Day by Day with God: Rooting Women's Lives in the Bible

The Editor writes: As a young man, the apostle Paul was influential and knowledgeable, but after his Damascus road encounter with Jesus, he found a new focus. In his letter to the Philippians he wrote, 'I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things' ("Philippians 3:8", NIV 1984). This was Paul's assessment of his life. What about you? New Year is often a time for stocktaking. What are my goals? How far have I come? How far have I still to go? What do I need, to get there? I had a friend who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Medically she was given a gloomy prognosis, measured in months, not years. As part of her Christian journey, she was reading the book of "Esther" and came to the passage where Esther has been chosen to meet the king. Esther's preparation takes twelve months. My friend began to see her final months as a period of preparation to meet the King of kings. She took part in a women's event at her church in the weeks before she died. Unable to speak or eat, and confined to a wheelchair, she was still able to participate in the day of worship and teaching. At the end, it was as if her face shone; she told her husband on the way home (using her type pad), 'I'm ready to go.' Her eternal home was waiting. She died peacefully not long afterwards. None of us knows the time still allotted to us. For each of us, our months and years are all part of our preparation to meet King Jesus. Paul said, 'I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead' ("Philippians 3:10-11"). In the coming few months we will focus particularly on Jesus' life, death and resurrection as recorded by "Luke". As you start the year and these daily notes, ask for God's help to make 2013 count as a year when you get to know Jesus better. Catherine Butcher About the contributors in this issue: Diana Archer works as a freelance writer, editor and theologian. She lives in Southampton with her vicar husband and runs courses for eating disorder sufferers and carers. Amy Boucher Pye is a writer and editor living in North London. She is writing her first book, on being God's beloved. An American by birth, she delights in all things British, especially her husband and children. Catherine Butcher has edited Day by Day with God since 2003. She and husband Adrian are both journalists and live in Sussex; they are nearly empty-nesters. Lyndall Bywater lives in Canterbury with her husband, her housemate, her assorted guide dogs and a cat. She is passionate about prayer: writing about it, promoting it and training people in it. Caroline Kimber lives in Eastbourne and shares the home of a friend and a cat called Finn. She attends a community church and is part of the prayer and pastoral teams. Sylvia Mandeville and her husband have been visiting believers in Central Asia for 15 years and seen the development of cruel persecution there. She is working on a series of Bible-based books for their children, illustrated by their own professional artists and distributed by them at great risk. Liz Pacey is a Reader in the Church of England and a mature theology and ministry student. In her free time she loves knitting and runs her church's charity knitting group, 'Knitwits'. Abidemi Sanusi is a writer and editor of an online magazine for Christians who enjoy reading and writing. Her last book, "Eyo", was shortlisted for the 2010 Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Jean Watson is a writer, a spiritual director and a director of a local counselling service. Her work has included teaching, editing and writing for different age groups and media - books, magazines, radio and TV. Sandra Wheatley remains as active as possible, despite the constraints of MS and a wheelchair. She enjoys an extensive prayer ministry and has mastered swimming and praying at the same time!