The heavens have been waiting in rapture for this moment… I can imagine Jesus fist pumping and God lifting up the hem of his robe to do a happy little jig. The angels are all crowded around above rising to their feet and lifting their arms in succession to do the wave as the Holy Spirit runs through the stadium. What has got them so excited??? Well they have been waiting for this moment for a long time. “For such a time as this”, when six fearfully and wonderfully made women would be brought together with one purpose.
TO SEE HIS KINGDOM COME AND HIS WILL BE DONE
We are women of beauty, deep belly laughs, Holy Spirit dance parties, Hawaiian pizza, and POWER.
We are Team Dunamisses.
What’s up with the cray cray name you say? Let me explain. There was one word that seemed to echo around us, reoccurring and flashing before our eyes; POWER. I can’t argue with that because I sure know that power is defiantly a defining characteristic of our heavenly Daddy. And we are His daughters, so that not only makes us royalty, but also warriors. Warrior Princesses.
Picture this, six warrior princesses, like Zena but less trashy. Our Chocos (outdoor adventure sandals) stirring clouds of dust at our feet. I am going to add aviator sunglasses to the image too. Yeah, I definitely need to add 6 pairs of equally BA aviators to the packing list. And yes, we are well equipped with the Warrior Princess victory yell." YeeYeeYeeYeeYee!" Oh, you may find it intimidating to read… you just be glad you are not an enemy of Jesus or your ears would bleed upon hearing and fear would pierce your heart. Believe it.
A quick Greek lesson for you in case you didn’t really understand the name. DUNAMIS= Greek for POWER. Check out this definition, is FIRE!
Dunamis:
- inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth
- power for performing miracles
- moral power and excellence of soul
- the power and influence which belong to riches and wealth
- power and resources arising from numbers
- power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts
So you add that title to six sassy sisters and you get us, the DunaMISSES. Get it? Har har. Ok we laughed for like 5 solid minutes when the name was first mentioned. Lightning also fell from the heavens scorching a hole in the Hawaiian Pizza we were sharing. The name stuck.
Now, without further ado….. Please allow me the high honor of announcing our team! Team Dunamisses!
Laura Economides: This girl is pure sunshine and we call her THE ENCOURAGER. This is something that God has been challenging her in recently even though all of us can see it so clearly. Laura also has this sweet innocence and purity to her that is so rare and breathtakingly beautiful. Don’t let that fool you though, she is a dunamis woman; a woman of power.
During our time at training camp there were moments that I was really struggling with where the Lord had me. “God, are you sure you want me for this? Are you sure you know what you are doing?” And then Laura would come out of the blue and wrap me in a hug and say words that would put a big fat cork in satan’s mouth. I cannot wait to see the amazing ways God is going to stretch this woman this year and teach her about all of the strength and beauty that He has stored up in her! (Laura is also a Olympic worthy hoola hoopist, and will be teaching lessons to third-world children across the globe).
Karen Thyer: God smiled down on me when He introduced me to Karen. We actually met about four months before camp because we have the same stomping ground, Jacksonville. This not only meant that I had a friend already, but someone to bounce ideas off of and encourage each other. We bonded over Threads of Hope bracelets, our curly hair and our admiration for Heidi Baker. Two words stand out to me when I think of Karen; WISDOM and GRACE. When Karen speaks, everyone around her listens because we can feel the weight of wisdom in her voice. She doesn’t react out of the emotion of the situation, but rather she seeks Biblical foundation.
I overheard a conversation between her and Liz a few weeks ago where Liz was asking advice on something. Karen responded, “You are asking the wrong question. You need to go before the Lord and ask this instead….” And then another phrase, “If you look at your weaknesses you‘ll see they can also be strengths.” Now do you see why I am so pumped to be on this girl’s team! She is going to keep us from floating out into the universe.
But being wise and full of grace does not mean Karen is anywhere near boring. This girl is a unicyclist who can rock out mad dance party moves and has even braved the terrifying Philippino Balut (fertilized duck egg, her victory moment pictured above).
Ashlee Castle: This girl is incredible. I am going to call her THE BACKBONE. She is strong, a leader and she holds us all together. She is always willing to step up and serve, and man, does she GET THINGS DONE! God gave her a rockin’ brain for numbers and she has graciously accepted the burden of being our team treasurer. BACKBONE!
Recently God turned her brain to “applesauce” by overwhelming her with financial support to the point of being more than fully funded!!! Soon after she jumped on facebook and posted for the whole squad to see and be super encouraged at how good our Daddy is at providing!!!
During training camp, one word that Monica (who you will hear about in a moment) kept getting for Ashlee was SOLID. This Dunamis warrior is solid and I am so grateful to have such a woman on our team!
Liz Cloutier: I have never met another woman like Liz. She is soooo in loooooove with Jesus. She will go on and on about how He is her best friend and how amazing He is. Shouldn’t we all? Liz is a ball of JOY and PASSION that zings around spreading the Father’s love and zeal wherever she goes. She sold everything to be a missionary. She is holding nothing back from Jesus.
I loved the morning at camp where she declaired to all of us, “Guys, I woke up this morning and it was like God zapped me. I am love drunk!” She literally danced her way through the rest of the day. She was drunk all day long. Later that night, I was praying with another J-squad woman during worship when we both stopped suddently. “Is that Liz!?!” we asked. Sure enough, our Lizzy had jumped up on the mic and started preaching to all of the 300 missionaries at camp about our identity in Christ. Now, this was not normal for Liz. I know her testimony and the struggles she has come out of and had been dealing with even that week. But that love drunk girl had been set on fire and God was burning out all the old junk of insecurities and lies of her past. “Women of God, it does not matter how you look or what you weigh. You are beautiful because of who Christ is in you!”
I will never forget this moment of a beautiful woman fully surrendered and I will be happy to see how Jesus will continue to rock her world!
Monica Pennington: Oh Monica, where do I start?! Monica = Dunamis. I will never forget the moment one of my squad mates, Justin Wofford, ran up to me and said, “Dude, I don’t know if you know this, but MONICA HEARS FROM GOD!” Haha. That’s right folks! So, for this reason I am calling her THE EAR.
She speaks so much truth and life into us and continually calls out true identity. I am praying that we will be able to do the same for her this year. She is natural nurturer and encourager and I have to continually fight the urge to call her Mama Bear.
Jesus, I think you making this woman one of our fearless six. I am so so comforted by her presence and the strength and leadership she brings. I know you are my safety net Lord, but having this woman beside me sure does not hurt!
And then there is ME! I know I am an encourager, a nurturer and I like to believe that I am funny. I like to dress like a hippie and I have awesomely huge hair (which may or may not be in dread locks by the end of this year!)
But recently God has been teaching me more about myself and how He sees me. He sees me as a leader, even if at times that is hard for me to accept. He is calling me to step up and step out. To believe in myself, be vulnerable with others, and to trust Him with every fiber of my being. And as our TEAM LEADER……..! I am going to have trust! Whew, deep breath, we are in for a wild ride but I know God has our backs. And I am praising Him for each one of these women that He has placed beside me, women that He has hand sculpted and hand-picked, women of Dunamis power.
YeeYeeYeeYeeYeeYeeYeeYee!
