Lydia Ministries International is excited to announce our new ministry to pastors
and laity alike, MOSES! What is "MOSES?" MOSES MINISTRY is a Life Coaching
ministry to support pastors and laity who are a). in transition b). are stuck! We all go through times of transition.
Rev. Leipsner went through a tremendous time of transistion when she became a widow. It was then that she sought out the assistance
of Life Coach, Kim Fletcher.
"I knew that God was calling
me to a helping ministry to assist pastors and their families. I had laid a foundation for Lydia Ministries, but I needed
someone who could help me focus on the things that would be important, to hold me accountable to my own personal goals, would
serve as a 'sounding board', and would encourage me when I got discouraged. I turned to Life Coach, Kim Fletcher,"
Susan says. "Kim was great! She was the one who first asked if I would be willing to take Lydia Ministries to the International
level. I had so many international requests from India, multiple countries in Africa, Pakistan, and the middle-east.
Soon after, Lydia Ministries became Lydia Ministries International. I don't think I would have gotten beyond the web page
if it hadn't been for having a life coach to help me through. Kim pointed me to resources that I would not have otherwise
had, and she always encouraged me."
Rev. Leipsner continues, "When I was preparing to go for the first time to Ghana,
west Africa, I talked to Kim about my feelings of inadequacy. I had seen so much need on my recent trip to India, and
I didn't want to take false hope to the people in Ghana. I was overwhelmed by the amount of need that I knew I would
encounter at the Buduburam Refugee camp. I didn't have money to give, or anything of material value. I couldn't
change their financial picture, solve their hunger and medical problems, I couldn't give them a country of freedom to
raise their children in. What good would it do for me to go there?
Then, Kim told me, 'You are to be the blessing. Don't worry about taking a blessing,
just be the blessing.' This resonated within me and that is what I have tried to remember and to do since then.
What Kim Fletcher did for me as a Life Coach is what I want to offer to others, as an extension of Lydia Ministries International."
Why
MOSES?
Rev. Leipsner explains, "MOSES stands for Moving Onward Supporting
Every Step -- this is a mission statement for the Moses ministry, we want to help pastors and laity to be able to move onward
through their journey, and we want to offer support in every step.
Moses of the Hebrew Bible/the Old Testament, led a life of transitions, even as a baby! He was born the son of a Hebrew
couple, but to save his life, his mother placed him in a basket and put him in a river. Water is certainly a place of transitions!
Water is always moving and flowing and changing, and it changes everything around it -- look at the Grand Canyon, for example!
It was transformed out of the clay of the earth over millions of years by what -- water!
So, Moses was placed in the water, a place of transformation for him, and drawn out of the
water (which is what Moses means in Hebrew -- drawn out) by the Pharoah's daughter. Moses became the son of a Pharoah!
Another transformation! He went from being the son of a Hebrew slave to the son of the most powerful man on earth at
that time, a Pharoah!
Then, when Moses was a young
man, he struck a slave driver to protect a Hebrew slave. The slavedriver died. Moses was cast out of the kingdom. He has now
entered into another time of transition. He is no longer the son of a Pharoah, a potential ruler in Egypt, but has become
a nomad without a home or family.
Later, Moses meets and
marries Zipporah, and the story goes on until one day, the prince turned pauper turned shephard is out tending his sheep when
he encounters God in the form of a burning bush. Wow, does Moses undergo a transformation then! Even his hair is turned, transformed
-- white! Moses is transformed from being a shephard leading sheep to an ambassador of the Great and Mighty God!
He later undergoes another transformation of circumcision, showing that he and his belonged to God.
All through the account of Moses leading the people out of Egypt you will find signs of transformation.
From child of Hebrew slaves to finally the man that God empowered, equipped and ensigned to bring HIS people out of captivity
to slavery in Egypt, which in Hebrew is Misrayim (sounds like misery to me).
5 Ways and Reasons We Get Stuck in Transistions
1. We get stuck looking back to "the good old days!" Even if they were not so good.
It's easy to get stuck in times of transition.
How do we get stuck? Well, let's take an example from the story of the Hebrew children. Exo
16:1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children
of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after
their departing out of the land of Egypt.
Exo
16:2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses
and against Aaron in the wilderness;
Exo
16:3 and the children of Israel said unto them: 'Would that we had died by
the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought
us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.'
The Hebrew
people were looking back to the days in captivity; the days when they had a daily diet of the same old stuff -- their
"flesh pots" were full! So, here they were headed to the Promised Land, to the land of milk and honey, of
freedom and plenty -- but they were looking back to the flesh pots, the days of captivity. It's alright to have
cherished memories, but if we are living in the past, we are cheating the present -- and we are neglecting the future ahead
of us.
2. We Get Stuck In the What-if's! What
if we don't have what it takes? What if the economy fails? What if we fail? Rev. Leipsner says, "My major
fear was, what if I can't meet people's expectations. Through Life Coaching and the resources that I gained through
that experience, I realized I wasn't responsible to fulfill people's expectations, I was only responsible to fulfill
the promises I made. I'm very careful not to make promises I can't keep."
