Profile of an Inspirational #3

In a previous post, I gave you the following quote from a very dear friend of mine: "If just every Christian family in America adopted, think what we could do!" For this post, I thought I would introduce you to the amazing woman behind that phrase, the late Mrs. Renee Knutsen, a true inspirational. I met her through a local homeschool co-op when I was quite young, and came to know her as an amazing teacher and woman of God. The truest opportunity for me to learn from her example, however, came several years later, when I began volunteering with her at the local pregnancy care clinic. She was a beloved lady at the clinic and a dedicated worker who loved ministering to children. Folding baby clothes and assembling layettes together was the context in which I came to learn more about dear "Mrs. K" and catch some of her vision for caring for orphans. She fostered my desire to minister to the fatherless right when God first ignited the spark. She encouraged me, shared her own heart with me in warm conversation, and lent me her precious copy of Tom Davis' "Fields of the Fatherless", a book which soon became a favorite of my own. She actively sought ways to minister to needy children, whether the unborn in our local community or children on the other side of the world (through the Samaritan's Purse shoebox drive she led in our co-op each Christmas). Even before I began volunteering with Mrs. Knutsen at the pregnancy clinic, God used her mightily to first soften my heart towards orphans. I distincly recall one morning during the opening session of our homeschool co-op when she introduced me to an amazing orphans' advocate named Gladys Aylward, whose story I'm sure will appear here in the future. The testimony of that one woman's courage to rescue needy children, combined with the sweetness of Mrs. Knutsen's own comments and storytelling, marked the beginning of a radical change in my heart.
To the immense grief of our community, Mrs. Knutsen passed away from cancer a few years ago. As I look back, I can only marvel at God's mercy to sit me under her teaching and encouragement when He did. I thank the Lord that He enabled me to catch her vision, and pray that I might carry out her legacy and walk in the footsteps she left through the fields of the fatherless. I hope and pray that all of your paths will be so blessed someday as to cross with someone like Mrs. Knutsen. She will always be a meaningful landmark in my spiritual walk, a special memory in my heart, and one of the foundational pillars which established my desire to Show Hope to orphans.
I love you, Mrs. K.


Picture credit: "Young Girl Standing in Corn Field" by Corbis: www.pro.corbis.com