Jill Lynn Buteyn is the kind of gal you fall head over heels for the minute you meet her. And it’s not just her stunning green eyes. Or her sparkly smile. It’s her warmth and compassion, how she makes you feel happy during a simple few minutes of conversation. Her heart is huge, and she loves big.
When the book she co-authored with Kara (Just Show Up) came out last fall, I was shocked at what was required of her with the interviews for radio, podcasts, print, and even television. It was demanding, and we all have prayed over her so much. It can’t be easy to be asked again and again to talk about your dear friend suffering through terminal cancer. It hurt my heart to know what was being asked of her emotionally. And I’m sure I just know a small sliver.
But what hasn’t shocked me is how Jill has graciously engaged these hard conversations. She’s approached them prayerfully, with grace and a calm heart. In the hard moments, she has trusted God to provide grace for her, and she was never disappointed. She has answered the toughest questions with tact, care, wisdom, and humor, of course. Because Jill isn’t Jill if she’s not making you smile.
That is why the MF team thinks it is important to share this link with you. Actually, there are a lot of links similar that we could share; you could really just take your pick! But this particular interview is geared toward church leaders. We hope and pray that it will be an encouragement and a help to any church leader who has ever struggled with knowing how to show up for a hurting member of their church family…or anyone else.
So please share—send to your pastor, your elder, your Sunday school teacher. We will be praying over this interview as it reaches the ears of the leaders you love. And while you’re at it, take a listen—I guarantee that if you haven’t fallen in love with Jill yet, you will.
