My Ladies

I just want to take a moment to brag about all of the incredible women in my life. Yesterday I was talking to a guy friend about a mutual friend of ours, also male, when the guy I was talking to began to tell me about "what a stud" our friend is. As he spoke, I wondered when I last praised a girlfriend of mine, either to her face or to someone else. It's a terrible shame that, as women, we rarely do that. Are we afraid that if we speak highly of another girl, it somehow takes away from our own "glory"? And what is our glory anyway? Those of you tempted to scoff and call this cheesy, please don't. I'm kind of in that boat right now as I try to write this...because I'm tired of people trying to heal my wounds with church catch-phrases that seem so dead before they are even voiced. But please read my honesty into this.

So, girls--yall should know that you are beautifully and wonderfully created by a God that wants to pursue and allure you in a way that you could never imagine--in a way that no man on this earth will ever be able to do. I am so blessed to have so many teachers and mentors--women who have taught me so much about godliness. Don't you dare let this world tell you that you have no value. You are worth so much more than the meager fairy-tales that life tells us to chase after.

Dad--Mom is quite the catch. You're a lucky guy. Neil, so are you. And the other Cooper/Johnson men--the ladies in our family are legit. What shining examples of the poise and beauty that died with the old South--those lost arts that these women exemplify...and the strength with which they support the people in their lives.

Men of Shoreline--I wonder sometimes if yall have any idea how incredible the women in our church are. I hope that you all get the opportunity to see firsthand their passion for the ministry God has allowed us to be a part of. I love seeing how eager these girls are to seek God and serve. And I can't tell you how often I've heard them speak of how they want to be better sisters to yall and learn to encourage yall.

My baby sister, my best girlfriends, and the women with whom I am lucky enough to interact--I don't tell yall enough that I love you. But I do. Our men are trying. And this world isn't perfect so they aren't ever going to quite get it right, but please remember that your worth isn't measured by their approval. Let them lead, pursue, and love you, ladies, because you do deserve to be loved in the way that God teaches men to love. More people should be bragging about how cool yall are. Because you are.