Encourage, Equip, Empower

Each month our very own amazing writers from South Texas publish a series of blog posts written with you in mind. Our desire is to encourage, equip, and empower you through stories, experiences, and insights from our writers and from God’s Word.

Blog Posts

Our Writers

Connect With Us

  • Peace In the Wild

    When I think about the phrase “peace in the wild,” I picture a leopardess in the middle of a jungle. I imagine the sound of monkeys hooting in the background while she cleans her paws. She’s laying down, feeling peaceful, she’s not worried about where her next meal will come from. She’s not anxious about…

  • Jesus

    At Christmas time for several years we have written about the different characters that have a part to play in the Advent story throughout the gospels on this blog.  It is one of my favorite times of year because it causes me to really dig deeper into a story that I’ve been told my whole…

  • Joseph-Beauty from Brokenness

    Matthew 1:18-25 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public…

  • God Brings the Harvest

    Photo by Binyamin Mellish on Pexels.com

    Mark 4:26-29

    The Parable of the Seed Growing

    26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

    There is so much about God’s creation that is a mystery to us all. Even with all the scientific advancements and miraculous discoveries mankind has made, God has given us the gift of the Earth and so much within it and we know so little comparatively. I love the imagery of the man scattering seed here. It can be seen as a passive throwing here and there and moving on with life, but some translations call the man a farmer. I grew up around farmers, and all their planting was planned, intentional, and with a specific outcome in mind. 

    Farming is hard work. There is much planning work in each stage of the process. If farmers scattered their seed haphazardly much would get lost, blow away, or grow too quickly in shallow ground. A good farmer knows that a harvest isn’t reaped in a day nor is one planned, planted, or picked in one either. Some of my favorite parts of reaping a harvest is the prepping stage. The stage where you pray about where and what the Lord would have you plant. 

    Many times when I’m planning my day or week I ask the Lord to guide me not only where I need to go, but to places and people where I may plant seeds in ready hearts, harvest a joyful heart, or at minimum ready a harden heart of stone so someone else might come along and plant a seed of truth. Later another could water that truth with love and fellowship. And when fully matured by God, another worker can come and harvest. This is mankind scattering seed intentionally. When we offer up every aspect of our lives and schedules to God we are obediently living our faith out and trusting the Lord for the harvest. 

    This parable reveals to us that the word of God is at work within us even as we sleep. As a type A person this is so hard for me to grasp. I want to be able to contribute to what God is doing. My obedience to be used is what God wants, but I like a practical hands on, or let’s just say it, a controlling approach. Here Jesus is revealing through this glimpse into Heaven that even as we sleep the seed that has been scattered sprouts and grows. What a relief. The weight of eternity is not on our shoulders; it’s safely in the hands of the one who made all things. We can sleep well knowing that God is the one who produces the harvest. 

    Have you ever replayed a conversation over and over in your mind? Perhaps had a confrontation you are less than proud of that plays on repeat in your thoughts? Ever wondered if you are the reason someone turns away form Jesus? If I can offer one sliver of wisdom I have gleaned from years in ministry. You, my sweet friend, are not that powerful. Yes, our words and actions are important and can become stumbling blocks for others, but the God of the harvest planned for our humanness. He knew we would stumble, mess up, and fail. Perhaps that is why he gives us so many opportunities to scatter seeds, because not every chance we get will be our utmost. The real work is left up to God, and our greatest contribution is our faith in his will and ability to bring beauty out of dry fallow hearts and cultivate a beautiful harvest. 

    A planted seed, many times, can go unnoticed. A verse shared, a bible story read, a prayer prayed—all seeds that can seem like they don’t amount to much. Only God knows how each encounter we have effects eternity. Many times, I see other Christians living lives of obedience or offering their lives up to the Lord in miniature sacrifices throughout the day that even they don’t know have been witnessed by another. Other’s lives of faith impact us without them knowing. No act of love, faith, sacrifice, or obedience is unseen or unused by our Father. 

    This is the glory of Christ’s work in us. He takes something as precious and little as a seed, plants it, and in His timing cultivates something worthy of Heaven. The most precious harvest of all, a soul joyfully proclaiming Jesus as King!  

    This parable shows us both, what God can do in and with creation and what mankind can do. The man here does what his responsibility is, planting the seed. When we plant seeds the intention should always be to reap a harvest. Not to just do a duty, but to intentionally work for the glory of God. May we always feel the weight of our words and presence in the lives of others and live audacious lives as one who scatters far and wide trusting that the Lord God will transform our little acts of obedience for his glory. May it be on earth, in our daily lives, as it is in Heaven.

    by MaKenzie V.

