Women of Faith: Session 3

Y’all, it’s only 9:52 and I am whipped!! After the emotional morning I have had, I feel like I need to take a nap. It’s not that the stories at this session have all been sad, but y’all, people go through some hard HARD stuff on this side of eternity. People can devote their entire lives to serving God faithfully, and still have to endure some of the hardest things you can imagine. But, BUT!!! We have heard story after story of God’s abundant peace and presence through it all.

Laura Story was first to the stage this morning. She is an absolute doll! She led us in “Mighty to Save,” and I thought Jesus might come back right then. You know, when we look at people like her with their successful careers, we can sometimes forget that they are real people just like us who have very real struggles and issues. Laura took a few minutes to tell us about her husband’s six-year struggle with a brain tumor. A year after they were married, Martin began to say some very strange things and forget things. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor and, while he is doing well now, he was left with some residual memory problems and vision impairments. But through it all God was so present with them, guiding and providing for them each step of the way. Life is HARD, and people deal with really difficult stuff. Out of that dependence on God came her song “Blessings”. She sang it, along with “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” after telling her story, and needless to say, I am a puddle.

And at the very end, she held up her Bible while she was talking about depending on God’s Word and y’all, it was held together with DUCT TAPE!! I can so relate to that! She is definitely my kind of people.

And then came Nicole Johnson. I didn’t really know much about her, except that she was does drama sketches. She is so hysterically funny! But, like Laura, she had some heavy stuff to discuss. A few years ago, while she was involved in ministry, she went through a devastating divorce. She felt that her life in ministry was over. However, after time and healing, she was able to see God putting the pieces back together. She married again and had two children. She continues her ministry with Women of Faith. Her message is that no matter what kind of mess we make of our lives, if we give God the broken pieces He will make something beautiful from it. She is one who truly dwells on the joy in life and not on the pain that sometimes comes along with it.

Listening to these two women’s stpries was such a good reminder that people deal with HARD stuff. It is sometimes easy to get frustrated by a never-ending laundry pile, floors that won’t stay clean, or the monotony of figuring out what’s for dinner. Again. But when you listen to other people’s struggles, it is all quickly put into perspective! My heart overflows with thanksgiving and gratitude!

Comments

  1. Wasn’t it wonderful?! Your pictures are great! I was pleased with mine considering the lighting, but yours are much better!

  2. Great photos! I hope you don’t mind, I used your photo of Nicole Johnson. I couldn’t find any decent photos of her elsewhere and yours popped up in a Google search. I gave you credit and linked to this post. Thank you!

Trackbacks

  1. […] The Hill Hangout GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); […]

Speak Your Mind

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.