IT WAS TIME.

The Story of God’s Faithfulness Through Women in the Word

Three ladies.

That’s how Women in the Word began.

At our very first Bible study, three ladies walked through the door. Two of them never came back. If you’ve ever stepped out in faith only to wonder if you’d heard God correctly, you’ll understand exactly how I felt that afternoon. I’ll admit—that was a discouraging way to start. Thankfully, over the next few weeks, God brought a few more women, and little by little, our tiny group began to grow.

Five years later, by God’s grace, hundreds of women have walked through our doors. Together we’ve studied book after book of Scripture. We’ve laughed, cried, prayed, celebrated, mourned, and watched God faithfully change lives, but in the summer of 2021, there were only a handful of us.

The road to those first few ladies actually began decades earlier.

Making a Promise

In 2019, Tom and I moved to Georgia. After twenty-five years in education, I had left my teaching career behind. Then came COVID. Like everyone else, life seemed to stop. Church moved online, relationships were put on hold, and it was difficult to find a place to belong. As life slowly returned to normal, I sensed God nudging me. It was time to stop watching from the sidelines. It was time to teach again.

More than that… It was time to keep a promise.

Years earlier, I had been a young mother whose husband often worked long hours. Sunday mornings we were together, but on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights it was usually just me and my two children. I loved my church, but I often felt alone in a crowd. It was an older, established congregation where many families had attended for generations. Even when I made new friends, their deepest relationships were naturally with their family members.

One day I mentioned to a woman in the church—someone about ten or fifteen years older than I was—that it seemed the older women weren’t really embracing the calling of Titus 2 to teach and encourage the younger women. She thanked me for my observation and walked away. Nothing changed.

Standing there, I made a quiet promise to God. “Lord, when I become one of the older women, I’ll be the mentor You want me to be. I won’t let another young woman feel as alone as I do today.”

In the summer of 2021, God reminded me of that promise.

It was time.

That first meeting… three ladies came. Two never returned. One stayed.

Making Disciples

In those early days, we didn’t have much of a marketing strategy. Our pastor graciously allowed me to hang flyers on the backs of the ladies’ restroom stall doors at church. Yes…the bathroom stalls. Those little flyers included my phone number and an invitation to join our Bible study. Looking back, I can’t help but laugh because I have no idea how many of our faithful women first heard about Women in the Word while…well…sitting in the ladies’ room.

In fact, several of the women who now serve on our leadership teams first found us through those bathroom door flyers!

Thankfully, we don’t advertise that way anymore.

Today, our greatest invitation comes from women whose lives have been touched by God’s Word. They invite their friends, neighbors, daughters, sisters, coworkers, and moms. Nothing is more encouraging than hearing someone say, “A friend told me I needed to come.”

Testimonies

As we celebrated our fifth anniversary, I asked that first faithful woman, my friend Elica, to share her story.

Elica described arriving burdened by fear, loneliness, and circumstances that seemed impossible. She said God had provided Women in the Word at precisely the moment she needed a lifeline. As she studied Scripture week after week and was surrounded by women who prayed for her, pointed her to Christ, and walked beside her, her fear slowly gave way to faith. Looking back, she saw God’s hand in every provision and every step of her journey. Elica’s testimony reminded us all that while we gather to study the Bible, God often uses His Word—and His people—to transform lives in ways we could never have imagined.

When we launched the Tuesday evening group in the fall of 2021, only three women gathered around that table as well. One of those women is still faithfully studying with us today, my friend Tara. She describes accepting a simple invitation as a turning point in her walk with Christ. Although Tara had been a Christian for many years, she had never understood the Bible as one unified story. Through faithful, verse-by-verse study of Scripture, reading the Bible in its entirety, and years of studying alongside other women, God gave her a deeper understanding of His Word and a stronger foundation for her faith. Time after time, the study we were in seemed to speak directly to the season she was walking through—evidence that God always knew exactly what she needed. Just as importantly, she found a community of women who encouraged, prayed for, challenged, and loved one another. Looking back, Tara is deeply grateful that she accepted one invitation because God used it to transform both her understanding of His Word and her life.

Elica and Tara remind me why Women in the Word exists. Not to build a large Bible study, but to faithfully open God’s Word and trust Him with the results.

Friendship

One more woman was instrumental in the establishment of the group. She was God’s gift to me. My friend, Molly.

During that first year, He brought her into my life, and she quickly became far more than a co-leader. She became my confidante, encourager, protector, and friend. She has a gift for seeing what needs to be done before anyone else notices. She focuses on our social events, organizes the food, enthusiastically champions every new idea, and somehow always knows when I need encouragement. When difficult situations arise, she helps shoulder the burden. When I’m full of ideas, she’s the sounding board that helps shape them into something better. Every ministry leader needs someone who faithfully says, “I’m with you.” God gave me Molly.

