Please welcome... PPN Writer Judi Cotignola

What an awesome place of wisdom you have found on this website!

I have been in “the ministry” my whole life. My great-grandmother was a preacher, my grandfather was a preacher, and my father was a preacher. I truly do not know any other life. I have always been involved in some kind of teaching ministry, but in 2005, I was asked to preach on a Sunday morning. I was terrified, but God gave me the message to speak, and the ability to speak it with confidence. And I was hooked. I had found the outlet I had been looking for. For the first time, I felt like I was doing what God called me to do.

Soon after that, I began preaching on a regular basis, and people came to the services, but they began asking me questions about why I thought I “should be allowed” to preach all of a sudden. They started sending me emails about women in the pulpit, and wanting to debate Paul’s instruction to not allowed women to teach men.

I was floored. (Gobsmacked would be a true definition.) If people were receiving the Word, and lives were being changed by God’s power, why was my gender the only thing we were discussing? Was I trying to push my own agenda?

In July 2007 I received a manila envelope in the mail. When I opened the envelope, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, and I knew then that whatever was in the envelope was going to change my life. I was right—it was the invitation to the 2007 Unstoppable Conference.

At the conference I met Deanna and Tara, and many other women who spoke my language. I realized that I wasn’t alone in my struggles. I wasn’t being rebellious or difficult by feeling that I was called to preach—I was following my calling. I heard other women verbalize the things I had been pondering in my heart.

God touched and healed me that weekend. I still had more heartbreaks to follow, but God opened my eyes to a world of ministry that I thought was beyond my grasp. And to other women who wanted to be the voice of encouragement to me and others.

At the conference, Deanna told us about the website, and encouraged us to make contact with other pastors, and share ideas. It has been a great source of wisdom for me, and I pray that it will be for you too.

As my husband and I raise our three girls, my mantra to them is: Don’t limit what God can do with your life! Follow every dream He gives you—no matter what the others around think or say about it! Don’t set you’re your speed by the herd. God knows the plans He has for you (Jer. 29:11), and He most likely hasn’t shared that with your neighbors yet.

God has great things in store for those who trust Him and His promises, and keep moving forward. But don’t just determine to survive; allow God to make you an example of a woman who thrives and blossoms!

God bless you!