This past weekend, I traveled to the Diocese of the Central
Gulf Coast to run a retreat for the women of the Diocese. The women were extraordinary. We talked about Mary Magdalene and her role
as someone who suffered from demons and who became one of the greatest
followers of Jesus. Some of these women
were Daughters of the King and many had served in their churches for
years. There were some incredible stories
told. I want to share one of them with
you…
After fifty years of marriage, one woman came home to find
that her husband was leaving her for a younger woman. She was so distraught that she went to
bed. Her sisters convinced her to come
to this same Diocesan women’s retreat and she went but immediately got back in
bed once she arrived.
One of her sisters scolded her and told her to get up, that
God had work for her to do. So she got
up and started wandering around the Camp and Conference Center. She wandered into an old sacristy which was
messy, dirty and covered in cobwebs. She
said to herself, “This room looks like how I feel,” and she began to clean.
As she cleaned that sacristy, God came to her and it became
clear that she was to work in her church.
This was her way forward, this was her path through her pain.
This past summer, at the General Convention of the Episcopal
Church, she was recognized as a Woman of Distinction for all the work that she
has done.
