I have been to two Triennial
conferences and at each conference God changed the course of my life. In
2004, my first Triennial, I was 21 years old and had been battling anorexia for
8 years. It was there where I truly knew that God wanted a better life for me
than the chains of an eating disorder. He changed my heart and began my healing.
In 2010, I was not ready to be a
parent. I had my life planned out and kids weren’t in the
picture…yet. I like to be in control of my life. I can think of a handful of times where I
have known I clearly heard God’s voice. During worship one night, that
still, small voice told me that it was time to start a family. After
watching several close girl-fiends struggle with infertility, I figured I had
time to ease into starting a family. Essentially I thought I could “obey” God
yet not worry about a life change. However, 10 months later, Vivian was
born. It is a mystery to me why God let me conceive so quickly, but I
suspect it might have something to do with limiting my time to change my mind
and showing me how to surrender my plans to Him. This was the 2nd Triennial where God taught me to give control
over to Him and trust Him completely.
Triennial also changed my
heart as a leader in Women Ministries. I grew up going to Arvada Covenant
Church (since I was 14) but never really understood the value of connecting in
a denomination.
After seeing over 1000 women
from Covenant Churches across the world come together for the purpose of
glorifying God, I saw that denominations can unite people. We all serve
the same God. I got to see the missionaries our church supports. I
got to hear about ministries within the Covenant Church like Covenant World
Relief, Advocates for Victims of Abuse, and Break the Chains (to stop human
trafficking).
We as women were united in
the cause of helping other women around the world, especially in the issues
that matter most to women! I began to realize that our denomination
brings together women around the world to combine their resources and talents
in order to make an incredible difference. It showed me why I want to continue
to be a Woman of the Covenant.
I can list all the “things”
of Triennial but the real story, the story that matters, is how my life was
changed because of how God moves when a thousand women unite to change the
lives of other women. I brought back the transformation of Christ within
me and a vision to keep women in the Covenant Church united in Christ to impact
our world. If you want to be a part of women in motion for Christ at
Triennial, I hope you will join me next August. I believe that if God is
calling you to go he will help you with the costs. Please send me an email!
I would love to dream with you.
Kinsey
Ringenberg – Women Ministries Chair – kringenberg@gmail.com
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