Last week Sophie, of A Hole in the Fence, announced a new meme: Women are Fantastic Friday. Yes, I know this isn't Friday but, well, I've gotten over the fact that I'm running behind and I hope you will, too.

When Sophie announced her meme, I became very enthused about it because for a couple of years I've wanted to do a series on women who have inspired me. I am not inspired when I meet a woman who wants me to be convinced she has arrived. I have a preference for teachers and leaders and friends who are not only aware of their faults but they confess their faults in order to receive help and guidance themselves.

So most of the stories I will tell you are glimmers of our greatness as women. They will be an opportunity to enjoy the glazed sides of clay figurines.

The first lady I want to tell you about is JoAn -- a lady who has been my consistent encourager and coach for the last four years.

As a consistent encourager she has called me almost every weekend ... especially when I was going through really rough times. "Just calling to see how you're doing."

I was seldom doing great -- usually angry about something -- but JoAn would get me talking and before long she'd have me hoping against hope ... looking at little things I could do to guard my emotions ... gently nudge my thoughts with stories and questions ... and she'd covet with me to pray about one aspect or another. Then she'd turn the conversation towards my children and find out how she should be praying for them. Then we'd talk about what was going on for her and we'd choose an aspect of her life to pray over ... usually it was a person near and dear to her.

This one aspect alone would rank JoAn in my "most admired" ... especially since she's never flinched when I was angry.

But, you should also know this ... When we met JoAn we were all hanging out at a particular camp ground full-time. Gradually our friendship grew and we would go to the chapel service at the campground and then "quick, hop into the car" (that's an inside joke) and buzz into a nearby town for a second church service with the locals. Often we went on to lunch ... sometimes just she and us and sometimes with additional friends. These were some of the best Sundays in my life.

JoAn had a stroke many moons ago. Her left side became numb and lame. But, once she moved past the original shock and struggle, JoAn settled into a routine that required her to make changes to her personality. She learned to ask for help and accept appropriate help when it was offered. She learned to arrange her life to fit into the schedules of those who could help. And she learned to accept slow, consistent progress as a valid way to progress through life.

JoAn also learned to arrange her life so that many people could come and go and do little bits of things for her ... all based on their strengths. For example, when I came to visit, she would have her computer questions all lined up. When Billy came with me, she would already have her garbage packaged up and ready to go out ... and he thought nothing of trotting it down the lane and flipping it into the dumpster.

So ... for the first nine months or so that we knew JoAn, her daughter and grandson also lived at the campground in their own trailer. Then her daughter moved to SE Texas. JoAn insisted on staying at the campground by herself. Then about six months later we moved back to Dallas for about six months and had to leave JoAn to her own resources (which she utilized very well). Then we moved back to East Texas to a nearby campground and we were able to see JoAn a little more often. Eventually though the day came when JoAn moved down to SE Texas to live in her travel trailer on land belonging to her daughter and son-in-law.

We got to go down and see JoAn a few times before we got to dragg'n our bodies around the country. One visit was Thanksgiving with her family. That was lots of fun because, after dinner, out came the guitars and a harmonica and lots of country singing. ... which eventually led to a revelation from Billy and me ... that he sings a particular song to me ... which caused JoAn to (very innocently of course) ask ... "and thennnn what happens?"

And so she also provided for me a way to be impish ... because, now, sometimes, I set Billy to grinning big by asking ... "and thennnn what happens?" And then we laugh because remembering JoAn is always a good thing.

Oh! And it turns out ... JoAn and Billy share the same birth date ... but not the same birth year.