I’m Baaaackkk!
It really has been too long since I have blogged, Tumbled, or even just stopped to process the past month! Taking a summer break from school, going to Zimbabwe, Leading a houseboat with Shift Students @ Lake Shasta and coming back to work with Shift College has been enough to make me want to take afternoon naps everyday or at least pump energy drinks right into my veins. But I have vowed to jump back on that Blogging horse and share stories, life and all the incredible adventures that are just around the corner! I am going on a real vacation in less than 2 weeks, and I am staying local and planning to do things that I have always wanted to do here in Los Angeles, THE MOST EPIC STAYCATION EVER! Stay tuned because I plan on having a ‘Staycation’ highlight everyday, such as ‘Why does Sir Creepy McSpeedo always want to hop into the community spa when me and my roommate Amber just want to relax?’ or maybe the top ten reasons why I love living in an apartment… I also can’t believe that in three weeks I am heading back to Exxxotica Los Angeles for the sixth year with XXXChurch, and I am bringing some of my sweet girls from Shift College to help out for the first time!
So much ahead, and so many things that I would love prayer for! So…
Peace, Blessings, and Consistent Blogging…
Rach
Vagenda.
Not too long ago I was at one those large Pastor-y type conferences, and one of those larger than life Pastor types, we will call him ‘Mick Marren’ was standing around greeting other Pastor types. And me in all the Pastorness I could muster decided to wait in line to meet him. I like Mick Marren, he loves God, hawaiian T-shirts and in all honesty I respect the guy and his ministry. I watched as the line of young men in front of me would shake his hand, Mick would pat them on the back, then he would proceed to ask them what they did in ministry and then he would give them a loud chuckle, a word of encouragement, and send them on their way. He was like the tan Santa Claus of Pastordom. I patiently waited for the line of men ahead of me to disappear and then I would have my chance for my Mick blessing. The last lad in front of me turns and I step forward, and the first words out of Mick’s mouth was, ‘Look at this beautiful little lady, look at her eyes, beautiful!’ Then he turns me around and points me out to all the other Pastor types and says ‘Look at her eyes! beautiful!!’ He then goes on for a few minutes about lady’s and their eyes or something like that, and then he turns to meet the next guy behind me.
Now I bet you are wondering what my reaction was. Did I stand on a table and burn my bra, while screaming out things like ‘glass ceiling!’, or ‘how come men make more money than women at the same jobs!!?!’
No, I walked away. I got in my car and laughed hysterically by myself. Because here is the honest truth, things are not equal for many men and women in this world, especially in ministry. But most people who scream, even truth, are usually glossed over and never taken seriously. There are tons of women who have been burned by church and ministry and they carry a serious Vagenda with them.
Oh, what’s a Vagenda you ask? It’s a word I created to describe women in ministry who have a vagina and an agenda. I vowed early in my ministry career to work hard to not have a Vagenda. I have met many women who spend all of their time and energy trying to spit venom and acid to heal the wounds they have received by others. Okay, and if I am honest, I have let my inner Gloria Steinem out once or twice or twenty…
First and foremost I am a child of God and other titles come further down the line. Most people can’t hear the message of God’s hope if your agenda is shouting too loud. Men and women included.
But…. Let me just say. Lady Pastoring is difficult. Some people think that I just can’t wait to get an email or message from them, telling me I am an abomination or that I should just work with babies and women. Those ‘get back in the kitchen’ jokes are my favorite!!! So I understand that sometimes we have to forge a path that may not always seem clear and sometimes that path is going to be full of people who I would like to punch in the neck. Hard.
The most amazing women I know in ministry are funny, they are themselves, they address injustice in a manner that speaks God’s truth and they never overwhelm people by word vomit. They are assured of their place in God’s Kingdom and you can see it.
I will survive (Insert Beyonce song here), by going back to keeping Christ first, and if I carry Christ with me and live in a way where people see him in me, then that’s the greatest way I know to show what a woman in ministry looks like. A Lady Pastor with Christ in her heart and really nice eyes, just ask Mick.
