If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,
but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
–1 Corinthians 13:1
Elizabeth Kathleen Bender was born on January 24, 1996, four weeks to the day before she was due and years before her mother and I had planned.
She continues to be one of the greatest joys of my life!
Even in her arrival, Beth was teaching me. Her first lesson for me was that God’s timing is always more perfect than our own.
It’s almost impossible for me to believe that she is 21 years old now, and she continues to teach me in ways that I never imagined.
Of all the lessons that my daughter has taught me, however, it is her generosity that challenges, inspires, and teaches me the most.
Though she struggles with a medical condition that saps her of strength and energy, she does not hesitate to help others or even to avoid burdening them with the details of her struggles. In so many ways, she often is putting the needs of others before hers.
It is in the application of her convictions, however, that I am most challenged by her generosity. Beth has strong Biblical convictions. The types of convictions that often place people at odds with one another.
But even those that would disagree with Beth most vehemently cannot argue or rail against her sincere compassion, against her generous orthodoxy, against a love that comes from her faith in One that taught us to love by laying down His life for her, for me, for you.
It always surprises me that in many ways Beth’s convictions are as strong and even stronger than mine – yet Beth is not interested in winning fights, or arguments, or debates. She is interested in winning friends, colleagues, and hearts. She does this without compromise or surrender; she does it with a language shown to us by God, expounded by Paul, and lived – not just spoken – by any who would follow Christ.
Too often my own convictions are like a clanging cymbal – an annoyance not a comfort. It seems that we live in a world where this is true of a growing number of people. But Beth continues to speak into this cacophony of noise with actions of love and generosity; she continues to teach me how to speak with the language of God. Thank you, Biffer!
I’ve asked Beth to write tomorrow’s post concerning a class that she took at Baylor University last semester. I trust that you will be blessed by her words. But it will be in meeting her, if you ever have the privilege to do so, that you will learn the most from her and be the most blessed by the woman God has made her to be.
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March is International Women’s Month! It is my hope that you will join me over the course of the rest of March in celebrating the women who have had a significant role in influencing me. I will post daily blog-posts — some of these posts will be from me talking about the women who have had a significant role in influencing me and some of the posts will be from these women themselves, childhood friends, mentors, teachers, co-workers, etc.
My hope is that this series, “Celebrating Women,” will accomplish three things:
- to serve in a small way as a “Thank You” to all the women who have influenced me
- that you will gain wisdom from those who have spoken wisdom into my life
- that it will serve as a reminder to say thank you and to recognize all the amazing women in your one life
Click here to see all of the posts related to “Celebrating Women.”
From The Margins Of My Bible 