GLAMorous?!... Me?

"GLAM"... That's the last word that would ever be used to describe me! You might laugh, but those who know me could not agree more. I am what you could probably consider to be the farthest away from what one might consider glamorous. I have never been one for fashion, cute shoes, makeup or pink, shiny, glittery things. I've been the girl who's always in jeans, a t-shirt and flip-flops. On a good day my hair will be down and straightened, but there's a good chance it will just be up in a ponytail. As a young girl, I chose 4-wheelers over tutus and a ball game over a shopping trip... any day! My mom tells the story that the first time she held me she looked deep into my eyes and just knew that she had a little ballerina princess. Ha! By the time I was three she realized she didn't have a ballerina, but a ball player. The only thing I have to say about it? At least I'm a good ball player! :)

 Needless to say, GLAM is not something I ever thought I would be doing simply because of the name. At first glance GLAM Ministries might look like a fru-fru, makeup-fixing, shopping-loving, designer-wearing group of girls who just want something to do with their lives. However, I learned long ago to never judge a book by its cover, and I'm glad I didn't judge this ministry by its name.

Seventeen years I ago, I was in the third grade, and I met a very tall and somewhat quiet girl in Sunday School class. Amanda and I became as of good of friends as 8 year-olds could be only seeing each other 1-2 times a week. As we grew up she and I became closer and closer, and by the time we were in high school we were best friends. During high school we joked about ministering together one day, but after we graduated our lives took us separate directions, and we really did not speak for years. Last spring, I received word that Amanda's mom had passed away suddenly. So, some of our high school "gang" got together and went to the funeral. It was the first time that I had seen Amanda in years, and I assumed it would be the last for quite a while. Less than four months later, we found ourselves standing together at a funeral for a dear friend who grew up with us. Meaningless chatter turned into personal conversations that turned into a job offer. Five days later, I was in my car driving to Nashville to accept a job... a job ministering with Amanda. Seventeen years later, she's still tall, but quiet is the last thing I would call her! :)

 I was skeptical at first because of the GLAM name, but when I heard about the message of GLAM, I was hooked. Godly Leadership Advancement through Mentoring. I mean, what could be better than these things? Not much. Why do I like the idea of GLAM so much? I like it, because I have seen it played out in my life. I can honestly say that I would not be where I am today and would not have advanced through life like I have, if it wasn't for my godly mentors. God has strategically placed women through my twenty-five years of life that have been there to take me under their wing just when I needed it.  Some of those women were in my life for just a season, but they were all there for a reason.  I did not go out on a hunt for these women, God simply knew exactly what I needed at the exact time.

 Is having a mentor a fix-all for lives problems?  No, not at all.  However, God uses women who have walked the path and faced the problems to minister to those who are now experiencing them.  Titus 2:3-5 gives us a look into the purpose of mentoring. “Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.”  Mentoring:  Older women teaching the younger women to love others and live their lives for God, so that in the end God will receive all glory and honor. So, that is what GLAM is to me. I might not be very girly, but I am GLAMorous