I am calling this in as I drive back to my home from a wonderful event. I was invited to speak at a Mother's Day tea at Free Chapel Church in Gainesville, Georgia, which is a large church in the area, pastored by Jentzen Franklin. This was so encouraging to me, not just because the women were responsive, and not just because they were so interested and eager, but because the woman who arranged it told me this encouraging story.
For the sake of her privacy, I won't say her name, but this woman had been living in Phoenix, and had been going through very difficult time with her husband of about almost 20 years. One of her best girlfriends arranged a babysitter and said, “I have something planned. A babysitter is going to arrive at your house, and I am going to come and take you to Starbucks.” They arrived at Starbucks and the friend handed her a copy of For Women Only and said, “we are going to discuss this.”
This woman says that this lady had been very uncertain about reading it, really didn't want to, but at her best friend's request, did sit down to read it and discuss it with her, and apparently God really used it to open her eyes and to completely save their marriage.
She almost started crying as she was telling me the story, and I almost started crying as I was hearing it. I realized she had no idea just how much hearing those kinds of stories fills me up. It is so hard sometimes when you are working long hours, and getting on and off of airplanes, and missing the kids, to just put one foot in front of the other. Hearing things like that truly is a burst of energy and affirmation, and most of all, every time I hear a story like that I think, I cannot believe that God chose to use me in this way. He is so incredible.
So I don't know how much other authors feel like this, I don't know if other traveling speakers have the same concerns and questions that I do, but I imagine that all of us deeply need this encouragement from time to time, and it was wonderful to get it today.