Fearless Living

After a hiatus that has been way too long, I've decided to update. Hopefully, I'll be able to start making regular posts. Tomorrow I start an elective rotation in psychiatry at the VA here in Tulsa. I'm excited. This will be my first elective and its going to be in something that I want to do. Anyways enough about school and on to the blog.

A couple of weekends ago I had the opportunity to help out with the student girls retreat at church. It was lead by ID ministries and their theme was fearless. They talked with the  girls about fearless living. We discussed many of the fears that we may have. It was such a blessing to minister to the girls and discuss fears they have. I told these girls that we all have fears. As women we all struggle with the same fears. We struggle to please other people. We fear the fact that we struggle to please others. We fear that those around us will see who we really are, or that the things others say about us are true. We fear that we will fail. We fear to struggle and to let others see our struggle and join. We are afraid to take off our masks and be real. This fear becomes such an integral part of our life that we even approach God with our masks, even though He can see who we really are. At the retreat it was discussed that fear was present from the first sin that man kind committed. When Adam and Eve sinned they hide from God because they were afraid. Satan had deceived them, he had tried to tell them that there was something better that God was keeping from them. The same is true in our lives. The great deceiver tries to tell us that what God has given us isn't good enough, that we are not good enough, that we are failures, that we are not pretty, that we can't struggle, that we have to be perfect, and that we have to wear masks. But truth lies in our ability to recognize these fears as lies from the deceiver. When we recognize that we can turn our fears over to God. You see fears are common, we all have them. The problem lies when we hold to our fears and we let them rule our lives. God, our father want to take our fears and lead us into truth. The truth that He loves us just the way we are and we don't have to put a mask on before Him.

It isn't always easy to take our masks off before God and turn over our fears to God. It takes work and sometimes it can be painful because it requires us being vulnerable before God. But the handwork and pain leads to beautiful creations. God already sees us as masterpieces, He just desires for us to see ourselves as one. God wants you to be vulnerable before Him so He can finish the master piece he started. Recently my boyfriend Jarrod and I re-did my flower beds. If you have ever seen my flower beds you know what a task this was. You see my flower beds were full of monkey grass when I moved in. I had already cleaned out the "small" one out but it had a bunch of dead stuff in it. The big one was full of monkey grass. Jarrod used his rotatiller to help pull up the monkey grass and their roots. We had to rake up the grass to get it all gone. This was hard work. We planted beautiful flowers in the flower bed and covered it with lots of mulch to try and keep the monkey grass from coming back. You see my flower bed is a lot like our lives and our fears. We have lives that our full of annoying monkey grass. Monkey grass grows like crazy, its a weed and to get it to go away, you have to get at the roots. You have to pull up all the roots so it won't come back. Sometimes in our lives we just pick at the surface of our fears. Letting a few of them be known before God or in a  particular group of friends, but we leave out what is at the root of our being. When we do that the fears come back and over take our lives like the monkey grass does when we don't pull its roots. I have to tend my flower bed to watch for any monkey grass that may come out and remove it from the bed. You see its hard work keeping my flower bed free of weeds. Its hard work keeping our lives free of fears. We can't do it on our own. We have to let God help us. We have to turn our fears over to Him and seek the truth that is in His promises for our lives. When need to enlist those around us to help us and keep us accountable. Because we all fear and we all struggle with it. But just like I needed help with my flower bed, we need to recognize that we can all help each other.

Cleaning the grass out

Final Product

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well"

Psalm 139:14

Shalom

Tomorrow will be my last day of what is known as Core around OSU-CHS. Basically what that means is 4 months in the hospital...one month of OB/Gyn, one month of surgery and 2 months of internal medicine. My internal medicine months consisted of teaching service on a general medical floor and a month of ICU. As you can probably see this is why I haven't had the time to update my blog very often. Over the past four months I've learned a lot. I've gotten to help delivery some babies, assist in several surgeries, and see a lot of different pathology. I've learned a lot of the past few months that will help pass my boards. I've seen a lot of pathology and have been able to see the practical aspects of the things I had read in books over the last two years. But probably the most important things I have learned aren't not things that books teach or things that I need to pass boards, or even what medications and treatments to used to treat certain pathologies. These lessons can only be taught by getting to know my patients and walking with them through their disease process.

