Women in Ministry United Podcast

Do you ever go through the day just trying to keep up? Does it feel like you're running late and can't keep up? Does time get away from you? It is easy for the day to become hectic and to feel like you don't have enough time. But there are a few simple things that can help you plan your day to make it go as smooth as possible.

Tips to Help You Plan Your Day

Many people have said that a successful day starts the night before and there are a few things you can do before your day even begins:

Look at the day ahead of time. This way you are not caught off guard by surprises and can plan thoughtfully and not on the fly.

Make decisions the night before. Take the guess work out of as many things as possible and save yourself precious time and mental energy by making simple decisions the night before. For instance, what will you wear? What's for dinner? What will your workout be for the day? Whatever helps you get moving and keeps you moving!

Connect with the people who will be...

Do you remember the saying, "you can never have too much of a good thing?" Well, in some instances, that can spell disaster, particularly in ministry.

We are a society that believes the larger the initiative, and the more you do, the better. But in many cases doing more means achieving less. An increased number of events and doing things on a grander scale gives us a false sense of effectiveness. This type of thinking extends beyond secular culture and has infiltrated the church and various ministry organizations as well.

Many people who serve in ministry feel overloaded and fatigued. They go from one big project to the next. They are spread thin, and their leadership suffers. Instead of undertaking a few high-quality ventures that spur transformation, they crank out program after program that has minimal impact, leaving them and their people tired and overused.

More+Bigger DOES NOT EQUAL Better!

You can be a relevant church or ministry organization without overloading your team...

Today, God invites you to open your heart and allow His word to be spoken over you to strength your soul. There is nothing required of you. No call to action. Just come and receive and know how much God delights in you and in this opportunity to love you today. Listen. Receive. I know, you’re busy. You want to learn as much as you can. The temptation will be to go to another podcast or to the next thing. Allow God’s word and affirmations of His truth to be spoken over you is more powerful than any other strategy you could learn or implement in your ministry.

Be Reminded of God

• How great is the Lord. His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension.
• God’s faithful love endures forever.
• God is for you so you will have no fear. He will help you.
• The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things, it is raised in victory.
• Everything the Lord does reveals his glory and majesty. His righteousness never fails.
• God forgives all your sins and heals...

Trying to figure out how to manage all the expectations in ministry? 

In this episode, we go deeper into what lies beneath expectations and what to do with them if they are something we can't do. 

What are expectations?

• Assumptions, presumptions
• Hopes
• What they think would happen in the future
• State of Anticipating
• Feeling of what should happen

Where do they come from?

• Family, friends, neighbors, schools, people in the place of our ministry
• Formed and shaped by past experiences and personal definition of responsibilities.

Things to consider. Are the expectations:

• conscious
• realistic
• spoken
• agreed upon

What do you do with them?

• Ask God about the condition of your heart and for His guidance.
• If it was not agreed upon, acknowledge this in a kind way by saying, "I didn’t know that’s what you were expecting" or
  simply, "I’m sorry, I am not able to do that."
• If it was agreed upon, start a conversation. Talk about it. This is what I can do...this is what...

What Gets in Your Way of Creating Healthy Boundaries in Ministry?

This is a question I recently asked and the responses boiled down to 4 key things.

• I don't have a mentor. There is no one to help me figure out what this looks like and encourage me along the way.
• I don't know how to say no.  Am I allowed to say no? How do I do that? What do I say no to?
• I am genuinely interested in the things I am asked to do. I would enjoy it and honestly, I'd be good at it!
• I don't know how to manage all of the expectations.

If any of these barriers get in your way, join me for the Margin Maker workshop. We'll help you get clear on your priorities, learn how to say "no," create a plan, shift your mindset and help you establish margin (which means you have to create healthy boundaries) for the long haul. Enrollment ends April 16th at 6:00p CT. Learn more HERE.

Connect with Jen

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Does all that you do for God help you be your whole self? The answer should be YES, but many of us find that we end up losing ourselves along the way. Too many great, godly women are leaving their ministry positions. Some may step out of the position of authority, while others stay but are dying on the inside. We start off by saying yes to God and our God given assignment, but end up drifting to this place where we are not able to be the true, complete, whole person God called us to be.

The Trend

Far too many times, while we begin ministry with enthusiasm and hope, it ends up consuming all of who we are and tends to put to death the other vital pieces of our lives. None of us wake up and think, "let's say yes to ministry but ignore every other piece of ourselves or neglect important relationships," but it can happen if we are not careful.

Also Mentioned in the Podcast

Margin Maker. If you need to make margin in your life and ministry you won't want to miss the Margin...

What do you do when things look bleak in life and ministry? Do you try and fight? Do you fall back in despair? What do you hold on to as you sit at the foot of the cross in your suffering?

It is Maundy Thursday and today's episode is a special encouragement stemming from Jesus' last night before He was crucified. Things looked bleak. Pilate thought he had power and authority over the situation, able to sentence Jesus to death or set Him free.

"Then Jesus said, 'You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above...' " John 19:11

Despite how it looked, things were going according to plan...and it was a good plan because God was the one in control.

Connect with Jen

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Do you have space between your load and your limits? Do you wish you had a way to increase your capacity in ministry? There is a way to do just that, but I've got to warn you, it's counterintuitive.

Make Margin

Margin builds capacity. The more margin we have the better we are as leaders, spouses, parents, friends, and neighbors. We become wiser in our decision-making.

Making margin is one of the most powerful and courageous things we can do to thrive in life and ministry.

Join the waitlist for our new Margin Maker workshop. It will give you the strategies you need to get the margin you want!

One of the reasons why we are busy is because we have too many things to get done. But even when we are concentrating on only one thing, our momentum gets hijacked, we lose our focus, and it takes us 7 times longer to get it done.

The Hack

There is a secret (or not so secret) strategy to getting things done and it is to turn off your notifications. Whether you are using email, social media, or other tools, flip the script...don't allow your device to take control of you. 

Join me as we talk about the impact of our notifications on our ministry and strategies you can use to break free from your devices and get things done.

Have you ever experienced pushback in ministry? Have people reacted negatively to the changes that you are making? They don't like it and they're letting you know that they don't like it! That may seem like a silly question. Of course we have experienced pushback...and if you haven’t yet, don’t worry...it’s coming! 

Pushback happens.. Pushback is normal.

What should you do when someone opposes or complains about the changes you are making?

Let’s start by talking about change for a second.

Change is a stressor (even good change).

People resist change.

Resistance creates friction, otherwise known as conflict. And we typically avoid conflict. But there is such a thing as healthy conflict. It is important to reframe your thinking that pushback is bad. You’ve got to remind yourself this is normal and it can be good. Healthy conflict helps create a healthy culture and healthy people with healthy relationships.

Key Tips Discussed:

• Reframe your idea of...