Reading · A Cup of Jo · RSS Amplifier

Hi Leaders,

Whenever our Ezer Collective attendees arrive, they ask to meet Misty.

Misty is the one who takes some of the ideas swimming around mine and Steph’s heads and brings them to life, or comes up with something better. Misty builds and leads the team that sets the table that welcomes our guests. She connects with Ezer attendees about where to stay , where to eat, how to get connected. She adds some fun touches (lip balms, notebooks, pens, peri/menopause pack: portable fan anyone?) that make women feel seen and known.

She’s also a fantastic leader. So in preparation for this year’s Ezer Collective , I thought it would be great to meet Misty in the newsletter and hear more of her story. Enjoy

Hi. I’m Misty. And I’m an achiever. An Enneagram three. It’s third on my Strength Finders. Achieving and accomplishments are a big deal to me. So imagine with me for a moment what it was to start 2020 like this…

I finished a fairly rigorous Master of Divinity program (seminary) and had no commencement because, you know, global pandemic. Around the same time, my first ever official pastoral position ended in a way that I didn’t see coming and was not my choice. So while I had accomplished something through my education, it felt diminished by the lack of celebration and the whole unemployment thing. Not to mention, looking for a church job when churches weren’t meeting in person was impossible. For the next two years, I was piecing work together while piecing myself back together.

A couple of years before this, a friend told me about a woman lead pastor in our denomination. I didn’t even know that was a possibility. I reached out to Pastor Steph and that led us down the path of a coaching/mentoring relationship that, eventually, turned into friendship. Steph is someone that I like to say “yes” to. Not because I’m trying to please her but because I trust her gut. She’s proven herself to be trustworthy in my life. So in the summer of 2022, when she asked me if I would be interested in being part of Ezer Collective with her and Jo Saxton, it was an easy yes.

I have quite a lot of event experience and so doing admin and communication work for Ezer was fun and interesting. The other piece that felt unique to me was that, although Jo and Steph had clear vision for this event, they also held it loosely enough for me to speak into it…me a newcomer. It seems to me that’s how confident leaders lead.

During my first Ezer experience, I not only worked but was also able to experience the intensive as a participant during the sessions and the table circles. Years later, something that Jo said has stuck with me still. God is pleased with you before you ever accomplish anything. It was one of the moments that was spoken to everyone in attendance but felt like a message straight to my heart.

Jo was referencing the baptism of Jesus. After Jesus’ baptism, the Gospels record the Father saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Jesus had not yet launched his public ministry. No one had been healed by or repented because of him. The Father loves Jesus simply because he’s his kid. He is pleased with him simply because he’s his kid. I, too, am a child of God; therefore, the Father loves and is pleased with me simply because I’m his kid. Full stop. Even now, in the moment that I’m writing this, those words cause me to pause and take them in.

As I took that message with me into our smaller group discussions, I found myself in safe company. I was with a couple of women who had also experienced or were experiencing challenging church situations. Not always, but I think it is often difficult for women to navigate where we fit within church roles. There were women coming from many spaces outside of church also. And even though our stories were different, there was this common bond of navigating what it is to show up as women in leadership spaces. I felt seen and understood.

Now one thing that was unique to me that year was the shuttle. One of the things I agreed to do (Lord, have mercy) was drive a 15-passenger van between the event spaces and the hotel. First let me say that the streets of NE Minneapolis are narrow, particularly when lined on either side with parked cars. Second, I get super anxious when I drive, especially that big ol’ 15-passenger. BUT…I loved this time in the van with my fellow ezers. Sometimes we engaged in mutual conversation but, much of the time, I just listened in on the conversations happening behind me (a girl’s gotta pay attention to the road after all). Women were making connections and forming bonds. There were silly and sacred conversations in that van. I was there for all of it!

I’ve now been involved in four Ezer Collectives. My life has shifted and then shifted again (and again and again…) over the last five years. The greatest gifts of ezer are the friendships and connections. Some of these women I see once a year. Some of them have become part of my regular rhythms with dinners and coffees and Zooms.

In my experience, between the teaching, training and both natural and intentional networking opportunities, there is no other experience like this. While I’ve been part of many events, none of them allow this type of access to the hosts and speakers, women who also participate as they are able. There is something about the mutual respect and friendship between Jo and Steph that influences the atmosphere of this event. In one moment, we can go from the serious with tears falling down my cheeks to the next moment laughing at something simply because of how ridiculous it is - the sacred and the silly. And isn’t that such an accurate reflection of real life? It’s not just one or the other. It’s almost always both.

Misty Harper Anderson

www.mistyharperanderson.com
Instagram: @mistyharperanderson and @mistyharperanderson.photo

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