Biblical women...

This post started a week ago and grew. It is long. Very long. Which is something I try to avoid here. I decided to publish this post anyway because it is just such a part of who I am right now and it speaks to what inspires me. Someday I may want to remember this and share it with my kids.

When I was little, I used to wish that I had been born in Bible times. I wish I could say it was so I could have known Jesus and witnessed great miracles personally, but no, that wasn't it. I wanted to be a character in the Bible to be famous and have little kids all over the world would learn about me and color my picture in Bible class. Bible characters were as "big" to me as the Disney princesses are to little girls today. ( That's a sad and even self indicting statement...but that is fodder for another blog.)

As I grew up I realized that living in Bible times would not have been as glamorous as I thought, and not just because they had to carry their water and live with out air conditioning and store bought mayonnaise. The women in the Bible had hard lives. They were tested and tried in ways I wouldn't want to be. Their children were killed, they were raped and traded, their husbands sometimes took other wives and left them to their bothers when they died. Life was not easy for most women in the Bible.

When I was in college I developed an awe and respect for the likes of Ruth, Sara, Abigail, Mary, and Esther. It was a "Wow! I don't know if I could have done what she did" kind of awe. The type of naive awe that realized our sisters (and brothers) in the Bible were put there to be the examples, teachers, references and inspiration for all the generations to come, but didn't realize why. Now I have come to believe that God gave us these great (and sometimes not so great) real people who walked and breathed as examples because he knew we too would suffer the same trails and temptations to some degree. The people in the Bible did not suffer trials and temptations so that generations would be spared. They suffered trials and temptations because we all will. God in his wisdom used their lives to show us that we are not alone and that He has been taking care of "our kind" for a long time. Even if we are weak and weary, He is strong and faithful. Sometimes it takes all our faith to believe that, but seeing how he works in the lives of others sure helps.

Now when I think of Biblical women, I don't just think of the women in the Bible. God has blessed me by letting me know women who have lived the truths of the Bible personally. Women who lived through adversity yet walked away praising God and loving Jesus even more. Women like my grandmothers. Women like Diane Cope, Sharon Small, Judy Thomas, Ann Griggs, Ruth Ann Stallings, Pam Money, Charlotte Hackett, Jamie Hackney, Sandra Woods... and the list goes on. Women who I have watched up close and from a distance. Women who have praised God with broken hearts. It is one of the greatest blessings of my life to know women such as these.

But lately I realize that God has blessed me with an entirely new group of biblical Godly women from the most unlikely of sources. Through my computer I am able to check in with women who show their hearts for Christ through the words they write. Many of you to the left in my blog role are such women.But lately there are four women who I know mainly through blog world who have really been on my heart and mind. I may have a mutual friend or "live" connection to them, but I feel I know them because of their blogs.

It should come as no surprise that all of these women are mothers, because at this stage in my life, my kids are the main focus of my time, energy, love and ministry. These women inspire me. They challenge me just by the way they live their life. I have prayed for them, cried for them, laughed with them on their blogs. I love these women for the heart they have, the courage they show and the life they live. None of them know I am writing this today. Most don't even know I read their sites, so don't freak them out with comments or anything. You may already know them, but I wanted to share these women God has revealed to me, and in my own way pay tribute to them and HIM!

The first is Lee Ann Brown. She and her family have been on my mind and in my thoughts since a tragic car accident took her son Conner in May. Even though her husband Tod is usually the one to writes in their family journal on this site, Lee Ann wrote the last entry. And you can tell just from reading the comments what an incredible woman she is. Incredible and real. Her brother is an ACU friend. What has inspired me most about Lee Ann ( who I think I met a few times during the 6 months we lived in Midland and went to Golf Course Road) is what people say about her son Conner. How do you raise a child to be that normal and fun and that Godly, sweet, and compassionate at age 13? I am overcome with grief for her and yet so in awe of the mother, wife, sister, friend and in all things, christian woman she must be.

The second is Leigh Saxon. Her son Jack is the same age and goes to the same school as my daughter Kolby. A friend I used to carpool with when Kolby was in kindergarten took Jack home from school sometimes, so as a car pool we all took Jack home sometimes. I said "Hi" to Leigh when I saw her in the halls at school and around town. I really didn't know her or her family though until I started reading her families blog. I keep using this phrase but I don't know how else to say it, I am in awe of her and how well she has handled all that her entire family have been through for the last four and a half years while her son Paul battled cancer. Paul went to live with Jesus last Saturday. And Leigh, along with her wonderful husband Terrill, spoke at Paul's Service/ Celebration, refusing to call it a funeral and asking people not to wear black. I can only imagine what their hearts and minds are feeling but their spirit, Leigh's spirit, is so inspiring. You can get to know her here.

And then there is Stephanie McCord, whom I have never met. I have never even commented on her blog. She is a young mother who lost her husband Keith last December after a short but painful and tiring battle with cancer. Her baby boy and only child is a month older than Ella Kate! At 30 she is now faced with a life she never envisioned. She is a single Mom with a 13 month old. Her blog has brought me to my knees and I have cried for her like I would my own sister. It truly hurts to read her words sometimes. But her faith is so real. She inspires me. She has not given up. She will not let herself give up. She is doing all she can to make the best life possible for Lincoln and to be the person God has called her to be. She is honest. She makes me laugh and she makes me cry. She has put into words some of the very same questions and thoughts I have had about God and his powers to love, heal and sometimes seem silent. AND she does so much with that little boy! She is an incredible Mother! She lives to show her son God's love. I sometimes come away from her blog ashamed of the things I take for granted. BUT, I always come away inspired to keep God's love and will for my life in the front of my mind and the focus of my heart. She makes me want to be a better wife and mother. Even through this incredible grief and sorrow she is showing others how to heal, grieve, move on and make everyday count. This is her blog.

Lest you think I am a grief junkie, I saved this one for last. Suzanne's blog needs no props and most likely no introduction. Suzanne grew up in the church my family is now a part of. I love to get the scoop on Suz (who I have seen but never met) from her Mom. I am also one of the thousands of people who check her blog every day to see how she and the quadruplets she is currently 28 weeks pregnant with are doing. Suzzane has a love for God that emanates through the words of love she writes about her husband, family, friends and yes, the fab four growing inside her. She has been in the hospital for weeks on bed rest. We are praying for her to carry the babies to week 32. Just four weeks to go! If you are one of the 2 people in "the blogger nation" who have not been following Suz's progress, get on over there and give her some love! I think about her all the time. I look at Ella Kate and wonder how in the world anyone could handle three more of her...at the same time! WOW! I think Suzanne's great testimony has just begun and we in blog land are blessed to be able to share in her journey.

My fingers hurt, as I'm sure your eyes do! I know this is too long. If you have stuck with me this far, thank you for letting me share these women who are inspiring my life. I am amazed at the affection God enables us to feel for those we do not really know. Kindred spirits are one of the great gifts we get to enjoy here on Earth. I hope these women inspire you and that you are as blessed as I have been to share in their journeys through words on a web site. God bless!