Our Lydia met Dad when he came to minister at her family\u2019s church in Winnipeg, MB Canada. He was smitten with her and her with him. Six weeks later, they were married. Apparently, it was a good idea, because their marriage and their \u201cseeds\u201d produced really good fruit in their children and their grandchildren \u2013 not to mention the other non-biological children who came to Christ through their ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their marriage of over 51 years was fruitful until Dad\u2019s passing parted them\u2026..temporarily. So many lives radically changed through their ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not only did Mom serve as \u201cthe pastor\u2019s wife\u201d, playing the organ and leading the children\u2019s ministry for years, she also worked at Sears & Roebuck in the children\u2019s department. There she kept an eye out for clothes she could buy with her employee discount or get free (if a slight issue with them). She would repair the issues and then she\u2019d take them to those families who couldn\u2019t afford them. Those children were decked out in new clothes for the new school year. Yes, she was a true “Lydia”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Lydia-in-the-Bible.jpg-e1665829624185.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nLydia in the Bible was a \u201cworshiper of God\u201d and she \u201clistened\u201d and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul the Apostle was saying. (BTW \u2013 so did our Lydia \u2013 listen and open her heart). Once she believed, she made a confession of her faith to her whole world through baptism, and then she assembled her entire household, told them what had happened to her, and asked them to believe. They did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isn\u2019t that inspiring, particularly as a woman? Lydia ran a business selling dyed purple goods, she ran a household, and she worshiped God. God found favor with her and when the Holy Spirit moved in her heart, she was open to hearing God\u2019s words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Lydia did more than the words we read. She immediately started bearing fruit, bringing her household to God, and then serving Paul and his companions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lydia\u2019s name appears in Scripture only twice. She was the first Gentile convert in Europe and the first believer to open her home as a worship center for European Christians. This benefited not only Paul and the early church but also the lives of future generations of believers. Her life was a model of determination, foresight and generosity that offers encouragement to us today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the New Testament, Jesus speaks of the Counselor Who will come and bear witness to Him. He further says that we \u201care also witnesses\u201d (John 15:26). Like Lydia, we can live our faith in our homes, our schools, and our workplaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How wonderful to know the Holy Spirit wants to touch our hearts to listen to His promptings and go where He leads us. Sometimes our witness may seem small like holding the hands of a loved one as she draws closer to her last breath on this earth, like OUR Lydia. Other times it may be through our words that touch the heart of someone yearning for connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other times, a bolder witness is required of us and we\u2019ll need to rely on the Holy Spirit for direction and the courage to act. In any case, the Holy Spirit is ready and waiting for our daily, hourly, moment-by-moment \u201cYES\u201d to be His witness \u2013 like OUR Lydias. Are we ready?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By now, most know that my sweet mother-in-law graduated to heaven yesterday, Friday afternoon. Oh happy day! So many heavenly moments that I’ll speak about another day. On Thursday, a dear family friend, Father Jack Gleason, came by to pray for Mom. He kept emphasizing Mom\u2019s name, Lydia, in his prayers and thoughts, It made…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24926,24924,24927,24925],"tags":[1210,19626,1769,40,1063,24922,20601,4548,24919,24923,24920,24921],"class_list":["post-16869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bold-witness","category-lydia","category-purple-cloth","category-seller-of-purple-cloth","tag-blog","tag-bold-witness","tag-christian","tag-inspiration","tag-lydia","tag-lydia-in-the-bible","tag-new-testament","tag-pastors-wife","tag-prominent","tag-purple-goods","tag-sears-roebuck","tag-worshiper-of-god"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16869"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16873,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16869\/revisions\/16873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}