{"id":8572,"date":"2023-07-24T13:46:39","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T17:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/?p=8572"},"modified":"2023-07-24T14:08:59","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T18:08:59","slug":"an-encouragement-for-july-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2023\/07\/an-encouragement-for-july-4\/","title":{"rendered":"An Encouragement For July"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Center for Leadership Excellence, in partnership with COSROW, is pleased to lift up the voices of women in ministry encouraging<\/em> fellow women in ministry. Please enjoy this month\u2019s Encouragement from Kristen Hanna, Associate Pastor at Christ Church UMC.<\/em><\/em><\/em> Anyone can sign up to receive these monthly emails here<\/a>.<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This summer, in our neck of the woods in Chapel Hill, we have been journeying together through the \u201chumble beginnings\u201d of God\u2019s people as recounted in Genesis. A few weeks ago, we came to the story of Jacob\u2019s vision of the ascending ladder filled with angels traveling back and forth into paradise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genesis 28:16 (CEB): <\/strong>
When Jacob woke from his sleep, he thought to himself, The Lord is definitely in this place, but I didn\u2019t know it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verse sixteen of the pericope struck me. How often have I encountered God and been surprised to find God there? Or, how many times has the Holy Spirit snuck up behind me, completely unawares? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And furthermore, how many situations have I walked through and been surprised to encounter the Divine around the corner, waiting like an unsuspecting friend who was there the entire time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have always joked that my best intentions for the summer months are to catch up on everything that I\u2019ve needed to do, but every time summer rolls around, I find myself in a new kind of busy. Sure, it\u2019s not the same fast-paced rhythm that comes with the cooler fall and spring seasons, but it is a different kind of hectic, one marked by schedule changes, VBSs, travel, mission trips, Annual Conference, and the list goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we straddle the middle of July, savoring these last summer weeks before the coming onslaught of fall scheduling mayhem, I wonder what it would look like to pause, to rest, and to dream as Jacob dreamed. Who knows, God may show up in the places we least expected!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In partnership,
Center for Leadership Excellence and the Commission on the Status and Role of Women<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This summer, in our neck of the woods in Chapel Hill, we have been journeying together through the \u201chumble beginnings\u201d of God\u2019s people as recounted in Genesis. 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