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Beyond Ordinary Women Podcast

Beyond Ordinary Women Podcast

By: Beyond Ordinary Women Ministries
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 Everyone has influence, which is the basis of leadership. BOW’s bi-weekly episodes are purposed to prepare and empower Christian women for leadership and life. They feature our ministry team and women guests who share from their professional ministry experience. Whatever your calling – influencing your neighbors, coworkers, family, friends, leading small groups – this podcast is for you.© 2024 Beyond Ordinary Women Ministries Christianity Spirituality
Episodes
  • Shepherding a Small Group

    Shepherding a Small Group
    Aug 12 2025
    Lynn Hoffmann Kay Daigle Lynn Hoffmann joins Kay Daigle in this conversation focused on shepherding a small group. Lynn shares from her extensive experience as a small group leader, including many years in 12 Step studies. What does shepherding a small group entail? Lynn suggests beginning with a well-defined purpose for your group. She focuses on the importance of making it a safe place for each group member. This episode provides specific and practical help for any small group leader who wants to disciple a group to flourish and follow Jesus. This episode is also available on video if you prefer. Recommended resources Steps into God's Grace by Lynn Hoffmann Small Groups' Page to see all of our resources Building Community in Small Groups--Share Life stories Leading a Small Group Toward Spiritual Growth series: 1. Essentials, 2. Preparation, 3. Discussions Intergenerational Small Groups Timestamps: 00:21 Introductions 02:01 Biblical shepherds 06:50 Why be in a small group to begin with? 14:55 Practicing confidentiality 23:24 How do you know if the group is growing together? 25:30 How do you connect with women outside of the group when needed? 30:22 Group should be about the "one another" verses 38:16 Picture yourself as the shepherd of your group 40:30 Lynn's final challenge 42:43 Other suggested resources TranscriptKay >> Hi. I'm Kay Daigle. Welcome to the Beyond Ordinary Women Podcast. Today I am talking with my friend Lynn Hoffmann. Welcome, Lynn. Lynn >> Well, thank you, Kay. I’m so glad to be here. Kay >> Well, we are so glad to have you today. I've been looking forward to this and a lot for a long time in fact, I've been trying to get Lynn on here for a long, long time. And I think we finally hit on some things she wanted to talk about. So here we are we're going to talk today about leaders as shepherds. We're going to be talking about shepherding small groups. And really shepherding is an aspect of discipleship. And so that's where discipling people were shepherding them. And so let me just tell you a little bit about Lynn, but you can find more about her on our website, BeyondOrdinaryWomen.org. Go to the dropdown menu where it talks about the “About Us” and look under video podcast contributors and you'll be able to read all the details about Lynn and all the things that she's done. But I will tell you that she's had years of involvement in recovery ministry. She taught she led groups, she's mentored women, and she wrote her own book that she began using Steps into God's Grace. And we'll let her talk about that at the end of our podcast a little bit. Now, she's the certified spiritual director so she's done a lot of different things. And I know that she's going to be a blessing to all of you out there. Since we're talking about shepherding, I thought we would just talk for just a few minutes about sheep a little bit and shepherding since it's used so much in the Bible and there's a reason because we are like sheep in a lot of ways. And I'm not going to talk about how we're like shape, but I'm going to talk about shepherding a little bit So I thought we would look at a few scriptures. I'm not going to really open all these and read the whole thing for you right now. But I would encourage you to read back through Psalm 23. I'm sure everyone is familiar. “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want He makes me dwell down in green pastures. He restores my soul.” And all of that is the wonderful Psalm. It's one of my very favorite. So I think it's probably on everybody's top ten list, at least of passages. So we learn a little bit about a shepherd as we look at Psalm 23. It says that the shepherd thinks of what the sheep need, what kind of food they need. He leads them there. He protects them from their enemies. And he's a companion. He helps heal them. And we see all of that in Psalm 23. And then in John 10,
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    45 mins
  • When We Talk to God

