Standing Near the Cross: Gina Bicknell Smith
Proverbs 31:10-12
Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?
She is more precious than rubies.
Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life.
She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
Today we bring this short series, Standing Near The Cross, to an end. If you are just tuning in to this series today then I believe it might help to provide you a little background for this series. In John 19:25 the Bible lists several women standing by the cross of Jesus as He bore in His body the sin of the world. These women were faithful all the way to the cross, even when others had fled. Thank you for your encouragement these past few weeks and for allowing me to share with you a few women in my life that are standing by the cross. There are so many other women I know that I could write about to extend this blog series, however, today we are going to conclude the series by sharing about my wife, Gina Smith.
I don’t know of a better Christian than Gina. Her life is marked by joy, wisdom, mercy, kindness, forgiveness, and vision. The spiritual fruit we find in Galatians 5:22 - 23, fills her life daily. I really do mean it when I say that she is the greatest Christian I know. Let me tell you how she is standing by the cross.
First of all, in her losses, Gina finds herself standing by the cross. In December of 2022, just a few months ago, she lost her dad. Curtis Bicknell was 93 years old and was a dynamic individual. I look forward to telling his story one day. For today, however, I want you to know that Gina is a daddy’s girl, and this loss has been huge. She is grieving and finds herself from time to time desperately wanting to talk to her dad. As you can tell, Gina and her dad had a very special relationship. Yet, in the challenge of grief and loss, Gina is standing - and many times kneeling - near the cross of Jesus. She is looking up to Jesus and leaning on Him for her strength and hope.
Gina is also standing near the cross with great courage and fearlessness. We have been married for nearly 35 years and there is something I learned about her early on in our marriage, Gina is a very courageous fighter. We have had our fair share of life disappointments, just like everyone else. But the thing I have found about Gina is that those moments cause her to rise up in courage and search for victory. Candidly, I have never seen Gina defeated. Even on the hard days, she is strong standing near the cross.
There are many other blessings I could share with you about her life as a result of standing near the cross. For example, I could mention her joy, her love for others, her selflessness, her vision, her faithfulness, and so on. But I would rather today spend the remaining part of this blog by telling you about two groups of people that have been the recipients of blessings because Gina chose to stand near the cross of Jesus.
The first is a group of young women. And you find those young moms in Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida, Virginia, Georgia, and lots of other places. Over the years Gina has made it a priority to invest in the lives of young women. Sometimes she has done that by teaching different groups of moms, sometimes she has done that by writing, and sometimes she has done that by mentoring. It may be a large group, a small group, or a one-on-one time of encouraging a young mom. Regardless of the form or the strategy, Gina has remained near the cross of Jesus with a heart for young moms. She has helped shape families because of her encouragement to hurting moms. She has helped strengthen marriages through her teaching and mentoring for moms that were willing to grow. And she has helped stabilize families facing difficulties by leaning into the lives of young moms and investing time in them. I do not say this pridefully, but there are young women across our country growing in their faith because Gina is standing near the cross. She is a true leader of leaders.
However, it is the last group that I want you to know about and that is her children, Anna and Will. I can tell you that when it comes to Gina, Proverbs 31:28 perfectly applies. “Her children rise up and bless her.” The young woman of God that Anna has become and the young man of God that Will has become, is directly related to Gina. They grew up watching their mom stand near the cross of Jesus, in the good, the bad, and the ugly, in the victories, and in her day by day walk with Jesus. They watched Gina stand near the cross when the time came for change, even unexpected and uncomfortable change. They watched Gina stand by the cross through their teens while they were stretching for independence. They watched Gina stand near the cross through moves from one place to another. And they watched Gina stand near the cross when it was time for them to go away to college, get married, and move far away from home. Through all of this and more, Gina was standing near the cross. And the result is that they are following in her footsteps.
Gina is the greatest Christian I have ever known because she consistently stands near the cross of Jesus. Her deep faith, her abounding love, and her joyful hope have always stood out and today they are still in place. Today, she is a significant influence on our grandchildren, sharing the love of Jesus with them at every turn, praying diligently for them, and making “standing near the cross of Jesus” attractive and exciting for them, trusting the Lord that each of them will choose to follow Jesus and stand near the cross themselves.
I pray today that you will find yourself standing near the cross, making a difference in your life and the lives of others.
Join me next week for a new blog series entitled Guarding the Landmarks!