Our blog today is written by Kim Bausinger, LeadHer Local Director. You can connect with Kim by email at kim@leadher.org, on Facebook, or Instagram.
As the new LeadHer Local Director, I get the privilege to share about what’s going on with our LeadHer Local chapters around the world. As my first blog of this type, I am going to share about the women of the Carthage, MO chapter. My local chapter. It’s something that five years ago I didn’t know I was missing, but at this point can’t imagine living without. Its filled with ordinary women that have grasped an extraordinary capacity to lead and love.
As I write this blog, I am home recovering from a very unplanned eye surgery. Long story short, I hit my head hard enough to give myself a concussion and a detached retina. Nothing like a bit of excitement in my world! I saw my eye doctor on Thursday afternoon, the surgeon Friday morning, and had surgery Friday night. So to say that there wasn’t a lot of time to make preparations is an understatement.
But where I couldn’t make preparations, my LeadHer Chapter members did! Before I ever made it to surgery, I had been so thoroughly covered in prayer I was at peace, and there was a set schedule of who was bringing dinner to my house every night for the next week. These girls don’t mess around when it comes to family being in need!
As I have recovered, each day I looked forward to a visit from a woman I loved and respected. A woman who took time,money and effort from her family and poured into mine. Women who brought me love, laughter, and Sonic Limeades! We need people like that in our worlds!
Over the couple of days that I worked on this blog, I have been having dreams about big extended families at gatherings. One dream in particular was a family that was celebrating a happy event. As I arrived, running for safety from an oncoming tornado, the family welcomed me in. Now most people would expect the family to all run off home in different directions. But the family in my dream instead gathered around me, on their knees, and prayed together.
The extended family in my dream, was representative of the real extended family I have with LeadHer. While I will take EVERY opportunity to brag on my LeadHer Local Chapter and the wonderful women in it, the Carthage Missouri chapter is not an anomaly. It is something that is duplicated all across the United States, and in the beginning stages of around the world.
So, as you have read this, have you said to yourself….”I wish I had something like that in my life”? Guess what, there is a way! Just click on the link to Find a Chapter. Once you select the state you are in, chapters close to you will populate on a map. Click on one, and it will give you meeting times and locations.
If there is no local chapter close to you, you can step out in a little faith, and start a LeadHer Chapter in your community. Yes, you. Refer back to paragraph one, remember what I said about ordinary women. Ordinary women that God does extraordinary things through. You are one of those women, or can be if you let yourself. There is not one smackerel of condemnation in that previous sentence, but a soft voice whispering to you to pray and let go! Don’t waste any more time on the fence. I wasted two years running, denying and bargaining with God over starting a LeadHer Local Chapter. Don’t be me.
If you have questions, or want more information, here are a couple of resources for you. You can always email me at kim@leadher.org. We have info chats at least once a month on our Facebook Page, and you are more than welcome to hop on one of those. Some are phone calls and some are Facebook live videos, but all are in a format for you to be able to ask questions and interact. And if you are ready, just get back on the website, go to “start a chapter” tab, and fill out an interest form or application. Chelsie Wilburn, our Chapter Development Director will reach out to you to give you more information on our Coordinator Training Program, and start you on your journey. Give it some thought, some prayer, and some action! You won’t be sorry. My family is amazing!!!