This month I am working in Norman, Oklahoma at the Children's Recovery Center. I have had the privilege of working with teenage girls that struggle with mental health issues and addiction. This has truly been an eye opening experience. The Lord has really worked on my heart over the past several weeks. First of all I didn't like being away from my family. I also was told when I got here that I would be doing more shadowing because I was a student. I was expecting to have more one on one interaction with the girls and this was disappointing. I felt that as fourth year medical student I should do more. But the Lord quickly humbled me and showed me that I can impact these girls lives in other ways. Over the past couple of weeks I have had some great interactions with these girls and my heart is burdened for them. Many of them come from broken homes where their parents are also addicts so they struggle to overcome their addiction. I have long had a passion to work with girls like this to show them that they are special and they can do anything they put their mind to it. I have never thought of working in this capacity and I am still trying to be mindful of what the Lord wants me do when I finish residency. Its hard in a state facility like this to share your faith because of the rules. Many of these girls struggle with self-esteem and I've always desired to share with girls that God has created them as a masterpiece and has something very special planned for them. Many of these girls just need a positive role model and slowly the Lord is showing me this month that I have been that. What started out as a not so good month and turned into a blessing in surprise that the Lord has used to teach me a lot about myself and His plan for my life. This rotation turned out to be just what I needed in terms of a learning experience. I learned many things about substance abuse. I was moved today as the girls told me they were sad to see me go. I realize that someone like me is just what the need. They need a positive female role model in their life. Well I guess this leads me to the Resolution for Women part of my blog.
To re-cap the last chapter dealt with being Surprisingly Satisfied. A chapter I probably should have re-read at the start of this month. Looking back on it I was not living this first resolution out very well at the beginning of this four weeks. Then I remembered that I need to have a positive attitude that I need to be content in my season of life. So many times it is hard for us to put into practice being content. As a read the second section I realized that these resolutions are put together in a particular order for a reason. This next session entitled "Purposely Feminine". I realized that in order to embrace this concept I have to be content with the role of a woman that God has given me.
Throughout the ages a woman's role has been much of a discussion. It seems that there is always some sort of a debate about the role that women are to play. For most of history women have played an inferior role they have been viewed as the lesser sex. But I think we should start looking at a woman's role from the beginning as Priscilaa Shirer does in the second chapter of this section. In Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female." She reminds us here that from the beginning God created not just men, but yes women in His image. So in God's view of men and women we have equal worth. God's plan for mankind is that men and women have equal worth but different responsibilities. You see in God's plan which is perfect, He designed men and women to work together to achieve his purposes. He has blessed each of us with different tasks to achieve that purpose. Both men and women are equally needed to achieve His purpose. But we all know from reading a bit further in Genesis that sin entered the world. We know that through sin God's idea and plan get's twisted because man tries to put his/her own spin on things. Throughout the centuries God's plan for women has gotten twisted. We see in bible times and for centuries after that women being treated less equally than me as if they were some lesser part of God's creation. But it is very clear from Genesis 1:27 that this is not how God intended His creation. Mankind was the hallmark the crowning point of His creation and He created men and women equally. In the Gospels we see Jesus trying to re-define this role. We know that Jesus had many women that were friends. Pricilla discusses one of my favorite stories and brings to light something that I had never thought of. She talks about the woman at the well. You know the Samaritan woman who had several husband's and the man she was living with wasn't her husband. Imagine being this woman having a man, not just any man but a Jew come up to you at the well. You see in Jesus time. Jews and Samaritans didn't talk and men and women didn't talk in public. So what we have here is this woman who is probably shunned in her town for her life style. More than likely she's at the well by herself because the other women in the town didn't want to associate with her. I'm sure we all know someone...you know "that woman". So she's at this well and all of a sudden a man comes to to talk to her. Jesus basically revealed himself to her as the Messiah and she got it. Some many of the Jews just didn't get it. So for a Samaritan woman to understand the deep message that Jesus said to her that day was just not normal. But God choose to use this unlikely woman in her village to fulfill His purpose and plan and draw people from her town to Himself. Jesus choose to redefine a woman's role that day. He showed that they are not a lesser human being but that she was in equal and just as important in His eyes.
From this initial perverting of God's view of women we entered into a new perversion of God's view of women. In the late nineteen century and early twentieth century there were many feminist movements that began. While some of these movements brought about much needed change such as giving women the right to vote and more equal responsibility in the work force then pendulum once again to far in the other direction. We now live in a post-feministic society where there is a distortion of the role we are to play as women. The view of who a woman should be is different for my generation that it was for my mother's generation. The post-feminisitic movement at times leads women to believe that our role is just the same as men, that we don't need men and we can do their job better than them. Not let me make something clear here before I go on. When I am speaking of "job"I'm not speaking of occupation, I am speaking of fulfilling the role that the Lord has set for men and women. So on to the subject that makes society cringe...Submission. In Ephesians 5 we read that Women are submit to their husbands. There has been much debate about what exactly this means and what it looks like. Priscilla discussed how everyone men included have authority that they are suppose to submit to. We are to submit to our employers, our government leaders, and our spiritual leaders. As women we are suppose to submit to our husbands. Some believe that this makes you less of a woman. I don't have the knowledge to speak on the matter because I'm not married but this is how I see it. When we look at God's plan for man and woman. We first realize that we are both created equally in the image of God. We each have our own unique roles. Women we are to submit to our husbands and men are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. So as God designed its a team that works together. Women seek the men in lives, their father before they are married and the husband after they are married to be the leader in their life. As single Christian women this is why its important that week seek strong Christian men to be in relationship with. This plan only works in the bounds of a Christian relationship. Priscilla went on to encourage women who are in abusive and life threatening situations to seek help to get out this situation and I echo her encouragement.
When we embrace God's plan for our role as a woman we yield ourselves to Him and His plan and protection. We must first learn to practice submission with the Lord. Being "Purposefully Feminine" means that we fully accept that God has created us equally but uniquely from man. We recognize that he has a plan and purpose for our life that is distinct from our male counterparts. Utilimately we come to the realization that it is through this perfect design of the Master that his plan and purposes are fulfilled and we truly are "stout women".
"I will champion God's model for Womanhood in the face of a postfeminist culture. I will teach it to my daughters and encourage its support by my sons"
