by our Team Lead, and beloved sister, Natalie Herr.

“Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”

— 1 Peter 2:16-17 ESV

I'm writing this blog post on the heels of the DiscipleHER Conference: a weekend where women from all over Dayton, OH and beyond got together in the name of the Lord Jesus. Women came to hear God's Word, to connect with Him and one another and to be sent back out to apply his Word to their lives. The Lord worked in ways that I could never have imagined and hardly have space to list here.

The DWITW Team poured hours and hours of effort into the planning and preparation of DiscipleHER. And now, just a few days later, I'm attempting to get quiet so I can hear what God wants me to learn from the whole thing.

You know what I keep hearing? "Love the sisterhood."

Well, what does that mean, God? Didn't I just spend months loving the sisterhood by planning this conference for them? Haven't I loved the sisterhood by preparing for them? Praying for them? Isn't the whole ministry of Dayton Women in the Word about loving the sisterhood?

And then, I heard, "STOP. Stop right there, Natalie. That whole line of thinking is all about you."

And so it is. The sneaky sin of pride can corrupt even the most beautiful, God-honoring pursuits. Pride convinces me that I am obedient. That I've achieved something. That I've done what was asked of me and deserve some kind of applause for it. Pride doesn't like it when someone else gets the applause instead. Pride doesn't like to hear that I still have growing and learning and obeying to do.

I'm confessing before you today that I felt the weight of comparison this weekend. I caught myself measuring my own work and gifts against those of my sisters. I wanted to hear "Well, done!" from man just as much as I wanted to hear it from God. I felt deserving of a compliment every time I heard one given to someone else. But you know what, gals? I received plenty of encouragement and compliments and kind words this weekend, and it never satisfied in a lasting way. It never can, and it isn't meant to. 

I've been reading a lot about pride recently in the book of Isaiah. (I asked the Lord a few weeks ago to reveal my sin as I read Isaiah and he has been faithful to do it). In Isaiah's day, Judah and the surrounding nations were full of pride and self-sufficiency. They trusted in the work of their hands and not in the faithful God of their fathers (Isaiah 2:8). Isaiah describes them as a great forest that will be cut down, with so few trees left that a child could count them (Isaiah 10:19). And apart from Jesus, that would be my fate! A proud tree cut down, with no hope of regrowth.

“The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.”

— Isaiah 2:11 ESV

But, Jesus. Jesus is the tiny, vibrant, life-giving shoot coming up in that forest of death; coming up from that burned-up old stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1). Jesus makes it possible for life and love to come from pride and death. He's the reason I can obey the call of 1 Peter to honor everyone and love the brotherhood (or the sisterhood). He's the one I can learn humility and servant leadership from. He's the one I must point to as the source of all the good I've ever done and ever will do. He's the one who went to the cross for my pride and defeated death forever. 

So, Lord, I will love the sisterhood fiercely. I will cheer on my sisters in their gifts, even when (especially when!) it feels like they are competing with mine. I will encourage them until I'm blue in the face. I will call them up and send them out. I will honor them publicly and privately. I will lay down my own agenda in favor of yours. I will pursue humility instead of affirmation. I will fight the vicious lies of pride. And sometimes, I will fail. And I will ask you again to kill that pride and grow me in humility and help me to fight for unity with my sisters. And you will answer, as you always do. You are faithful to finish the work you've started in me AND in my sisters (Phil. 1:6). And one day, as promised, despite our faults and failures, we will hear the only "Well, done!" that really matters.

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Natalie Herr is the founder and team leader of Dayton Women in the Word. She is a servant of God, a wife, and a mom of four. She loves teaching and equipping women with God's Word. 

Today's team journal is written by the DWITW "let's be real" champion and treasurer, Kaitlyn Carl.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away,
our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary
affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.
For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 

- II Corinthians 4:16-18

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Just as Mindy shared in her post last week, I, too, experienced a season of pruning in 2016. We suffered a horrific miscarriage only a couple of weeks before we moved into our new home. Not only did we have to say goodbye to that sweet baby long before we were ready, but I also had to be stripped of my “I can do everything by myself, no help needed here, thank you very much” mentality. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t pray. I’ve never been a “couldn’t” person. But the whole house still needed to be packed into boxes, clothes still needed to be washed, and I already had two beautiful daughters who needed me to care for them. And in my “couldn’t,” God provided an abundance of “could”s. Meal makers, packers, babysitters, house cleaners, prayer warriors, a Great Intercessor (Romans 8:26-27), and so much more. I experienced abundant love and sacrificial service from those around me and was utterly blessed, even in my grief and pain.

