It’s been awhile time since the3dm women’s equipping weekend. I’d like to say that the reason I’ve taken so long to blog about it is because I’ve been in deep, deep reflection. In truth, life happened. And by life I mean been parent teacher conferences, meal plans, winter clothing shopping. Stuff happened, visits from family, work trips. Work. Watching Parenthood & Modern Family. Doing parenthood and modern family. And everything in between.

That said, I remember the weekend. Its significance is still resounding in my heart. And getting under my skin…

When I saw the women gather for our equipping weekend, expectation rose within my heart. What a range of women! They were single, they were married. They were home schooling stay at home moms, they were corporate professionals, they were young adults and they were empty nesters. There were women starting out in ministry and executive and senior pastors. Different life stage, colors, cultures, different theological views, Still we were women who loved Jesus and wanted to be faithful kingdom representatives wherever he placed us. They inspired me.

In the closing benediction of Hebrews, the writer prays that God will

“equip you with all you need for doing His will.” (13:21) The word equip means to

To complete, repair, mend, prepare, strengthen, and make what ought to be…

Over the weekend, we sought to equip the women in the movement theologically, emotionally, and very practically.

Equipped Theologically: Discovering and embracing the women we’d always been designed to be.

We (men or women) don’t live beyond what we think about ourselves, so we need to ensure our minds are informed by the right things, by the truth. It’s a complex time to be a woman. There’s lots within our culture and our personal experience that shapes our identity and purpose. Messages that tell us our worth and potential are found in our appearance, our clothing size, our bank balance, our home. Messages, circumstances that tell us how to think and feel about ourselves and the world around us. But only our Creator knows what we‘ve been made for. “it’s in Christ we find out who we are and what we’re living for” Ephesians 1:10 MSG)

We saw that when God made humanity, both men and women were called into close relationship with God. Our covenant identity redefined our lives, spoke louder that the voices of our culture. We are ezers, made in the image of God. We saw that God gave us identity, but also purpose. Whilst God loves that we know are true worth, value and beauty, he has more for us – he has a purpose. We’ve been commissioned to represent Him, to be kingdom operatives in his world. We’ve been entrusted with the responsibility - He will move through our lives to heal the sick, cast our demons, share good news, and address the systemic injustices and oppression in the world around us. He will use our hands, our feet, our lives, our voices…. Are we available? We’ve nurtured the covenant relationship, now will we invest in our call to kingdom representation wherever He calls us?

Equipped Emotionally: to mend and repair

For many of the women present embracing their call had been a difficult experience, especially in the area of church leadership. Some arrived weary, weary of not being heard, weary of not being seen. For some women difficult experiences with male leaders stung for years beyond the painful encounter.

For others the lack of mentoring and investment had sown seeds of uncertainty. They wondered if they were gifted after all, or just too ambitious. Could they really dream, were they truly called? Many were waiting for an indicator that it was… OK, permission of some kind, perhaps forgetting that God had already commissioned us. But how to you rise to a calling and a dream with no one to help you and if you can’t see people like you there… if the call even real? Some wrestled with what it might cost to surrender their longings and dreams. Would they still get married if they really pursued their calling?

In one session Sally took us on a trip Downton (Abbey), retelling the story of women whose entwined lives, were defined by insecurity, comparison and competition. But when the nation was plunged into war, they had to get past their issues in order to survive. What would become of their lives? (No spoilers please!) . It wasn’t hard to find the parallels… plagued by comparison and competition, our relationship with other women can be destructive and alienating. But in the event of a spiritual war… would we get past our issues and come together in service to the King? I wondered what comparison and competition has cost the church over the years. Wounding warriors….

Yet…our Redeemer lives. So the Lord began a deep work of mending and repairing, restoring, helping women to forgive and to let go. He gave his daughters space to grieve. He called us to let go of the chains of unforgiveness and bitterness. He refreshed his daughters with courage, reminding them they were not alone, reminding us of the power of our friendships, if only we’d invest again.

Equipped Practically: prepared and complete

Getting strengthened, repair and mended was amazing in itself. But the equipping wasn’t complete unless we were also prepared. This diverse group of women sacrificed, time , money and energy to get to PI because they all wanted to make a difference in their piece of this beautiful, broken, complex world. We needed to get practical, to develop skills, share our learning, and sharing some tools for training and transformation. The workshops broke down into two sections:

“How to”workshops – how to lead huddles, hear God’s voice, plant missional communities, have an integrated life…

What the 5 fold ministry roles of ( prophet/pastor/teacher/ apostle/evangelists) looked like in the lives of 21^st Century women.

These sessions were led by women from across the 3dm movement, different ages, backgrounds, skills. It was empowering to watch them share their stories and experiences, step out in their gifting, speak with their own voices and invest what they had into the lives of others.

The weekend ended all too soon, and yet just at the right time. We looked outwards, beyond ourselves our gifts and again to the places we’ve been sent, reflecting on the strength and resolve we needed to be faithful to God’s call. Then it was time to GO…

The conference was weeks ago, but its left an indelible impression. I look at the world around us, I look at the gifts and the call of the women I met. I glance at the Great Commission and I’m challenged. We need to invest, equip and empower women to step into all God has for them, in every way that we can. And we need to do it now, and keep doing it. We need to encourage them to embrace their covenant identity in all its entirety, and t fully engage with their call to kingdom responsibility and representation. We need to find ways to invest in half the army, half the church, half of society. These things don’t just happen;we have to be strategic, we have to be intentional. This weekend inspired me and made me hopeful, yet its also challenged me to step up and discover what inspiration and hope look like terms of nuts and bolts, practical everyday empowering reality. It’s time.

(They’ll be another women’s equipping w/e in March 2013. Hope to see you there….)