blog/BYCourage.com

Kathleen’s Favorite Posts

Saying Farewell to a True Woman of Courage,

Queen Elizabeth

 

As you likely know, I find beautiful value in following strong, courageous Christian women, being inspired by their lives and passing that inspiration to you.  One such woman for me is the late Queen Elizabeth.

Oh, yes … as little girls we all pretend we are princesses.  I have had the blessing of being able to travel to England several times and seeing the castles  and the history of England which has inspired me. 

But my personal interest in Queen Elizabeth really stemmed from her friendship with our dear friend Betty.

Betty Parker was a lovely  elder woman in our church who we knew for nearly 40 years. She and her husband Len were originally from England and they quickly became special to our family because they became the “California grandparents” to our two boys. Grandpa Len and Grandma Betty, as our boys called them affectionately, made a wonderful difference in their lives and ours … Len’s antics and tambourine playing as he sang at our church and always leading the doxology with flare … and Betty as she loved on our boys with homemade Chicken Pot Pies (we all fought over the last piece :), gifts for birthdays and holidays, and helping keep our church organized :).  After our boys grew up Betty took on our grandsons as her own great grandsons and weekly brought a treat to church for me to take to them  as I babysat them. What a special couple. 🙂 We love and miss them deeply. They are now with Jesus.

Why do I tell you about the Parkers? Well, you see Betty was a personal assistant of some sort of Queen Elizabeth when they lived in England. The brief stories she would share about the Queen and working with her were always a treat. But my favorite times were when Betty would receive a gift or a hand written note from her friend, Queen Elizabeth. I truly felt blessed and honored to get to read those notes and letters and see the genuine love and friendship between those two women of faith … and the casual, authentic side of a woman, Queen Elizabeth, who truly impacted The Whole World.    She was truly the Real Deal.

Her faith was front and center of her life and grounded her as the Queen. She was a follower of Jesus and  stood boldly on His promises and for her faith in Him. (Check out this YouTube Link)

My husband was off on a fishing trip with his friends recently and I got to watch hours of the splendor of the Platinum Jubilee celebration of the Queen which I had recorded.  Wow. Spectacular to be sure! However, I truly believe that incredible celebration pales in comparison with the Heaven she is now experiencing. 

My heart is sad at her passing but my soul celebrates  that she is now in the presence of Jesus … and getting to see Betty again after decades of friendship and being apart. That makes me smile. And I’ll bet she heard from the lips of her Lord, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”   

I am praying for her family, for all of you who called her your Queen and millions of us around the world who admired and were inspired by her leadership and faith.  She will surely be missed.       

I am grateful for courageous women who live out their faith boldly as an inspiration to all of us in this world.

 

My Mom. My Hero. My Inspiration.

My Mom … our Mom … Granma to many, Granma Jo to even more. Also known affectionately known as Aunt Joan, “friend” to hundreds, and “Another Mom” to her “other kids.” My Mom was and will always be my main inspiration.  She was born, raised in and lived a beloved rural life. She nurtured life. She inspired life. She loved life.

Last July 2021, this Mom that I treasure, took her last breath here on earth and was ushered into Heaven to live eternally, finally meeting Jesus face-to-face.  I can barely write that down to share with you. I can barely write it now, nine months later, which is why I haven’t done so before.   I want to share a few of these tender and intimate memories of the woman who has inspired me my entire life … and as the seasons passed … the memories were richer and deeper and even more treasured.

It is almost Mother’s Day so I wanted to give tribute to my beautiful Mom and share just a bit of who she was and let you know that she was a world changer.

Today is your day to read about an inspirational, brave, humble, life-loving, powerful but quiet giant of a woman … my Mom. May this glimpse of her from my eyes inspire you to live differently, to love and serve your family intentionally, to grow eagerly in your faith until you walk through the gates of Heaven … as Mom did.

