The “Strong Woman” Story today is from my dear friend, Lenora Worth. I just visited Lenora at her Louisiana home and here we are in front of her WORLD FAMOUS shoe collection. GRIN
Here’s Lenora:

“I’ve never considered myself a “strong woman”. I see other women working at their jobs, taking care of children and their aging parents, and trying to maintain a home. I’m always amazed at these women. I’ve had lots of trials in my life but sometimes I wonder if I could do what some of my friends do—juggle all those plates in the air. I do know that when I got married right out of high school, I didn’t have a clue about what being married was all about. My husband and I were very young and we fought a lot in those early years. But we also learned a lot. We moved away from our families to live in a big city. We had a baby girl. I stayed home with her while he worked the night shift.

Those days were very lonely for me at times, but they were also very liberating. I had to learn to handle life on my own. I came from a big family so I always felt “smothered”. With six older brothers and sisters always telling me what to do, or telling me what I’d done wrong, I never felt like my own person. And being a country girl, I was terrified of the big city. But I was also intrigued by it, too. I did a lot of growing up in those first years and I believe my time out there on my own made me much stronger. Ironically, the big city I’m talking about is Atlanta, Georgia, where my April book “Code of Honor” is set.

I loved Atlanta from the moment I saw those gray skyscrapers off in a distance. So it’s only natural that I’d set books there all these years later. I’ve been married 34 years but I lived six of those years in Atlanta. The big city helped me to become more independent and strong. My heroine in “Code of Honor” is a nurse who becomes a missionary in Northern Argentina. But when she’s forced to come home to Atlanta for her safety, she doesn’t like the idea. She doesn’t want to leave the villagers she’d cared for, for two years. My hero Brice Whelan is in love with Selena Carter and he has orders from her father to bring her home and to watch over her. Selena cares for Brice, but she feels smothered by his presence in her life. Selena is a strong woman but she’s also afraid—not so much for her own safety—but because she’s suspicious of those around her. She realizes she might not be able to trust some of the people in her life but she’s afraid to let go of her control. So she and Brice clash over her independent nature and her need to withhold information from him. Selena has to learn that sometimes the best strength is the kind that allows you to be vulnerable.

I had to learn that lesson, too. I took a leap of faith by moving to Atlanta. And while the road was sometimes rough in those early years, that experience forged me into the person I’ve become today. I stand up for what I believe in and I stand firm in God’s grace and understanding. Sometimes it seems we are ALL alone in the big city. But God is right there with us, giving us the strength we need to get things done. We all have a story of strength and we can all find our strength in the Lord.”

You speak the truth, Lenora. Thanks.
For more about Lenora

http://www.lenoraworth.com AND HER SHOES!