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| Trusting God in All Conditions Karo Matainaho was first diagnosed with diabetes when pregnant with her youngest child. She assumed her body would recover, but six months after his birth, the doctors told her the condition was permanent. “I have learned to accept that God has allowed this to happen and that my success in living with this can be a positive witness to someone else who might have the same condition,” she said. “That you can still be successful in life with the conditions that God has allowed.” Now, 23 years later, the former PricewaterhouseCoopers manager is the bursar (chief financial officer) for Pacific Adventist University in Papua New Guinea. While she focuses on healthy living, including a walk each morning, her true peace comes from God. |
| | "I have learned to accept that God has allowed this to happen and that my success in living with this can be a positive witness to someone else who might have the same condition." |
| Her walk includes meeting a prayer partner, a fellow woman leader, at the campus church. “This is where you unload your burdens,” she said. “You just tell the Lord what might be bothering you.” Matainaho can share anything in her life with her partner and offers the same support as they release their burdens to God. This allows Matainaho to be “energized to face the day.” “I am a great Believer in Matthew 6:33 so I try to live with that philosophy, i.e., put God first and all else will fall into place,” she said. That doesn’t mean she always feels like she has it all together. Her journey with diabetes has taught her valuable leadership lessons, including having empathy. “What I’ve come to learn and experience is that there are many issues in life,” she said. “People always have issues in the background.” Sometimes a person’s attitude may be colored by “something behind the curtain” and so she has realized that empathy and time may be needed to reveal the truth.
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| | — Michele Joseph, managing editor, Adventist Women Leaders newsletter |
| | | Friday Night Fellowship Brings Encouragement
More than 20 women gathered on Zoom to pray, share testimonies and hear a message of encouragement at Adventist Women Leaders' Friday Night Fellowship on April 17. Participants joined from Australia and the Caribbean, as well as across the United States.
"It was a special experience, where we truly felt God's presence and welcomed the Sabbath together in a meaningful way," said Celeste Ryan Blyden, AWL's co-founder and secretary/director.
The women participating encouraged the AWL Committee to host another event, so stay tuned for future event details. |
| | Listen to the Podcast
Listen to our discussions with women leaders who share what makes a good leader, finding and becoming effective mentors, "the divine gift of womanhood" and having difficult conversations in the workplace. Listen on Spotify and iTunes. Please subscribe and give positive reviews and ratings to raise the podcast's visibility and encourage others to listen. Email ideas for future podcasts to co-hosts Natalia Lopez-Thismon and Natalie Boonstra at flourishthepodcast@gmail.com. Follow Flourish on Instagram.
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| | Maxims—Words of Wisdom for Women Leaders
I’ve cried because someone else got the call I prayed I’d get.
I’ve forced myself to smile & congratulate the engagement, baby, career, I thought I would have had by then.
But always remember, what God has for you IS FOR YOU.
Don’t grieve a plan that was never yours.
— Heather Thompson Day, associate professor at Colorado Christian University, author, blogger, speaker, wife and mother, quoted from an August 2019 Twitter post |
| | | AWL's Prayer Circle
Our Father, Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit, May your name be praised on earth today, despite our challenges during this unprecedented time. We ask that You “show us Your mercy, Lord, and grant us Your salvation (Ps 85:7), and we thank You for the promise of Your presence with us, and especially with those who are serving in healthcare, those who have been personally impacted, and leaders who must make decisions for the future.
— Brenda Dickerson, Mid-America Union communication director and OUTLOOK editor and an AWL Committee member |
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| Meditations
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." — Psalm 46:1-3, NIV |
| | Coming Up
Melody Tan, project manager for Mums At The Table, a multimedia ministry for Adventist Media in the South Pacific Division, talks about being relevant and continually learning as a leader. |
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| | AWL is a community of women affirming, encouraging and celebrating God's goodness to those He has called to lead. |
| AWL Committee: Bonita J. Shields, chair; Celeste Ryan Blyden, secretary/director; Natalie Boonstra, Brenda Dickerson, Carolyn R. Forrest, Tamyra Horst, Natalia Lopez-Thismon and Ann Roda AWL Support Team: Michele Joseph, managing editor; Carla Conway, graphic designer; Frenita Buddy Fullwood, event coordinator |
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