It's Girls' Day at Rylie's school. They got the invitation to "Be whoever you want to be". Rylie chose Jane Goodall. It's doubtful that she'll make it back home with everything she took. 

  
Her vest pockets are stuffed. There's a monkey magnet that came off the fridge, a pen and a fossil. She's got a leash rolled up in her pocket too (a great way to make friends with chimps). 

After thinking long and hard she decided against a camera, not wanting it to get ruined. The water bottle wouldn't fit and there was great disappointment that we didn't have binoculars she could take (Apparently she's outgrown the kind made with some string and the taping of two toilet paper rolls together). 

We didn't brush her hair. She thought nice hair wouldn't be "in character". 

At the last minute this morning I had to include a letter to Jane in her lunchbox. It's hard to not have fun with it when I see how much fun Rylie's having with it. Thanks Helena Park for "Girl's Day".  

I've been thinking of who my girl heroes are. 

1.  Corrie ten Boom I first read about her as a newlywed. A dear man had given me her book "The Hiding Place". Corrie was a Dutch Christian who helped hide the Jews during the Holocaust.  

 She's honest in her book that she initially preferred her safety over their rescue.  She and her family were caught and imprisoned. She watched her sister Betsie die at a women's camp.

 Years after her release Corrie found herself at an engagement with a man whom she remembered from the concentration camp where she and Betsie had suffered. He didn't recognize her but knew that he had committed terrible acts against the likes of her. 

He asked for her forgiveness. And even though she had come to this church to deliver the message of forgiveness she found that it isn't always easy or possible without God's help. 

“Jesus, help me!” I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.”

And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.

“I forgive you, brother!” I cried. “With all my heart!”

For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then.
And having thus learned to forgive in this hardest of situations, I never again had difficulty in forgiving: I wish I could say it! I wish I could say that merciful and charitable thoughts just naturally flowed from me from then on. But they didn’t.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned at 80 years of age, it’s that I can’t store up good feelings and behavior–but only draw them fresh from God each day.

Corrie ten Boom was a willing servant with the knowledge that it's God who is good. She knew that any good that comes from us comes from a dependence on Him and obedience to Him. 

Quote: There is no panic in heaven! God has no problems, only plans. 

  
 2. Joni Eareckson Tada After a diving accident that left her a quadriplegic, Joni became an artist using her teeth to paint. She's a Christian author, singer and radio host with a beautiful indomitable spirit. 

Quote: Life becomes inspiring, not in spite of the problems and the hard hits, but because of them. 

    
 3. Harriet Tubman an escaped slave, rescued around seventy people using an "Underground Railroad". She was also the first woman to lead an armed expedition in the raid at Combahee Ferry where seven hundred slaves found their freedom. She later acted as a nurse and cook, a scout and a spy. She cared for her aging parents before they died. She lived the remainder of her life not as a slave but a servant. 

Quote: Twasn't me, 'twas the Lord! I always told Him, 'I trust to you. I don't know where to go or what to do, but I expect You to lead me,' an' He always did. 

  

  
4. Meriam Ibrahim is a Sundanese Christian born to a Muslim father. She married a Christian man, had a child and was expecting a second child. She was accused of apostasy to Islam and sentenced to death. She was given three days to renounce her Christian faith. She refused. She gave birth to her second child in chains. She has since been freed. Meriam is a symbol of true faith and courage. 

Quote: I trusted God from the first instant. I knew he wouldn't abandon me. 

  

5. Elisabeth Eliot-Christian author and speaker  

Elisabeth and her family, along with a few other families, traveled to Ecuador as missionaries to an unreached tribe in the fifties. Her husband and the other men were speared to death upon trying to communicate with the people. Elisabeth stayed, continuing to reach out to the people. Eventually she lived amongst them and taught them of saving grace. In "Through Gates of Splendor" she recounts the story. 

Quote: I realized that the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able to honestly to pray what He taught His disciples to pray: Thy will be done. 

This is the short (and impulsive) list. 

Whose story inspires you?