This was written 27 October 2009. I debated whether to post this one. I decided to go ahead and post it, since my desire for the women in my local PWOC group is still the same, even though I am no longer president:

Back near the beginning of September, I attended Presidents’ Weekend for the Northeast Region of PWOC. During that weekend, one of the speakers mentioned the importance of having a vision as a leader.

I worked in the corporate world for five years before marrying into the Army, and when the company came up with a new “vision statement” I would usually roll my eyes (at least mentally) and get back to work. The vision meant nothing to me at my level. Sometimes they would ask us to come up with a vision statement for our work group, which always turned out to be so generic and full of feel-good corporate speak, that it also held no meaning for me. So, it was difficult for me to resist the impulse to (at least mentally) roll my eyes when Shellie Kelly spelled out the importance of vision in leadership on a PowerPoint slide.

Of course, I respect Shelly, and the concept of vision really is biblical. Proverbs 29:12 says, “For lack of vision, the people will perish.” The difference between making up a “vision statement” to fulfill the desires of some higher ups and the biblical concept of vision is immense--a biblical vision is God-given. You don’t have to make something up.

I’m sorry that I haven’t come up with a concise vision statement that you can all memorize. But I don’t need to, because God already has, and you can memorize this:

And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. And a second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 22:37-39 NASB

This week I want to write about my desire, or vision, for our fellowship of women in relationship to the first of these two greatest commandments.

I want to be completely sold out for God. I don’t particularly like the phrase, “sold out” but nothing else has the emotional impact for me of those words. I want every fiber of my being, every ounce of who I am to love Him first above all else. My vision for the women in our PWOC group is that we all move toward this ideal. Obviously, we often falter. We allow other desires to crowd out what should be our ultimate desire for fellowship with God. That is what we have been created for.

But we can move in that direction, offering ourselves as a living sacrifice more often and more willingly. It is my prayer that by the end of this year, every single woman will have moved further along in loving God with all of their being; that we would become a body that is more and more sold out for God.

By God’s Grace, and through the strength of His Spirit, we will.