    When We Talk to God
    Jul 29 2025
    Sharifa Stevens Kay Daigle Sharifa Stevens, author of When We Talk to God: Prayers and Poems for Black Women, talks with Kay Daigle about her book. Although it's written with black women in mind, any woman can identify with most of the feelings that permeate this beautiful book. This is a book that prays women's feelings, as the Psalms do. There is something for each reader as Sharifa pours out her heart in these prayers and poems. Recommended resources sharifastevens.com sharifahstevens.substack.com Podcast series with Nika Spaulding: Understanding Lament & Practicing Lament The Psalms This episode is also available on video. Timestamps: 00:20 Introduction to Sharifa & her book 01:39 Sharifa's heart for the book and how it came to be 08:03 How do you see women of other backgrounds connect to the poems & prayers? 10:08 What did you hope that black women of faith would take from your book? 11:31 Women are worthy to talk to God. 15:22 Some of the prayers may be challenging but no topic is off limits with God 16:35 How did you deal with reliving difficult experiences? 18:54 Sharifa shares a favorite, "Moving On Up." 22:26 Resources TranscriptKay >> Hi. I'm Kay with Beyond Ordinary Women Ministries. Welcome to our podcast. Our guest today is actually one of our ministry team members, Sharifa Stevens. And today she is the one being interviewed rather than just one of our team members. So, Sharifa, it’s so great to see you as always. Sharifa >> It's always a pleasure to see you, Kay. Kay >> Now, Sharifa, according to her book, Sharifa is a writer, a poet, a speaker, and a singer. And it's all true. Sharifa >> It's true. This is going to be so fun! Kay >> I don't know... I'm not quite sure why you think this is so funny. That's the wonderful things that you are. Sharifa >> It is. It's wonderful. Kay >> She looks so sad. Sharifa >> I'm so sorry. I'm not. I'm so happy. Kay >> Anyway, we won't talk about you anymore if it'll make you feel better. Sharifa >> Okay. Kay >> You can read Sharifa's entire bio on our site BeyondOrdinaryWomen.org. So today we are talking to Sharifa because she has a book, and it is beautiful. It is one of the prettiest books I've ever seen. And it is When We Talk to God: Prayers and Poems for Black Women. So Sharifa, actually, I was just really blown away by your book, by the beauty of it, by so many of the poems and prayers in it. It just really touched my heart in a lot of ways. It reminded me a lot of the psalms, which mean a whole lot to me, because you had a lot of raw emotion in there like the psalmist, and it all came from your heart. And there's no doubt about it. That kind of expressed your deepest thoughts. And, you know, just like the Psalms that give us words to pray when we don't know what to say to God. I see your book is doing that for a lot of people there. There will be a lot of poems and prayers in here that will be very dear to many women who will read them and pray them over and over. I think, just like the Psalms, it will help people when they face difficulties be anchored in the Word when that happens. Thank you for doing this. Sharifa >> Thank you for those affirming words. And I am especially honored that you would draw a parallel to the Psalms because that was my goal. And I see the Bible as being so vivid and rich with emotional depth that it's not just an intellectual exercise to read the Bible. It is spiritual, and it's also emotional, and it reflects the fullness of God's love and of our humanity. And so in the book, I wanted to reflect some of that back to the frankness and intimacy of the Psalms and the prophetic voice of the prophets, and the thirst for justice that echoes throughout the prophetic books, and also the playfulness of the Song of Solomon. They're just different beats in the Bible. There's history, there's lamentation, there's so much praise,
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    24 mins
  • Prayer and Obedience

    Prayer and Obedience
    Jul 15 2025
    Kay Daigle What does prayer with obedience look like? Claudia McGuire, BOW Team Member, talks with Kay Daigle about it. She uses Psalm 31 as her example of exactly how she prays and obeys God from reading and meditating on the Word of God. This is an episode for any Christian who is searching for a deeper prayer life and application for her Bible reading. Claudia's honest insights into her prayer own life are invaluable. Recommended resources involving prayer Why is Prayer So Hard? Part 1: A Matter of the Heart & Part 2: Life Issues Prayer for the Overwhelmed Entrusting the Future to God Practical Prayer Solutions Seeking Joy in the Psalms This episode is available on video if you prefer to watch. Timestamps: 00:18 Introductions 01:22 What does it mean to pray with obedience? 05:39 Psalm 31, an example of how to incorporate scriptures into your prayers and obedience 34:11 Other resources on prayer TranscriptKay >> Hi. I'm Kay Daigle. Welcome to our podcast for Beyond Ordinary Women. My friend who isn't actually a guest because she is a member of our ministry team, but this is Claudia McGuire, and we've had her on many times. Welcome, Claudia. I'm so glad you're with me today. Thank you. Claudia >> I'm happy to be here today. Thank you for asking me. Kay >> Right. Well, Claudia is going to talk about praying with obedience. Now, Claudia has lots of experience in the church world. She worked at Chase Oaks Church for almost two decades, I think, a long time. She still speaks and teaches Bible studies and does leadership stuff and will speak at a retreat or a training of any kind. And so today, she's going to talk about prayer. We've talked about prayer before, but today, Claudia wanted to talk about praying with obedience. So I have to ask you what does that mean to pray with obedience? Claudia >> Well, I think that is a great question. Kay >> You never expected one! Claudia >> I didn't very well, actually. I don't think we think about it. I'm wondering if we think about that aspect of prayer enough for those of us who who do pray. I think that we just don't take into account that prayer is more than just casting our cares on God, just throwing things at him and saying, “Help me. Get help me get out of this—or whatever.” There is an aspect of obedience, and that's kind of what I want to talk through as I go through this psalm. Psalm 31 is what we're going to look at. But prayer in itself, which is the ability to communicate with our creator. I think it started way back in the Garden of Eden, and Adam and Eve used to walk in the cool of the day in the garden and talk to God. And I don't really see or know specifically how that morphed into our current prayer life. You know how we pray today, but we do see prayers all throughout the Bible, and it’s just a privilege that I think our God has given us. Not only is it a privilege, but it's also something I think that involves an aspect of surrender when we come to God. It involves trust that he's there. It takes vulnerability on our part to actually come before the throne of grace, as the Bible calls it. And then, really when we open our hearts and our needs to the Father, that also involves listening and believing that he hears. So if we're actively praying about something without listening or looking for God to answer, we might be missing one of the biggest aspects of prayer, which is obedience. Like if I'm praying about something—my obedience or what I might hear or sense—it’s that I just really need to keep praying about this. It’s something I don't have a peace about. I have no idea what the answer is or the outcome is going to be. That could be my obedience is just keep praying about it. It could be that maybe God impresses on me to go to somebody. Maybe I need to ask her forgiveness. Maybe there's something that's creating a barrier between me and God. You know, that's obedience. Do I hear that?
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    36 mins
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