In the past I have shared the following quote that was in an article I had to read my freshman year at OBU. It sums what means to be a doctor to me.

" To promote life, not death; health, not sickness; to suffer and counsel with those who suffer; to care compassionately when one cannot cure; and to be a part of God's presence in the valley of the Shadow of Death, in short to search for Shalom"

I decided when I was a sophomore in high school to become a doctor. I wanted to become a doctor because I wanted to help people. I loved science and working as a student trainer gave me a passion for medicine. It was exciting as a high school student to work with an athlete who had injured themselves and help them rehab and then see them back playing in the game they loved. As a medical student I have had the opportunity to examine a patient and come up with a diagnosis and a plan of treatment. Today one of my patients that I have taken care of over the last month passed away. Over the past month I have watched as this sweet lady has had ups and downs. Her case bought up many questions that reminded me of the quote above. Sometimes do physicians promote life so much that they promote suffering? Are we adequate advocates for our patients? Do we care compassionately enough? After our patient coded (her heart stopped) today our attending physician (the boss) talked with her husband and it was decided that we would not code her again if her heart stopped again. One of my friends that I've been working with this month called me a little while ago to let me know that my patient had passed away. I had gotten to go early so I wasn't there, but she told me that after they removed the life support per the family's request the family left because they did not want to see her die. My friend and another student stayed in the room with the patient and held her hand as she died. This afternoon after we finished the code I held her hand and said it was going to be okay. Today I really learned what it means to be God's presence in the valley of the shadow of death. I feel that we did everything we could for our patient that we did our best to sustain her life and bring her back to good health. We counseled with her family and held this sweet lady's hand every time we saw her. I believe that we searched for peace for her. You see for those of us that our Christians, death is not the end it is only the beginning. I believe that my patient went from her hospital bed to the arms of Jesus. 

I hope that in my future as a physician I can live out this quote. I pray that I will be a physician that seeks to promote life. I pray that I not only just promote life, but  I seek quality life for my patients and I pray more importantly that I can point them to a fulfilled life in Christ. I pray that I promote health, not only physical and mental health, but spiritual health as well. I pray that I will counsel with my patients and come along side of them and comfort them while they suffer. I pray that I will always care compassionately for my patients, including those that are hard to be compassionate with.  I pray that like today I can be God's presence in my patients lives through death and life. I pray that I will seek peace not only in my patients lives but in my life. Philippians 4:6-7 is one of my favorite verses it says:

"Be anxious in nothing, but in everything, with prayer and thanksgiving present your requests to God and the PEACE of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6-7

It is so reassuring to me to know that by turning everything over to our Father he grants us peace. The peace he give us is greater than all our understanding. When we are lost for words or reasons things happen we are guarded with the peace of Christ. 

"Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to him for the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations"

Psalm 100:3-5

Heir to the Kingdom

So its been quite a while since I last posted. Core rotation is getting the best of me, I hope after this month I'll be able to post more regularly. Last month I was on teaching service for Internal medicine. This month I'm on ICU and its proving to be quite the experience. Todays post is short but comes from the heart. Today was my first "code" to participate in. I have never done CPR on a real person before today. It is a very interesting experience that is hard to explain to those who haven't experienced it. I can tell you that my arms hurt from giving compressions and my back hurts from bending over the bed to hold the doopler in place while we checked for a pulse.  This morning we saved our patients life but her medical condition is so fragile she won't be on this earth much longer. It reminds of just how quickly our lives can change and the importance of knowing where we will be when we breath our last breath in this life.

As Christians we have hope in death because for us death is not the end but its the beginning. When we give our lives to Christ He welcomes us into his kingdom when we die. This evening I was reading Psalms 8. It talks about God creation and our place in that creation.

"What is man that you are mindful for him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor."