With that said … may I say that I also have other Moms in my life who do or have inspired me which I won’t be writing about here today. But they have blessed and changed my life in innumerable ways. For example, my Mom Brooks … my “other mother” who has loved me as one of her own for nearly 44 years now.  She was actually the “Colorado Mother of the Year” early in our marriage and I will write about this amazing woman sometime soon and share how she inspires me … if she’ll let me 😊.

Now,  may I share a little of my story with you? As a little girl all I wanted to be when I grew up was a Mom … like my Mom … and like others the Lord had in my life as examples. My Mom, my Aunts, my Grandmothers, other women in the community and in the world of 4-H in our larger community who knocked-it-out-of-the-park as examples strong, committed women to their God, their husbands and families and their communities.   I watched.  I learned. I was inspired to love the Lord, to love your husband and family, to work hard, to be strong in face of adversity and opportunity and to be creative and visionary (among other things).  

• Coaching Moment: Intentionally have your kids around adults you can trust who have the same values as you do Moms. It helps children to see other examples which support your Christian family values and, in whose families they can see reality. (They will also see that no family is perfect!) This is also why regular Church fellowship IS important! Also, depending on where you live, private Christian school or Home schools are an option … and not only for the education. Family values of the families in your children’s classes, teams and activities are also important. Yes, what they are taught in the classroom IS important  and so is  the world view they are hearing in that classroom. That said, I grew up in a public school system … and  if that’s where your kids are educating then I encourage you to stay engaged as a parent. That’s certainly what Mom did. Respectfully, fully engaged, involved and aware. 

Because of Mom (and Dad) … (Read More Here)

Do you need COURAGE going into this New Year?

Do you need COURAGE to be different?

Do you know your WHY?

 

To be real … their IS something that will give you an “edge” this year which will help you have that tiny bit of courage necessary to step away from your “fear.” The “fear of  being different”  … in that uncomfortable “situation” that you KNOW in your heart you are called to Be Different” and step up and SAY or DO something.

You must know what your WHY is. Your why must be in focus.  

As believers our Why (whatever that is) foundationally takes root in what we can (and are called to do) to give glory to God. His way and by His directions. It is not, at the end of the day, just something we / I / you want to do. What does HE want you to do?

As in Genesis 16 an Angel of the Lord told Hagar that 1) He saw her (in her pain)   2) Gave her direction on her “Why.” (and then how …)

 Our real COURAGE comes from the fact that HE see us … and HE is with us … we don’t need to have fear. He shows us our Why, He give us COURAGE to step out in faith, even if we have fear in doing so, and then obeying. what He has called us to do / say.    

You  may  have read this amazing story on the Internet or shared in another way:

When you have your WHY locked in … even a mountain won’t stop you!

“There were two warring tribes in the Andes, one that lived in the lowlands and the other high in the mountains. The mountain people invaded the lowlanders one day, and as part of their plundering of the people, they kidnapped a baby of one of the lowlander families and took the infant with them back up into the mountains.

The lowlanders didn’t know how to climb the mountain. They didn’t know any of the trails that the mountain people used, and they didn’t know where to find the mountain people or how to track them in the steep terrain. Even so, they sent out their best party of fighting men to climb the mountain and bring the baby home.

The men tried first one method of climbing and then another. They tried one trail and then another. After several days of effort, however, they had climbed only a couple of hundred feet. Feeling hopeless and helpless, the lowlander men decided that the cause was lost, and they prepared to return to their village below. As they were packing their gear for the descent, they saw the baby’s mother walking toward them. They realized that she was coming down the mountain which they hadn’t figured out how to climb.

And then they saw that she had the baby strapped to her back. How could that be? One man greeted her and said, “We couldn’t climb this mountain. How did you do this when we, the strongest and most able men in the village, couldn’t do it?”

She shrugged her shoulders and said, “It wasn’t your baby.”

 

Whoa Momma! You can relate I’ll bet! I sure do!

Remember:

Wow … so, it’s January 2022. What is your Why? Your REAL Why? What are you willing to (respectfully, in a Christ-like way) fight for? To be seen as different for? To stand up and be counter-cultural for? (Read More Here)

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