There are people who created you. Not physically...but spiritually, emotionally, intellectually created you. You wouldn't be who you are without them...
I find myself speaking of these people so often: repeating something they taught me, sharing memories with a new friend, talking about how the exchange that we had stirred and changed my very being....its an amazing and sometimes haunting realization. Particularly when I think that many of those people are no longer in my life daily...instead, new people are shaping who I will be 5, 10, 15 years from now.
For example, Amy Hofschroer (then Dutcher) changed my life forever when she started meeting with me when I was a freshman. There isn't a chance on earth I would be where I am spiritually if she hadn't invested her time & energy and truly shared her life with me. Going through Passion & Purity and "Becoming a Woman of Freedom" every week was so great...I recommend these to every freshman I know. She taught me how to choose good friends as well as become a good friend. Amy, I make my freshman write out lists of what a good friend is to this day! She encouraged me to be part of a summer training program after freshman year that challenged my socks off. I remember watching her get married and what a testimony of God's goodness it was. I vividly remember thinking, "I will wait forever to have a relationship like theirs...there's no point in settling for less." With Amy, I always felt invited in to her life....and I want to be that for the girls God has given me now. This past weekend Amy, had a little buy...I know she & Chris will be parents that model the incredible love and grace of our Lord Jesus! Congrats friends!
And then theres Roxanna, who opened her home to me, who taught me about parenting and love and being passionate for the Lost. She would share the deep things on her heart and let me be honest about all I was experiencing. She trusted me to teach spiritual things to her beloved daughter and helped me navigate the scary waters of helping someone else grow. She made time for me and took me WITH her on her journey. Her children are college students now...it makes me feel old...and I am so excited to see how God continues to use her in the lives of women to help them see who they are in Christ. This summer she spent some time with me which blessed me so richly. With Rox there's always wisdom and depth and you walk away knowing the Lord lives and is irresistibly beautiful....Thanks for loving me the way you did, Rox. I pass on so many of the wonderful things I learned from you...
Keri Sheckler- who sent me overseas when I wasn't sure I wanted to go and then sent me again and again....9 countries later my heart for the lost was shaped by your passion for the nations.
Morgan Jane- who taught me to worship in Spirit & Truth. I love the freedom, beauty, truth & love that God has shown me through your generous lifestyle and heart for people.
Jessica Dutcher (Green)- who taught me about purity & modesty and how to honor God with my body
Randy & Robin- who made me teach bible study on short notice, taught me to ask questions and seek answers, loved me like their own daughter and gave me the tools I needed to grow spiritually.
And others...the list is too long to name you all...I just know that I am so enormously grateful for the people who have created me: this free-spirited girl, who LOVES to invest her life in college students, has a deep-seated passion for the lost and LONGS to invest deeply in the lives of others....thats who you created. Oh Jesus...bless my friends. I may not see them daily or talk to them often, but You used each one to shape my heart. Would you grant them your favor for the investment they made? And thank you for those investing in my life today...they have their work cut out for them...but I am eager to be shaped into Christ-likeness....give them tenacity & strength....For Your Glory!
The Giant Mountain of Rubbish
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