07/14/2025
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ผ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ง๐๐ผ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ด ๐ช๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป.
This week I had the honor of meeting two very young women. One young woman was 8 years old, as she told me. The other young woman was 12 years of age. Both touched me deeply.
The 8 year old approached me, and she started a conversation that was very deep for such a young soul. It moved from death, cremation vs. a traditional burial of one's whole body and why one would choose one versus the other; to attending church and why someone would want to do so. Mind you, SHE drove the conversation, not me. I let her lead and just answered her questions in a simple fashion that she could understand.
Her questions and curiosity flowed freely. She then said her girlfriend went to church, and that she wanted to start going as well. She then went into a totally different direction than I anticipated. She told me she was gay. She said she was in love with her girlfriend, and it was quite obvious she knew exactly what she was referring to.
The other young woman, age 12, approached me after seeing me perform a wedding. She said she was very happy to see a woman in that role, and that she liked it a lot. She said she doesn't see enough women ministers, and she would like to see more women in leadership roles in the church. Mind you, she's 12.
When my granddaughter was born and I held her for the first time, I cried with tears of joy for all that she could be; all the magic that could and would be at her fingertips to create whatever type of life she wanted. My granddaughter is in first grade now. The times have drastically changed since she was born, and not to open more doors for her, but to close them.
Today my heart cries for these young souls and for all the young women out there. We need to protect their ability to dream, hope, love and so much more. If we do, they will never know what it was like to ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ vote, ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ be able to have a credit card in their own name, ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ to be able to own their own home, and to be in charge of their own credit score, to explore whatever career path their hearts feel called to, and to be able to talk to a doctor without either their father or husband being present.
May we never forget how hard our mothers and grandmothers fought for us, and continue to carry that banner for our own daughters, granddaughters and their children. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ด๐ต๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐' ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฝ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ - ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ.
Because in the end, it's all about Love, and giving it as freely as it was given to us.
