Now I’m the Older Woman Sharing Wisdom

It’s about 4:00 a.m. in British Columbia; 12:00 noon in Germany. We’re safely on the ground in Frankfurt, sitting in an airport lounge and waiting for our next flight. Only five hours to go. We’ve been awake for twenty-two hours so far.

By the time we reach our final destination, we will have been up for about thirty-two hours. Thankfully it will be evening by then, and we’ll be able to go to bed for a good night’s sleep.

A divine appointment

The night before we left on this trip, I had the opportunity to speak to a group of female students at Trinity Western University. That came about as a result of a divine appointment on a flight in February.

On that trip, I engaged in a conversation with the young woman sitting beside me. She told me that she was a student at TWU and was taking the TESOL course so she could use it in missions someday. Well, well. Give the dog a bone.

I told her about opportunities with International Messengers where she could use those skills at evangelistic family camps. Our common interest gave us an immediate connection, and this led to the best talk about spiritual matters.

She was headed home for surgery, but upon her return to school a couple weeks later, she immediately contacted the powers-that-be and got permission for me to speak to these young women who all have a passion for missions.

An opportunity to share from life experience

I truly felt like the “older woman.” Thirty years ago, I was in their position – in college, with my whole adult future ahead of me. Where has the time gone? It struck me that my life has been very full since then, and that God has orchestrated every detail to bring me to where I am today.

How fun it was to encourage these gals to wholly follow God, even if means stepping beyond their comfort zone. I spoke about how we often struggle with the fear of inadequacy when God gives us assignments. And then I reminded them that God equips us to do His will…to not let fear stop them…to understand that following God into seemingly impossible situations will give them the opportunity to know Him more intimately.