Cynthia and Bruce have shared 25 years of marital bliss. Bruce serves as the Pastor of Administration at Beltway Park. When asked whether she ever envisioned herself as a pastor's wife, Cynthia responded, "Absolutely not!" However, she fills the role of pastor's wife beautifully, walking out her freedom in Christ day-by-day and moment-by-moment. She is blessed with the spiritual gifts of hospitality and discernment, which she uses for the Kingdom by serving as a cook for the Wednesday night meals (for which Beltway serves an average of 275 people per week). She also serves as a Greeter for the Home Team, and she and Bruce partner up as section parents for a college group.
Additionally, Cynthia went on a mission trip to Israel, for the first time, at age 61 -- something she never dreamed she would do!! Not only did she go, but she conquered the physical challenges of the land, which was an amazing feat, in itself.
Among her passions are her "sweet husband" (whom she describes "has endured 25 years with me"), family, reading (whether a good book or a recipe!), and decorating. In fact, her favorite hobby is watching HGTV, as she finds inspiration toward her aspiration of becoming a Decorator! (And, I'd imagine that would take some perspiration!) But, with Cynthia's knack for creating with her hands (she used to also love to sew), we believe God can use her to bless many people in the area of decorating!!
In order to decompress, Cynthia prefers time to herself. She also enjoys pampering herself with an occasional pedicure. She describes that she deals with offense toward others by forgiving quickly, as she says the Lord has taught her, "The sooner I forgive, the sooner I can move forward." Such wisdom! We can learn a lot from this amazing woman!!
When asked about her most embarrassing moment, Cynthia divulged an awesome story! As she prepared, nervously, to teach her first Women's Sunday School class, a friend called her to let her know her picture was on the front page of the Sunday paper! Cynthia had recently attended wind surfing lessons, at a nearby lake. Much to her surprise, the newspaper opted to run a story about the classes, choosing a brilliant picture of Cynthia, in all of her bathing beauty splendor for the front page photo for the story! Somehow, all of Cynthia's concerns about standing up and teaching a Sunday School class melted right away!! What a great story! And, oh how far she has come since then -- Greeting, mentoring, cooking, serving in the mission field and in any capacity she feels called! We forgot to ask her whether she actually pursued that wind-surfing career....
Cynthia and her family stepped out in what Cynthia describes as her biggest leap of faith, when the family moved to the Northwest, unemployed with (then) four children, her mother, and her 83-year-old grandmother, who had Alzheimer's. The Reinhardt's moved in with another family for 6-weeks, and they were unemployed for 13 months. During that time, they learned what it really means to walk in daily trust that the Lord would provide for their needs. Financially struggling, awaiting the next call on their life, Cynthia wrote their "last check," and on the very same day, Bruce received the call to take a position running Portland Christian Schools in Oregon!!
What a testament is this family, to the Lord's faithfulness and provision, if we but place our trust fully in Him!! There is so much more to learn about (and from) this incredible woman, so be sure to come to Let's Get Together on September 26th at 6:30pm, to get to know Cynthia better!!
Comments
Post a Comment