Mrs. Chris

A few weeks back, I wrote about a couple of teenage guys I know who were heading away on trips to Aboriginal communities in Manitoba and Nova Scotia. Today I want to tell you about one of their leaders who took them there, to God's River, Manitoba.

"Mrs. Chris" is a local hero in our house. If you ask any of my girls to name someone outside of our family that they love, and/or that they know loves them, and/or that they know prays for them, they would say Mrs. Chris, in a heartbeat.

It's a precious thing to have role models and mentors just a bit farther along in the journey than you are. Mrs. Chris has three girls like me, but hers are doing exciting things like graduating and moving out -- milestones I'm not at all ready for, so I'm grateful Chris is blazing that trail for me. She's encouraged me to live intentionally and to invest lavishly in young people. She's lived faithfully through multiple losses and we've travelled that road together. Her girls have set godly, beautiful examples for us. They've led us in worship. She is committed to serving her community and particularly to the women and children in it. She's quite simply a lovely person.

Last night, as I sat savouring the last night at the cottage for this season, thinking about the busy day that lay ahead of me today, it didn't completely surprise me to get an encouraging note from Chris, saying hello and asking if there were ways she could lighten our load this weekend. So thoughtful. We're in the process of moving out of Mrs. Chris'physical community, but we know that we will continue to stay well connected in other important ways.

So as I sit here in the chaos of packing, soaking up the history and memories in these walls for one of the last times, it's fitting that Mrs. Chris would be the inspiring individual who came to mind this week. The donation will go towards her expenses in God's River, and I look forward to hearing how she was a blessing to folks there as she is so consistently to folks here.