When they were small, our boys couldn’t wait for our group’s annual retreat so they could hear new stories of excitement and adventure from our colleagues who work in the Amazon jungle. The boys would sit on edge as Maritza recounted the furious rush to grab backpacks and supplies out of the rushing river after their lancha capsized, and they would shiver with fear as Maryann reproduced the low, huffing grunts made by the jaguar that was eyeing her from the other side of a stream. The boys were awed by Christa and Mari’s account of a boa that lived in the kitchen ceiling. However, when I gasped in horror at the thought of cooking in a kitchen with a snake slithering around in the rafters, the ladies claimed they were thankful for their boa, since it keeps rats out of the house!  

Praising the Lord for a kitchen boa definitely puts my friends near the top of my list of courageous people. Also on that list is my sister and her husband, who raised four kids and then adopted a family of five when the oldest sibling in that group was only five years old! And then there’s my friend who put her pastor husband into an ambulance during the Covid crisis and never saw him again. Leaning on God, she’s bravely raising their teenage daughter on her own. 

As I watch their lives, I ask myself, “What gives these amazing women the courage to face unexpected challenges with such grace?”   

Because I know them well, I know that these sisters have chosen to cling to the promise that through Christ and their faith in Him, they can freely approach God with any need. They have confidence that God will guide them through each dangerous, difficult, or unexpected event. 

As I look ahead to some major changes for our family in the next few years, may God give me the grace to follow the examples of these ladies who have learned to approach His throne with freedom and confidence. For that is the only place where we will find true courage.