Aimee Walker from Auckland, New Zealand, a former pastor, writes for The Joyful Life Magazine, serves as their community leader, and writes Bible Studies so that women grow up in Jesus.
You can find Aimee here:
What Amiee says about our spiritual legacy:
"Slow and deep."
Maturity can't be rushed. Don't feel the need to race through the Word--there are times and seasons for doing things like reading through the whole Bible in a year, and grasping the big picture. But there's also much to be said for slowly and systematically reading through books of the Bible. We gain understanding as we repeatedly read and as we take the time to meditate and dig into its truth.
The same is true for those we're reaching out to and ministering to--don't be discouraged when there are not instant results. Just be faithful to sow what God is asking you to sow.
I was reminded of this recently with one of our kids who had been struggling to integrate into our new church and make friends based in our community. We moved and started going to a new church just over a year ago, and then six months ago we started hosting a family-friendly life group in our home every second Saturday to try and help us all establish connections. We were excited that one of the families had a daughter the same age as ours and hoped they'd hit it off--but we've struggled to even get them to say "hi" to each other (for six whole months)! Then last weekend, with the start of daylight savings and lighter evenings, the two girls asked if they could walk down the road for ice-cream. We said, "yes!"--and the other mother and I celebrated as they walked off together. The next day our daughter also enjoyed church--after months of stand-offs about attending. God used these shifts in attitude to remind me that it's not a race. Just keep being faithful and trust Him to bring the fruit.
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