I Have a Story to Tell: Women Who Shaped the World

“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.”
Proverbs 31:25 NLT

Today is Mother’s Day – a day of flowers, warm hugs, and deep gratitude. But this day, we widened our lens. Today, we celebrate not only mothers, but women of all kinds – daughters, sisters, leaders, widows, survivors, young girls with dreams, and elderly women with wisdom.

We celebrate not only mothers, but the strength of all women – in every form it takes. This message is about legacy – the one handed down by courageous women through the ages, whether through childbirth or brave choices, bold voices or quiet endurance.

Women of the Bible – Strength Rooted in Faith

Luke 1:38 NLT tells us Mary was a young girl, likely in her teens, when an angel said she’d bear the Son of God. She didn’t run. She said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

Mary trusted a plan she didn’t fully understand – a young woman given the weight of God’s promise.

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Strength doesn’t always shout – sometimes it simply says yes in the face of a dilemma. Mary’s courage was in trusting God’s plan over her own.

A Jewish woman living in Persia, becomes queen and saves her people from a plot to exterminate them. She risks her life by revealing her Jewish identity to the king and exposing Haman's plan, leading to Haman's downfall and the establishment of Purim, a Jewish holiday. (Purim Holiday on March 2-3, 2026)

“If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” ~ Esther 4:14 NLT

“Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” ~ Esther 4:16 NLT

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” ~ Mary Anne Radmacher

She reminds us that sometimes, strength is standing between your people and danger – and saying, “I will not be silent”

Ruth lost her husband, but chose to stay with her grieving mother-in-law, Naomi. She worked hard in the fields to survive. She didn’t return to comfort – she followed love and purpose.

“Where you go I will go… your people will be my people.” ~ Ruth 1:16

Ruth followed Naomi into the unknown and built a new future from love and commitment.

“You don’t have to give birth to someone to mother them.” ~ Oprah Winfrey, actress

Her story shows that strength can look like quiet faithfulness – choosing compassion over convenience.

Deborah was a prophet and judge – leading Israel when men would not. She delivered wisdom, justice, and even battle strategy. (Judges 4-5).

“Do not wait for someone else to come and speak for you. It’s you who can change the world.” ~ Malala Yousafzai

She reminds us that leadership is not gendered – it’s gifted.

Women in History – Strength in the Shadows and Spotlight

A teenage girl hiding from the Nazis, Anne wrote in her diary with hope, honesty, and resilience. She said, “I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” Though not a mother, her words mothered hope in the hearts of millions.

• “In spite of everything. I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
• “Whoever is happy will make others happy too.”
• “Memories mean more to me than dresses.”
• “In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.”
• “Paper is more patient than people.”

Born into slavery, she escaped – and then returned over a dozen times to rescue others. They called her “Moses.”

She once said, “I freed a thousand slaves, I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.”

She was not just strong – she was relentless.

Shot in the head for wanting to go to school, Malala became a Nobel Peace Prize winner at 17. Malala Yousafzai can speak. While she did suffer facial paralysis due to a gunshot wound, she has undergone multiple surgeries and therapy to recover her ability to speak and move the left side of her face, according to the Nobel Prize organization and the National Women's History Museum. She has given many speeches and continues to speak publicly about her experiences and her advocacy for education, as shown on her Malala Fund newsroom and on YouTube.

• “They thought the bullets would silence us, but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices.”
• “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.”

Strength can be found in a girl with a book and a cause.

Mother Teresa – Strength in Compassion She didn’t have biological children, but she mothered the unloved, the dying, and the forgotten. She said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

“If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.”

Despite growing up in poverty and suffering a severe injury at age 9, Ellen G. White became one of the most published women in religious history. She received visions, wrote more than 100,000 pages, and helped guide a global movement rooted in health, education, and deep biblical faith.

“We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.” ~ Life Sketches of Ellen G. White

Girls Today – The Next Chapter of Strength

To the women and girls here – your story matters. You carry this legacy, whether your name is on a book cover, or whispered in a prayer. Whether you’re a mother, sister, student, or stranger – you are strong.

• To the young girls who feel unseen – your dreams matter.
• To the single women who feel left out on Mother’s Day – your love still nurtures others.
• To the mothers struggling to carry both a child and their own emotions – God sees you.
• To the women grieving lost children, lost dreams – your pain is not weakness; it is sacred strength.

Strength doesn’t always look like a sword. Sometimes it looks like a pen. A tear. A prayer. A “yes” to God. A refusal to quit. A whisper that says, “I will try again.”

And the time will come when the mother who bore children will have their story told, and they will say, "I have a story to tell."