Gfpacificbee’s Insights & photography

International Women’s Day is celebrated around the globe on March 8th. Today is that day to celebrate.

International Women’s Day is being posted, blogged, and otherwise mentioned all over the internet and all over the world. What exactly is International Women’s Day? Why do we celebrate it? Do you celebrate it?

International Women’s Day, AKA IWD, is a global celebration dedicated to uplifting women and honoring their achievements. It is not just to celebrate female world leaders, women activists, or women of supreme importance to the world, but also a day to celebrate the women who have made a significant impact on your life. Besides bringing attention to the achievements of women, it also is a day to accentuate the struggles for equality around the world which still exists.

I will not go into details regarding famous or otherwise significant women, rather I will discuss three women that have made a significant impact in my life. 1) My maternal grandmother, 2) Edith Riffe, my youth pastor’s wife, and 3) Nancy Mehl, an author and my online friend.

My maternal grandmother, Myrtle Melvina (Tebo) Watson was born in Kansas. When she was a young lady, she went to work for my grandfather’s sister doing housework. On a visit from Ohio, my grandfather met her and with some persistence she gave in, and they began a courtship and later married. Now I know that doesn’t show how she was important to me, but if she didn’t meet my grandfather, I would not eventually exist. She was a strong woman. No matter where she lived, she grew her own vegetables, washed clothes using a wringer washing machine and hung them out on a line to dry. She was economical and managed her home long after my grandfather passed. She took a bus into downtown to work in a church kitchen prepare mails for others. She never drove that I know of, but that didn’t stop her from getting around. She had a strong faith in God and relied on Him daily. She passed her knowledge onto me, and I am grateful for her knowledge.

Edith Riffe, known to those who love her, as Edie the Sweetie, is a wise woman of God. She grew up a farm girl in Pennsylvania, went to college in South Carolina where she met her husband, Jerry (My youth pastor). She was his partner in life and in ministry. She is faithful to study God’s Word and passed on her knowledge by counseling and mentoring women. She is a fine example on how to live a Christ like life, not only for her daughters, but to everyone who was fortunate enough to know her.

Nancy Mehl is an online friend and author that I admire very much. She shares her faith in God through her writing and with her friends regardless, if she has met them in person or not. She is a Christian author and has written over thirty novels. She writes suspense novels and has written books for Guidepost’s Amish fiction book series including those in The Sugarcreek Amish Mysteries. She is a tremendously skilled writer with a passion to share her faith and she shares it fabulously through her writings. She also administers a group on Facebook entitled “Nancy Mehl’s Secret Sister Circle.” In the group she encourages everyone and prays for them. Her writings speak to me and her group ministers and encourages me.

Women are Strong, clever, compassionate, beautiful, and unique. Women inspire those around them. Women help change the world. We need to change the world’s perception of women. Know that you are wonderful, loved, and blessed. I have been blessed with these amazing women of God in my life and I thank God for bringing them into my life.

God bless. Thank God for the women that have made an impact on your life. Let them know how grateful you are for their influence. Remember you are strong. You are loved. You are empowered.