A Message From Your Director
As the Director of Ordinary Women you would expect me to be (at the very least) passionate about discipleship, and while this is true, I am more passionate about communicating with others just how easy it is to disciple. Over the next few months, I’ll be sharing a story from my own life about discipleship that shows the ease of it, but also the patience and fortitude it takes when you are walking someone to the feet of Jesus. Ordinary Women provides you with the tools you need to disciple, and hopefully the story I’m about to share will give you a real life example of how to use what you’ve learned and apply it in your own life. Let’s start from the beginning…
It all started almost 6 years ago when we moved into our house on Charles Street. Moving into downtown Fredericksburg was something God planted in my heart many years earlier, and I knew that it came with a huge responsibility. We were to keep the doors to our home—and our hearts—open to our neighbors and create an environment that felt welcoming and inviting. We were to show the love of Jesus to them in a way we had never done in our previous neighborhood. I bought a sign to hang in our dining room that reads, “When you have more than you need, build a longer table, not a higher fence” to remind us to do just that.
Immediately after moving in, we started a run club on our block as a way of getting to know our neighbors in a non-threatening way. This group spread beyond our block but always included people that we were trying to be more intentional with. Morning runs, oftentimes, wrapped up with smoothies or oatmeal in our kitchen before heading off to work. God used this time greatly in my life to stretch my definition of hospitality and create space for Ordinary Women that would begin just one year after these runs began. Over the past 5 ½ years this running group has varied in its participants, but one person in particular has always joined us. These next few months will be about this man’s story and how God took a run group and turned it into a relationship with Him. This man’s story is still being written, but these first few chapters have been incredible to witness.
I want you to start thinking about the people in your life that you see on a regular basis and why God has placed them in your path. Start praying for them today! Start asking God to use you to encourage them in their walk with God and pray that they will see Jesus through their interactions with you. Be intentional about these prayers and make the most of every opportunity that you are around them. God can use any conversation or exchange no matter who insignificant it may seem to open up the doors of their heart for a huge life change. I’ll be praying right along with you as we take this journey together. I can’t wait to see what God is going to do over the next few months!
Let’s do this!
Emily
xoxo