Episode Follow Me: Insights from a Fisherwoman About Following Jesus
Author Leslie Leyland Fields joins the Discover the Word group from her home on Kodiak Island, Alaska and shares Insights from a Fisherwoman About Following Jesus. In a time when so many are "unfollowing" Jesus and leaving the church, Leslie's experience in her family's commercial fishing business provides a helpful perspective about what it meant for those first fishermen disciples to follow Jesus, and what it means for us today.
Chapter 1
Best-selling author Leslie Leyland Fields joins the group to talk about her life as part of a family commercial fishing business in Alaska, and what that has taught her about the fact that Jesus has called us to go into the world and make disciples—to “fish for people.” But are we really qualified for the job? In this chapter, you’ll reflect on the moment when Jesus called Peter to be a disciple. Peter was just an ordinary fisherman, but Jesus knew He could use him to do great things!
Chapter 2
The storms of life can be both powerful and relentless. But gratefully, we don’t have to endure them alone! In this chapter of our conversation with best-selling author Leslie Leyland Fields, offering Insights from a “Fisherwoman About Following Jesus,” you’ll look at the time when Jesus calmed the storm and consider why Jesus remained calm while His disciples panicked.
Chapter 3
In our walk of faith, sometimes we take steps in the wrong direction. We’re tempted to “unfollow” Jesus rather than follow Him. But Jesus still pursues us, even when we stumble! In this chapter, our guest, author Leslie Leyland Fields tells us about a time she wanted to walk away from her faith, and invites you to consider the loving way in which Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, even though they had “unfollowed” Him.
Chapter 4
In this chapter, author Leslie Leyland Fields challenges the group to think about how fishing, for both some of Jesus’ original disciples and those in the fishing industry today, is a profound act of faith. And then she also points out that following Jesus, for both the first disciples and for us today, is a profound act of faith. More “Insights from a Fisherwoman About Following Jesus” in this episode.
Chapter 5
Possibly six of Jesus twelve closest disciples were fisherman. And repeatedly in the Gospels, we see Jesus making the request of his disciples—“Follow Me.” Well, this week’s guest, best-selling author Leslie Leyland Fields and her family have a fishing business in Alaska, and so in this conversation, she’s going to tell us how her experience in the fishing industry, as well as the experience of a fellow fisherman—Jesus’ disciple Peter—can encourage us as Jesus’ disciples to “follow Him.” One more insight from a fisherwoman about following Jesus!
About This Episode
- Show Notes
- About The Guest(s)
Receive
Following Jesus and fulfilling His commission can be hard and scary at times; sometimes we might even consider giving up. Some of Jesus’ first disciples were imperfect fishermen, who were religiously unqualified and who failed to keep their resolve. Award-winning author and professional Alaskan fisherwoman Leslie Leyland Fields gives us a unique perspective about why Jesus chose fishermen to follow Him and how their story is such an encouragement to us today. Her five takeaways help us understand the ways that God has equipped us to follow Him.
Reflect
- Read the verses connected with this episode below. As you reflect on this Scripture, what stands out to you?
- How does Jesus qualify you to be His disciple?
- Based on Peter’s example of unfollowing Jesus in John 21, what is Jesus’ response to us when we reach this point of feeling like our faith has worn too thin?
- What power does Jesus give you to follow Him?
- What is the one thing you can offer to follow Jesus and fulfill His commission?
Respond
(Use this prayer to start a conversation with God)
“Lord Jesus, help me to know that offering you my imperfect love is all you need from me, and help me to be assured that this is the best way to follow you and fulfill your commission. Help me to embrace the inevitable storms that will arise in my life—even though I follow you—knowing that you have ended the ultimate storm of sin and death.”
Gain more encouragement to follow Jesus with these recommended resources
Mentioned in this episode:
- Crossing the Waters: Following Jesus through the Storms, the Fish, the Doubt, and the Seas by Leslie Leyland Fields
- God Hears Her Podcast Episode 56 “ The Adventure of Faith” with Leslie Leyland Fields
Listen:
Read:
- Encounters with Jesus: 40 Reflections on Knowing and Loving the Savior by J.R. Hudberg
- Yet Shall We Live (PDF Download from Discovery Series)
- A Place for Doubt in a Growing Faith (Our Daily Bread Ministries)
Watch:
- Peter: From Fisherman to Disciple of Jesus (Episode 1 of “In Pursuit of Peter”)
- Galilee Region: The Unexpected Base of the Messiah (Episode 3 – Season 5 of “The Holy Land” with Dr. Jack Beck.
Leslie Leyland Fields
Leslie Leyland Fields is a multi-award winning writer, editor, and international speaker who lives on two islands in Alaska. She has written/edited 14 nonfiction books of memoir and essays on a variety of subjects, including memoir writing, the spirituality of food, forgiveness, wilderness, discipleship and parenting. Her books have been translated into 10 languages. Leslie has traveled all over the world, both as a seeker and as a speaker, including treks across the Sahara, through Asia, Europe, and Central America. She has taught in numerous countries including Mongolia, South Africa, France, and Slovakia. In 2013, she began the Harvester Island Writers’ Workshop, a week long writing workshop and retreat at a beautiful wilderness island in Alaska.
Leslie has written for many publications including The Atlantic, Orion, Books and Culture, Beliefnet, and Christianity Today earning her a number of EPA awards.
She holds three graduate degrees and currently teaches through retreats as well as through live online classes, including her Memoir Masterclass, with more than 1000 writers from around the world.
Leslie and her husband Duncan have 6 children and 5 grandsons. They continue to commercial salmon fish together on their wilderness island in Alaska.
This Week's Featured Resource
Crossing the Waters: Follwomg Jesus through the Storms, the Fish, the Doubt, and the Seas
You’ll be swept up in a fresh experience of the gospels, traveling with the fishermen disciples from Jesus’ baptism to the final miraculous catch of fish―and also experiencing Leslie’s own efforts to follow Christ out on her own Alaskan sea. In a time when so many are “unfollowing” Jesus and leaving the Church, Crossing the Waters delivers a fresh encounter with Jesus and explores what it means to “come, follow me.”