Today is Five Minute Friday.  (Yes, I know it is now Monday.  I had very limited access to wi-fi while at the conference…to say nothing of limited time!)  After tonight’s program on Faces of Grace, I decided to rewrite my 5 minutes.  I’m in Atlanta, GA for a conference on Grace–.  But more on that later on.

In case you are unfamiliar with Five Minute Friday, we write for five minutes, I quickly reread my post and correct errors, add a photo or two and links and send it on its way…and link it to the Five Minute Friday link at .  Hope you enjoy.

Photos below are some faces of grace who are or have been in our local church.  (The three together are my daughters.  They aren’t here now, but have been before and are sprinkled in different churches in different parts of the world.)    

ORDINARY

Tonight we saw short stories from the lives of  8 women.  They were from all decades of life!  Some have crossed my path personally.

One woman whose story we heard passed away a year ago after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s.  She was the woman who started the women’s ministry in our denomination 35 years ago when it was born.  She has been in heaven about a year, human time. Georgia was a pastor’s wife and her husband was there to represent her.

Georgia (a woman I was privileged to know a little) was a beautiful face of grace in that she showed us the grace of God in her life and her love of Christ, her husband, the people in the churches they served and those around her.  She was an encourager, writer and teacher to those around her for the years of ministry God gave her.  The women who knew her closely spoke of the ways she influenced them, her joy in serving in ministry and her encouragement and love of them in the work they did.

One woman has been serving God during her life of 90 years. As is the case for most women, her service has taken different forms in different stages of her life!  She is now adjusting to the challenge of serving him in an assisted care home with people who do not share the joy she has in Christ.

One ministers with Harvest USA to women hurt by sexual issues as well as families of those who are “coming out” into a homosexual lifestyle.  She ministers out of a life of pain from her past.

Some are married, some are single, but each is serving with joy where God has put her.  They are ordinary women including women of color. (I didn’t want you to assume we all look the same on the outside.)  It was a delightful group!  Some are pastors’ wives, most were not.  One serves in the military with her chaplain husband.  One serves in the city. Another on a college campus with her husband while working some days as a pharmacist in a nearby Walgreen’s.

One has served as an administrative assistant over the years.  We crossed paths when she and her husband served in the home office of the mission we worked with in Miami.  (We were in Jamaica.)

Now she is in Atlanta, GA working with Mission to the World and assists my daughter, her husband…and others, while they are serving in many parts of the world.

She was very uncomfortable with the public comments.  Shirley much prefers being behind-the-scenes.  That is where she excels!  Helping to meet emergency needs of people all over the world…while also struggling with chronic illness herself.

All of these women are ordinary women, serving the God who has shown grace to them.  The faces of grace?  They look just like many of the people around you, worshiping in your local church.  Ordinary.  They love Christ.

They are willing to do what He wants whether it is being single, married, widowed…or even living in a difficult marriage.  They are not out to make a name for themselves.  They are here to glorify God.  If He chooses to honor them here, so be it.  If not, that is fine.

They want Him to be glorified.  They don’t even do it right all the time.  That is when His grace shows through best!

I think I went long.  Whoops!  Didn’t have my usual timer.

I’m now home near my wi-fi and can get this up.  We got home last night at 10:30 PM.  Today is catch-up day!

The ladies in the photos?  Ladies from my church who do what the labels say.  The last photo?  My daughters, taken this past summer.  They have inherited the family smile!  Yes, Ron and I are both smilers.