Dr. Angie Ruark has a knack for attracting spiritual warrior women into her life. Whether it’s her friends, her fellow-writers, or her daughters-in-law.
Angie went to college for her doctorate at the same time her sons hit college. Along with all her other accomplishments, lately, she wrote a book. From my point of view, though, her best talent turns out to be her ability to pray for awesome daughters-in-law.
There’s got to be an irony in here somewhere. How does the mother of three boys become an expert at attracting spiritual warrior women to pray? (To find out more about our mutual friend, Susan Ellsworth, with whom Angie will share grandkids someday, click here.)
Angie is the whole brilliant package. She has a creative right brain, a meticulous left brain, and a whole heart.
I’m truly grateful to count her among my close friends. Lately, she brought together a whole team of Spiritual Warrior Women to share their insights on prayer. Many of these women are my friends and I can tell you for sure they are stalwart.
Her Love Story
But, when it came to sharing her story with you, you know which one I wanted to hear first.
Her love story!
“He was there the day I got my braces put on,” she laughs. “We had the same orthodontist.” She and her husband Bill met in middle school.
He picked the moment her mouth was full of dental apparatus to make his first move. He said a quick hello and kept moving before she could respond properly.
“He’s so fun. That’s what made me fall, I say, head over heals for him long before we got married. We just celebrated our twenty-ninth anniversary,” she reports.
Bill’s career reads like something out of an action novel, but his personal life is all about Angie and their family. Actually, come to think of it, the way Bill talks about Angie confirms his genius status in my opinion. Angie agrees.
Refusing to Limit God
“Honestly, getting a doctorate, all those things I’ve done, would not have been possible without Bill,” she says. “Only behind my salvation and Jesus, Bill is my greatest gift from God.” She gives her husband credit for unleashing God’s potential in their lives.
“One thing he’s done in our family is he would never let any of us—not me, not our sons—say, ‘Well, I could never do that. I can’t do that,’” says Angie. “We weren’t allowed to say that because you know with God all things are possible. He (Bill) never let us put limits on what God could do in our lives.”
Unleashing Potential
Their life-long romance seems too good to be true. What about women who have bad experiences with men. What then? Are the kids doomed to marry poorly? Are good marriage reserved for people who have great dads? Absolutely not! (To get more free podcasts, blogs, and interviews with experts, click here!)
Angie shares how being a Spiritual Warrior Woman can change everything in your home, in your life, in your community. She just wrote twenty chapters herself on unleashing the potential of prayer. Angie focused on how the character qualities of women in the Bible. She ties each quality to the way our prayers are enhanced by our character. Angie’s book, Spiritual Warrior Woman: Pray is available now and chock-full of wisdom!
Stretching for God’s Potential
Twenty or so of Angie’s friends, whom she dubbed Spiritual Warrior Women, wrote chapters, too. In each case, Angie asked them to write about a particular quality she recognized in their life.
Of the women who wrote, two others have been one Fireside Talk Radio. Susan Ellsworth came on the show to talk about “Breast Cancer, What We Wish Our Families Understood.” Dr. Grace English talked about “Compassion, Please! After Abortion Healing.”
Additionally, Linda Dill contributed a chapter to Angie’s book. Her husband James Dill came on our show to say, “Don’t Give Up! Encouragement for Leaders.” But, of course, most of his stories highlighted how much he loves his sweet wife. Together they founded a ministry called Shepherd’s Heart.
Are you noticing a pattern? It seems all around us God is blessing people as they stretch for their potential. And many of them are friends with Angie, contributing a chapter to her book about how Spiritual Warrior Woman: Pray. Hmmm. These dear ladies make me want to slow down and spend a little more time in prayer. You?
Spiritual Warrior Women: Pray
“I knew it was going to be a spiritual warrior woman book,” reports Angie, “God made it very clear to me there were lots of spiritual warrior women I already knew. When I see someone I know, their gifts just stand out.”
Strong, gifted women operating out of God’s Spirit—now, that’s a force to be reckoned with! The power is so beautiful when it’s used to God’s glory!
Angie began thinking of her many spiritual warrior women friends as the Sisterhood of Prayer Warriors. She calls it a sorority—like a special club of women who get how powerful prayer is. (Find Angie’s book here.)
Perfect Example of an Answer to Prayer
One of our favorite mutual friends in all the world, Susan Ellsworth, raised Angie’s first daughter-in-law. (To find Susan’s story about being an Oncology nurse who went through three breast cancer surgeries herself, including a bout with lymphedema, click here. She also talked about sex after breast cancer. Yep. I told you Susan is amazing.)
So, I asked Angie about how to pray more great women into a family. Here’s how she and Bill prayed for their future daughters-in-law before they ever knew them:
- They’ve been praying for them since their sons were little.
