strength in numbers

Today, as I was writing the second funeral address of the week; pondering the responses from a new challenge to the Church Board & Session; considering the consultation on how to guide our students into the vagaries of church law; and generally reflecting on the sheer number of my fellow RevGals who are facing their own challenges as they serve Christ I had to stop.
This is just one week... & it made me go WOW!!

I had a brief chat with my father this morning over the phone, catching up and hearing about his & Mum's various health issues. I'd told him a little of my week, and he simply said, but that's what you get when you serve God (or words to that effect!) I had instantly agreed and we'd moved on.

But now, again, I am pondering his simple response.
God calls us
Calls us to be all sorts of things - as a clerywoman I am
preacher/ pastor/ administrator/ visitor/ counsellor...
I am also mother to three adult sons
fiancee to my soulmate
and somewhere in that mix, I have my girlfriends - the girls (and boys, but mostly girls) who are there with me, in spirit even if not always in the flesh.
It is in these girls: the RevGals, the friends near and far; the women who are also called by God, that my strength lies, and I thank Him for them!!
Oh! How I thank Him for the way our paths have crossed, and the strength that comes from knowing I am not alone.
That there are other women out there, who also juggle the tasks, the roles, and the life lived in faith.

somedays, it feels like the world is conspiring.... then we get a glimpse of his love. A prayer; a hug; an encouragement. And we know - that's what you get, when you serve Him! Amazing strength in numbers!
Blessings to all my sisters