We are happy that this issue of the Crimson Cord has reached you, and we want to start by welcoming you in. As our motto “Real women. True Life. Faithful God.” expresses, every bit of this journal is written, edited and assembled into its current form by a group of women who have come to the pages of this journal just as we are. We do this work together as a team of joyful volunteers because of our gratitude to the same true, living and faithful God who has revealed Himself to us in the Bible and in countless other ways that are personal to each of us. Sharing that testimony with you is what motivates all of us to do our part in weaving together the Crimson Cord and sending it out for you to discover.
Every issue of the Crimson Cord has its own unique personality, which is influenced by all that we and our writers experienced while creating it. The articles in this issue share a common focus on becoming consciously aware of how we live differently when we choose to live by our faith, especially when we are hit by major shocks that suddenly redefine every other aspect of our lives. 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic has been a shock like that for all of us, but has also given us new opportunities to live by faith and to praise God for giving us that faith. We stand in awe at the many ways God finds to use everything for His purposes, and therefore for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28).
For the members of our team, as for you, life has changed forever this year as more than one of us mourned the deaths of loved ones, gave birth to new babies, lost or changed jobs or homes, or confronted difficult decisions whose consequences are still unfolding. Amidst all these enormous changes, even the things that have stayed the same strike us at times as odd, jarring, out of sync. But that is our perspective, not God’s, because He is the same “yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8) and nothing that has happened in the past year has taken Him by surprise.