Insights & Life Lessons from a 73-Year-Old Woman of God

“I think probably one of the most important lessons I've learned is that God does not abandon the fatherless. He has been so faithful.”

Apr 16, 2025

Below is a snippet of a conversation with Rosemary Cabiness, a 73-year-old woman of God who reflects on God’s provision and protection throughout her life – from her humble beginnings in Newark, New Jersey, to her extensive education, diverse career, and experiences living abroad in Tunisia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Throughout our conversation, Rosemary highlights the importance of staying connected to God’s word, being in community, and embracing the love of God each day. She also reminds listeners that God doesn’t disqualify anyone; He uses everyone, regardless of their past, circumstances, or credentials. If you prefer listening, you can listen to or watch the full conversation on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Well, I was born 73 years ago in Newark, New Jersey, which is called the armpit of the U.S. because it's so poor. And it really is, but it's a great place in many ways. My mom was a very young mother. She was 21 and she had four children and I was the third of the four. She wasn't married. She was an amazing person who I wish I could be as wonderful, as great as she was as a mother. Fantastic person.

She came from poverty. We lived in poverty. So, my two older brothers would sleep on the floor in a blanket. Anyhow, I had a wonderful, loving home at that time. Like I said, I had three brothers, four of us. And then when I was 10, she married and had three more sons. So I grew up with six brothers. Later in life I found out I had a seventh brother, so at least I had my own bedroom growing up.

So in my life, I've spent a lot of time in school. I was good at school. And so I ended up getting a bachelor's degree, two master's degree, a PhD. So it was like 20 years of my life were spent in school. I kind of liked it. I liked learning. I had the patience and confidence to succeed.

My undergraduate was in English and French. Then I got a master's in second language acquisition. Then I got a PhD in linguistics. And then I went back when I was 50 and I got another master's in instructional design and technology. So I liked it. And God provided for me to do it.

When I was in my mid-20s, I met and married my husband and we had four kids. So I had four kids in less than five years. I have two beautiful daughters, Esther and Sarah, and two wonderful sons, Edward and Paul. So because of my husband's job, we lived in nine states and five countries. I lived in Tunisia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt and traveled all over, lived in nine states in the U.S.

And so I've got stories like when I was in Saudi Arabia, I tutored bin Laden's sister. I made jewelry and I tutored bin Laden's sister. So half of the family was very pro-American and half of the family was this fundamentalism. So she was the half that was very pro-American. Her family was responsible for partnering with this American company to develop the roads in Saudi Arabia and the infrastructure of Saudi Arabia like in the 50s and the 60s and the 70s. So I tutored bin Laden’s sister. That's another host of stories that I would love to tell sometime.

What was it like to live in all those different places?

Because my husband worked at the embassy, the U.S. embassy, we kind of had a very easy life. And for me, it meant that I had someone to help with my children. And so it was easy, right? And it was interesting. There were things in each of those countries I liked. And it gave me a different perspective of the church.

Because the church in Cairo was a multinational, multi-denominational expat church. So there were ex-Sudanese slaves in that church congregation and there were very wealthy oil companies executives. I worked for the church and I did some training, developing small group leaders and coaching them.

You know, it's one thing to worship God in our wealth and what we have. And then it's another thing to be worshiping God in the same family next to absolutely poverty, persecuted Christians, the same family. And so I think I appreciate that I had that opportunity to be in all these different environments.

In Saudi Arabia, there was no church. It was illegal to have a church in Saudi Arabia. But yet I was able to connect with local tent-making Christians. And I had a community, a very small community.

And Tunisia was where St. Augustine was from, he lived there and wrote all of his papers. When I was there in 1986-1990, there were only five known believers in the whole country, Tunisian believers. They were identified, they were known. There was a certain missionary organization that mentored these people long distance and in different ways. And that's why they know that there were five, otherwise there were none. You weren't allowed to go to church.

How did these different experiences impact your own faith?

