Women of Influence: Lezli and Leslie

In college, most of the women I really looked up to were actually more like peers, I just didn't know it yet.  As a freshman, those seniors seemed so mature, like they had it all figured out.  It wasn't until I was a senior that I really understood how funny that perception was.

However, there were two different women who came into my life during that time who were actually role models, mentors, women of influence.  The first was a woman named Lezli.  I wrote about Lezli not too long ago after my trip to Houston last month.  Lezli and her husband, Reagan, took me into their home both of the summers I was working at a church in Deer Park.  From Lezli, I learned lessons in hospitality, perseverance, integrity, and the beauty of a strong woman.  Lezli has a character quality that I have a difficult time articulating.  There is an inner strength about her that it's impossible not to feel when you're near her.  Lezli, more than just about any woman I've ever known, knows who she is and Whose she is, and she carries that knowledge confidently and boldly in a most beautiful way.  Lezli is completely unpretentious, full of laughter, and quick to recognize the beauty of God in creation.  I'm still striving to be more like her.

Leslie Brown was the next woman to come into my life during my college years.  She and her husband, Mark, moved to Abilene the summer before my junior year.  Coincidentally (if I believed in coincidence) that was right after my last summer at Lezli's house.  Leslie had been heavily invested in the lives of high school girls in her home town, and she grieved to leave them, but the Lord had whispered to her about the opportunity to invest in college girls in Abilene and she jumped at the chance.  How do I even begin to tell you how much Leslie Brown influenced me?  She is a student of God's Word.  I mean, digs down deep and gets as much of the meat out of it as she can possibly find.  She is also a teacher of God's Word, thrilling at the chance to open Scripture and make it plain for others.  She is a woman of hospitality, always opening her home and her life to others.  I couldn't begin to count the number of parties, showers, Bible studies, and get togethers the Browns hosted during my last two years of college.  Leslie also opened her life to me in a special way, mentoring me while we folded laundry, grocery shopped, or watched her kids' sports games.  Leslie was the first woman I remember hearing say something like, "well, I was talking to God about it while I was doing the dishes, and ..." I have no idea what came next, but I remember thinking, "I want to be the kind of woman who talks to God while I do the dishes!"  I am so thankful God brought the Browns to Abilene, and so glad Lezli was willing to invest in a crazy college girl like me.