One of the best treats in this life is to enjoy a cup of coffee with a friend – to sit across the table from someone with whom I can freely share my hopes, dreams, and disappointments is a genuine treat. I had that treat recently when Sherry and I met for breakfast. As we sipped our coffee, we caught up with things going on in our lives. Sherry’s has been very busy with law school so over the past three years, the only time we had to meet were during her school breaks.

Our journey as friends started about 10 years ago. I desperately wanted a small group of women who would come together to dream about how we could make the world a better place. So, I held women’s meetings specifically for women in ministry. I discovered is that women are world changers who are often receive little to no encouragement to help them reach their goals. That was certainly true for me. Out of those large group meetings, I found two other women who wanted more accountability (and so did I). We began to meet and dream together about how we could help each other reach our goals. We held each other accountable to action plans and above all we prayed and encouraged each other.

We dubbed ourselves the Wilberforce Three (WF3) after William Wilberforce’s Clapham Circle, a group of committed believers in the mid 1800s who met every evening to dream about how England could be a better place. Wilberforce called it “The Better Hour.” They were responsible for founding over 120 non profits in England and eventually eradicating slavery.              

I asked myself, “Why couldn’t it work in Tulsa, OK?”

So we began. We shared our dreams and goals. Sherry wanted to become a lawyer. At the time, she had no college credits. Carol, a former singer with the Berlin Opera, wanted to take musicians to Israel to perform music that would inspire and uplift the people of Israel. I wanted to write books and I wanted to inspire others to pray for America’s schools.

Fast forward – Sherry finished law school Dec. 2017 and sat for the Bar exam Feb. 2018. This is a tremendous fete, since she started her undergrad work as an adult with no credit hours, plus she worked while she attended classes.

Carol now goes back and forth to Israel and Germany and has taken her first large group of musicians from Germany to Israel to perform. Carol also shares her talent at public venues in Oklahoma and Texas, where she now lives.

I recently finished my fifth book and have been able to do a lot of humanitarian aid. The help and encouragement these two women have given me over the years is invaluable.

It’s true, we need each other more than we could imagine. We need people in our lives who will hold us accountable and will encourage us along the way.

One biographer, John Pollock, said of Wilberforce: “Wilberforce proved that a man can change his times, but that he cannot do it alone.” I say a big “AMEN” to that!