Turn Fear and Hopelessness into Joy and Peace

By Jamie Warner –
The last week of September marked the beginning of the third Women’s Legacy Program for 2018; it was also the final WLP of the year. Our leadership team for the ladies assembled on Tuesday to ready themselves and SkyRose Ranch for the arrival of the 20 first-time attendees. Of course, like every Program at Mighty Oaks, the preparation starts well before the team arrives as the ladies prepared themselves with prayer and study and God’s Word. I caught up with the Women’s Programs Manager, Susanne Stalnecker, a few days after the completion to get some of her thoughts on this last Program of the year and 2018 as a whole.
When asked if she could describe the atmosphere for this group during the early part of the Program, Susanne said it would have to be: “fear and hopelessness.” But as the week progressed and the ladies continued to work through the process, the mood turned to “joy, strength, hope, and peace.” Much of the change of mood came as a result of an overwhelming response to the call to align themselves with their Creator’s purposes for their lives. “We had two ladies make first-time commitments and every lady made some kind of re-commitment – Lady Warriors committing their lives to Christ, re-committing to their faith walk, or making a life-changing decision like giving a certain area of struggle over to God,” Stalnecker reported. The week was nothing short of powerful and transformative.
Susanne finished with some thoughts on WLPs 2018 as a whole. “I would have to say it was a year of learning for our team – we had huge areas of growth, learning, and understanding; it was a year of continued reminders of the simplicity of the Gospel – that there can be such hope in a situation that seems so completely hopeless – wholeness in brokenness; we had more veterans and active duty service members than ever before and have seen God work greatly in their lives when they are simply presented with the blueprint of the WOMAN God created them to be.”
We at Mighty Oaks Foundation are already looking forward to 2019, as we have added a forth WLP, to be held at our Ohio location, to next year’s schedule. Please continue to pray for our female Veterans, active duty, first responders, and spouses as we continue to grow our efforts on this all-too-important front of the battlefield.