“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
How much can love change a life? Let me count the ways. The Lord has blessed my life with people who love me and whom I have loved. My parents raised seven of us and showed us what unconditional love looked like. They gave me the love of family which I and my brothers and sisters hold on to. They gave me a love of faith in God which I chose to walk away from at the age of 21. Big mistake!
At the age of 43, I found myself in a dark place. My life and my marriage were unraveling. My sister lovingly came to my house every day. Through tear stained eyes, I shared with her all that was wrong in my world with no hope to hold onto. She shared with me her newfound Savior. She told me how He loves me unconditionally and wanted healing in my life and marriage. Her love of Christ and her persistency brought me to a place of surrender. My sister’s love and the love of the Lord healed my marriage and my family.
As I look back at that time, I know the Lord was preparing us for what was to come - the death of our daughter Katie. It was at that time that I was in a storm like no other, the storm of grief. I was holding on to the Lord with all I had. I was broken and battered. I needed a lifeboat, a safe place to rest.
Unbeknownst to me there were two women preparing a lifeboat to come and rescue me. Donna Luke and Daisy Catchings Shader loved the Lord. They also had a love of moms who were in their own storm of grief. They wanted to comfort others as they had been comforted. Their love created Umbrella Ministries.
I have witnessed how their love, compassion and encouragement has changed not only my life, but thousands of moms throughout the world. These two women not only wanted us to survive, but thrive. It wasn’t long before I was able to climb out of my boat and climb into another mother’s grief boat and give her a safe place. She in turn found a way out of her boat and so on and so on.
Lord, through Your love and those who have been Your hands and feet, women have taken a leap of faith from their life boat and have found a life worth living.
– Michele
