I lead from ideas. I learned several years ago that my top Strengthsfinder 2.0 strength is ideation. I have an abundance of ideas and it would be easy to chase those ideas down and will them into existence.

But I don’t do that.

I watch where my ideas align with where I see God working.

Many years ago, I was a mom with young children at home. I had a longing for community and particularly for a group of women to meet in my house. I wanted to throw open the doors and invite community in. I wanted to light candles, boil the kettle and start having honest and meaningful conversations.

But first, I prayed.

Then I waited.

And I watched to see where God was already working in the hearts of women.

Many years ago, while studying the classic “Experiencing God” by Henry Blackaby, I learned this principle:

God is always at work. We can experience God when we watch where God is already working and then join God.

When we align our ideas, our lives and our hearts with the movement of God, there is so much Life.

God knew that having a group in my home was a desire of my heart, but I didn’t force it. I let it ripen in the folds of God’s beautiful timing.

Then one night, while volunteering at our church’s young adult ministry, I was chatting with two young women in the church foyer. They were lamenting—longing for a group where they could meet and not have to play videogames. They wanted to have serious conversations. A place where they could grow and learn. They were longing for a circle.

“Well, you could come to my place,” I smiled.

Really?

They were intrigued and excited.

A few weeks later, we had our first meeting. I lit the candles and made tea and from that very first night, we knew we were part of something larger than ourselves. God had been working in these two young women’s hearts and when I heard them expressing their longing and it aligned with my desire,

I knew that it was God at work.

I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it still gets me in the best way … I love when an idea that is a desire of my heart, finds fulfilment in these ways. It builds my faith, knowing these aren’t just my ideas, but when I surrender them and watch and wait, it is part of a beautiful, intimate Dance with God.

It’s been nearly ten years since that first gathering and that circle of women still meets regularly on a Thursday night.

It’s changed and morphed over the years, but at the core of it, we’ve known that this has been God’s heart all along.

We have felt a strong sense of divine purpose over this group. Over years and years, we have watched, learned, prayed and walked together. We have learned lessons and discovered what makes this circle different from other women’s groups and circles. Together, we have learned some of the beautiful principles of Sisterhood.

We know that we belong to each other and that our work needs to be part of establishing God’s kingdom of Love and righteousness on this earth. So, a few years ago, we welcomed a refugee family from Bangladesh and walked alongside them.

We have learned that these words of Margaret Mead can be true for us:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”~ Margaret Mead

These women are becoming like the trees in Psalm 1—trees planted by Living Water, bearing fruit in season. They are growing strong, offering shade and rest and sustenance to others, who come and find shelter with them now.

The key element to starting our group was a willingness to be patient and not make it happen on my own accord.

I watched where God was already working. I watched where the hunger in others’ hearts were meeting the desire in my own heart. I got to join God’s work, invite many women in and we were all invited into a larger Story that is still unfolding.

We are now getting ready to multiply these circles through the Dangerous Women Tribe. These circles will multiply based on this very same principle: Watching where God is already working and then joining God. We long for more women to find life-giving community, strength for the journey and sustenance to serve others.

Leadership, for me, has always been an intimate dance with God.

Yes, I honor my strengths, but first and foremost, I long to go where the Spirit leads and invite others along on this beautiful adventure of faith.

Idelette McVicker is founder and Editor-in-Chief of SheLovesmagazine.com and dangerouswomentribe.com, curating community spaces for women to become strong in their faith and voice, working for peace and justice in the world. Together we learn and practice how we belong to each other.

As an Afrikaner woman, born and raised in South Africa during the Apartheid years, Idelette’s story has both wrecked her and shaped a longing in her heart for a more free and equal world, alongside a humble passion for anti-racist work.

After training as a journalist in South Africa, she lived in Taiwan where she wrote for daily newspapers. She moved to Canada in 1999 and now home truly is the world. Idelette travels and speaks around the world, seeking and witnessing God’s heart for healed and whole relationship.

Idelette is a writer, immigrant, mother of three, and a restaurant wife. She loves Jesus, justice, and living juicy.

Connect with her on:

Twitter at @idelette, Instagram (@idelettemcvicker), Facebook (Idelette), or her personal blog at Idelette.com

Learn more about Ellen’s Picks!