{Dear Teri, Love Teri} Be Brave

Dear Teri,

That first year of mothering was hard. You and Scott moved from your home in North Alabama to South Georgia … with a six-month-old. You were lonely. A lot. He was busy learning the ins and outs of a new church family and then leading that congregation after the pastor resigned. It was an isolated time. You wandered around that house wondering what in the world made you all think God had actually called you to leave everyone you knew.

Now, almost twelve years later, you’re wandering through a house in North Alabama missing those dear friends who became family in South Georgia. Some days you still feel a little lonely and wonder how God’s plans work.

Funny how that happens, isn’t it?

But you did something very brave back in 2001. You let people in. In fact, you invited them in. You asked Tammy and Michelle and Deborah and Martha and Barbara to come to a Bible study at your house. You had no idea what you were doing, you’d never taught a Bible study before, never led a small group.

Rather than letting yours fears dictate your behaviors, you chose obedience. And that one choice changed you. You had no idea at the time but that one small group, those eight weeks of praying with other women for your marriages, that investment of studying, that was the start of something God had planned for you.

That was the beginning of a ministry that God would use to encourage women in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, and via the internet, all over the world.

You weren’t looking for anything more than friendship, than community. The same thing is still true about you – you long for connection with others, for the opportunity to come alongside others. And because you took that small step, because you were obedient, your daughter has seen her mom invest in and walk beside countless women. She has seen that influence isn’t measured in page views or popularity but rather in private prayers and fierce love. She’s seeing every day that time spent in God’s Word and prayer is valuable.

You couldn’t have known that January night in 2001 that in 2012 your daughter would ask you if she could have a Bible study in your home this summer. But she did.

Sometimes the best thing you can ever do as a mother is something brave. Because your girl is watching … and she’s learning. And you never know where those obedient, brave decisions will lead, in your life or in hers.