On this day we traditionally send a message to a female friend whom we admire. However, when one is in one’s 90th year it seems inappropriate to do so, when one’s loved one has passed on to the Lord. But the female race is amazing for their attractiveness and their quiet strength. As I think back to the females I have known over the years, I am so grateful that almost all of them contributed positively to my life in one way or another. In my own family I was blessed to have a gracious mother and two supportive sisters who showed me what loving support and integrity of character were all about. 

Then I met the young woman who was later to become my best friend and wife. She was different, possessing great attractiveness, intelligence and common sense. Someone who always put others before herself in every situation. For that she was deeply loved by many people, especially by me. To have shared with almost 54 years of marriage together was the greatest pleasure I could have experienced in life, knowing that the good Lord had brought her all the way from Kharagpur in India to Ipswich in Queensland to meet and marry me. I have always felt that it was the grace of God in choosing someone exceptional in every way, to become for me, an ordinary guy, my life partner. Together we experienced the joy of His blessing in bringing 3 wonderful children into the world, whom we loved and adored. 

So as I look back over the years I praise God for all the females who enriched my life and helped keep me on the straight and narrow. None of them did me any harm, though I am told that some women are not perfect. But I have always had a great admiration for the girls in my school classes, for my aunts and cousins and for those I met in my studies.  For the young women in the youth group I led, whom many of the young fellows in my youth group eventually married and went on to serve the Lord together in Christian ministry. For the gracious self-giving females of all ages in the church congregations I have been involved with, whose love and compassion extended unreservedly to outsiders.  

It is true as a writer of Proverbs 11:16 declared, “A kindhearted woman gains honour ….” and I honour all the kindhearted girls and women whom it has been my privilege and pleasure to meet over almost 90 years of life. May they know the Lord’s blessing and protection as they continue to make the world a better place in which to live.

Blog No.568 posted on 14 March 2025. [Valentine’s Day!]