P31 Women

"She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." ~Proverbs 31:26

As I thought of mother's day this morning, Proverbs 31 came to mind. I could recall many times in my own life that my mother fit these verses, but then as I read through this chapter in my Bible I noticed I had written out names of other Godly women in my life of no relation to me next to certain verses. The one next to aforesaid verse was Rhoda Jore. For anyone who doesn't know Rhoda, she and her husband Nate are missionaries with their three (soon to be four!) children in Uganda. However, before this drastic move in their life they were simply youth leaders at Grace Free Lutheran in Maple Grove, MN.

Rhoda has to be one of the most amazing women I have ever met. She wasn't only my youth leader, but she was a friend, a mentor, and the best person for kindhearted, yet straightforward advice. Although she now lives in Africa, she still takes the time to check up on how all her dear old friends back in the states are doing, often times just to mention that she's thinking of one of us.

As thankful as I am for Rhoda and all the other wonderful, Godly women the Lord has placed in my life, I now realize that God has called all of us to live lives such as these. These women stand out in my life because of their love-- their love for the Lord as well as everyone around them. As 1 John 4:7-10 states,

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

As believers and followers of Christ, we are called to love one another. Scripture says the world will know us by our love, for God first and foremost, and then followed by those God puts in our lives. So as we go about our week let us be reminded that we are called to love, especially when love is not the easy thing to do. Who knows, maybe you'll turn out to be someone's Rhoda someday because of it!