Precious Moments
Sharon Betters
Today’s Treasure
Encourage one another and build one another up, just as in fact you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11
Dear Friends,
Etched on my heart is a moment in time when a very young couple stood in our living room, seeking counsel about marriage. They were new believers and hungry to walk in obedience and the Lord’s wisdom. We will never forget their wedding when one of the groomsmen had an allergic reaction to nuts and passed out during their vows. Those moments began an adventure neither of them expected. Over forty years later, Barbie and Jerry L’Italien remain faithful friends. Barbie is a key staff member of MARKINC. I often say that without her, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Her passion for offering help and hope to hurting people through this platform often inspires me to keep going when doing so is hard.
In this week’s series, Barbie gives us a birdseye view of why she is so passionate about sharing the redemption and hope of Jesus.
In Wednesday’s devotional, Barbie says:
“Life can be hard! I was busy being a stay-at-home mom, wife, lover, housekeeper, church member, volunteer, nurse, pet sitter, etc. The list may seem endless for women as we try to fulfill all the things we need to accomplish in a given day!!
I did not embrace biblical womanhood graciously at first. As I moved forward in my relationship with Jesus, things from my past would creep up, including hurts from my childhood and embarrassing memories, which were sometimes haunting to think about. My father’s abandonment fueled doubts:
- To depend on my husband – how could I quit my job and have no income?
- My identity - who would I become without the fulfillment of a work environment?
- Trust factors - would my husband stay faithful to me?
- If I try hard to live the way the Bible teaches, can I protect my children from pain?
Slowly, God helped me work through my struggles. It might have been the comfort of a friend, wise words from a woman in the church, truths learned from a sermon, my husband’s words of help and encouragement, that moment in the car and the message from a radio program, words in a song at just the moment I needed them…. God provided so many touches to help me keep moving forward. It may have been three steps forward and two steps back at times, but I was inching my way in the right direction.
Then a bomb hit that shattered my world…..”
Barbie’s story begins way before she met Jesus and explains why she clings to the love of her heavenly father. Life didn’t get easier after she met Jesus, but she did not walk alone. Barbie shows us that walking by faith is a marathon, incorporating daily disciplines into each day, accepting those seasons of vulnerability when the Lord opens her eyes to the needs of her own heart instead of focusing on the sins of others, and how scripture, community, and serving have helped strengthen her as she parented seven children and now is the matriarch of her home that includes numerous grandchildren. Barbie is one of the most organized people I know. Perhaps that’s why she is able to change her plans at a moment’s notice in order to meet the many needs of her growing family. I have seen her walk through deep, deep waters of fear, sorrow, and anxiety that pushed her into the heart of God. Today, as she serves MARKINC, she is constantly thinking of people in desperate need of hope, who like her, regularly experience the consequences of living in a broken world. She encourages us daily to think about that “one more person” who needs the light of Jesus to lead them through the darkness, trusting that the darkness cannot overcome the light.
I chose 1 Thessalonians 5:11 for our Daily Treasure because Barbie is one about whom I can confidently say:
Encourage one another and build one another up, just as in fact you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11
Barbie encourages and builds up our team and all who cross her path. The Lord is still writing Barbie’s story as a means of equipping her to continue to share the help and hope of Jesus. I know the moments etched on Barbie’s heart will encourage you this week to consider your own faith walk.
Treasured by Him,
Sharon