One month after we moved into our new home, my husband’s grandmother came to live with us. We had a joyous time with Nanny. The girls adored her, and she adored them. I loved having an adult to converse with throughout the day, and she even helped clear the table and clean the dishes after dinner! Joyous as it was, it didn’t come without pruning. When you’re 86, life moves at a much slower pace, and the Lord graciously used Nanny to s-l-o-w me down from my ever-hurried pace, though it was difficult at first. Through her, the Lord helped me see that the world wasn’t going to end if I wasn’t constantly moving 100 miles a minute; in fact, my marriage, parenting, prayer life, Bible study – almost all aspects of my life – have benefited greatly from this lesson! But then, not quite two months after she moved in, while the whole family was over on Christmas Eve, she collapsed. And she died in the hospital six days later. Again, we were sent reeling. Again, only three months after our miscarriage, the sympathy cards came rolling in, and with them, new waves of grief over the loss of our baby and over the loss of Nanny and why, God, why? as if the crying had never stopped.

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These all died in faith…having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth…But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. – Hebrews 11:13, 16

This world is not our home, dear sisters (Hebrews 13:14), and the evidence is all around us: pain, suffering, injustice, betrayal, sickness, death. We are sojourners and exiles here (I Peter 2:11): in the world, but not of it (John 17:14-18). Praise God! He has chosen a people for Himself and is bringing them home, to the place that He has prepared for them (I Peter 2:9, John 14:1-3). But until then, we are here. We’re in the final chapters of the Story, yes – Christ has come and He has died and He has risen and ascended into heaven, and through Him we have forgiveness of sins and life eternal, hallelujah! But we’re still here. We’re not home yet.

We had so many plans for that little baby. We had so many hopes for the years that we envisioned Nanny would live with us. "Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes" (James 4:14). God is pruning and burning away in His refining fire the white-knuckled grip with which I hold on to so many things in this life. He is slowly helping me to see what it looks like to loosen my grip on the things in this world because I’m just passing through. And I’m not saying we should stop caring about the people around us or to walk glibly through life with no attachments to anyone or anything. In fact, God tells the Israelites living in exile in Babylon to "build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters…multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jeremiah 29:5-7). But we do all these things with this end in mind: I will bring your back to the place from which I sent you into exile (Jeremiah 29:14).

It’s about maintaining an eternal perspective, "for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (II Corinthians 4:18). We live hard, love hard, cry hard, play hard, pray hard while we’re here because we don’t know how long our life is, nor the lives of those around us. We thank God for the days we have, even the hard ones. We treasure our loved ones while remembering that they are ultimately His. And all the while, we look forward to the promised land: the New Heaven, Earth, and Jerusalem (Revelation 21). Because we know the end of the story, dear friends. We know that we will not always be sojourners here in this foreign land. We know where our true home is: a place where God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, death shall be no more, and there will be no mourning or crying or pain (Revelation 21:4). Praise the Lord!

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Kaitlyn Carl is a wife of 5 1/2 years and a mama to two precious girls. She is a worship leader at her church and a group leader with Bible Study Fellowship. Kaitlyn is passionate about sharing life with others.  She loves brunch/lunch/coffee/play dates, over-sized sweatshirts, coloring books, and having to double recipes because her table is surrounded by people.

Our team journal today is written by Mindy Braun, DWITW's Administrator and Tech and Design Coordinator. 

Pruning: trimming by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, especially to increase fruitfulness and growth. It’s cutting away the branches that aren’t falling off on their own. In order to get the dead, unwanted branches, a sharp tool is used. The branches are forced off the plant because they won’t go away on their own; without pruning, they will remain there and keep the plant from flourishing. 

