Motivation Monday - Why Relationships Matter
“We are inviting you wherever you are in Canada, and will continue to invite you, to come and find your place at the Gather table.
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If you want to find out what’s going on with women in the church in Canada, sometimes you just have to get on a plane, set a table and gather whoever will respond to the invitation.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to invite 200 women from a stunning Calgary church to come out of hiding and join us February 4, 2023 in Calgary to be reawakened to the story God wants to write through the obedience of their lives.
As a Gather Team, we sat at tables with brilliant women and spoke honestly about how we can do the work God has called us to do and flourish as the female part of the body of Christ.
If there is one thing we agreed on, this is it:
Our rising is never to the detriment of the whole church, but for its’ betterment.
We are used to hearing inspirational, motivational, and even warrior-like calls to rise and walk into our purpose. Sometimes we shake our head wondering what does that even mean? What are we rising to? Where are we going? And, most importantly, who are we going with?
The fire that kindles the beginning of any movement forward
are the relationships between us.
Jesus could have rallied thousands, and even millions, to rise up and dismantle the current political, religious and social systems.
Rather, He chose to invest in a frail group of men who had no sense of their identity or calling until He said three simple words: “Come. Follow me.”
Rather, He chose to go out of His way to spark a sacred relationship with a Samaritan woman in the wrong place, at the wrong time, who had lived a very wrong past.
Rather, He chose to fry up some fish for Peter who needed to be reminded of his call to be a fisher of men rather than go back to fishing for fish.
Rather, He chose to look around and see the hemorrhaging woman with all of her shame and seeing what should have been hidden, looked at her and blessed her faith.
Rather, He chose to see the woman in the synagogue, and, on the wrong day, speaking to the wrong woman at the wrong time, acknowledge the length of her suffering, and raise her up to her healing and identity as a daughter of Abraham.
Jesus chose to change the world one conversation and one relationship at a time.
And so must we.
One conversation and one relationship at a time, we have the opportunity to change the world.
But we must first be in rooms and at tables with each other where we value the other, and broaden pools of shared meaning and language. Then we go out into the world stronger.
True friendships bring together, are bridge-building, are considerate, discerning, unprejudiced, and committed to treating each other with equal dignity and honour.
There are stunning women God is raising up across our nation. While we can find ourselves in large rooms with stunning platform, in this moment, trusting relationships between sisters united in friendship and cause must precede and ground all of our efforts to positively impact our environments.
We need each other. To share experiences.
To voice doubts, concerns, solutions.
To pray for each other.
To see each other.
To rally together
to create a compelling force of love and unity so strong
that future generations of women
can follow in our wake.
The women we met at the Gather table in Calgary were stunning in the breadth and depth of their wisdom and experience. They were breathtaking in their passion to be here for whatever it looks like to invest in the now and next generation of women Christ-followers. They were passionate about co-labouring with male counterparts in order to transform ministry and marketplace environments that reflect the glory of God and His impartation of His image on all of humanity.
We are inviting you wherever you are in Canada, and will continue to invite you, to come and find your place at the Gather table.
Joyce, one of our friends at the weekend table declared that by gathering and feasting, we are engaging in potent spiritual warfare against the forces who do not want us to pursue this potent and worthy sisterhood. The enemy of our souls know that the unifying thread that tethers us to each other and to God has the power to bring down strongholds.
Let us continue to gather. Let us continue to pursue godly friendships. Friendships that stay when others disintegrate. Friendships that call up, that champion, that rally, that tell the truth. Friendships grounded in the truth of God’s word. Friendships that always lead each other to Christ and His gospel. Friendships that open portals for genesis moments. Friendships that remind that there is a hope and a future.
Psalm 51:7
“Lord, shape a Genesis {new} week out of the chaos of my life.”
I believe in you.
God bless.
CathieGod bless.
Cathie