To help interpret what the Bible has to say about womanhood, I have looked to a number of sources from all along the large spectrum of personal interpretation. Some of the most influential to me have been Lisa Bevere, Aaron Stern, Mark Drisoll (yup, I said it) and my daddy Duane. Much of what I am going to say, I must credit to them as they have so wisely interpereted God's intentions. This Mother's day, a message was so impressed upon my heart that I though God might be preparing me to speak at my church. Since someone else was asked to do our annual guest speaking (he did a wonderful job by the way), I'm assuming God meant it for me or another purpose down the road. I feel so inspired that I must get it out now, so cyber-friends here it is.
I believe in the strength and beauty of women. I believe men and women were made equal in God's eyes. I also believe that both genders were made with different purposes in mind. While some men are gentler than others, they were all made to be strong, courageous and bold at their core. And while some women are bolder or stronger than others, we were ALL made to be relational, graceful and to feel deeply. As Aaron Stern once put it while speaking at theMILL, a thermos and a crystal goblet can both hold liquid for drinking. The goblet is strong in some ways, fragile in some ways, but it is overwhelmingly beautiful. The thermos is big, tough, works all day and as Aaron proved by throwing it off the stage: it can take a beating. They are both equally useful, but exceedingly different.
I lost a baby a few years back. I had a DNC (I now wish I'd let my body do what God made it capable of) that didn't go well. I completely trust my doctor's skill, but my body did not want to let her in. My cervix was left with some scarring. So eventually when I went into labor with my firstborn, Micaiah, my membranes were naturally stripping but scarred areas of my cervix were not thinning. My midwife gave me a small dose of cytotek. This drug was originally made to protect the stomachs of patients on NSAID pain relievers. Since it also thins the cervix quite nicely, doctors are using it as a smarter way of inducing labor, rather than using Petossin to cause contractions when the cervix isn't quite ready. Unfortunately, women have decided that since a little is good for inducing labor, a lot should work great for inducing their own abortions. Since this is a drug that works on all of the smooth muscles in the body, the result of their overdose is cardiac arrest resulting death. Why am I talking about this on Mother's Day weekend? Because in Ephesians, Paul refers to the church as the body. He says that we must all do our jobs confidently knowing that we are a unique part of the body. Like the effects of cytotek, if one system isnt working correctly, the result can be devastating. It can be the inability to birth baby Christians, or it can be complete loss of function of the church. We must learn to do what God designed us to do with confidence in the fear of the Lord and the Comfort of the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:13).
Our job as women is simply to do our best at being a woman. We grow our strengths without overrunning the responsibilities of men. We can also exhibit grace and gentleness without being so meek that we are rendered useless. My Grandmother asked me to write a poem for a Mother's a day banquet she was overseeing. Since I'm in a poetic mood, Oe naturally sprang up on this topic as well. So I'll end with this.
Sister, you were made for building.
You were made for edifying or for prophesying,
For teaching or for leading.
But You were made for His glorifying.
You were not made to rule the world,
But to save it by His grace.
You were made for great things,
Though greatness is not your place.
You were made in a broken world,
That gives you other options:
To disregard His perfect plan,
To fight against His will.
Will you choose to use your arrows
To pierce and tear and slay?
Or will your rudder stear your family
To Love and joy and play?
Will you be bitter?
Or will you be beautiful?
You cannot have them both
For your snares are worse than shackles.
Are you to be strong?
Then find submission.
For your own glory,
Cannot be your mission.
Will you be heard?
Then go ahead and shout it out.
But soon you will learn
Your gentle whisper can have more clout.
Will you be satisfied
With your comings and goings?
Surely you feel the answer no.
Only His presence can make you glow.
The choice is now yours,
Whether you are young or grown.
The wisest of women builds her house,
But folly with her own hands tears it down.
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