This past year has been a year of pruning in my life. The Lord removed a church that I held so dearly, He cleared away the overgrown sins in my marriage, and He revealed to me many fruitless branches in my life.  And even though 2017 just started, there have been numerous times this year when I have asked the Lord, “Why? Why are you taking this from me?” It’s been really hard. There have been a lot of hurts, and there sure have been tears. Like puddles everywhere. 

Last Sunday at my current church, we were led through a time of lamenting through prayer. We shared our hearts with God. We grieved the injustices of our city, we cried out for God to heal the hearts of the oppressed and we pleaded for racial reconciliation. In those few moments, I was reminded that we can bring our hurts to God and He cares to hear them. He is a safe place where I can be vulnerable. He knows the inwards parts of my heart and he delights when I choose to come to him.

“Hear my cry, O God,
listen to my prayer;
from the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I,
for you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy.
Let me dwell in your tent forever!
Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! ”

— Psalm 61:1-4

The Lord has to prune us. He has to force us to release the dead things in our lives, so that we can flourish. He wants us to live lives full of eternal fruit and growth. It’s not usually an easy process and it can be very painful. There are a lot of questions and tears shed along the way. I know that in the end there is fruit; good, sweet fruit, but I have also learned that throughout the process it is okay to for us to cry out to God, to share our pains with him, to share the sorrows we are feeling. He is with us through that process every step of the way. Find comfort in that. Just the other day, I was sitting in my kitchen, praying through my tears. “Lord, I am just so sad!” It felt like I was sitting in the lap of my heavenly Father. I was able to simply rest in His arms, be comforted by His love and pour out my sadness. Though we are hurt and hearts are crushed, though we may even use sharp words towards our Lord, He still draws us near.  (Psalm 34:17-18)

Even though limbs are being cut away and even though it’s not an easy process, we can look to our Jesus to carry us through that heartache and suffering, and He will give us rest (Matthew 11:28). We still remain in the Vine. He is our source of life. (John 15:5) And remember, God's hand is never closer to you than when you are being pruned. I don't know about you, but that truth right there gives me such peace. 

Ladies, I share this with you so we can be reminded of the promises in His Word and His steadfast love. He is ever so faithful and we can take him at His Word. The work he is doing in us, the pruning that is happening in our lives, the heartache we feel, no matter how hard or how messy it may seem, it is all done in perfect love to make us strong, beautiful, bearers of fruit, to bring true joy into our lives, and to bring our Father glory. (James 1:2-4, 2 Cor. 12:9-10, John 15: 11, Romans 5:3-5) 

“This [pruning] of you will be the making of you. A new you. A stronger you. Strengthened not with the pride of perfection, but with the sweet grace of one who knows an intimate closeness with her Lord.”

— Lysa TerKeurst

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Mindy Braun is an Ohio-born-and-raised, small town girl who has grown to love the city of Dayton. While she's not being mama to her two kids, she and her husband run a photography business out of their home in East Dayton. Mindy has a love for deep friendships, fried chicken, sleeping in, the outdoors, serving the Church, and Oreos after bedtime.

This week's team journal is written by Jillian Vincent, DWITW's blog and podcast coordinator.

Jillian's study buddy and Valentine, baby Matthias. 

On this Valentine's week, my studies have taken me to a jam-packed 1 John 3, the love chapter of the love book. John 3:1 says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” God is our Father, lavishing love upon us, his kiddos. Word. Enough said. Mic drop. I could end right there with all the power of that statement.

But this got me thinking… if temporary, earthly love (a love that is so unbelievably lacking) can make us do all sorts of crazy things, what about God’s love? What should be our response to the perfect love of the Father? 1 John 3 describes three outcomes that result from this epic love upon our lives.

1.       God’s love gives us confidence. When I think of the word confidence, I imagine HER. You know, the “it girl,” the one that doesn’t have to try to get her hair just right, who can eat whatever she wants without gaining a pound, who always knows just what to say. But then, I know; she doesn’t actually exist. And when I have these thoughts, am I not worshipping her instead of worshipping Jesus? A fake ideal instead of the FOR REAL deal? In context, John says experiencing God’s love gives us confidence before the Father. It gives us confidence, not because we become perfect, but because we are focused on the one that is perfect! We can rest in our identity as children of God, a role that has nothing to do with our performance. In 2:28, John writes, “And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.” In 3:19-21, he continues, “By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.”

