ALL 4 HIM

This is the preface to my unfinished book which is still a dream in progress.

Have you ever doubted your faith? Perhaps you’ve suspected that you are so far over your sin quota that God’s given up on you. Do you wonder why the testimony of women who wallowed in sin for decades moves everyone to tears, while you feel confident that your pure and Godly testimony would bore everyone to death? The women you meet on these pages will answer all of these questions and more. 

This is a book about good girls gone bad, bad girls gone good, and good girls gone God. It is about old women, young women, tall women and small. Women who cry when they are happy, laugh when they are sad, pouters, kidders and gossipers. It is about rich women and poor, married, never married, widowed and divorced. It is about mothers and daughters and women who are childless. It is about sex-addicts and virgins, drama queens, women who have led blessed lives and those whose lives read like a Greek tragedy. 

Don’t get me wrong. You are not going to meet Saint Glenda or Sister Jana. And Virgin Ashley still suffers from self-doubt and occasional bouts of shop-o-holic syndrome. Thirteen women attended the first A.L.L. For Him gathering. Even though the only prerequisite on the invitation was that you be a surrendered Christian woman, I could see the doubt in their eyes. Am I qualified to sit in this room? Am I surrendered? What would they think if they knew I drank a glass of wine at dinner? I’m sure that everyone else was passing out tracts and feeding the poor in Over-The-Rhine this week.

Funny thing about surrendered Christian women…they are a lot like snowflakes and fingerprints. No two are alike. They are not saintly clones, just imperfect saints. If salvation were a thirties vaudeville show, you would be dragging some of the women you meet in this book off the stage with a big hook, and rushing to others to crown them with tinsel halos. Therein lies the glory of an awesome God. His Son Jesus levels the playing field, handicaps the game, settles the score. Everyone on this stage shines…because they reflect Him.
Step into the lives of these amazing women and you will find…YOU! Little pieces of you in each of them. Step into these lives and find acceptance, love and true forgiveness. Remember the Wizard of Oz? Only after Dorothy experienced the Lollipop League, Glinda the Good Witch, Bad Witch, Yellow Brick Road, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, poppies and Oz, did Dorothy realize that what she was searching for was with her along…the ability to go home with three clicks of the Ruby Red Slippers. For women who have accepted Christ, His UNCONDITIONAL love, comfort, guidance and no-strings-attached-forgiveness have been with us since we said yes to Jesus. 

If you do not know Christ, please take a moment to search your heart and share this conversation with God before reading another word:

I know that I am a sinner. I am so weary of trying to run my life myself. I believe that You sent your Son Jesus to die for my sins...all of them. Jesus, please come into my heart and save me. I surrender my life and will to You.

Now read on, but also make sure you ask God to help you find good Christian friends and a church. Ask Him to foster in you a love and passion for Him like none other you have ever experienced and to give you a hunger for reading the Bible. Chit-chat with Him informally throughout each day (some call it prayer). Close your eyes and imagine sitting at his feet and place your head against his knee. When things get really tough, crawl into His arms and find peace. Thank Him.