Admirable Women

I remember being asked in college what Christian women were my heros. At the time I answered without hesitation Corrie ten Boom, Elizabeth Elliot, and Amy Carmichael. Those are still true and I would add Beth Moore and Luci Swindoll to that list. However, I have been realizing lately that there are Christian women much closer to home that I admire maybe even more. The Lord has given me an amazing heritage of godly women in my own family. I had two great grandmothers who taught me what it looked like to walk with God to the end of our time here on earth. I remember one of them telling me, "I wish my great grandchildren would share more prayer requests with me, it's what I do all day long. I would love to spend all day praying for them more specifically." My paternal grandmother has shown me what true hospitality and servanthood look like. She a true handmaiden of the Lord. She taught missions in VBS when I was a kid and ignited my passion for missions--esp. tribal missions. My mother has shown me that God can truly change lives. She describes herself before the Lord as very angry and spiteful. I can't see that. God has removed that from her heart. She is one of the most forgiving people I know--she continually shows me what unconditional love looks like, even to those who don't "deserve" it or appreciate it. She taught me that my primary mission field was my family and if I wasn't willing to minister to them then I had no business in ministry. Bloom where God's planted you--He's planted you in your family. Then there are my sisters. They have been through things these last couple years that I can't even fathom. I've walked it with them, but haven't experienced what they have. They have handled the trying times that God has allowed with such grace and faith that I'm astounded. They are my true heros in the faith. One has struggled with the loss of a child and the other with an "interrupted life" d/t lingering illness and chronic pain. While they've both cried and struggled with the Lord in their own ways, they've both sought to bring glory to the Lord and prayed for salvations through their situations. They are women desperate to see God use them for His glory, to see their mourning turned into dancing. What would bring them the most dancing, is to see heaven full of people touched by their situations, who accepted the Lord as a result of God's work in their lives and families. This to me is the most beautiful thing in the world. My sister's are both physically beautiful women, but more importantly they are dazzling in their inner beauty. They have not let hard times interrupt their lives, they've sought the Lord, leaned hard on Him and walked forward in faith--maybe in just a little different direction than what they had been intending. They've taught me God's paths are better, not easier, but worth every hardship. Without Him we are nothing and our struggles are in vain.

Father, I thank You for these amazing women. Thank You for my heritage of faith. Thank You for a family who wouldn't let me rest on that heritage but rather encouraged me to develop a relationship of my own. Continue to bring strenght and hope and peace and joy to my sisters. Thank you for all You are doing in their lives. I love You. Thank you for my amazing sisters.