  • Sowing In Tears

    Photo by aj povey on Pexels.com

    Do you ever feel like you are trapped in a cycle of difficult seasons? Like just as one comes close to an end, something else starts falling apart? Winter after winter with no relief? I certainly have. There are a myriad of emotions involved in difficult times but I think the one that is the greatest hurdle for me is fatigue. When you’ve cried so much that it seems to no longer relieve the tension inside and you’ve prayed until you’ve run out of words and yet, nothing seems to change. All that is left is an overwhelming fatigue that sleep cannot dispel. It’s a fatigue that is not rooted in the absence of rest but rather the absence of peace.  

    I love the book of Psalms. If there is one thing that the psalmists understood and never failed to communicate, it is raw emotion: fear, victory, grief, joy, pain, relief and anguish.  In my humble opinion, Psalms is the most accurate description in the Bible (maybe in the world) of the human experience up close. In its pages you get to ride the roller coaster of emotion, all the while experiencing it through the lens of those holding tightly to the hand of God. I can hear the cry of my own heart as the psalmists call out to God for healing, protection and connection. I can hear it especially when the writers dare to cry out in anger, fear, pain and waiting. I am so thankful that God included the Psalms in His words to us.  

    I find that in the past several years, I’ve spent more and more time in the Psalms and in the story of King David. I won’t (or can’t) share a lot of details about my personal seasons in recent history, but if you have been where I am (or are here now) you don’t need me to–you have your own seasons to reference. I have linked a song below that I have listened to on repeat recently. It’s not a new one and I liked it back when I first heard it 20 years ago, but now it means so much more. It’s all about seasons and how God uses them. It’s a huge relief to believe that God is using this time for a purpose and that all the pain and waiting will not be wasted.

    Natural seasons have a job to do. The path that God laid out for the earth to travel from summer, to autumn, to winter, to spring, and around again and again is the path that births and supports life on this planet and allows us to grow and harvest food. Just like the natural world, God has set us all on a path that carries us through seasons intended to create and nurture new life in our hearts and relationships. One line in the song describes winter by saying “even now in death, You open doors for new life to enter.”

    In Psalm 126 the psalmist describes the pain of the people of Israel, having been in captivity in Babylon for 70 years before God delivered them. (Talk about a long season of waiting.) Just as they are finally able to come home, they return to cities and lands that had fallen into disrepair, and in some cases deliberate destruction in their absence.  Their hearts rejoiced to be free, only to break again at the sight of what had become of their home. At this moment the psalmist offers thanks for their freedom, and they get to work reclaiming Jerusalem. He writes “those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.” (vs. 5-6)

    As women, mothers, wives and breadwinners, it is often not an option for us to just sit down and quit when it gets hard. We work, take care of our families, go to jobs, and never stop, all while our hearts might be breaking. We might be holding our breath and enduring pain waiting on God to bring us out of our current season. Sometimes seasons stretch for so long that we even stop asking God to deliver us and start asking God to just help us to survive it.  

    Can I encourage you today? I cannot end this season for you, and I am here with you. If I could stop yours and you could stop my pain, I know that as sisters we would do that for each other in a heartbeat. Psalm 30:5 says that “weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” This season will end. The morning will come. And in the interim, God is working. New life and fresh revival is being cultivated under the soil of this frozen ground watered by your tears. I have been in a dark night of the soul before, and I can honestly say that the woman that walked into that season is not the same one that walked out. Growth and healing happened in that season.

    Growth and healing are words that we often associate with good things in our minds, and that is true, but what we are usually thinking of is the time after the growth and healing is complete. The actual work of healing and growth is messy and painful while it’s happening.  Childbirth, for example, is messy, vulnerable and touted as the most intense pain a woman can endure, and yet we keep signing up to have more babies because the joy that follows is so worth it.

    I do not at all want this to sound dismissive of the difficult time you might be walking through now but I want to encourage you that no matter how long your winter, no matter how long the night, the seasons are still progressing and God is still working. This season will not last forever and there will be joy in the harvest.

    “So it is with You and how You make me new with every season’s change, and so it will be as You are recreating me.  Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring….”  Every Season by Nicole Nordeman

    by Stephanie Sharp

  • Fear of Rejection

    Photo by Diva Plavalaguna on Pexels.com

    I’m used to not belonging.

    As a child, my family moved six times before I turned seven. We would go on to move two more times—once when I was 14 and again at 18. I felt like the perpetual new girl, always stepping into new places and trying to find my way into new friend groups. I would look at the established friendships my peers had, most of them growing up in one neighborhood—or at least one city—their whole lives and wondered if I would ever feel that same sense of belonging. 