Psalm 8:4

In Genesis 1-2 we read that God created man (male and female) not only in his image, but he put man over the rest of his creation. It is more than I can fathom at times when I take the time to think of it that God loves us, humankind so much that He would give us power over his creation. It amazes me even more that the same God who is the creator of all loves us enough to also offer us a spot in His kingdom. You see when we become Christians, we become heirs to the kingdom of God. As heirs that means have a part in the reign of Christ and we are entitled to the inheritance of eternal life that cannot be taken away from us.  We have the opportunity to see Christ's kingdom come to fruition.

David's words in this Psalm express my feelings towards Christ's love for us. Many times I wonder who am I that You love me enough not only to all me reign in Your creation but You offer me adoption as a daughter and to reign with You in Your heavenly kingdom, and that You offer me eternal life through your soon Jesus. The bible tells us that we are all sinners that we all have fallen short of the glory of God. But in His great Mercy and Love has offered us a free gift, grace, He has offered to pay for our sin, the sin that He himself cannot stand. So I challenge all that read this blog if you have not given your life to Christ to do so. God loves you just the way you are and he has given you a place in His kingdom you just have to ask for it. What will happen to you when you breath your last breath in this life? Will you enter into hell to suffer forever for not accepting the free gift of Jesus Christ, or will you breathe your first breath in eternity with Christ?

You may be asking what is so special about being with Christ? Christ's love for me has given me a renewed spirit and strength to face the day. Psalm 8 and 104 go on to talk about God's creation more and how he cares for the birds of the field and the grass. He makes sure the lions have their food to eat. In Matthew we are told not to worry because God will take care of us.

 ²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[e]?

   ²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

You see so many times in our lives we worry we fret about things that we can't control. Because of my relationship with Christ I am able to turn these things over to Him and live free of them. Granted its a daily battle for me. I have to continually give my worries and anxiety and my life to Christ. But when i do I'm reminded that the peace of God will be with me. It allows me to do my part in fulfilling what God has called me it. Turing my worry over to Christ allows me to do my job and live a life of peace. You see that is what being a Christian is about to me you can live in peace, in love and with the promise of new life at the end of this one. This world with its hardships and trails is temporary its not my home and its not the end all be all. I have a home in the kingdom of God, He has reserved me a place and I am an heir to the inheritance. 

A Promise Fulfilled

Merry Christmas!!! I hope that you are having a wonderful Christmas and that you are worshiping the Christ Child who stepped down from his throne and into a manger to bring salvation to us. So it has been quite awhile since I last updated my blog. During the month of December I have been on a Surgery rotation which has consisted of long hours and lots of studying. I have enjoyed this month, but I am glad it is coming to an end.

In honor of Christmas I have decided to write about Anna, the phophetess that was present the day Jesus was presented at the temple. I know when it comes to Christmas and thinking about women, we tend to think about Mary or Elizabeth, but this morning as I was reading in Luke 2 I was reminded of this very special woman that played a role in the story too.

Luke 2 tells us that Anna was  a phophetess who was married for 7 years then widowed at the time of Jesus' birth she was 84 years old. She spent her life in the temple praising God "day and night." This woman no doubt had known suffering after losing her husband at such a young age and never being blessed with children, but she did not allow that to keep her from praising God. On the eight day after Jesus birth as was the custom of the day Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple to present Him to the Lord. Simon was an old prophet who had been promised by God that he would not die until he saw the coming of the promised Messiah. When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple Simon began praising God saying:

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, 

   you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 

³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,  ³¹ which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 

³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles, 

   and the glory of your people Israel.”

Luke 2:29-32

At this same time Anna came up to Mary and Joseph recognizing that Jesus was the promised Messiah she too began praising God. She began prophesying about how Jesus was the Christ the Messiah and that He would be the one to bring redemption to the nation of Israel. She spoke of the promise of a Savior that had been given long ago. You see Anna had spent her life studying the scripture. She knew that a savior would be born of a Virgin in the city of David. She knew that the Messiah would not come into a palace or to bring an earthly kingdom. She knew that Christ must come as a man. She was expectant and looking for fulfillment of the promise. Many in Bethlehem that night and in the temple that day missed the savior coming to earth. They were busy with their lives. Some probably lost sight of the promise that had been given hundreds of years before. Some expected a earthly king to be born in a palace and free them from the earthly rule of Cesar. But Simon and Anna got it. The knew what the scripture said and because of that they were blessed beyond measure to welcome the savior of the world into His earthly life. 

