Profiles in Faith: Women of Joy
At least a dozen women who live or work in Gordon County were among the more than 6,000 people gathered in Pigeon Forge last weekend to hear a powerful message about beauty. The Women of Joy conference was titled “Beyond Beautiful” and focused on beauty in the eyes of God. Through a powerful combination of worship and testimony, the women were invited to consider the beauty of faith, virtue and belonging to God. These are the attributes by which God measures beauty. Linda Hunter of Calhoun says it is a message women need to hear, “True beauty comes from within.”
The three-day session opened Friday, April 25, with Candy Wood Lindley. Candy was diagnosed with a tumor the size of a baseball in the center of her head in 1992. She was given six months to live. Not ready to give up, she agreed to surgery. She underwent eight operations over several years, which left her with severe facial disfiguration. With a beauty that shines from within, she described the way God has healed both her cancer and her heart. For more of her incredible story, I recommend her book Face of Faith, discovering a different kind of makeover.
The other speakers included Redeemed Girls Ministries founder Marian Jordan, former Matlock star Nancy Stafford and Dave Ramsey and his daughter Rachel Ramsey Cruze. Jordan talked about her history of looking for love in a bottle and in the arms of any man that would have her. Then one day, she surrendered her heart to the Lord and that’s when her life began to change, “Hope is the activity of the soul that loves God.” Stafford grew up knowing and loving God, but she says she walked away from it all when she saw too many people living one way on Sunday and another way on Monday, “You know I love God, but I don’t want anything to do with His people.” It wasn’t until many years later, and experiments with many religions that she realized they brought no peace. That is when she turned back to God, and to church, “The more we look at God, the more we look like Him. The more we accept ourselves, the more we accept others.” Rachel Cruze and her father talked about the power of financial freedom to transform lives. Cruze offered three guidelines for raising Biblically wise and money smart children, “First, understand that God owns it all. We simply manage what God has given us. Second, we need to teach the value of work. Money comes from work. And third, teach children to become givers. It is then they come to understand that contentment is the antidote.” To illustrate the importance of giving, each person present received a free copy of their book, Smart Money, Smart Kids: Raising the Next Generation to Win with Money. The highlight of the weekend for the group from Mt. Pleasant United Methodist was the concert with Chris Tomlin and Christy Nockels. Linda Hunter summed it up, “There is no way you could sit in that concert and not leave with the joy of the Lord in your heart.” Women from more than 19 states gathered for the weekend conference, and if applause is any measure, the message was well-received. If I had to sum it up, I would say that knowing Jesus is the ultimate makeover. Rev. Ann Mann is an Emmy Award winning journalist who now serves as pastor of Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church in Calhoun and is a freelance writer for the Calhoun Times. You may contact Ann at ann.mann@ngumc. net.