Stomach in knots, throat tightened, and holding back waves of nausea…you might think I was battling a virus. Not so. In my mind, it was something far worse: confrontation. My body was reacting to my emotional turmoil as I sat across the conference table from another woman in leadership. And it was not just the two of us. The conflict had escalated to the point where our husbands ...

My sport of choice is tennis. I love the game. During the 2009 French Open Men's Final, a crazed fan leaped over the stands and onto the court to taunt the second-ranked world player, Roger Federer. As you can imagine, it was quite a scene. Tennis, with its air of prestige and sophistication, is not accustomed to unruly spectators. Within those few seconds, the emotions of ...

Several years ago while travelling by ferry overnight in Alaska a scene unfolded that I suspect caused at least one angel to gasp: the expanse of the sky transformed from inky blackness into an infinite canvas on which brushstrokes of apricot, sapphire, and emerald painted themselves into the night sky. Like an oil painting in progress, the colors refused to stand still. The ...

Today I read an article that made me very sad. It was written by a woman whom I respect, though we disagree on some things. This particular article (about which I will not disclose any more details than what I have here) arrived at some conclusions that I do not share, but what disappointed me was the author's tone. It was not loving toward other women. Going beyond disagreement, ...

There was no commissioning or prayer of "sending."

I held two ministry positions; I was dismissed from one, and I resigned from the other. I didn't seem to fit the mold for ministry and I didn't enjoy the administration. The amount of time I spent inside the walls of the church office was killing me. I found myself in trouble for spending too much time out of the office and ...

We have embarked into the 21st century. We have witnessed amazing discoveries in science, medicine, and technology. Despite all the advancements, some churches still permeate with prohibition of women in spoken ministry.

Maturing in biblical knowledge, it baffles me how the church ever got blindsided by the "let your women keep silent" philosophy. God has always achieved miracles, ...

"Ouch!" I breathed one afternoon in my office. Shawn (not his name), our newly hired pastoral team leader (and therefore my new boss), had just commented on how forceful and scary "women from Trinidad" could be. That hurt. I'm from Trinidad. I wondered what about me had allowed him the space to offer such a remark. More, I wondered what it said about him.

On the surface, Shawn ...

I'm often baffled when a committed follower of Christ asks, "What's your calling?"

To me, the answer is a no-brainer. The "call" of every Christian is the same: to commit ourselves to follow Jesus and be conformed to his image. In other words, the calling on our lives is to press our noses so close into the shoulders blades of Jesus that he's the only one we see and follow. ...

She found me in the church kitchen. "I know you are busy, but…" her fingers plucked at her sweater. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" I leaned on the doorjamb and leaned into the conversation. Life was hard, she said. She wondered if I could pray for her to get this new job, and she wanted to ask me about how I got to the ministry position I held at the church.

She looked ...