I did not know about dresses. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I wore a bra. And my memories of basic hygiene are vague. There stood before me a tall blond woman, her blue eyes lit with a joy I was still unfamiliar with. She was stunning! Her dress matched her earrings, both swirling in rich turquoise and fuchsia. And she wore lipstick. I wore an old T-shirt that smelled like yesterday’s ashtray…
These women shared a common thread that greatly impacted my own personal spiritual growth, in each one I saw a faithful acceptance of where God had led them each to be. And in that acceptance, they had grown hearts that longed to lift others up to their heavenly father.
In 1975, Miss Coughlin assigned the new girl to the seat right next to mine. Lenore was introduced to the 5th grade students, and before homeroom ended, the teacher asked me to show her the way to the girls’ bathroom. From that day, we were drawn together as best friends in every way – except one:
I like to say we met on a wing and a prayer. Unlike the implication of this old adage, however, our friendship was blessed from the beginning.
More than three and a half decades my senior, this angel on earth was our pastor’s wife, but I didn’t first meet her in church.
When we think of investing in the lives of others as God has commanded us, so many barriers can quickly pop into our minds! Perhaps the common phrases “full,” “not much margin,” or “tired” come to mind. Sadly, I must admit: I have used these terms more than once lately to describe my own life. Or maybe it’s not the resource of time that you feel is in short supply; perhaps you feel that you don’t have much emotional margin due to difficulties in your own life … perhaps you feel like you aren’t a great “people person” … maybe finances are tight. Whether you feel in short supply in the area of time, finances, emotional margin, energy, or people skills, listen up: I have a word of encouragement for you!
When I first met Barbara back in March of 2021, I was going through a particularly challenging time in my life. I had been dealing with a severe health issue for the past nine months, with no answers from doctors and no healing in sight. I had reached out to Barbara for help and guidance. Not only was my health struggling but my marriage was suffering. I found out
I was an awkward 15-year-old when I first joined my new church’s youth group. We had been going to the church for a while but hadn’t gotten around to checking out the student activities until then. I remember feeling incredibly nervous and shy around all the kids my own age. I used to get anxious when trying to get to know new people and find things to talk about, so I didn’t think it was going to go very smoothly.
After wandering around for a while
Unhappy with my response, she pouted. She wanted to help cook. She wanted to do something she enjoyed, something she felt was important. Setting the table wasn’t anything important.
For some time I’d known I was running from Him. It didn’t look like it on the outside; I was doing all the “right” things. I didn’t know exactly why or what the problem was, but I was working overtime to avoid finding out, avoiding Him.
Gina brought social science to bear in the realm of real mission. She led with data rich concepts from the United Nations Human Development Report and tied this data to how women use their natural inclination toward relationship to bring female perspective and presence to the head of the table where true leadership decisions are made.