She was a gift

What a gift the LORD has given me seventeen years ago.

I was a young mom with teens, we had moved across the country, I felt so very alone even though the LORD had moved us, but I had even younger moms asking for me to be their "Titus Two Mom".

I was thinking in my head, "Me?! I am the one who needs a Titus Two woman in my life!"

So as I agreed to come alongside younger women I was crying out to God, "Why haven't I ever had any older women in my life?!"  Life went on, I did next things for the LORD, and young moms were in and out of my busy life.

Then something happened which I did not see coming as I continued to live for Him.  In one of my many 'reaching outs' to other women I met Mary Nell and a HUGE handful of her friends.  Mary Nell was the youngest of them at ~30 years my senior.

Mary Nell and I connected right away.  Soon enough she was calling me "her other daughter".  

She loved me up, she loved everyone I knew just because I loved them.  I also had this huge handful of the other ladies who loved me up, and each of them loved everyone which I loved just because I loved them.

All of these ladies deeply loved the LORD Jesus, and I came to discover they actually loved everybody up!

Without even trying I had more Titus Two women in my life than I could handle! 

How can I express the joy it has been to have godly women in my life who have walked with me in my agonies, and rejoiced in the joys of my life? 

All I can do is praise the LORD and glory in His name!  He had blessed me in ways I did not expect.  It has been a priceless gift.

The years have slipped by, and one by one some of these precious sisters in Christ have gone to be with Him.  And now...my precious Mary Nell has gently gone to be with Him.  She sees His face and is finally rejoicing in His presence! 

She was a gift from my LORD to me.

These last years she would ask, "When did we meet? I was just talking with Geneva about it and we just couldn't remember."

We would laugh about those first times and say, "It must have been 20 years ago," because time goes by unmeasured when you just live. 

Last night I asked my Beloved when it was, and he figured it out.  It has only been seventeen, but it seems like a lifetime.  They have filled all the voids, taught me how to walk even when I didn't want to walk any more, and they showed me how to live in the LORD's joy even if you cry while doing so.  

My life was forever changed when these ladies came into my life.  Thank you, LORD!

Of all of them whom I dearly loved, my Mary Nell was my most precious.  I would say, "You are a gift from God to me," and she would say to me, "Well, you are a gift from God to me!" 

Mary Nell loved me unconditionally.  She told me everything that happened when we would visit together, and then she would listen to every single word I said no matter how silly it was.

She told everyone we met that I was her "other daughter".  Everyone I met would say, "Oh, so you are her other daughter."  Every doctor, nurse, aide, neighbor, grocery man, bank teller, mailman... 

How do I express my grateful heart to the LORD? How do I say thank you? - it isn't enough, never enough.  And so I praise His name! 

These lovely ladies, my Mary Nell was in His timing.  He blessed me when I wasn't looking in ways I never expected.

I will miss this precious woman so very much, but I know that I will see her again in glory! 

Our legacy in this life is to continue to come alongside others, love them up unconditionally, and glorify God as we live in His strength.

Philippians 1:21-30

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 

But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; 

and I do not know which to choose. 

But I am hard-pressed from both directions, 

having the desire to depart and be with Christ, 

for that is very much better; 

yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 

Convinced of this, I know that I will remain 

and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, 

so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus 

through my coming to you again.

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, 

so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, 

I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, 

with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 

in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, 

but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. 

For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, 

not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 

experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, 

and now hear to be in me."

GLORY TO GOD!