My Dear Co-laborers in the great Gospel of Jesus Christ,

As I near completion on this titanic 18 month project and it appears that “It’s Tough Being a Woman: A Study of Esther” will sure-enough become a reality, I am overwhelmed by the gift God has given me in you. And just sit there and take this spotlight for a minute and don’t interrupt me. I keep thinking about how you cheered when I walked into our celebratory lunch yesterday after the last lesson had been written. I now want you to sit down and let me stand to my feet, as tall as I can, and cheer wildly for you and your faithful God.

You are the most excellent band of women-warriors I have ever known in my life. And I am so happy to report that I have known many. You work HARD – especially when Houston Bible Study is in full swing – with so much love for one another and such joy that I sometimes can hear you all the way on the third floor. (NO, DON’T STOP! It makes me laugh with you every single time.) People think it would be easy to work for a ministry but you and I know different. We’ve been called to kindness and graciousness even when somebody we serve has a chronic case of PMS. We don’t get to do business like the world even when we ourselves are simply in a bad mood. Day in, day out, when hard drives crash and toilets overflow, you honor your God. What more on this earth could I say in honor of you?

Thank you for so much prayer, for such hard work, for weekday lunches that tickle me, inspire me, energize me, and keep me – a hopeless sanguine called to the isolation of writing – in constant touch with a whole passel of women. Thank you for being a safe place for me to have a nervous breakdown when I’m right at the end of a project, sleep deprived and stressed,and don’t know if I’ll make it. I will never forget last week. There I was trying to keep a stiff upper lip and lead staff prayer time when, out of nowhere, a sob came up from my chest that I literally could not stop…and we group-hugged. One at a time. Even those who really aren’t into that kind of thing. I am laughing so hard I can hardly type and fighting back the tears at the same time. It wasn’t funny at the time but, somehow, it is a precious snapshot now of how we live our work lives. We serve at all our various posts, but in heart at any given time Monday through Friday, we are a group of very different personalities and backgrounds bound together in a tight group hug. God used your empathetic tears, powerful prayers, and encouragements to give me that last little push to finish a long project strong. And with terrific joy. You are my best friends. Oh, that our porches would be next to one another in Heaven.

Please hear me clapping for you.

Man, I love you so much.