Last night I met with a group of ladies at the park. They were young and beautiful and energetic, and they were there to talk about Women of Valor. About all the amazing ways that women can be and accomplish and provide, and how the most important thing that makes a woman bold and valorous is in service to God. I thought about the woman I am...where I have been, where I am going. Then I thought of all the women I know, mothers and wives and doctors and students and leaders and servers. I wanted to take a few minutes here to highlight what they mean to me.
Liz...my sister, the lady doctor. A woman who went through college and med school and now performs surgery with a robot and delivers babies. Who gives healing and brings new life into the world, who delivers bad news and guides women through some of the most difficult times of their lives. She shows me how to persevere, to fix on a goal and do whatever it takes to get there.
Mandy...my leader, she's a little like Sauron in Lord of the Rings. She brings us all together, and, rather than telling us to be just like her because her life is pretty amazing, she encourages us to be the best version of ourselves. To find our place in the Kingdom and then let our light shine.
Liga...my friend, who has the most tender heart. She sees people, again and again she impresses me as she looks past the outside and the labels and LOVES. She makes me want to be a better person, to try to look past what creeps me out or smells bad. And she's straight up gorgeous.
Melissa...I've loved her for 20 years, because she is the most amazing person I've ever met. She is gentle and loving and she hurts so easily for others. All you have to do is look in her beautiful blue eyes, and you can see that she FEELS so much, that she has been through so much already, and yet she keeps going, keeps fighting.
Nicole...the mother who buried her child. I don't know her very well, but everything that I see, every word I read on her blog leaves me in awe. She is facing the most difficult process a person could experience, and she is doing it little by little, sharing her grief, facing each day.
Jackie...the super mom. She came into my life just as I was having my first baby, and she showed me how to be at home. She did it so well, having kid after kid, caring for everyone, decorating beautiful cakes for each birthday. She is one of the strongest women I've known.
Laura...the pastor. She showed me how a woman can be a leader, a teacher, a person who is looked to and respected. Jason and Benny and John all saw a leader in me, but Laura was the one who came alongside me and invested in me. She shared her heart for students with me. She encouraged me to be bold.
Barb...the mom I never had. She was the most caring, gentle woman, and I wanted to be her daughter. I loved sitting with her, listening and talking. Now that I am like her, a stay-at-home mom of boys, I think about how she managed to be calm and graceful, feminine and strong, and I hope I can be like that someday.
Jess...the ultimate blogger. The mom who shows me how to write in a way that comforts, encourages, and most of all, respects people. She advocates and promotes, she confides and discloses, and it gives me courage and strength to do the same in my own family, my own little community.
These are women of valor...strong, courageous, beautiful. Different from each other, and yet the same in their example, the life they show the world. These women make me proud of my gender, help me to hold my head up high. This is what we are capable of, the many facets of femininity, the nurturers and givers that we were created to be.
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