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“And now, little children, abide in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming”

— 1 John 2:28

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Are you hiding in shame, sister? What or who is causing that shame? It is not of God. He calls us into his presence and discards our shame. He is greater than that shame in our hearts! We gain this confidence by spending time with Christ, abiding in Him, resting in our identity as beloved daughters. And I would add that as we have confidence before him, we also have confidence before the world, because earthly approval is no longer the focus of our affection. Our Father is! So we begin to care less about our hair and hips, Instagram hits, cleanliness of our houses, success of our careers, creativity of our children’s birthday parties, etc. Philippians 4:8 reads, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ." Ladies, it all just becomes RUBBISH compared to knowing Christ!

2.       God’s love purifies us. God’s fatherly love gives us a drive to be pure as he is pure. When we experience the love of the Father, it compels us to want to please him. We have to be done with sin, because there is no sinning in the presence of our holy Father. We have been “born of God.” So as a Christian, my sin eats me alive now. When I have unconfessed sin in my life, it is a magnified weight on my heart and distances me from my Father. Even “white lies” grieve me deeply, because they cannot stand in my Father’s presence. I want to be close to him, and there is such intimacy in confession, and opening up my heart for God to make pure. It doesn’t always feel good, and sometimes it is downright embarrassing because it causes us to admit to others our imperfections instead of being the “IT GIRL” (see note about confidence above). And sometimes it means looking stupid to other people who won’t get why it is such a big deal or who are just plain offended by your conviction. Yet, those convictions and confessions always give me opportunity to point myself and others away from me and towards my Father. Does this mean I will never sin again? No! But it does mean I will be about practicing righteousness instead of practicing lawlessness, which is habitual sin. This side of heaven, I’m going to be confessing and confessing again, on my knees crying out to Abba to help me. But one glorious day, sister, the battle will be over. We will be like him because we will see him as he is, in all his pure glory (1 John 3:3).

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“We love because he first loved us”

— 1 John 4:19

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3.       God’s love compels us to love others. The love of the Father drives us to love others fiercely. We will drop everything we have to lay down our lives for each other. We won’t drag our feet out of guilt because it is “the right thing to do.” We will be compelled with love because THAT IS HOW GOD LOVES US! “We love because he first loved us,” reads 1 John 4:19. God’s love is the kind of love that sings LOUDLY over you (Zephaniah 3:17), serves you and lays down your life for you (Mark 20:28), the kind that quenches your thirst (John 4). So we are not passive vehicles of his love, my sisters, we are first in line, eager and earnest in our love from pure hearts (1 Peter 1:22).

What does that even mean? Today? A million beautiful things. There is no act of love too small because it all originates in the perfect love of the Father. In my life, God has been loving me so fiercely that I just can’t help but wash my friends dishes before mine, take the scary first step of adoption, and ask my husband how I can serve him instead of launching babies at him as soon as he comes through the door.  It is competing with my black neighbors over who can give each other the best Christmas presents. It is hitting my knees to beg God to give my friend struggling with infertility a baby. It is crawling out of bed at three in the morning to feed my own baby and doing it again an hour later. It is, in fact, delightful, surprising, challenging, and simple. It is imperfect, but practicing. Love, in deed and in truth. Once you know the truth, once you see Christ as he is, you want to love like he loves. You just can’t help yourself, flawed as you are. You will be smitten, asking your Father God to help you be just like him when you grow up.

Sisters, let’s not wait another second to ask God to give us confidence before Him, to purify our hearts, and to compel us to love others the way he loves us. I’m praying 1 John 3 over your lives today as I’m praying it for mine. Thank you, Father, for the crazy way you love us.

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Jillian has been a lover of Jesus for twenty years. She's a wife, mother of two boys and a Dayton enthusiast. Jillian currently is a stay at home mama and spends nap times writing and discipling other women. She would (almost) die for an avocado, a cup of coffee made by her husband, a novel that makes her cry, and a bouquet of sunflowers. 

This week's team journal is written by our Team Lead, Natalie Herr.

“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”

— Isaiah 30:21

The Lord has been teaching me much lately about discernment and about listening; about carrying heavy things and about what walking with Him really looks like. I haven't been in a traditional season of waiting; in fact, I've been the one that people are waiting on. The decisions have been spiritual and theological, involving many people with many convictions. And if I'm honest, the responsibility has often felt too heavy, too weighty.

But as we've walked together, me and the Lord, I have come to understand why He puts that heaviness on me. He wants me to remember that I can't carry all of these heavy things alone. I really can't carry anything on my own. I need help; help from Him and help from my sisters in Christ who are called to bear the heaviness with me (Eph. 4:2). Not only that, but I can't know which road to walk down if I am preoccupied by the heaviness of my pack. He wants me to feel its weight, allow it to remind me that I'm not enough and that I don't have to be, and then continue the practice of giving Him the pack, because it's light and easy to Him (Matt. 11:30).

So this time, I gave him the pack, and he gave me a gift in return. That gift was Isaiah 30:18-22:

"Therefore, the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, 'Be gone!'" (emphasis mine)

This is my God, my teacher. He is waiting with me, blessing me in my waiting and waiting himself to show me grace and mercy. He is close enough to me that he hears my cry and answers immediately; and I am close enough to him that he can whisper in my ear. He is behind me, faithful to lead me in the right way. And what happens when I hear his voice? I'm compelled to throw out all the idolatrous junk in my pack and leave it on the side of the road. I get to walk together with my God, weightless and free.

In times where we feel like we don't know the way, we must remember that God has already shown it to us. Just a few chapters later in Isaiah, we get a description and a promise:

"And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness, the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray." (Isaiah 35:8, emphasis mine)

Ya'll. Did you catch that? The Highway of Holiness belongs to those who walk on The Way. The Way is a person: Jesus Christ (John 14:6). And so those who walk on the way are the ones who walk with Jesus (Acts 9:2). And EVEN IF WE ARE FOOLS, my friends, WE WILL NOT GO ASTRAY. There is no way for us to miss the "right" way when we are walking with God! What-in-the-actual-world?! That is a mind-blowing, life-changing, worldview-shifting truth for all of us Jesus-loving fools. 

Thank you for taking my pack, Lord. And thank you for the gift of your Word. In giving it to me, you kept another promise in Proverbs 16:20: 

"Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord."

Blessed indeed, Lord. Blessed indeed. Help us trust you more.

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Natalie Herr is the founder and team leader of Dayton Women in the Word. She is a servant of God, a wife, and a mom of four. She loves teaching and equipping women with God's Word. 

Happy FriYAY! Today's delish team journal is written by our DWITW team treasurer, Kaitlyn Carl, as a follow up to her DWITW podcast interview!

Have you ever put a lot of time, effort, and sometimes even money into purchasing ingredients for and laboriously making an extra special, only-going-to-make-this-once-in-your-lifetime, labor of love meal, complete with a fancy dessert? The meal turned out beautifully, just the way you had planned it; you're a beaming hostess feeling truly full of joy for being able to share your love in this way with people you cherish. And then you bring out the dessert, and it's a total flop. You don't even have any ice cream in the freezer for backup. And now there's no perfectly crafted, sweet, chocolatey dish to finish out the dinner. The meal is just...over. And though your kind guests assure you that it's not a big deal and they were too full for dessert anyway, you can't help but feel a tinge of disappointment over the loss of the final portion of your special meal.

That's how I felt when Jill informed me that the last sixteen minutes of our podcast episode were gone; lost forever, no hope of recovery. The conversation at our recording was so organic and unscripted that I can't remember exactly what I said that night. But if I've learned anything in the last six months (and really, over the course of my life), it's that life doesn't always happen exactly the way we plan it, and there's no amount of organizing, strategizing, agonizing, or any other type of -izing that can change that truth. We must take the unexpected in stride, even if it pushes us back a few (hundred) steps. So today, I'll share my answers to the last three questions that Jill asked me the night we originally recorded. I'm sure that the words won't be exactly the same, but I am praying the same prayer concerning them: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14).

If you haven't listened to the podcast yet, you can listen here or on iTunes. It's not necessary to listen in order to understand this journal entry, but having the podcast and the journal together will definitely give you the "whole meal" experience of what God is and has been doing in my life. So go check it out!

kaitlyn's actual wedding cake!

