Stasie pointed out that, when I swam, I didn’t pull my arm all the way through, but brought my hand up too soon for the next stroke. I grew up in the era before swim goggles and couldn’t stand the feel of them, but Ed urged me to protect my eyes. Following their advice for the past forty years has made a difference in my swimming life.

When I was newly pregnant, Rose Marie told me I would be surprised how much joy I would find in becoming a mother. She was right and her advice, along with our delightfully charming firstborn child, transformed my life. 

Early in our marriage, Chuck said he didn’t see much fruit of the Spirit in me. Another time, when I told him I was depressed, he said, “Are you depressed by faith?” Those loving rebukes transformed my soul. “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend . . .” (Proverbs 27:5-6a). 

Linda once told me, “When you talk about your work, you sound proud.” I held both my hands up as she spoke, reminding myself to receive her input as a gift. Her words shaped my words. 

I’ve been mining their counsel for a lifetime. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Guard your eyes (Psalm 119:37). Find joy in the labor to which you have been called (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20). “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). “‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’ For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends (2 Corinthians 10:17-18).

Proverbs 19:20 urges, “Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.” That’s great advice.