Over used and Under Utilized

There’s a sigh of relief and then a rising up that happens when a woman finally becomes exposed to “another way of seeing it.” Andreas’s story is a great example.I suspect many of you will hear your own story in Andrea’s.

In high school, I was involved with a wonderful church youth group. I went on my first mission trip to Antigua with the group. Working with local missionaries, we led Vacation Bible School and church services. Only the young men were selected to give their testimonies in the services. I remember feeling so sad and confused because I loved Jesus and had so much to say. I asked God why he made me a girl if this was the way things were. I wasn’t having a gender identity crisis. It’s just that my gifts and talents weren’t being utilized or recognized… but I didn’t know that until I met Jackie 24 years later. 

I’ve had the opportunity to attend several Wine, Women and Jesus Bible studies, and participate in one of the first I’m Enough masterclasses. It has been personally transformative, but also motivated me to steward these “new” ideas so I can offer a different perspective to my female clients. I want to accurately reflect God’s truth and purpose for both women and men. 

I’m a licensed professional counselor at a faith-based nonprofit in Austin. I’m heart broken when women confide in me that their problems lie in not submitting ‘enough’ to their husbands. Or, single women confess they’re wrestling with shame messages from the church about their singleness. I’ve also wrestled with my place in the church as a woman. It’s disheartening to think I’m not the only one who drank the Kool-Aid all these years. Thank God He is all about redeeming our stories and helping us to walk in truth. God is using Jackie for that in my life, and now I’m doing that for others in my professional practice and church body. - Andrea

Overused and under-utlilzed.  

 Women who were taught roles and rules that were counter to how God made them. A sense of never fitting the mold, knowing something is off but not knowing what.

That is where our work comes in. The Marcella Project works hard to reshape our thinking about women through Scripture-based teaching. Our studies provide a safe place for women to question, deconstruct and reconstruct a new way of seeing God and themselves. When that happens, it affects every area of their lives. Andrea is taking these biblical truths into her counseling practice. Courtney is instilling them in her three little girls, and Jennifer is using them in her coaching and corporate training business. Our work reshapes women, and they, in return, reshape the others. 

None of this would get done without your support. Please give generously towards our goal of $25,000 this year end. Here’s to more stories like Andrea’s in 2020!

Ennobler of Women,

Jackie