Proverbs 31 Ministries: Everyday Life

Ya’ll must have known that with so many women in the office we would need more room to share what’s on our hearts. We simply couldn’t get it all into our magazine article so here’s a bit more from the office staff. Some sweet… some silly… but all heart!

It’s amazing to hear what God is doing throughout the country at the speaking engagements I book. From small MOPS groups with limited budgets to elaborate cruise weekends to men’s groups hosting for the women in their church, the event ideas are limitless. And the testimonies of the work of the Lord through these speaking engagements are remarkable! (Barb Spencer)

Families always play practical jokes on each other – my family knows I eat fruit at my desk and this time the practical joke was on me. I left a small cluster of grapes on my computer overnight. When I came in the next morning all the grapes had turned to raisins – can you imagine that the heat of my computer made that miraculous transition that only God can make. Well that’s what I thought. But one of my sisters had actually meticulously taken every grape off and attached a raison to the end of each stem. All this to say that we do have fun but we also do work – last week we had orders for 700 Bibles to be sent out from a devotion that was written with a commitment to read through the Bible in a year with every person who ordered one – Now that’s the miraculous. (Teri Bucholtz)

As the Speaking Ministry Assistant, my main responsibility is drafting contracts for Proverbs 31 speaking events. Probably the best part of my job is working with Barb Spencer. We work as a team to coordinate the calls that come in to request a speaker and the contracts that need to go out to book the speaker. We have the pleasure of working with churches and wonderful women's ministry leaders from all across the country. It has been such a blessing to serve the ministry in this area, and if you want to book a speaker, please call and we will be happy to assist you. (Wendy Blight)

At the time I came to P31, I had just experienced a very shocking, traumatizing and devastating family experience. I was deeply hurt, very broken and barely functioning. God orchestrated my arrival at P31 and since being there, it has provided me a safe, healing environment to be right at the heartbeat of this great ministry that ministers healing to women all over the world. To work with women who are faithful, have a heart for God and true prayer warriors is an experience of a lifetime -- I don't know that many Christians get this kind of opportunity to work in such an environment! It is just what God knew I needed, and I am humbled to be a part of serving in this ministry as I continue my journey to wholeness and serving the Lord along side these beautiful, godly women! (Terri McCall)

And here are some fun tidbits of the day-to-day everyday life in the Proverbs 31 Ministries office:

Exercise balls serve as desk chairs for many of us. While it’s great to “work out” while working, these ‘chairs’ have their downside too. Every once in a while we hear a loud thud followed by, “I’m okay!” after one of our gals lose her balance and topple off her ball.

We’ll probably never be recruited for Broadway, but it should be known that we girls can sing and dance with the best of them! Sing one bar of a song and you’ll hear voices piping in from all over the office! Often times we take a break to dance to the tune as well! (Someone brought bamboo into the office last week which apparently required a rendition of “The Old Bamboo” from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!)
What’s in a name? Well, fun memories, shared work, and good times…over the years we’ve created some pretty unusual knicknames: Tarb (Barb filling in for Teri); Samdy (Samantha and Wendy’s favorite pizza: pepperoni, pineapple and ham in case you want to know); and the ever affectionate The Queen (LeAnn of course!).

We’re all well beyond school age, but we still have a lunch bell that rings each day. Her name is Wendy Pope and she’s the glue that binds us as we share so much more than a meal together. Concerns, family stories, real life and reminiscing (three of our girls went to the same high school but didn’t know each other!!) flow easily during this sweet time.

The weeks leading up to She Speaks create a flurry of activity: rushed jobs to the printer; runs across town for toner cartridge; piles of boxes from floor to ceiling, corner to corner; phone lines lit up; staffer’s kids coming and going as they volunteer to fold, stuff, lift and sort; loading U-Hauls…and lots and lots of prayer and excitement!

And finally, because a picture is worth a thousand words… we wanted to share a few photos of our office family with you.