In this next season of my life, I am focusing more than ever on women in leadership but the difference will be that I am focusing on both secular women in positions of leadership and those in the religious community. I recently attended (if only one day) the 3rd Annual Women in Ministry Conference in Fort Lauderdale, hosted by Dr. Suzan Johnson Cooke. The conference draw around 175 women from all over the world. Here is a link that speaks of the event that took place.

The conference was a little of “this” and “that” for women and one of the best features of this conference is the “approachability” of all the speakers. One of the table discussions had during the event was “Staying Holy when your Horny”…hello! This is the real stuff. Having put on many a conference with as many as 650 women I know its very hard to put this together. I thank Dr. Sujay to wanting to make a difference in the lives of women everywhere.

I could hardly get up today from all the working out I’ve been doing! One of the things that I find so interesting and so segmented in our christian society is the fact that many of us are not healthy and our bodies are not taken care of as the ”temple” that it is. I got tired of being fat. I want to live as long as possible and be around for my kids and family in general. Yet, an unhealthy weight is not the road that leads to such possibilities.

I  have a trainer by Hollywood Beach area and while its not the easiest thing I’ve ever done, actually its the hardest…it wasn’t my doctorate, the things I’ve attempted to establish in my life, working my marriage, none of these things have been as hard as making a decision to work my body both through working out and by changing the decisions I make about what I eat and cook. For a Puerto Rican that is huge!! My trainer has me on all sorts of vitamins to help kick start my system and trust me it takes some getting used to.

 While many people say I don’t look my age (and I’m glad) not that I’m old by any means, I still want to be in the best possible shape I can be because I can’t do anything for anyone including God if my body is not in good shape. I’ve lived too long with the attitude that it doesn’t matter. It does and I need to stop being in denial. The truth is that I may not like it, I may not like the foods I have to eat, the work outs that have me SORE ALL OVER, the discipline needed to make good body decisions every day but it can lead to the best me in my life. Wouldn’t that be great!   My body was not going to get in shape by itself, I knew enough to know that I needed a kick in the buttocks so now my trainer is giving it to me. I also read books on what helps do your body good. Its not only because I want to look and feel good people that I do this…its because I want to give my life to making a difference in this world…in order to do that I need to be healthy.

What about you? What are you in denial about?

This morning on Good Morning America, Robin Roberts (who I just love) interviewed Victoria Osteen. She asked Victoria, “what is the importance of women in ministry” and although her answer was well, not that great, the fact that they were talking about the increasing role of women in ministry was awesome. Apparently, Victoria is now Co-Pastor alongside of her husband Joel at their gigachurch, Lakewood Church, which was recently named the largest church in the U.S. by Outreach magazine. Here is an article about that. 

While I am the co-pastor of a micro-church, I am very pleased to have the issue of women in ministry in the forefront. It seems that many magazines are now realizing its an issue that should be discussed. PRISM magazine however has been giving a voice to the issue since 2004 and they have me writing about it every other month! They were ahead of the curve!

It’s an incredibly liberating feeling to do the things you feel you are supposed to do because you hear that in your heart than to listen to the voices around you telling you who you are supposed to be. Unfortunately, being the you you believe you are supposed to be takes guts. Many people in our world just don’t have enough guts to listen to the still, small voice in their hearts. It’s much easier to conform and be who others think you should be.

It wasn’t until I went through two major life crisis that I finally had the courage to say the “heck with what others think, I WILL be my most authentic me!” I’ve been living that life ever since and I love it! Not that I was a fake before. But I was less me and more of the socially acceptable Liz. I am a radical. I question, I wonder, I wander and I love me.

So where you are in life? Are you being the most authentic you or are you conforming because you care too much about what others think of you? All the people in the world who made a difference had to stand up one day and say “who cares what they think!” and with that proclamation they went on to change the world.

It is so much like our religious society to judge people who are wandering –wandering between a world of knowing they believe in God but not knowing exactly  how that should play out in their everyday lives; wandering about how to best express their desire to serve God and love God without having to live to a set of do’s and dont’s (i.e. you can’t wear earrings, pants, you can’t drink wine or any alcoholic beverage NO not even one, etc).

I know its difficult for people not to judge, after all, that is the best way they gauge their own spiritual walk but comparing themselves to others right? Not that I advocate this litmus test for spirituality because I don’t but its the truth that I see live out alot by those in so-called religious circles.

I think I am a bit of a wanderer perhaps that is why I like my spiritual community and really can’t see myself any other place. I am ok with not having a traditional service, I am ok sitting on a sofa rather than a pew, I am ok having wine bottles as decoration and the smell of coffee in the air because to me what matters most is the discussion that takes place, the hearing of the voices that make up our small fellowship and how they are receiving what we are sharing and how they are trying to live the life of a disciple every day.

I don’t know about you and how you are living your life, what questions you are asking, what pressure you are under to conform or reform, but I am liberated. I don’t care how people view me, my theology, my philosophy on life or love, because although I am a wanderer I am certainly not lost.

I am hoping this news about ORU is just alot of hype and all will be discovered to be false. With the butt kicking the gospel continues to take in this society because of the actions (or inactions) of leaders in the faith-based community, I just hope and pray…

On the heels of my recent post on the obsession with numbers, Outreach Magazine just came out with their “fastest growing churches” issue.  Interesting. I pass by the #1 church on the list all the time down here, I had a friend who had a friend that escaped that church. Nuf said as I don’t want to get a slander suit. LOL.

I read this article today in the NY Times and I totally think they are on to something.  I have to say that my journey to the doctorate was horrible. I had a person named Mr. Greene who had “TOO MUCH POWER” and only a “B.A.” reviewing all the dissertations for the branch of the school I was graduating from. Shall we say “absolute power corrupts absolutely!” I have only had really bad feelings looming in the hatred unchristian category for two people…he is one of them. I am being honest here folks…he thought he was editing for Princeton or Harvard! Sending back my paper for such things as a comma missing here, a block quote missing a period, margins off a centimeter…seriously folks sometimes the only thing that keeps many ABD’s from the piece of paper is the person in the dissertation office that reviews finals already approved by Committee chairs. I have nothing good to say about the process but for those going forward…I wish you a better journey than I had.