More Than Enchanting

I was so excited when this book landed in my mailbox!

Jo Saxton is one of those wonderful women who I immediately connected with.  After several quick introductions we finally had the chance to get lost in conversation backstage at Catalyst Dallas last year.  While our discussions wandered among various topics, we did spend some time talking about the importance of developing women leaders.  It’s an overflow of who we both are and I was delighted to know she would be putting her wisdom to paper and blessing us with this book!

Obviously if you are a women in leadership, you need to get yourself a copy of More Than Enchanting: Breaking Through Barriers to Influence Your World.

If you are a guy in ministry trying to help the women around you thrive in their leadership, you should pick up this book too.

Here are a few key things that I highlighted… just to give you a taste!

• When he made us, he left his mark on us, his imprint seared deeply through our being – so much so that it’s only in oneness with him that we are complete, that we realize the fullness of our design.
• The Bible tells us that, yes, women are designed for intimate relationship, but we’re also designed for responsibility.
• The ezer is an amazing mix of strength, power, proactivity and vulnerability.
• At that time a women’s testimony was not recognized in a court of law.  Yet Jesus entrusted the most important news in human history to a woman and sent her to share it.
• Some of exploring the area of calling involves simply being intentional with the life we’ve been given.
• For both of these queens (referring to Jezebel & Esther), the nature and effectiveness of their leadership influence is not determined by their skill and talents, or even by the opportunities given them.  It’s determined by what is happening in their hearts.
• When we fail to deal with anger, it stagnates into unforgiveness and bitterness, which in turn produce their own pungent toxins like cynicism and sarcasm.
• Tiredness affects our perspective, our decisions and our capacity to stand under pressure and withstand temptation.
• Leaders are notorious for supporting other people while failing to reach out for the support that they themselves need.
• Insecurity  strangles the life out of us when it dictates our relationships.  It wreaks havoc with our capacity to lead.
• We don’t want to be blase about boundaries, but nor do we want to prevent the opportunity for a generation of Christian female leaders to be equipped and empowered for the church and for the workplace.
• Isn’t it a tragedy (and not a little insulting) when we isolate our sisters on account of our narrow views and insecurities?
• As busy influential leaders, what could it look like for us to set aside a season where we are more intentional about our marriage and relationships rather than our tasks, roles and dreams?
• Leadership is not just about my opportunities, my role and my chance to shape something.  Some of us have been waiting for our calling and our gifts to be validated for so long that we find it hard to empower others, feeling that we’ve barely had our own turn!
• We need courage to be the women Jesus calls and commissions us to be, so that we too can break with convention when necessary to step into his plan for our lives.