This year, due to COVID 19, we as a leadership team were not able to retreat in the way we had hoped... We had planned to take a trip to Ruidoso, NM or visit the much talked about Magnolia! So instead of vacation, we decided on a staycation. Little did I realize that it would refocus our mission on our very own backyard, and that just having a weekend to spend quality time together would be the much needed rest that we all do desperately needed. This unexpected season has not only changed the way we vacation, or celebrate, or gather, or even worship, I find that it has reminded me of my mission field right here in this city and in my own neighborhood!
I'm being reminded of the homegrown ministry I've been called too... I'm a homegrown girl
down to my roots... I am a product of Lubbock Texas, a big city with a small town feel...
not only was i born and raised here, but I can trace my family lines all the way to the first Hispanic Baptist Church built in this city! Those bricks hold the fingerprints of a mighty man of God who felt called to this town to preach the good news and raise his family, two generations before I was even born! There are days I feel my great grandfather, Gilberto C. Rodriguez, championing me on with the great cloud of witnesses!
There are days when I think about what led my great grandfather here to this little dusty town called Lubbock. He was a soapbox minister, and he would preach the gospel right on the streets of Broadway. Those same brick roads where he would preach truth are still there. When I drive on them I imagine what courage and boldness it must take to make the street corner your pulpit, and to count the cost of serving Christ, and finding the sacrifice worth it till the bitter end. God's Divine plan was to grow a legacy right here in what must have felt like the middle of nowhere...
Because of that legacy I believe that God has chosen this little piece of the earth to awaken the remnant. I believe that Revival can begin right here! I think why not here, why not now? People who live in this area are eager and ready for God to move us into position as a Church, not that we are perfect or without room to grow, but we as a people of this little place on earth are ready to see a MOVE OF GOD, and even more eager to BE A MOVE OF GOD. As a bible study teacher (and a revivalist), I see women on the edge of their seats hungry for The Word of God, and many of them ready to come off the bottles and eat the meat that will help us grow up and grow strong.
I always believe the bible studies I write are for everyone, but with the emphasis on West Texas people, cause that is who I am... it took me decades to be okay with that and see the purpose in where I lay my head. And I've fought to support the local powerhouse women of God right here in our communities, and boy there are too many to count. These are women who you'll run into while grabbing groceries or a cup of coffee or tea. And many of them will discount themselves because they haven't written that book buried in their hearts, or because they don't feel they have influence or even huge platforms. And many haven't even taken the stage or grabbed a mic, yet they do hard things everyday and they bear witness to the transforming power of Christ... many of them with big hair, high heels, and red lips and they aren't afraid of getting their hands dirty!
Give That Girl A Mic is a local ministry with a global mission, but there isn't one day that I don't forget the urgency of living out my purpose right here in Lubbock. I am a Lubbock answer, and Jesus is the solution. Lubbock is more than my hometown. It is becoming the "hub" for the next great revival. I eagerly anticipate the days to come and I pray I can help usher it in and bear witness to the next great awakening. May it begin in me...
Lord, let it begin!
"Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth. Give victory with your right hand, and answer me, so that those who you love may be rescued."
Psalm 108:5-6