Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Women. We are relational at the core. Even those of us who crave alone time, need relationships. And often, the most important relationships are with other women. Our mothers of course influence us, but there are many other women that surround us throughout our lives that shape us as well. Some of these women may be older and thus mother-figures. Others may be our age and become our closest friends. Still others may be younger than us, but shape us in spectacular ways.

Tonight I saw a prescreening of the movie Julie & Julia with my mom-in-law, and her mom-in-law. The passes were given to me randomly, and since Andy was out of town, I asked his mom to accompany. I ended up with 2 more passes and proceeded to ask her if she wanted to invite anyone else so Granny accompanied us! What a fun girls' night...and it had been quite a while since spending quality time with Granny. I introduced them to the restaurant Chipolte beforehand, and then we settled in to watch a FANTASTIC movie (with a little bit of language...consider yourself warned). If you don't know the background of the movie, look it up, but very inspirational. Basically Julie finds herself blogging as she attempts to recreate all of Julia Child's recipes in 1 year.

This got me thinking of all the women who inspire me.
Some, like Beth Moore and Martha Stewart, who I've never met yet respect and admire for their abilities. Beth for her wisdom and insight and her ability to get that out to crowds of women! Martha for her ability to cook, and present, in an outstanding way. Some, Mrs. Paula and Mrs. Sylvia, who were prayer warriors for me in my high school and college years. Their encouragement to me is inexpressable. I am forever grateful to know they were praying for me during all the teenage drama. Some, like Mom, who have dealt with so much in life yet never give up hope. You have taught me so much, and I love you! Some, like Linz, Nat, & Maria, who have been faithful friends even when I'm sure it was tough to be my friend at times. Women my age who I admire and respect. More recent women who have entered my life like Shannon and Mrs. Eddie who put forth the effort to seek me out and give me encouraging words, even when I may not have the time to give to our relationship like I would love to. Kathy, you have been so encouraging to me, especially in the transition of moving to Florida. Thank you! Then there's the godly young woman I've known for 7ish years now. Becca, your constant encouragement and friendship to me over the past several months have meant more to me than you'll ever know as I've adjusted to a new place. I could keep going. I could go into more detail of the specifics of why each of the women above have such a special place in my heart. But that would take more time than I would ever have.

There are countless others, who know they matter to me. Probably many more women who don't have a clue. I often feel like I'm terrible at expressing apreciation to those who matter so much to me. So here is my thanks to you women, all the ones that inspire me in so many ways. I am the woman I am today, because of your inspiration and encouragement.

1 comments:

Natalie said...

I love you too. You're wonderful and i miss you terribly.