- They prayed God would guard their hearts, and their minds.
- That He would protect them, watch over them, bless them in all of their endeavors.
- That God would lead them and direct their steps.
“The number one thing that we’ve prayed is that each one would just love Jesus first in her life,” says Angie, “Because that’s the number one thing.”
Pray Now
What about for moms who just woke up to the fact that prayer makes a real difference? Is it too late to pray for your kids and their future spouses? Angie offers some comforting advice.
“Just pray now. As soon as you think of it, don’t waste any more time,” she says, adding, “God knows. He can handle it. He knows everything.
Like Angie, I love praying for my son’s future spouse. I loved both my sons-in-law before I actually knew who they were. But now that I know them, my heart seems to be even more devoted to praying for them. Now that they are married, my prayers for my own kids have evolved, too. Plus, we have grandchildren to pray for, too, so prayer has become an exciting part of my daily habit. (To sign up for our FREE weekly blog and podcast, click here.)
“So, now if you’ve realized to pray, pray now and trust God that He’s going to work it out right,” says Angie. “Place it all in His hands because He is faithful. He always keeps His word. Always.”
Devoted to Prayer
It’s good to develop the prayer habit in your family. As the family expands, so does the list of things that need prayer. Angie suggests making prayer a natural part of your time together in a sweet, informal way.
“When we all get together, we pray before everyone heads home. We have family prayer,” explains Angie.
Prayer allows us to be open to God’s answers, even the unexpected ones. For example, when God tells you to write a book about spiritual warrior women and you realize you know quite a few.
“I really feel like it (choosing the list of women to write chapters) was instant. In two minutes I had the list,” laughs Angie.
Whether it’s praying for your kids, working on a doctorate, writing books, or trusting God with the next big dream, one thing stands out.
“Most important though, putting Jesus first changes everything. If I had to put a theme to my life it’s that you can’t limit what God can do through you or for you or with you.”
Especially when you find yourself surrounded by spiritual warrior women who are devoted to prayer!
May we pray together?
Dear good Father in heaven, we turn to You now because You are dear to our hearts. When we need comfort and companionship, You are there. When we need a sister to speak gentle, healing truth into our lives You send someone You trust. Teach us to notice the good spiritual warrior women You’ve chosen for our benefit. Help us welcome those sisters into our lives with joy and loyalty. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
We LOVE to hear from YOU!
How has a friend been a true sister in your life? When as a woman blessed you by praying specifically? What answers to prayer mean the most to you?
New Adventures in Devotion
If you missed the amazing Brooke Frick, here’s the link to her devotional book Hand’s Full. Already diving into her book? Congratulations! Isn’t it fun and inspiring?! If you want to subscribe to her blog, click here. I’m a fan!
Want to be a superhero like courageous Bible heroes? Do you or anyone you know want to draw closer to God? Check out Lindsey Bell’s fabulous book, Unbeaten. I follow Lindsey here and I hope you will, too.
Also, Abba’s Answers, a devotional book of stories compiled by Deb Butterfield is available here. It includes The Compassion Story, the story of how David responded when I told him about my abortion.
Authentic Conversation about Communicating!
In case you missed this recent interview, Sandra Beck asks the BEST questions! And she always adds insightful, often hilarious stuff to any conversation. To find more from Sandra, go to Motherhood Talk Radio. For our interview, click below.
Building Better Communication Between Partners Sandra Beck of Motherhood Talk Radio speaks with Cathy Krafve about her new book which highlights how couples can better communicate their needs- especially in these trying times that strain even the best of relationships.
Prayer requests:
Next, our interview with the beautiful Sarah Van Hook is around the corner. Sarah will share about experiencing sexual abuse as a child. She grew up to be a pediatric child therapist, so we are going to learn much from this dear lady. (Find her mom’s story and her wisdom on how to be Carried By Grace when you find out your child has been abused.)
Since we’ve noticed the enemy does not like this kind of truth getting out there, PLEASE pray for Sarah now in advance of her interview. (We bind the enemy in Jesus’s name and we ask You, Good Father, to bless Sarah in every way.) Thank you for taking a minute to agree with me in prayer to unleash all God wants to do with Sarah’s powerful message.
Most of all, thank you to all who have been praying since I posted about feeling like an overwhelmed dork. I’m still dorky and quirky, but it is good to know I have friends who don’t care about that and will pray for me anyway. Your prayers mean more than I can say!! I think my heart is a little more peaceful about the whole thing. Maybe. Keep praying. Please.
Cathy Krafve, Columnist, Speaker, Blogger, Podcaster, and Christian Writer, invites your stories, ideas, and questions at CathyKrafve.com. Truth with a Texas Twang.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks