Welcome to our HOT BUTTON Topics:

*When to Give Away Your Children
* Seven Signs It's Time to Let Go
* Also see Women's Ministry Seminar in August 04

RIGHT TO THE HEART OF WOMEN EZINE

When To Give Away Your Children
By Kris Bearss

Her story takes up less than 40 verses in the entire Bible, but Hannah is my role model nonetheless. Through her I have discovered how to love my "God-daughters" - the girls He gives me to mentor. And when to give them away.
As a Titus 2 "older woman," I have the responsibility to birth, nurture, and send out the next generation of women. I join Hannah in vowing that if the Lord would give me children - spiritual children - I will give them back to Him when the time came.
Just as God answered Hannah's prayer, He answers mine time and again. As my Old Testament sister did with her son Samuel, as a spiritual mother, I keep my end of the deal by giving my girls to God's service to carry out His work.
Presenting them to the Lord at His appointed time has often been wrenching. It means taking a less directive role with them yet still communicating my full support and remaining quietly available. It means being needed less and having to trust them - and God - more. But there is also "no greater joy," as the Apostle said in III John, than to know that your spiritual children are "walking in the truth." That is my comfort. I think it was Hannah's as well.
I often recall Hannah's commitment when my spiritual children reveal that they are all grown up and ready to forge ahead in faith. I try to live up to Hannah's promise by applying her motherly words to each of my God-daughters: "For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent [her] to the LORD. As long as [s]he lives, [s]he is lent to the LORD (1 Samuel 1:27-28, ESV).
As mothers and as ministers of God's grace within the church, let's always be about loving deeply but loosely holding on to the ones God brings our way. Then we can give them back to the Giver of all good things, knowing they are where they belong.


7 Signs That It Is Time To Let Go
By Rebekah Montgomery

Eagles fledge. Children become adults. And hopefully, some of the women you disciple will grow up spiritually and be ready to move on. Here's some ways you can recognize spiritual maturity in them.
1. A driven desire to share Jesus. You don't have to motivate or push the spiritually mature. They WANT to share Jesus because He inspires them.
2. A vision. God gives people a vision for the ministry He is calling them to.
3. The urge to be autonomous. Be wary on this one. Some people are born rebels and chaff under any leadership. But a spiritually mature woman will derive her guidance from the Lord while respecting and appreciating your leadership.
4. They will give as much as they take. In the early days of discipling a woman, she will be high maintenance. As she mature, she will look for ways to give back.
5. She will have "babies" of her own. A spiritually mature Christian woman will automatically begin winning and nurturing other women.
6. A hunger and understanding for the Word.
7. She will point others to Christ, not develop a personality cult around herself.

P.S. You stil have time to register for Right to the Heart of Women Conference, August 5 & 6 in Saint Louis, MO. Register today! Space is limited!

Go Back to our Feature: Breakthrough Tactics to a Stronger Ministry; CLICK HERE

Our sponsor, JubilantPress, has e-books to help you prepare for ministry:

 

For additional information on ministry and money, see: The Complete Guide to Speaking Professionally by Kathy Collard Miller.

Start a Women’s Ministry From the Ground Up by Betty Voshage,

NEW! Two E-Reports in One! How to Find Your Own Agent; How To Be Your Own Agent by Janet Kobobel Grant

 

All three titles are available at www.JubilantPress.com.

P.S. Remember to sign up for our next Right to the Heart of Women's Ministry Seminar in Saint Louis, Missouri, August 6-7. See www.AttendNow.com.

P.S.S. Next week, watch for the popular audio postcard with the One-Minute
Ministry Tip. You’ll laugh, learn, and love it!

 

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