Many of you know I have been the Vice President of a women's ministry in Kansas the last several months which has taken a lot of my time and energy, but has been such a wonderful blessing from the Lord. Like many ministries nationwide, we have really had to fight tooth and nail this year to prove the validity and value of the ministry work we do here. There have been many battles, both in the physical realm with paperwork and operating procedures, and in the spiritual realm. We like to think of what has happened here as a “field clearing” because now the ground is tilled, everything has been unearthed, nothing is in the dark, and we have started to build a fresh foundation. Foundations are the most important part of a building, and sometimes, because they are beneath what we see on the surface, they are also the parts that get overlooked. But, if the foundation begins to fail, the building collapses and is no longer useful.
So, as we have fought these battles the last few months, I have been in deep prayer about WHY this ministry that does so much and obviously bears fruit in people’s lives is having to fight so hard to prove its worth. I think the answer is really simple. As women, as military wives, and moms, we are blessed with the job of “Gate Keeper” to our homes. In most cases women here have husbands who are deployed, or in the field and we really become the only steady foundation for our families within the walls of our house. That’s why it is vitally important that we stay plugged in to God, because it is a lot of weight on one person. If I was your enemy and I wanted to break your faith, your sanity, your family, or your marriage…. What is the easiest way to take a building out? You take out the support beams that are holding that foundation in place! Women's ministry is that support for a lot of homes (military or not). It has been my support for over 9 years and when God moved us to a post without an active women's ministry, He called me to make my own version of it there. Why??? BECAUSE when we as women are plugged in to fellowship with Christ, and Christian women, we are stronger. Satan is smart, and we live in a time when he doesn't even need to hide himself anymore and people still refuse to acknowledge he is here. God, however, is so much bigger than anything that get’s thrown at our gates!! Isn’t it so encouraging to have the connections and support you find when women gather together in Jesus name? We pray for each other, mentor one another, and share the burdens that this crazy military environment gives us. We watch each other’s children, bring each other meals, we even come help exterminate mice for each other (you know who you are). The Hymn "and they will know we are Christians by our love" comes to mind, when I contemplate the ways this community has stepped up in hardship this year to love on one another. Here is a little of what the bible says about how important we are as “keepers” of our homes.
Titus 2: 3-5 says, “(Older) women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, keepers at home, being kind to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.”
Proverbs 31 speaks of a virtuous wife: Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land. She is the keeper of her household, and eats not the bread of idleness. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.
As you can see, from these two passages (and there are many more!), the woman’s role as Gatekeeper is valuable and important! Women are the builders, repairers, and guards of the gates of her home.
So this is where the history buff in me gets a little nerdy; did you know there were 12 gates around Jerusalem each with a different purpose and regular crowd?
There was a Fish Gate, Sacrifice Gate, Refuse (Garbage) Gate, The Fountain Gate, Valley Gate, Old Gate….etc. God really spoke to me as I continued studying, fascinated by the many segregated entrances to Jerusalem. Nothing fishy ever passed through the sacrifice gate because it was Holy and only those things acceptable to God were allowed in. Different groups of people were even separated into which gate they could enter. As women we are constantly assessing things in our home and family lives : Which gate needs to be repaired in your home? What needs to be brought in through our gates? What needs to be thrown out of our gates? What needs to be built and sometimes…. What needs to be torn down. As we begin a new year in 2019 lots of us are also assessing resolutions, weight loss goals, financial goals, and making more evaluations about WHO we want to become. Attaining these goals is going to require some heavy lifting, some elbow grease, purging more, loving deeper, and focusing on the core belief that we want to be reflections of God. Because if God isn't at the center, you will likely be part of the mass gym drop out that happens around Valentines Day, just sayin....
If you are struggling to define your 2019, to establish goals you feel are attainable for you this year, if your foundation needs some work.... let me encourage you with these.
If you are struggling to define your 2019, to establish goals you feel are attainable for you this year, if your foundation needs some work.... let me encourage you with these.
"O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, Behold, I will set your stones in antimony, And your foundations I will lay in sapphires.” Isaiah 54:11
And
Matthew 7:24-27
24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
As we build together this year and work to become better versions of who we were in 2018, I want you all to take stock in what God is doing. Own the choices you make this year. Use the gifts and talents God has given you to do many small, but great things. Be the guard of your gate, do not let garbage pile up where it doesn't belong, let in those things worthy of a strong foundation, things that bring you joy, and peace!
