Brave Women

I meet a lot of brave women wherever I go.

I am sure that you do to, you just may not know it.

I meet my grocery checker pregnant with number two, kind enough to stand on her feet all day and still have a smile on her face.

I meet my neighbor, a retired mama, still caring for her family, bravely sharing with me her story of loss in the middle of that same grocery store aisle.

I meet brave women who have so much joy that it overflows out of them like a garden hose spigot you can’t turn off without getting wet first.

I meet brave women with tears in their eyes, unsure whether they should share their true selves, wondering if even Jesus can take the whole truth. (He can. He always can. That’s a promise.)

I meet brave women who are married and single, from different backgrounds, different corners of the globe. We’re all different sizes. We think differently, brave different challenges, eat different foods, laugh at different jokes, fight for different causes, and have interest in different topics.

As part of the Altogether Beautiful movement, I have decided to begin to collect all the brave, so we can share it. I don’t want to keep the beauty, the resilience, the thoughtfulness, and the impact I see to myself. I always respect anything someone tells me confidentially. We should be keepers of trust and intimacy. So I only share what women give me permission to share, but I do think we can all step further out and further in, changing this world with the simple act of saying,

“This is my story.”

“This is where I’ve been. This is where I am. This is where I’m going.”

“This is the real me.”

These women I meet are Altogether Beautiful.

Made beautiful by a Creator.

Loved fiercely by a Savior.

Today is the first edition of Altogether Beautiful Brave Women. In this short 1 minute and 30 second video, I hope these women encourage you to be a little bit braver too, to share with someone your story, your struggle, and what He is making #altogetherbeautiful.

Because I know, without a doubt, it is Altogether Beautiful too.

Thank you to these first women who participated in our video project! Look for more to come and if you’d like to participate, email me at ilovemyshepherd.com@gmail.com.