Women I Admire

When I looked at this prompt from “Friday Five”, a few women came to mind immediately.

The first one who came to mind is my elderly friend, Carol. Some words that describe her are sweet, caring, loving, supportive, positive, hospitable, and strong in her faith.

I met Carol at a church prayer time and was quickly impressed by the depth of her faith as she expressed it in her prayers and by her closeness to the Father, which was also evident.

Throughout the years, even though Carol and I no longer attend the same church, she is the one I call when I am deeply hurt or upset about something to the point of feeling the need to have someone pray with me. She has so much wisdom.

She listens carefully even when she is busy or has cares of her own, and she prays fervently with me right on the phone. I always come away from those conversations between the two of us and God feeling much better.

Another friend whom I admire is Dawn. She also is elderly now, and she also is a woman of great faith. I remember in those long ago prayer meetings in which I participated with her, she would begin to pray, “O LORD,…”

Just the way she would say it, I felt like I was being ushered into the Awesome Presence of God with her, like she personally knew the same God that Isaiah saw in his vision in Isaiah 6:1-8. Those were the days before I had discovered so deeply myself the awesomeness of being able to approach the throne of God and to be enveloped by His Loving and Awesome Presence.  Her love for God left a lasting impression on my heart.  Hers is a legacy of attracting people to God by her deep faith, love, and grace.

A third friend whom I admire is Alexis.  She impressed me from the beginning with her high energy, her love for life, her sense of humor, her graciousness, and her lavish gift of praise.  I had been raised in a background where praise for people was considered to be something you shouldn’t do too much because you might give the person a big head.  But I really needed to be built up at the time when God brought Alexis into my life.  And she was a wonderful mentor, without even trying to be one, of the encourager that God wants His people to be for one another.

I thank the Lord for bringing these ladies into my life.  My life would not be the same without them.  They all have added to my life without asking anything in return.  They are true blessings from above!

Of course this list would not be complete without mentioning my mother.  She gave me life and worked hard for all those years, putting up with my shenanigans and teaching me to obey God and say please and thank you and all the other things that moms do for their children.  She read to me when I was very young and listened to me read when I was a beginning reader.  She took me to church and Sunday School, and I occasionally caught her with her Bible open on her bed.

She now has dementia, but I admire her still, as her faith in God still shines through.  I’ve written more about it in the post just before this one, Layers of Real.  I’d love to have you check it out.

Thank You, God, for the amazing women You put in our lives to teach us things that You want us to learn and to love us and lead us in Your ways.

Amen.

Linking up with:

Thankful Thursdays

Tell His Story

Ra Ra Linkup

Testimony Tuesday

Intentional Tuesday

Soul Survival

Glimpses

Small Victories

Dance With Jesus

Grace & Truth

Faith ‘n Friends

Faith Filled Friday

Fresh Market Friday

Friday Five