They are there....every Sunday....

They sit in a row, beautiful all in their own way. They are there faithfully every week. Never missing. Their hair is perfect, make up just right and they have learned to dress in colors that flatter their aging complexion and graying hair. Their warm smiles welcome you in, their hugs and handshakes reassure you the sun still comes up, the world still goes around and God still loves you.

They ask about your family, tell you how beautiful your children are and ask, genuinely wanting to know, how you are this week. If you shared your troubles they would listen intently and pray specifically. Then they would send you on your way with a hug, a smile and that calmness that only those life warriors know and can pass on to you.

You can't help but be encouraged by these pillars of strength, these women who have been through all of life's trials, the ups, the downs and those day to day afflictions. They've learned through the fire that when we are tested we shall come forth as gold. They are golden.

Every church has them.

They are those ladies, some widowed, some single, some married who sit in the same spot week after week in church. They are that fixture that you remembered as a child who are still there today as an adult. Every week, we are greeted by these aging beauties as we come in and sit down. They are incredibly reassuring to me. In times of trouble, in times of doubt, I can look to these women who have each been through so much and know that I will make it through my trials, just like they have.

My mom is one of these ladies in the church I grew up in. Every Sunday you can find her in the choir loft, the soprano side in her choir robe along with the other reassuring, faithful choir members who were there when I was young.

And tomorrow morning, on Easter Sunday, celebrating a risen Savior, each of these pillars will be in place, some with a new Easter dress, some with the same Easter dress from last year. But they will be there, in their spot rejoicing over not only that Christ has risen, but that they are still around to praise Jesus one more Easter morning. And I will be there to receive an intangible, irreplaceable  comfort from them and they don't even know it.