I think when you read about the poor, they’re so rich in spirit. And I'm reading a book about Mother Teresa. And in this book, she says that it's very easy to meet the needs of somebody who's hungry and needs clothing. But it's very hard to meet the needs of those who have those things provided for them, but have emotional and spiritual hunger, which, you know, it's interesting, isn't it?

The other thing, so when I read the Bible, sometimes like the Our Father, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Most people I know are gonna have daily bread. So it just gives that perspective of what is daily bread. It changes what is daily bread.

And also there are verses in the Bible, especially in Psalms, where talks about how the psalmist wants God to do these brutal things to their enemies. And it's hard for us to ever imagine that. But yet, when I'm sitting there with an ex-slave…maybe there's justification in being that angry.

What have you learned about God that you wish you’d known when you were younger?

I think probably one of the most important lessons I've learned is that God does not abandon the fatherless. He does not do it. He has been so faithful. He has given me the desires of my heart. After 73 years, He hasn't said yes to every prayer I've prayed. However, when I reflect on it, He has protected me from physical harm in miraculous ways, and He has provided for me in amazing ways.

This man that married my mom, he was like this free-for-all Corvette driving bachelor who meets my mother at a truck stop, working double shifts with four kids, right? He loves her, he marries her, he takes us immediately out of the projects into a suburban place and just abandons that kind of lifestyle to accommodate all these kids he suddenly has. That was amazing provision.

Then, I mean, when I first went to college, when I was 17, that first year, I basically made a lot of very bad decisions that I regret to this day. And I left before they would throw me out. And that was like in 1970. Well, at the time I had a scholarship, a tuition scholarship for school. And so I left school. And about a year and a half later, I decided I wanted to go back to college, that my life was going the wrong way. And I sat down at the piece of paper and just wrote out a letter to the scholarship commission: ‘Dear Sir, I got a New Jersey State scholarship and I really messed up. I want to go to college. Can I have my scholarship back?’

And I got it back. This handwritten letter sent to the New Jersey Office of State Scholarship, some unknown person, and at that time they didn't have computers, so somebody read that and God just guided them and they gave me back that scholarship. That's a provision of God to the fatherless, right? Because I was on my own.

What’s the most important lesson the Lord has taught you?

I think it's like pay attention to the small things. They're really important. And this first husband of mine, he was an amazing Christian. He just allowed himself to indulge in the small things that led to bigger things that led to bigger things. But on the other side of that, God is present with us today, right? And He’s revealing His love to us today. And so maybe we would love to have big miracles and be around big miracles, but God's got some stuff for us to see and experience today and experiencing His love.

I think [the good way lies] in living today, really embracing today, embracing the love of God today and being disciplined not to go down paths that you shouldn't go down. But today is the day, not tomorrow and not yesterday, but today is the day.

Where would you say the Lord has been most victorious in your life? Where have you most seen His goodness and faithfulness?

I think in tithing. I mean, by God's grace and mercy, I tithe since I've been a Christian. And you know, sometimes it meant sacrifice. It wasn't always out of abundance. It meant sacrifice. And I have no idea how it is that financially I can live in the Lowcountry as a retired person. I mean, seriously.

But I think it's helped me as a person in terms of, you know, there's this verse that says godliness in contentment is great gain. And I think sometimes, I want more. You know, I want a bigger car, I a faster car, I want a different color car, I want a better dress, I like my shoes. We want and we want and we want. So, that verse doesn't say that contentment just falls from the sky. That verse says you have to work at contentment. And I think tithing has really helped rein in that lust for other things and to be content.

Other wise words worth echoing:

- “We all qualify. Nothing disqualifies us…He doesn't abandon us because of the pain that we experience. We aren't disqualified, we are qualified. And it's not based on whether we went to Bible school, whether we worked for a missionary organization, it doesn't matter, that doesn't matter. He wants all of us to experience His kingdom here on earth.”

Listen to or watch the full conversation on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

Thank you for being here,

Katharine

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