Blessings

One of my favorite traditions began almost by accident. We started creating what we call “Blessing Bags” (and sometimes Blessing Baskets). Whenever we learn that one of our women is walking through a difficult season—a surgery, a loss, an illness, or simply a time when she needs encouragement—we quietly let the group know. Each woman brings something she personally loves: a favorite tea, a devotional, cozy socks, chocolate, lotion, a candle, a handwritten note, or a meaningful Scripture. Individually they are simple gifts. Together they become something beautiful—a hodgepodge of love.

For five years those bags have reminded us that biblical community isn’t built only through Bible studies. It’s built as we carry one another’s burdens, rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, and become the hands and feet of Christ to one another.

Today, Women in the Word feels established. Over the years, women have come and gone as jobs changed, children were born, parents needed care, illnesses came, and life unfolded. Some have moved away. Some have taken a season off. Many have returned. And every time they walk back through our doors, we are ready to welcome them home.

Perspective

As the group continued to grow, we eventually outgrew our little room and moved into a larger space. I still remember the morning we began The Story, our most attended study to date. I stood quietly watching nearly fifty women stream through the doors—finding seats, greeting old friends, introducing themselves to new ones. For a moment it felt less like a Friday morning Bible study and more like the opening session of a conference.

One of the ladies came over, her face filled with excitement and amazement. We stood there together taking it all in.

At that moment, however, my prayer wasn’t, “Lord, thank You for the numbers.”

It was, “Lord, protect my heart.”

I thanked Him for what He was doing, but I also asked Him never to let my faithfulness, my joy, or my identity become tied to attendance. If fifty women walked through the doors, I wanted to be just as faithful as if there were five. If the room continued to fill, I didn’t want my ego to grow with it. And if one day the chairs sat empty, I didn’t want my commitment to shrink.

The calling was never to build a crowd. The calling was simply to be faithful. Whether God entrusted me with five women, fifty women, or somewhere in between, my responsibility would remain exactly the same: teach His Word, love His people, and leave the results to Him.

Meeting Needs

One of the things I’m most thankful for is that we’ve tried to remove as many barriers as possible for women to be part of this ministry.

A few years ago we added Child Watch to our Friday morning study so that stay-at-home moms and grandmothers caring for little ones wouldn’t have to choose between caring for their children and growing in God’s Word. While moms study, trained workers and volunteers lovingly care for their children. Seeing young mothers walk through our doors carrying diaper bags and leaving with hearts encouraged reminds me why we started it.

Women in the Word has also never belonged to just one church. While many of our ladies attend Compassion Christian Church, women from churches all across our community gather around these tables every week. Different denominations. Different backgrounds. Different ages. One Savior. One Word. One family.

And yes—we have a lot of fun together.

We celebrate birthdays, babies, weddings, answered prayers, new jobs, and milestones. Every Christmas we throw a party that has become one of our favorite traditions, and our summer socials, Tuesday dinners, and Friday breakfasts are always filled with laughter. We enjoy giveaways, celebrate perfect attendance, and stay connected through our Facebook group between meetings.

More than once, these women have overwhelmed me with their kindness. For my 60th birthday, they completely surprised me with enough Starbucks, Dunkin’, and Chick-fil-A gift cards to fuel almost an entire year of coffee stops. They want me to keep fueled!

Somewhere along the way, these women became more than people who attended the same Bible study.

They became sisters.

Multiplying Ministry

One lesson God has taught me over these five years – although there have been many – is that this ministry can never be about me.

A few years ago, I began intentionally asking other women to share their testimonies, teach portions of our studies, lead discussions, and use the gifts God has given them. Some were nervous. Some questioned whether they were capable. But I wanted them to discover what I already knew—that God delights in using ordinary women who are willing to say, “Yes.”

That wasn’t simply a way to lighten my workload. It was discipleship.

Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4 that leaders are called to equip the saints for the work of ministry. My desire has never been to be the only teacher in the room. My desire is to raise up women who know God’s Word, love God’s people, and are prepared to lead others.

Around our leadership team, I jokingly call it the “Renee gets hit by a bus” plan. Behind the humor is a serious conviction. If the Lord were to call me somewhere else—or call me home—I don’t want Women in the Word to end. I want it to continue growing because it has never belonged to me. It belongs to Christ.

Looking back, I realize God did far more than answer my prayer or fulfill my promise. Years ago, I asked Him to help me become the kind of older woman described in Titus 2—the kind of woman who would notice the younger women standing alone and invite them in.

Five years later, I smile when I look around the room. I don’t see women standing alone anymore. I see women studying together, praying together, serving together, laughing together, and walking through life together.

Somewhere along the way, strangers became sisters. Only God could write a story like that.

My prayer is that long after I’m gone, Women in the Word will still be opening the Scriptures. New leaders will be teaching. New friendships will be forming. New women will be discovering the beauty of God’s Word. New disciples will be making disciples.

And if, years from now, someone else is telling the story of Women in the Word, I hope they won’t spend much time talking about me.

I hope they’ll spend all their time talking about the faithfulness of God.