My dear friend.

Anita.
Wife.
Mother.
Jesus Follower.
My mentor.

I thank God for her and how much He has and is using her to encourage and inspire me.

I had just become a member of Gateway Church two months before I met Anita. I was a month shy of graduating from college and I needed direction from the Lord. I was trying to learn how to deepen my relationship with God because I felt like there was something missing (that intimacy.) When I met Anita, I was overwhelmed with joy and awe that the Lord had provided me with her! The book that we chose (Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer) was so divine because that was exactly what I needed even though I didn’t know exactly why the Lord wanted me to read that book.

I learned the different ways the Lord speaks and how personal He is with me. I learned to hear Him on my own every day and it made the greatest difference in my relationship with Him. I fell in love with God and felt more dependent on Him through the thick and thin in this season of life. Anita was so diligent in guiding me through the book as she shared her thoughts and perspective to me week by week as we studied the book together.

I appreciate her patience with me as I shared with her the events that were happening in my to week to what the Lord had been doing in my family’s lives. I also admire the way that she consistently prayed for me weekly, even while I was sick and my mom was in the hospital. She has spoken life into me and encouraged me more than I could ask for. I desire to grow into the woman that she is so that I can build relational friendships with other women and encourage them the way Anita did with me.  

This is for you my sweet friend. Much love. xoxo