Robyn Patrick lived on my street, and she taught my 11th grade Sunday School class. Robyn is a woman of prayer, and we worked out a special system. Every time I'd pass her house on my way to school or my way home, I'd beep my horn two short beeps, and I could know that whether Robyn was at her kitchen window where I could see her or making beds in her back room, she paused to pray for me.
Because of the intimacy of her prayer life, Robyn believes is a big big God, and she's continued through the years to help me believe in that same big, big God. I've never shared a single thing with Robyn that I thought God might be up to, no matter how crazy it seemed, that she didn't agree to pray with me about it and assure me nothing was too impossible for Him.
Robyn opened her kitchen table up to all of us every Tuesday for "T.L.C." -- Tuesday Lunch Club. We'd bring our lunches, and she'd bake the brownies or the rice krispy treats, and we'd spend a crazy half hour talking as fast and laughing as hard as we could.
Robyn, like Mat Wright, continues to be a prayer warrior in my life. I send her updates occasionally and she always assures me that I am loved and lifted up before the Lord. What a gift!
Not only is Robyn a woman of prayer, she is also a woman of God's Word. She would take her Bible in her hands every Sunday morning, and let its pages fall open before us, then look over the top of it, and tell us, "God's Word has a principle for every situation you are going to face. It has an answer. It may not tell you specifically whether or not to date that boy, but it'll tell you what kind of character pleases God and what kinds of friends you should surround yourself with. It may not tell you whether or not to watch that movie, but it'll tell you what kinds of things to set before you eyes and put into your minds."
When I graduated from high school, Robyn gave me a small silver charm in the shape of a Bible, and every time I teach a new class of women in Bible study, I tell them about Robyn and about how right she was about God's Word. Several years ago, one of the women I had taught was telling me a story about her own teaching experience and how she'd been sharing with one of the women in her class, holding her Bible out in front of her, letting the pages fall open, assuring her there was a principle for every facet of life. She credited that to me. I, of course, immediately saw Robyn in the gesture. It moved me so greatly to know that Robyn's influence hadn't just extended past women that she would know, but also past women I would know. I called her as soon as I got in my car that day. I shared the story with her, and she took a long moment to respond. She shared with me that she'd been thinking just that morning how she just wasn't sure she was getting through to anyone anymore and maybe it was time for her to give up high school Sunday school. Praise God she hasn't! The world will never know this side of eternity how many lives Robyn Patrick has impacted.
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