    In my adult life I would go on to move to two different states and then eventually to a foreign country where my un-belonging was more pronounced than ever. I’m naturally an extrovert and enjoy making friends, but even for a people-person, the constant tension of trying to assimilate, connect, and belong is exhausting. 

    As a result of my nomadic life, I developed an intense fear of rejection. I couldn’t stand the thought of people not wanting me around, or even worse, forgetting me once I was gone. So, I became a people-pleaser. I figured, I can avoid rejection if I can always find something to contribute to a relationship, to make people want me around because of what I can add. I worked hard to learn how to read a room, to recognize a need or a gap, and then to find a creative way to fill it. I became one of those people everyone loves to have on a team because I could figure it out and get it done. My fear of rejection catapulted me into a vicious cycle of pushing past healthy limits to try and keep people happy, but still never fully feeling like I belonged.

    What I saw as a way to belong and be loved actually led to burnout and isolation, leaving me feeling more alone than ever because I was placing my value and identity in being accepted for what I could offer rather than who I am.

    We are created with a desire to love, and to be loved. It’s a primal need, a God-ordained necessity. While God is the ultimate source of love and acceptance, He also made us in His image as a relational being—just as God exists in relationship as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are designed to live in relationship with Him and with others. The difference is, God is perfect and reflects His perfect image onto us, but humans are imperfect and cast shadows of brokenness onto us (and we onto them) via our relationships. We cannot hope to find the same perfect unity of relationship that exists wthin the trinity in our human relationships.

    Whether or not people accept us holds no bearing on our value or identity, whether or not we are lovable or desirable. Jesus Himself, perfect Son of God as He was, experienced the deepest forms of rejection: rejection of His family members (John 7:5), rejection of His hometown (John 4:44), rejection of His people (John 1:11), rejection of His dearest friend at His greatest moment of need (John 18:25). Despite the many ways Christ was rejected, He was confident in His identity and firm in His calling. He did not let the rejection push Him towards performance or people-pleasing. He walked steadfastly in the purpose He was made for. Jesus even promised that if we follow Him, we will experience similar rejection:

    “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.” John 15:18-19

    We can find freedom from the fear of rejection when we, like Jesus, know that our true value and worth is not in acceptance by the world, but in being fully accepted and loved by God. We do not have to spend our days striving to earn belonging—it’s ours already through the gift of salvation. People-pleasing has no place at the cross, because we cannot earn God’s love through being “good enough.” All our efforts fall devastatingly short, but praise be to God that He does not desire our effort, but our surrender. 

    In John 17, Jesus prays a vulnerable and heartfelt prayer for His disciples. He knew the path ahead of them would not be easy, and He wanted to intercede on their behalf. Not only does He pray for the disciples, but He prays for “all those who will ever believe in me through their message.” That’s you and me! And His prayer was all about His followers belonging to God and experiencing unity and love with Christ, the Father, and the body of Christ. I encourage you to take a few moments to read all of John 17 and be reminded that we do not have to fear rejection because God loves us and is with us, no matter what we may face. 

    Heather F.

  • The Call That Fear Couldn’t Cancel

    Photo by Luis Quintero on Pexels.com

    If I close my eyes, I can still picture that night, the night I knew God had called me into ministry. I remember where our youth group was sitting, toward the top of the San Antonio Convention Center. I remember the testimony of a missionary from Vietnam who spoke at that Mighty Warriors Conference. For those who didn’t grow up in our fellowship, that is what Youth Conference is called now. I even remember the shirt I bought to commemorate the experience.

    I remember the pull of the Holy Spirit tugging me toward the altar at the edge of the stage. I remember the mix of excitement, pride, and fear as I stepped forward, declaring to my peers that I was set apart and meant for something more. I remember going home and telling my Memaw that God had called me into ministry. She reminded me that God had spoken to her long ago that her descendants would be pastors and missionaries. I was a fulfillment of that promise. As Scripture says in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” God had called me, and He had set me apart for His work.

    And yet, I also remember the fear. The fear that I wasn’t enough. That there was no way I could do whatever it was God wanted, or even needed me to do. How could I, a twelve-year-old girl born to a fourteen-year-old mother, living in a family surviving on food stamps and welfare, ever be anything God could use? As strongly as I was convinced of His call, by the following week, I was already battling the attacks of the enemy and my own thoughts, wondering if it was even possible.