I pray that we do not miss the meaning of Christmas. The heavenly king stepping down from His throne into manager. He left His kingdom to become a man knowing that He would one day die a painful death for our sins, a death that He did not deserve. It is my prayer that I can live a life like Anna, a life full of praise day and night. I pray that those around me see the Messiah in me. I pray that I can rejoice as Anna did at the coming of the Christ-child. May this Christmas season and this new year we not get so busy and hurried that we don't see Christ around us as they did so long ago in Bethlehem. 

Southern Thanksgiving: Butter, Onion, Garlic and Sugar

Today my cousin Beth and I cooked thanksgiving dinner for the first time by ourselves. Beth and I have always helped with cooking Christmas dinner, but have never been responsible for getting the entire meal finished. Something we've learned over the years from my mom and grandmother are the staples of southern cooking...Butter, Garlic, Onions, and Sugar. Almost everything we made today had at least two of these ingredients. Last week my mom had knee replacement surgery so she spent most of the day in the recliner. She came into the kitchen briefly to give instructions and then our adventure began. We hoped that our grandmother who cooked several Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners would inspire us and that she would be proud of us. Well it turned out to be an adventure for sure, with somethings that grandma would do and somethings she wouldn't. 

Last night Beth and I began our cooking adventure, with the desserts. We made a chocolate cake, 3 pumpkin pies, and 2 pecan pies. We also made a lime congealed jello salad. This proved to be an interesting experience. At one point Beth commented, "Sarah, I don't think its (pumpkin pie) suppose to look like this." You see the pumpkin pie recipe called ground cloves, but we had none, so we put the whole cloves in the magic bullet to make our own ground cloves. Needless to say the magic bullet doesn't make very good ground cloves. They are kind of chunky. Well chunky continued to be at the theme of the evening. My mom makes this lime jello salad. So I made it last night. As I was mixing it up Beth informed me that the I should have mixed up the cream cheese before adding the jello, so we had some chunks of cream cheese in the jello mold. Darci (beth's daughter) helped me make "Grandma's famous chocolate pound cake". My grandmother would always make this cake for me when I came to visit so it is very special to make it. Midway through the night we realized that we had a huge mess to deal with. Every mixing bowl in the kitchen had been used. While making chocolate icing Darci managed to spread cocoa all over the stove. We went to bed about midnight and planned to get up at 630 am. 

This morning my mom gave us a few instructions on how to cook a turkey. We put our turkey in the oven a proceeded to make the dressing. Now in our family, making dressing is a task. We don't just cook stuffing. You have to make cornbread and toast bread. Then you mix it up with celery and onion. My grandmother put onion in everything, it is definitely a southern staple. I made broccoli salad, one of my favorite dishes. One of the highlights of the morning was finding two tubes of cream corn in the deep freeze from Georgia. Now its not good as fresh cream corn from the cob which is by far the best, but we made do. We also made green bean casserole, deviled eggs, and yeast rolls. Well not homemade yeast rolls, they were frozen. Grandma would have made homemade yeast rolls. We made sweet potato casserole complete with marshmallows. Beth used the potato strainer like grandma would have, but we didn't have the pestle so she had to use a spatula. We also microwaved the sweet potatoes, again something grandma wouldn't do. She would have peeled, cubed, and boiled them. 

Dinner turned out well. We cooked for about 4 hours last night and 6 this morning and it was all over in 20 minutes of eating. Today the children and Dave and my brother Stephen cleaned up after lunch while Beth and I directed from the dining room table, again something my grandmother would have never done. Today Beth and I gained a greater appreciation of how hard grandma worked to cook Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. I remember my grandmother staying up late on Christmas eve to make preparations for the big lunch the next day. By the time I got there she had already been baking for days. She would make preparations for the dressing on Christmas eve. Then she would wake up early and start cooking the turkey and finish everything needed for lunch. She would make breakfast for us as well. We would usually have a ham in addition to the turkey. Today my mom asked us if we just made all of our favorite dishes. I guess in a way you could say we did. We made everything that we could think of that grandma would have had. After lunch we decided there was one dish we left out...homemade mac and cheese, so we will have to make that later this weekend. 