The Hebrew people were always afraid of the "what
if's". What if they didn't have enough to eat? Even when God responded to their whining about the
flesh pots they left behind and gave them manna from heaven, they continued to not trust in His provision.
He wanted them to trust him, to know that He would provide for
their every need, so God told them to only take enough for the day. But, they didn't trust God,
so they would take extra -- it rotted and became wormy!
Rev. Leipsner says, "I have a dear friend who is a pastor. He's one of the best pastors I know of. His biggest weakness
is that he gives too much of himself, if that can be a weakness. This pastor has a true heart and call to the mission
field. But, he's afraid of the what-if's. What if he can't raise enough funds to take care of his family? What
if he can't get medical care or insurance for himself and his family? What if they have no place to live? I'm
not saying he should quit his ministry today and run off helter skelter. But, take the necessary steps to do what it takes
to live out your call to missions, to ministry, to fulfill your dreams! If you go in with the right heart and attitude,
God will bring good out of it, and if it is His will, He will give you all that you need to do what He is calling you to do."
3. We get stuck in the tragedies
of our pasts.
Moses didn't want
to go back to Egypt because he had faced tragedy there. He was afraid the people wouldn't follow him because he was known
as a murder in Egypt. At least where he was at now, he had a loving family, a modicum of peace, and he didn't have to
deal with his pain. Going back meant he would have to deal with the Pharoah's family -- the ones who had been his
family! He would have to deal with the tragedy in his life, and choose to go move onward.
Rev. Leipsner says, "When Gary died, I didn't want to think about the future.
I just wanted to be left alone. After all, I was a widow. I had faced tragedy. I didn't want to face the future
without Gary. Life hurt. Moving forward meant moving forward without Gary. It meant leaving our lives behind and making
a life for myself.
Then, about a month after
Gary's death, a dear woman emailed me. She wanted to know what I was going to do now! At first, I felt afronted -- how
dare she ask me what I was going to do now! What did she mean? Didn't she know I was grieving! I was going through
a tragedy, and it was horrible. How dare anyone suggest that there might be a future out there, somewhere. So, I told
her what all of my friends had assumed, I would eventually go to Israel -- maybe -- and do ministry there. I thought
that would be enough, she would leave me alone in my tragedy. But, she wrote back, "Good, I'm going in September,
and you can go with me." This dear woman, Klaudia Zhelezney of Chosen People Ministries, probably saved my life!
At first, my family couldn't believe I was going at
first, even though I had been to Israel many times before. How was I going to leave the close-knit support of our family,
of my children and grand-children and fly to the other side of the world? Would I be OK? Could I take care of myself,
or would I fall into despair and depression away from family and familiarity?
I asked Klaudia what she would expect of me while we were there, I wanted to be prepared to do whatever I was supposed to
be doing. She said she just wanted to take care of me while we were there, that would be her number one priority. Of
course, I didn't want to be taken care of, I just wanted to be left alone. But, I knew I had to move forward.
At least I would be away from my family, I would take my grief and go somewhere else so that they would not be reminded daily
of my pain. Maybe then they could deal with their own feelings of grief. So, I went to Israel for four or five weeks.
It was the beginning of the beginning for me.
Oh, you may be thinking
that Klaudia and I were very close friends -- no. We had never met before I got off the plane in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Klaudia
had been scheduled to speak at one of Gary's churches over a year before he was killed. She was to come at Easter,
but then a tragedy struck my family -- my only sister died! We had to cancel Klaudia's visit. But, we had stayed
in touch over the next year. It was a month after Gary's death when I thought to email her of this yet another
tragedy that had struck my family, and she asked me to go to Israel with her.
You see, Klaudia had walked down this same path, she was a widow, too. Her husband had been a pastor and he had died unexpectedly
too. She knew what it was like to want to be stuck in the tragedy, and she knew I would need someone to walk the path
with me. So, underneath the Mediterranean skies in the land of Israel, I began reaching out toward the future.
4. We get stuck in a mire of "perfectionism"
Moses
was about to get stuck in "perfectionism" --
Exo 4:10 And Moses said unto the LORD: 'Oh Lord, I am not
a man of words, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.'
Exo 4:11And the LORD said unto him:
'Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? is it not I the LORD?
Exo 4:12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and
teach thee what thou shalt speak.'
Exo 4:13
And he said: 'Oh Lord, send, I pray Thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt send.'
Exo 4:14And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and He said: 'Is there not
Aaron thy brother the Levite? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee; and when he seeth
thee, he will be glad in his heart.
Exo 4:15
And thou shalt speak unto him, and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will
teach you what ye shall do.
Exo 4:16 And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people; and it shall come to pass, that he shall be to thee a mouth, and
thou shalt be to him in God's stead.
Moses was afraid that he wasn't going to be able to do the job
"perfectly" because he was slow of speech. But, God told him that it was He that had created Moses and Moses'
mouth, and He would send Aaron to speak for him, and together they would get the job done -- Moses, Aaron, and God -- but
mainly it was going to be God.
