A suitcase can tell us so much. It tells us where you went, what the weather was like, what essentials did you need, how long you were there.
We visited with Connie Yates who has been at First Baptist Frisco for 50 years and a lifelong member and dedicated friend to all who cross her paths. Connie and I met over the phone. She has a super bubbly personality and outgoing spirit. She will ask you about your kids and life and all the things going on in your life. After our initial meeting I remember telling Cindi in the church if I would have known Connie back in the day she would have been in my wedding. I mean I wanted to be friends with her and stay connected to her. She is amazing.
On the Noisy Narrative Podcast, Connie Yates unpacks her story in the City Limits of Frisco along with Frisco First history. She lays out her time growing up here with the locals and even carries us through her loss of loved ones.
The more time I spend around her and many of the other “seasoned” ladies, they each remind me of the good people in my grandparents' small West Texas town, population 5,000. This sweet small town was my happy place, my safe haven, my get-a-away home. I loved to go on weekends, holidays and during the summertime. The people made the town. Some of the men would spend time at the first floor of the bank drinking coffee in the a.m. The women would attend bible study and maybe a lunch or two during the week and of course church on Weds night, Sunday morning and Sunday night. They were all intentionally active in each others lives.
As we spent more time in West Texas, we settled into the storytelling moments by Mama and Papa. They would share stories growing up in the depression, being a daughter of the editor of a newspaper, driving with no seatbelts, their moms making all their clothes, food always being made from scratch and splitting the peas with their siblings. One of the favorites is remembering when Papa almost burned down the barn. Who knew your grandparents could be so rebellious.
I share that because we need ladies who have come before us to share and unpack their stories and insights. We desire their perspectives and understanding in our lives. We fancy their words of encouragement and their “Doll you're going to get through this” mentality.
In the Bible, Job says,”Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old.” Wisdom, understanding and clarity is a must for this eternal perspective in this crazy world. For some we don’t know it but we crave it.
I remember early on in our marriage feeling like it was a bait and switch marriage. I even wondered why this did not come up in our pre-marriage counseling. I mentioned it to Mama in passing and she sighs and says, “Girl, Papa has been doing that our entire marriage. He also still walks out the back door and pees off the porch. People probably think we didn’t have indoor plumbing, Christy.”
I did not laugh at the time.
I do now.
I remember pondering what she said. It took me out of my present situation and gave me perspective on how God's man my husband.
At that moment I needed to know that it was not a “just my husband” thing, it was a universal man thing. I had not been fooled or missed red flags. I was just not super familiar with how men act at times. As I think back on that often and I appreciated her honesty.
Titus 2 says, “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, so that the word of God may not be reviled.”
Titus 2 is a mandate, an official order, or commission to do something. It is a part of building God’s kingdom.
Sidenote and background on Paul writing to Titus. This instruction by Paul would not have sounded foreign or oppressive to anyone in the Greco-Roman culture. He was not defining or limiting a woman’s place; he was addressing women where they were. This is not a picture of enslavement but of useful enterprise
NT Wright says,
“What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God’s future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it behind altogether. They are part of what we may call building for God’s kingdom.”
NT Wright says, what we do in the present will last into God's future. Ladies have come before us who understand they are building God's kingdom. We need to hear our Boomer and Senior ladies share their stories. We need to ask about their stories. Ask about their lives.
At the same time, Boomers and Senior ladies, we love you and value your insights, experiences and opinions. Ya’ll have seen and experienced more than we can imagine and we want you to teach us and tell us. We want to know how to train ourselves to love our husbands well, like Titus 2 instructs and love our church even during conflict. We want to know how to build God’s church and His kingdom better.
So as you enjoy another episode of the Noisy Narrative Podcast, remember we need to share our stories. Connie unpacks so much great depth and history about Frisco First and the people that came before us. It makes you grateful for church history. It makes you thankful that God put women before us who cooked the meals, directed the programs, ran the VBS and loved on others well.
Enjoy!