    When I was younger, a missionary came to our home church from Nepal, and I was thrilled. I felt God calling me to serve there one day. But I remember when he gently said, “No, He didn’t,” and encouraged me to ask God for someplace else. That moment crushed me. I felt defeated. I felt like if this was wrong, then maybe I was wrong about everything. I struggled to understand, questioning if I had heard God correctly or if I was even capable of following His call. It was one of the first times I realized that God’s timing and placement are always His, even when it feels devastating.

    At seventeen, I attended a discipleship training program, hoping it would solidify my path. Instead, I spent the time trying to prove that I deserved to be there rather than learning where I could serve. I thought I needed to earn my place in ministry, but God was quietly shaping me through the struggle, teaching me patience, humility, and dependence on Him.

    When we couldn’t afford for me to attend the second year, I ran from God like I never had before. I did everything I could to discourage the ability to be used by Him. I desperately tried to find something, anything, that would put some distance between myself and the God who loved me. I ran for almost ten years, until finally, at twenty-five, I found myself in the same church where I had been dedicated as an infant. This time, I decided I was going to follow Him, no matter what it looked like. Even if the ministry I was called to meant working fast food and loving the people who came through the drive-through, I would follow Him.

    Years later, when I finally became a youth pastor at thirty, I felt like I had fulfilled the call God had birthed in me all those years ago. Only to be fired from full-time ministry five years later. At the time, I thought it was over. I thought I was done. I thought I had tripped and been disqualified from the race God had called me to run. Looking back now, I realize I needed to be fired. I had allowed my position to become more important than the call. I had become a “full-time pastor” instead of following Jesus in whatever area He wanted to use me. That season was painful, humbling, and necessary for me to remember that God’s call is never about a title, a role, or recognition; it is about obedience, faithfulness, and surrender wherever He leads.

    Since then, I have done odd jobs, seeking to serve wherever I could. I have healed through seasons of doubt, disappointment, and growth. Today, I work part-time as a campus coordinator for a Christian-based nonprofit, sharing Jesus with students who want to learn more about Him. My husband and I are also becoming the interim children’s pastors at our church, a path I never imagined for myself.

    But here is the truth I have learned. I did not miss the call. I did not outrun God or get disqualified. Romans 8:38-39 reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing I did removed the call of God. He has been with me in every step and every stumble. He has loved me and held my hand as I stood back up, learning to walk again. He has orchestrated a beautiful melody from notes that did not even make sense.

    The fear of missing the call of God is something so many of us struggle with, whether because we doubt our ability to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit clearly or because we doubt our own worth. We question if we are “enough,” if our past failures disqualify us, or if God really can use someone like us. Yet Scripture reminds us in Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” God is continually at work in us, even when we cannot see the full picture. He has taken my doubts, my missteps, and even my running away, and woven them into something beautiful. My testimony is still being written, and every fear, every failure, and every detour has been part of His divine plan. He is faithful to finish what He started, and nothing we do, no misstep, no setback, no season of doubt, can nullify His calling on our lives.

    Walking in the call of God requires audacious faith. It requires surrendering completely to His will and stepping forward even when the path is unclear or unconventional. Whether He calls us to a formal position, a small act of service, or a role we never imagined, the call itself remains unshakable. God’s work in our lives does not depend on our status, our success, or our understanding. It depends on our willingness to follow, trust, and obey. And when we do, we find that His purposes are far greater than we could have ever dreamed.

    Tracie Tevault is a recent addition to the STXWM blog team. Married for 15 years to her best friend, Tracie is raising one awesome son and three spoiled cats. With a heart for ministry, Tracie has served in many areas, but her true passion lies in reaching those who might not fit the traditional church mold. She’s all about showing people they are loved, valued, and created with a purpose.

  • Fear is in the Eye of the Beholder

    Photo by NEOSiAM 2024+ on Pexels.com

    I had been dating my now husband for about a year when I called him forty-five minutes from midnight to come rescue me. “Bring help! And a weapon!” was most of what I said before I hung up. This was out of character for me because asking for help has never been one of my strengths, it was past our self-imposed dating curfew, and I have never been at a loss for words. He lived fifteen minutes away but showed up with his roommate about eight minutes later to find me and my roommate standing on the kitchen table and counters with hair spray and shoes in our hands. We were yell crying and pointing at the ceiling and shouting, “They’re everywhere!” My husband and his friend dutifully disposed of no less than six mutated roaches. I say mutated because they were as big as my hand and could fly! They also seemed to have organized a rebellion and were attacking us but apparently those facts are being called into question by the roach slayer himself so we will just have to agree to disagree.  