Today I am thankful for my grandmother. She was a selfless woman who gave of herself. Today after dinner was over and we were so tired we decided that grandma was truly a Stout Woman. She taught us how to serve other people. She taught us how to love others selflessly. She also taught us how to cook. While we were nervous about being in charge of this dinner Grandma taught us how to cook and so did my mom. Today I missed my grandma, but knew that she was looking down on us from heaven. I wished I had asked my grandma more of her secrets to cooking and what recipes she used. Many times she didn't use a recipe or modified it. I wish we had those modifications. My mom told us that she was proud of us and that we had out done ourselves. I also believe that my grandma would have been proud of us as well. I know it would have been hard for her to stay out of the kitchen, like it was for my mom, but she would have been very proud of her two granddaughters. 

Ideal Woman: Made in the Image of God.

This weekend I went to Philbrook Art museum. They have a room with ancient sculptures and masks in it. One of the sculptures was titled "Ideal Woman." Society is always trying to put a label on what an ideal woman is. Secular society portrays an ideal woman based on her looks. Many women struggle to look like these ideal women that they see in the magazines. They think that if they can only be the woman on TV or in the magazine then they will find fulfillment in their life. Christian society has their own opinions. In the church people often describe the Proverbs 31 woman and other examples of women we see in the bible. There are numbers books written on what it means to be a woman.  As women we constantly look and strive to be the ideal woman. I think that many times we are looking in the wrong direction. Whether we are trying to conform to societies ideal or live out every ideal in the 100's of books written by Christian women, we lose sight of what it really means to be a a woman.

Proverbs 31 is a good place to start. Many women desire to be a Proverbs 31 woman to live our lives as the woman described in the passage. We tend to get caught up the in the details. We have many examples of what it means to be a woman in the bible, starting with Eve. We've all read the stories of Sarah, Ruth, Miriam, Deborah, the Mary's, and I could go on, but I think you get the point. We've read the books on what it means to be a woman. At times I become over whelmed reading these stories and books. I recently started reading "Let Me Be a Woman" by Elisabeth Elliot, this book is a collection of letters she wrote to her own daughter as a wedding present. In one chapter I think that Elisabeth Elliot gets to the core of what it means to be a woman. We were made in the image of God and we were created to be man's helpmate.

First made in the image of God. I am in awe that the creator the universe,  the God of all that was, is and will ever be made me in His image. In His likeness. Nothing else in all of God's creation was made in His image except man and woman. This shows us his desire to have relationship with us. He doesn't need us but He wants us. He wants to use us. There is nothing spectacular about what we can bring to God, but he choses to use the gifts and talents He has given us. As women we are made in the image of God. As Christians we have the opportunity to take Christ characteristics and share them with those around us. It through the Lord that we are able to love compassionately and serve others. We are made in His image so that should show us that we are far better than any magazine or TV ideal of a woman. Just like those masks in that room, as women we try to put on a mask so on the outside we look ideal. We don't want those around us to see who we really are. But you see because we are made in God's image we don't have to hide who we really are. God has made us beautiful on the inside and outside. When He looks at us He sees the finest point of all his creation.

Secondly, God made us for a purpose to be man's helpmate. We were created to help man. To work along side of him. We were created to assist man in accomplishing the will of God. This does not mean that we cannot be strong women. God did not create us to sit on the sidelines and  not to use our minds. He created us to be helpers. Men need strong women to help them achieve the will of God. As Christians we are called to the harvest, we are called to be farmers of the seeds we plant. We are called to work together as brother and sister in Christ.

So what is the ideal woman? The ideal woman is the woman who recognizes that she is created in the image of God and who embraces it. The ideal woman is a woman that realizes that she was created for a purpose. She takes these two simple aspects found in Genesis and puts them to use in her daily life. Realizing that you are made in the image of God and that you were made for a purpose makes you a strong woman.

