Brenda Rodgers

Tag: purpose

  • Thoughts on Turning 39 and Ending a Decade

    I’m assuming it’s because I’m seven months pregnant with a toddler at my feet that I’m nostalgic about turning 39 this year. After all, isn’t that supposed to wait until you’re 40?

    But here I am a now 39-year-old woman living a 28-year-old’s life, and I can’t help but sit in disbelief that I’m entering the last year of my 30’s.

    My adult life has turned out nothing like I thought it would.

    Thoughts on Turning 39 and Ending a Decade (more…)

  • An Amazing Friend with an Amazing Vision

    It was the middle of summer last year when I first met this woman who I call amazing. In reality I’ve never actually met her – only talked to her a couple of few hours on the phone and over email many, many times.

    But even though our eyes have never locked, our spirits certainly have, and there is no doubt I’ve met her there.

    The first time we talked on the phone she spoke a mile a minute. I couldn’t quite tell if it was because I was sitting in my living room in the deep south where everything is slow including our talk, or if she was just really, really excited.

    Come to find out it was the latter. And more than her being excited she was filled with a vision from the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit gives you a vision He starts to talk for you.. It’s hard to make God slow down with something this big.

    She shared with me that day her vision to bring the stories we all share as women – our legacies – to each other as a place to know that we are not alone, we can be healed by the power of God in our lives, and God has a plan. She wanted her story of God’s redemptive power to be known, and she wanted to give other women the same opportunity to share their stories. In order to do this God told her to start a conference for women – now called Legacy: Seasons of Beauty – and so she did.

    Jennifer Wagenmaker is my friend’s name. She is amazing because she listened to God’s voice and leading and with boldness and courage set out in obedience to accomplish a vision He gave her.

    Since that time, Jen,and the co-founder of Legacy, Tana, have organized several “Mini Legacy Nights” where women have come together to worship and hear powerful testimonies.

    And October 12-13, 2012 Legacy will host its first women’s conference at the Holiday Inn in Muskegon, MI. Find out all the details on the Legacy website!

    I invite you to get to know the ladies behind the Legacy Conference. If you live in the Muskegon, MI area, come to a Mini Legacy Night, and make plans to attend the Legacy: Seasons of Beauty women’s conference in October.

    I am blessed to have met Jen on that hot summer day when the Holy Spirit took over her voice and her heart as she shared with me her vision, and I know that you will be blessed by meeting her too!

    Do you live in the Muskegon, MI area?

    Find out more about Legacy: Seasons as Beauty by visiting their website.  And if you don’t live in the area, follow Legacy on Facebook to keep up with all that God is doing in this ministry!

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  • Genesis 50:20

    “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
    Genesis 50:20

    Today I heard the story of Joseph again, and God taught me something new from it in light of the present bondage we feel with John’s sickness.

    Joseph continued to have misfortune throughout his life. First he was sold into slavery by his brothers. Then he was thrown into jail for a crime he did not commit. He remained righteous before God by doing the right thing, but was still punished for it. Joseph, however, continued to see God’s goodness through it all. He never turned his back on God. When Pharaoh had a dream that needed interpreted and heard that Joseph could interpret dreams, he sent for Joseph who was in prison. Pharaoh asked him to interpret the dream for him, and Joseph responded, “I cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” Genesis 41:16

    When Joseph was a teenager he had a dream from God that God would make him into a leader and his family would bow down to him. He interpreted the dream to mean that others would serve him. However, as his life unfolded he came to realize that he had not understood the dream correctly. God was stripping him of everything – all of his pride and self-reliance – to make him into a servant for others. He served while he was in prison and he served when the famine hit Egypt and Canaan. He thought others would serve him, but instead God was making him into what he needed to be so that he could use Joseph to serve others and ultimately to begin to prepare the way for the nation of Israel. “But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” Genesis 45:7

    This story is a reminder to me that God is in complete control and that this experience is a part of his marvelous plan. From the world’s view it looks like our lives are hopeless. But if we continue to see God’s goodness and remain faithful to Him through this trial, He will use it for what it’s intended for. We don’t know exactly what that is right now, but in time God will reveal it to us more clearly. We are being brought into the deep valley so that God can raise us up into what He has truly called us to be and what His ultimate plan is for our lives. God had huge plans for Joseph, but He knew that Joseph could not serve Him the way He intended without bringing him into complete reliance on Him.

    Throughout the Bible, God has always been faithful to deliver His people after a period of bondage. John and I are awaiting our deliverance from the bondage of sickness that is plaguing our lives, and we know that God will come through for us. And when we are on the other side, we will be more of what He has intended us to be and able so serve Him more faithfully.

    “for your love for me is very great. You have rescued me from the depths of death.” Psalm 86:13