    Once I was brave and squished a spider that was crawling around my classroom and the immediate sense of pride I felt was overpowered by the insane fear of HUNDREDS of tiny spiders that were released from this mother spider and scattered around my classroom. Have you ever tried to get a classroom of 22 eight-year-olds to stop screaming and trying to escape while also feeling like you have tiny spiders crawling all over you? I had to send a class-wide email to all parents explaining why I didn’t have time to teach science that afternoon and had to face my principal and explain myself in shame. You think I would have learned?

    Fast-forward about two years and the gallant roach slayer and I are married and enjoying the first few months of marriage. I was reading a book, or doing something incredibly academic, and he was in the shower when I screamed. Blood curdling screams and “thwacks” filtered into the bathroom as I began throwing all types of items across the room. Minutes later my new husband comes sliding into the room with shampoo still in his hair ready to battle whoever had dared to enter our home to hurt me, but then realized what I was afraid of; another roach straight from the pits of Sheol. He wasn’t pleased to have to kill and dispose of the aforementioned creature while dripping wet and clutching a towel. He then denied my request to call an immediate prayer meeting to have others come and pray over our home because clearly this was an attack from the enemy. Who is the real victim here?

    I could tell you no fewer than five more stories very similar to these with varying stages of intensity all surrounding bugs, insects, and the like but I will save you time and mental anguish. These are lighthearted examples of truly irrational fears, but honestly are my experience. I am in awe of woman who can squish spiders, crunch roaches, and ignore beetles because I have never been someone who could do that. My entire life I had put my fear before rationality and let it lead me. With bugs, but also listening to the Lord. 

    Growing up I often heard, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Proverbs 9:10. This biblical fear is not the same fear that I walk in with insects, people, places, or abilities. This fear is awe, reverence, and respect. Wisdom cannot advance further unless we acknowledge the beginning. Evangelical professor of Hebrew and the Old Testament, Bruce K. Waltke shares, “What the alphabet is to reading, notes to reading music, and numerals to mathematics, the fear of the Lord is to attaining the revealed knowledge of this book (Bible).” 

    I’ve never considered myself brave or courageous and have often prayed for God to embolden me in every aspect of my life. I always thought, since I’m so afraid of such harmless things how could I be any use to God?  That’s fear though, it’s a distorter. A liar. A thief. It changes our perception of ourselves, our abilities, and even our identity if we let it. Crippling fears whether they are of bugs, people, jobs, or speaking were never the will of God. God desires us to live in His presence and resting at peace with Him. 

    After sharing at a bible study with college students one night, a few of the girls came up to me and asked how they could also listen to and discern the will of God for their lives. Then one girl asked how I do what I do without fear. It hit me then that listening to God and doing His will is obedient but also courageous. It is acting not without fear, but without letting fear win. Not going fearlessly but going with God and knowing He is all I need to conquer all my fears. Fear is in the eye of the beholder. What overcomes some with fear and trembling, others do without a thought. One is not better or worse for the fears they carry, but for the cross in which they ultimately lay them down.

    This would be a wonderful time to be able to tell you a story of how I have overcome my totally rational fear of roaches and all things insects, but I can’t lie. I still squeal and shriek and call for my husband to, “GRAB A WEAPON AND RUN!” whenever I see a roach. Side note, why is it always MY SHOE that he decides is the best weapon? I have also learned that fear will always take over if I don’t attempt to challenge it. Maybe the next time I see a roach I will be the one to grab a weapon and slay it and it can be a small step forward with other fears I also live with. By the way, Lord this is NOT an invitation to test this resolve with lots of opportunities to overcome my fears. Thank you, Amen!

    Lord, you see us. You see the humor we hide behind and the fears that grip us. You know our hearts and love us anyway. You are great and mighty and wonderful to be praised. Guide us in your will for our lives for your glory and our transformation. Enable us to live audaciously in a way that is contrary to our fears and the ways of this world. May our fear be reverence for you and the beginning of our walk with wisdom. Amen. 

    MaKenzie V. is a global worker who has faithfully been serving the unreached in the Arab World while growing her family. Almost every moment of the day is spent chasing Jesus and her toddlers- usually with a cup of hot tea or coffee in hand. She enjoys learning languages, deep belly laughs, and connecting with others where God has them.

About STX Women

We are the Women’s Ministries branch of the South Texas Assemblies of God.

Women across South Texas desire a community where we celebrate each other and share each other’s burdens.

Together, we walk out our God-given purpose in our family, church, and community!

Our passion and love for Christ unite us to reach the lost at home and across the world. 

Follow Us On:

Subscribe To Our Emails

Enter your email address below to get our new blog posts sent right to your inbox!