Women

I've really been digging deep lately concerning who I am as a woman in this world. What does that mean?

The reason I am searching deep within about this subject is because, honestly, I think I have despised much of my femininity. And, frankly, who wouldn't, considering the lack of appreciation that the world has bestowed upon women and women's roles of nurturing, caring for and having charge over her household, bearing and rearing children.

I am reading a book right now called "Nurturing the Nations" by a man named Darrow Miller, a man whom I had the privilege of having lunch with about 2 weeks after moving here.

Darrow is passionate about women understanding that their function of having charge of their household is in no way inferior to what men do in the workplace. While we were having lunch together, he shared this story with me:

He was in Korea in a meeting with a bunch of young people and a young woman stood up and said that she despised being a woman in Korea. There is a saying in Korean that states that a man is high and a woman is low. This saying is repeated over and over and over by men and women from a young age.

From childhood, a woman is taught that she is less than a man.

After this woman shared this, another opened up and said she felt the same way, and then another, and then another. Soon, there was not a lady in the room who wasn't crying and broken over the plight of their situation of being born as women.

Then, the Korean men started standing up and asking forgiveness for treating their sisters in Christ this way. God began working on their hearts to seek restoration as realization came to them of what they had actually inflicted upon their women counterparts.

One of the men stood up and prayed: "Lord, help us as Korean men to release women into leadership roles."

At this point, Darrow shared with me that this statement made him furious. And this is why:

He began to have revelation about the fact that we really don't appreciate women for being women. We want them to become like men. And he was so sad about this.

He shared with me that there are two worldviews concerning women. One is a feminist worldview, which is where women seek to become like men, therefore leading to the disappearance of women, because they become just like their male counterparts.

The other worldview is that of sexism or machismo which is where men crush women because they believe that they are superior to women.

Darrow shares in his book that both of these worldviews are unbiblical. He shares the true biblical worldview concerning men and women: Trinitarianism.

A man and a woman together are like a representation of the Trinity: they are equal in being (neither is of lesser or greater value than the other), but diverse in function (or role).

Together, as we each operate fully under our diverse roles, we make up a whole or complete picture.

I have never heard this before, and it is revolutionizing how I view myself and my role as a woman, wife, and mother.

As a matter of fact, I did a study in the Word with the words woman and mother. Much is to be said about them! Out of the many references that there are throughout the entire Bible concerning these two words, I chose 20 that I felt were really applicable to this particular subject and condensed what I learned into a few concepts about what the Word says about the role of a woman and mother:

*A woman is fulfilled and happy when she has children (Psalm 113:9, John 16:21)
*A woman has an equal role with her husband to teach her children (Proverbs 1:8, Proverbs 31:26, Song of Songs 8:2)
*A woman has charge over her home: to watch over and take care of it (Psalm 113:9, Proverbs 31:21, 31:27, basically all of Proverbs 31, Acts 16:13-15)
*A woman was created for man and is his glory (1 Cor. 11:9, 1 Cor. 11:7), and brings her husband good and is generous to him all the days of her life (Proverbs 31:12)

As I have read over and been meditating and studying these scriptures the last couple of days, I have been asking the Lord to make these truths wash over my spirit and refresh it. To bring truth and clarity to lies that I have believed my whole life about femininity and my role as a woman on this earth.

I want to reconcile with joy why my Creator has made me and how I can be most effective as a living sacrifice in my family and in my household.

I want to be content in who I am.

Today I read through Proverbs 31 in the Message and really appreciated the way the passage was worded...it was refreshing and enlightening to me. I will leave you all with some tidbits from it:

"First thing in the morning, she dresses for work, rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started. She senses the worth of her work, is in no hurry to call it quits for the day. She's skilled in the crafts of home and hearth, diligent in homemaking........she always faces tomorrow with a smile." (Proverbs 31:17-19, 25)