Passion for God Women’s Weekend

Following in our usual tradition, we have interviewed Beth Cook, who is the Women’s Weekend pioneer and wife to Paul. We asked her questions about her life, what the inspiration was behind first forming the weekend in 2010 and the inspiration behind  2011.  Enjoy.

1) We all know that you are the Passion for God Women’s Weekend pioneer, however what is it you actually do day in day out?

First and foremost I am wife to Paul (worship guy!) and mum to our very active five year old son Samuel. Being a housewife is certainly enough to keep a person busy. I am a Primary School Teacher by trade, which I really love but I have taken a break from that at the moment so that I can be at home whilst Samuel is young. Paul and I are on the leadership team at our church so we are very, very busy at weekends. We run the church youth group on Friday nights amongst other things. Come September I am starting a part-time masters in Education so all in all busy, busy is how I would describe day-to-day life!

2) What is on your to-do list today?

Food shopping, washing, cleaning, cooking, PFG emails, playing with Sam after school.

3) Apart from family, what are your main focuses in life right now?

Church is a massive part of our lives at the moment so making sure that we keep everything in the right balance is always important. There’s no point being really busy if you’re not finding time to be with God, which is the most important. Getting ready for the Women’s weekend is also one of my main things at the moment. I have a tendency to be a perfectionist in making sure things are super organised…. not always a good thing, as Paul will tell you when I’m lying awake half the night thinking about room plans and writing down ideas!

4) What birthed the Women’s weekend – what was the inspiration behind it?

I think the seed for the women’s weekend really started five years ago after I gave birth to our son Samuel 14 weeks early. He was dangerously ill and was in hospital for a long time. It took two years or so for him to become well. As you can imagine it was a very difficult time for us. Having been through that situation and having witnessed other women facing equally difficult situations I became increasingly interested in women’s issues. I also became mindful of the importance of giving young women time away from their busy lives to have some close fellowship with God and hear some relevant teaching and preaching. The idea for the actual women’s weekend really grew out of the main PFG weekend when we first had some women only time and were really blessed by it. Encouraged by Tim we stepped out in faith and booked a venue for the first women’s weekend. God was incredibly faithful and we filled up very quickly. We are now have a team of young women organising the weekend, Chan, Helen W, Helen C, Louise and myself. We are looking forward to our second weekend coming up in Oct. The main vision for these weekends is that young women would have time out to spend with God and would be encouraged in developing their giftings both personally, in their families, in their churches, and in their workplaces.

5) What were the thoughts behind the theme “I am the Vine and You are the Branches”?

In praying about the theme for the weekend God spoke this verse to me. It encourages us as young women to remember that we need to be planted in God, That all of our spiritual food and sustance must come from Him and that we must remain in Him if we are to grow and bear fruit for Him. It also later goes on to talk about how God must prune us again in order for us to grow. Leslie Cobil will be speaking on this topic and I am really excited and expectant to see how God will move.

6) The weekend is coming up in October – are you anxious in any way?

Well as I said earlier I can be a bit of a perfectionist so I do sometimes worry, or should I say think over the details alot! But I remind myself that God holds it all in his hands and everything doesn’t have to be perfect! What really is the most important thing is that we meet with God.

7) What are you looking forward to the most?

I am most looking forward to seeing how God will move in the lives of the women there, including my own. It is wonderful to see God bringing refreshment and encouragement. Time spent in fellowship with friends is also very precious.

Lastly, what would you say to those on the edge that are thinking of coming but haven’t booked yet?

Well we only have two spaces left but we don’t want to turn people away so if anyone else is keen to come they are welcome to bring a lilo and sleep on the floor for a reduced fee. Anyone interested in this can contact us through PFG.

9) If you were stuck on an island with any member of the PFG team, who would it be and why?

Am I allowed to say my husband!

Well if I’m not allowed to say him then it would definitely have to be the rest of the women’s team; Helen W, Helen C, Chan and Louise. I certainly couldn’t choose between them. We would be so busy chatting and drinking tea from our prepacked thermos flask (just in case!) that we wouldn’t even notice any rescue ships passing by!