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“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. ”

— Psalm 19:14

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Q: What encouragement would you have for someone looking for discipleship relationships in their life?

A: Three things stand out to me as critically important in answering this question: 

1) Get involved in your local church. I'm not talking about simply attending, I mean get involved: join a small group, attend the women's Bible study, go on the ladies' retreat. If all you ever do is attend the worship service on Sunday morning and leave as soon as the closing song ends, it will be nearly impossible for you to find someone with whom to enter into a discipleship relationship. And you don't necessarily have to do this alone. Some of my closest relationships with other women are those in which my husband is also close with their husbands. If you're married, being discipled by an older couple can be a pretty awesome thing. Serving alongside your sisters in Christ is another great way to form bonds as you labor together for the Lord. 

2) Be real. Be vulnerable. You've got to be vulnerable. You've got to open yourself up. If you do the work of getting involved (small group, Bible study, retreat, etc.) but you never open up to anyone, you're not going to get very far. This doesn't happen overnight, and it's going to happen in different ways and at different speeds for different people, and that's okay. Vulnerability takes time because it requires relationship. Vulnerability takes courage because it exposes you. But vulnerability is rewarding, because when you've shared your true heart with a sister in Christ, you're no longer carrying your burden alone, but together.  

3) Pray. As you put into practice involvement and vulnerability, pray that the Lord would show you a women who can partner with you in discipleship. Trust His perfect timing, and walk in obedience with Him as you wait. 

Q: What are the barriers you've encountered in discipleship?

A: The biggest barriers I've encountered both in discipling others and in being discipled are priorities and pride. I could probably place any reason I've had or I've been given about discipleship relationships not working out under one of those two categories.

If discipleship isn't a priority to us, then we won't make time for it. We'll be too busy, too stressed, too tired. The relationship has to be a priority to both the discipler and the disciple. If either one of them isn't truly committed to the relationship, it's bound to flounder and, sadly, will often fail.

Pride closes us off from true fellowship with others. If we always want others to have a certain perception of us, never letting them see any of our flaws, we won't make very good disciples or disciplers. It's hard to disciple someone when you will only invite them into your home when it's perfectly clean and the children are behaving angelically. It's impossible to get the care we really need as a disciple if we're always putting up a facade, unwilling to discuss any of our true struggles.

Q: What is God teaching you right now in the Word?

A: When it rains, it pours. And when it pours, it's often difficult to not wonder...why? Even if you're firmly grounded in Christ and rooted in His Word and you know that the storms of life aren't necessarily a result of something that you did, when the ship is sinking and you're getting into the lifeboat, you sometimes can't help but wonder what you did wrong. For me, it's hard at times not to let my mind wander there. And in my most recents storms (hurricanes, really), the Lord led me here:

Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side...He saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them (Mark 6:45a, 48a). John puts it this way: The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing (John 6:18).

Did you catch that? Jesus told His disciples to head across the sea in the boat, and in the midst of obeying Him, they were caught in a storm. 

As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him" (John 9:1-3).

Sometimes when unfortunate things happen in our lives, we can look back to a specific decision that we made and see, in hindsight, that we made a poor choice which had negative consequences. Other times, we have no clue. Did you ever consider that it might be for the glory of God to be displayed in you? How amazing to think that, in the midst of suffering, as we faithfully look to Christ and walk with Him through our pain, we are shining His light to a watching world who has no hope beyond the grave, glorifying Him and displaying His work of sanctification and restoration in our hearts and lives. 

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you...But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings (I Peter 4:12a, 13a). Dear sisters, you better believe that when that's your response to suffering, you need to be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you (I Peter 3:15), because when you live your life like an alien whose home is not this world, you'll be so consumed with the reason for your hope that you'll forget to wonder about the reason for your pain. And maybe that's the point.   

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Kaitlyn is a wife of 5 1/2 years and a mama to two precious girls. She is a worship leader at her church and a group leader with Bible Study Fellowship. Kaitlyn is passionate about sharing life with others.  She loves brunch/lunch/coffee/play dates, over-sized sweatshirts, coloring books, and having to double recipes because her table is surrounded by people.