Let's Hear It For the Older Ladies

Let's Hear It For The "Older" Ladies!
I had the pleasure of being stolen away on an adventure! A dear friend offered to take me to Virginia to attend a Women's Conference. I was up for the road trip and in need of a little get away. The timing was perfect!
Let me be honest by saying I was not going for the conference- just the time away. I have attended popular women's conferences over the years and lately I have found them to be "fluffy". They center more on the current speakers of our time and the celebrity of the year who happens to claim they are a Christian. At this particular event I attended in Virginia I expected the same. There were still the authors/speakers who shared their times of trouble and how God had worked in their situation. BUT, then a wonderful "older" woman, Kay Arthur, took the stage. So many things impressed me about her! Aside from her broken ankle and the wheelchair she spoke from, I sensed her determination to do what she came to do! I could tell right away what her purpose was from her first charge to the audience- "Get out your Bibles. If you have ever heard me speak you must know by now that you have to have your Bible!"
At that moment I was embarrassed and mad at myself- I didn't bring mine! I am used to bringing my Bible only to lug it around at women's conferences and then never cracking it open anyway! Kay Arthur doesn't allow us to neglect the Word of God. She doesn't just quote it to fit her story but the woman teaches it! It is her story- the only story she desires to tell and I believe this is lacking in much of what we hear today- yes each of us has a story but what about THE STORY? After Kay spoke I watched her on the floor of this stadium and I watched her pray with those who came to her. There was no rush to get to the "green room", no entourage came to whisk her away from the crowd, there was no autograph given but a listening ear, love and prayers. There was real ministry going on there. Now that I can sit through!
So let's hear it for the "older" ladies lifting up the Word! Thank you Kay Arthur, Beth Moore, Amy Carmichael, Elizabeth Elliot, and Susan Hunt- you inspire me to desire more of the Word of God! You make me hungry to feast on the Word! If you don't know these ladies may I invite you to a meal? Dig in!
"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God, "That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the Word of the Lord, but shall not find it." Amos 8: 11-12 Kathy