It's easy to get stuck when we want to do everything "perfectly". I took a class over two times in college,
the first time I got a B, the second time I had to withdrawal due to family reasons and the third time I finally got the A
that I wanted. I could have taken two other classes (or at least one), and there was no big difference in the A and the B!
I have an entire basket filled with unfinished
projects -- sewing projects, craft projects, household projects -- unfinished because they weren't turning out the way
I quite expected. One time, my doctor asked if I would make her children's clothes. She had seen a dress that I
was hand-smocking for one of my granddaughters. She said it was the most exquisite dress she had ever seen. Soon after
that I put it away. I had made a slight mistake and it wasn't going to turn out perfectly! How silly of me!", Rev.
Leipsner says.
What dream have
you put aside because of 'perfectionism'? Take it out now, dust it off, look at it and love it for all of it's
flaws. It is in the imperfections of our dreams that God can work, that He can create and make perfect our imperfection!
5. We get stuck trying to hold on to what we know -- even if what we know is causing us pain!
The Hebrew people had prayed, dreamed and dared to believe that one day they would know
the taste of freedom. We know they had prayed for freedom because God told Moses that He had heard his people's cries,
and He told Moses to go down and lead His people out of captivity! So, if they had been crying out to God for freedom
from this captivity to slavery, what happened?
They were stuck in the
comfort of that which is known, and they did not want to trade it for the unknown -- even if the unknown was the Promised
Land! Can you imagine sitting there, munching on a handful of manna from heaven, tearing off a piece of freshe roasted
quail that God had provided, and moaning and groaning about the flesh-pots of captivity? Wow, here they were marching
toward the Promised Land, but looking back and yearning for their slave drivers in Egypt!
Yet, aren't we the same way. We would rather stay in whatever it is that is holding us captive than to let go of
it and run towards the Promised Land of hope, of milk and honey! Anything that is familiar may seem comfortable --even
if it is killing us!
Sometimes, the familiar things we want to
hold on to were not bad, they may have been beautiful. However, they have passed. They are now in the hall of fame of memories.
It's OK to go into the hall of fame of memories every once in a while. But, just like going into a carnival hall of mirrors,
we have to remember that things in the hall of fame of memories are distorted! We look through the lens of memory, and
things somehow seem different than they were.
Rev. Leipsner says,
"When I was a little girl, about six or seven, we lived in Bristol, Tennessee. We lived in a nice red brick house
on the corner of the street. There was a wrap around porch that went around the front and the side of the house. I can
remember how high off the ground that porch seemed, and how proud I was the first time I jumped down off the 'high end'
of the porch like my older brother! Years later I revisited that old homeplace. I was almost sad that I had when I saw
that this high porch I had so bravely leapt off of was merely two feet off the ground!"
There are many women who are stuck in abusive or unhealthy relationships because they are "familiar" and if you
ask them why they don't leave, they may say something like, "But, this is all I've ever known! Where would I
go? What would I do?" And, sometimes we want to shake them and say, "Anything would be better than this! You
could go to a shelter and you would be safe." To which they might reply, but I wouldn't be sleeping in my own bed."
Or, what about the man who stays in the same dead-end job where he has hit the glass ceiling
years before. But, he "knows" this company. He knows the people there, and what is expected of him. He knows
the misery he is in now, and he assumes that if he left this misery he would just be in a different kind of misery
somewhere else. Like the woman who can't believe that she might really be able to create a life of joy and wholeness for
herself, he doesn't believe that he might just move into a career that is both meaningful and inspiring and fulfilling
if he's willing to take a chance on himself.
Move Onward with MOSES in May and June 2009 --
Lydia Ministries International through the MOSES program is offering
complimentary
Christian Life Coaching Sessions from May
15-June 15th 2009!
If you have identified with some of the challenges that Moses and the Hebrews faced
as they wandered around, stuck in the wilderness, then you aren't alone. We all get stuck on occasion.
What might be keeping you from realizing your dreams, from moving forward with your ministry or career plans,
or might be keeping you stuck in unhealthy relationships? Deep within your heart, you know where you want to go, but
getting there is taking the first step, and the direction just seems to be elusive -- the questions abound, and you don't
think you know how to get there from wherever 'here' happens to be for you today? A Life Coach can help you as you
take the steps by asking the right questions and listening to your heart and helping you hear what you
are saying.
Lydia Ministries International, through our new MOSES (Moving Onward
Supporting Every Step) wants to help you Move Onward. From May 15th-June 15th 2009, we invite you to celebrate
the launch of this new ministry with us by are offering two complimentary coaching sessions to clergy
and laity alike. Logistically, we can only do this while we have appointments open on the appointment books. We'll take
appointments on a first-come first-serve basis at our discretion. These may be either in person if you live in or are
located in western North Carolina, or by phone if you are in the Continental U.S. It won't even cost you so much
as a phone call! There are no strings attached, no billing, no credit card numbers or check numbers taken for these
two complimentary sessions. We want to invest something in you, while we launch this new ministry. We encourage
you today to email us for your two complimentary coaching sessions. Use the form below to contact us
for your appointment -- today. When the appointments are filled, we will remove this complimentary services offer
and it will no longer be available.