Strong and Courageous

"We don't have to carry, adopt, or raise children in order to qualify as spiritual mothers. Instead, we only need to display a willingness to use the gifts that God has entrusted to us in order to nurture others and strengthen others in their faith. "

~ Anonymous 

I recently read the story of Jael and Deborah in the Judges 4-5. I've never head of Jael before. When Deborah served as a judge for the national of Israel, a group of Israelites tried to rebel against the nation and take over. The leader of this group was a man named Sisera. Deborah told another man named Barak that the Lord had ordered him to pursue Sisera, but Barak wouldn't go without Deborah, so she went. She told Barak, however, because she was going that he would not get the honor over stopping the rebellion, but that the Lord would hand Sisera over to a woman. Meanwhile, as Sisera fled he came to the tent of a woman named Jael. Jael knew that her husband was a member of the group causing the rebellion, because Sisera had come their to seek shelter. While he was in her home, she killed him because she knew he was causing rebellion against the Lord.


In a moment Jael, had to make a decision, would she side with her husband who was in sin rebelling against the Lord, or would she obey God and not provide shelter and safety to Sisera. In Judges 5, we read Deborah's, song, in which she gives praise to Jael saying that she is blessed among women for her decision. Judges 5 ends with saying that they had peace for forty years.


Judges 4-5 gives us a glimpse of two women who acted courageously and helped save the nation of Israel from destruction by enemies from within. There is much to be learned from Jael and Deborah, as women we are called to be courageous just like they were. These women used the gifts God blessed them with to fight their battles and to stand for their beliefs. Our society today needs women that will stand for what is right, that will fight for lost souls, and that will minister to those that are hurting.


Elisabeth Elliot is a modern example of  a courageous woman. Ms. Elliot lost her husband Jim while he was on mission to South America. Jim and four other men had flown to a village in South America to minister to a tribe that had never heard the name of Jesus. This tribe was known for the violence against "outsiders." Jim and his companions had contact with members of the tribe before, but when the came to set up the mission, they were attacked and killed. It is not known why the natives decided to kill these men. Later Elisabeth Elliot and the other widows of the men that were killed traveled to the very same village to minister to the men who had killed their husbands. There are stories of how she ministered to the very men that killed her husband and how these men and their families came to know Jesus. Elisabeth Elliot teaches that through dark times and trials God is still glorified. She choose to forgive and minister to those who took her husband from her leaving her a widow and a single mom. She ministered to the women of the Auca Indian Tribe. Now this particular tribe in South America is no longer a tribe that has never heard the name of Jesus, but a tribe that not only knows, but loves Jesus. 

“I have one desire now - to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it.” 

~ Elisabeth Elliot

God calls us as women to be ministers of his gospel in many of the same ways that Elisabeth Elliot ministered to the Auca Tribe. I was recently reading in a commentary in my bible that talked about spiritual motherhood. In this commentary over Deborah it talked about how we don't have to be earthly mothers to be spiritual mothers. You see God has made women to be nurturing, caregivers, who compassionately love those around us. Not that being a nurturing care-give is a bad thing, in fact I believe that is part of what God calls us as women to be, but that is not the end all be all of his purpose in our lives. You see Elisabeth Elliot didn't just sit to the side passively being a quiet woman. She boldly shared the gospel with those who needed to hear it the most. In the 1950's it wasn't proper for a single woman to travel like she did. She was told to stay in the states and minister to those here. She decided to act on faith in God and fight for the lost souls of the men and women of the Auca tribe. We need more Christian women that will rise up and take a stand. We need women like Deborah that will be brave, even when the men around them refuse. We need to be women of courage that fight for families, our friends, and those that we don't know to Christ come to the knowledge of saving grace in Christ Jesus. Women, God has created you to be strong, to be courageous, and to stand for what is right. God wants us to minister and mentor those women who are younger than us. It is  through our example as Christian women that the young Christian girls will grow to be strong Christian women. We need to seek out mentors, strong Christian women who are actively fighting for lost souls everyday, women who are courageous and not afraid to use the gifts God has given them. We need women who are not afraid to act in faith even when no one else will.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." 

~ Jim Elliot

“The will of God is not something you add to your life. It’s a course you choose. You either line yourself up with the Son of God…or you capitulate to the principle which governs the rest of the world.”
~ Elisabeth Elliot

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9