What I want to do with this blog post: encourage those who encourage me. Help you to see that there are many ways out there to be a P31 woman – not just in our typical run of the mill ways.
What I don’t want to do with this blog post: give all the glory to these people (because none of these people would say their lives are about them) and also not to give the rest of us a “busyness” mentality or that we have failed if we don’t do some of these things. This is the one my husband has to remind me of often and where I struggle with the most. As a friend of mine says, “Here’s what I don’t do so that I can do what I do.”
Here’s what to do with this post: be encouraged. Especially with the new year coming quickly – pray about areas of growth or new goals for your life. Pray with wise women around you. If you are married: seek your husband’s advice and counsel on this, as well as asking other women.
So, here we go (and these are in no particular order)
Women who INSPIRE me and why:
Leah Finn: because she loves her family and seeks to serve them above doing anything else. In doing this: she is ultra creative and crafty. But, even besides this she is hospitable and giving. Finn definitely married himself a P31 woman. And she is so real with me and never lets on that she has everything together. She desperately knows her need for the Gospel!
Janel Blanchard/Rebecca Horton: These two girls I met when they were both students at Carolina (THE Carolina). Now, one is in Chicago and one is in Savannah. These are my two that challenge me to engage the world, engage the lost in the art/culture/theology/thiking world. They do so with not knowing all the answers, but trusting that God will use the gifts He has given each of them to make a difference in the world for Him! I love these girls.
Karisse Schilling: A friend from college. She has beaten death – meaning God has shown her great mercy in sparing her life from bouts with cancer over several years, almost a decade probably. She faces death head on, she believes God for BIG things. She teaches me to live life to the fullest, live out the Gospel to the hurting, and ask God for BIG GIGANTIC THINGS. I need to pray more like this. I think I’m afraid that I’ll get my heart so set on the answer that if I don’t get it – I’ll be hurt. That is wrong for two reasons: DOUBT and putting my hope and trust in the gift rather than the Giver.
Laura Williams: She is maybe the craftiest person I know with doing things with her hands: she cooks wonderfully, is known for her brilliant creative cards that are featured in so many of the card making books out there (that you find at Michael’s and places like that). She loves her family as well. She has two young boys and she is skilled at art and photography and uses those skills to make their lives more fun. Eric – you got a great wife!
Christi Davis: My pastor’s wife and friend. She is a mother to five ranging from college age to kindergarten (about). She is concerned about her husband, her family, and her home. That is her primary domain. But, she opens her mouth and she speaks in wisdom and kindness (see Proverbs 31). I’m so grateful to have her in my life and I look forward to all that God will show me through her.
I could go on – but these are the ones I wanted to mention today. I’m challenged by these women to:
Live out the gospel and their need of it.
Engage the world around them.
Know their primary domain and be ecstatic about that – and do it well
Use the creative gifts that God has given them and enjoy it
Pray Big!