Here’s to strong women!
Like most ladies, I have two
jobs. One outside the home where I work
part time with and for children in foster care.
My other position, though, goes hand-in-hand with my role as wife,
momma, and homemaker.
For this reason and so many
others, I won’t be part of A Day Without Women.
I’ll explain: God gifted me, as
He did you as well, with certain, unique talents. I took advantage of higher education and, not
coincidentally, pursued a degree in social services …I was genuinely called to this
line of work.
All Christians are called to take
care of widows and orphans (James 1:27).
As Christ-followers we are called to demonstrate compassionate, sacrificial
love to those without the ability to reciprocate. And I love that Scripture makes this
abundantly clear. But for me, it was
sometime during my first year of college; it became evident to me that this was
beyond what God called all believers to and for me, it was Him urging my life
in this direction.
After graduating and getting
early career experiences in social services, I met Adam. Just a short time later (actually, a VERY
short time later), we got married. I
continued to work. Several years in, we
started our family. If you know anything
about us, you probably know that our firstborn was stillborn. This posed great challenges to us as husband
and wife, but also to me personally, in my work. You see, the world of foster care is complex
and varied. There is regular foster care
where children who have, for one reason or another, been removed from their
homes. And then there’s a whole ‘nother
level. This is where I work; with children
in foster care who have serious emotional and behavioral problems. It’s here that trauma and abuse are
rampant. It’s here in the dark, sinister
domain of addiction, and sexual exploitation, and murder, and violence that I’ve
been called to serve.
So from a basic position, participating
in today’s protest would be abandoning the obligation of my call to serve children
and families who are, at best, on the fringe.
To cast out darkness wherever it is and to come alongside the disenfranchised
and marginalized – truly, sincerely, humbly – honoring this work is!
But perhaps, in another way too,
today’s protest and activities wouldn’t align with how God has made me, as a
woman. In this sense, in a very real
sense, participating would mean that I would neglect the role He has placed me
in as wife, momma, and homemaker. I
think I understand the idea behind the protest – something along the lines of
how society would flail without us - collapse without the shoulders of
hardworking, resilient women. But can’t we
agree this to be true? Do we really need
a day to prove we are needed? Is our work
and our role as women merely defined by how others see us? Are we not discerning enough to realize our
value beyond the opinions of others?
People somehow believe or wish it to be so, that if we could have a clearly defined, established worth … Or if we could at least have an uncomplicated
value and respect for what it is to be a
woman, we might somehow feel
powerful, effective, and more convincing.
But the thing is…as women, wives,
employees, mothers, sisters, friends…AS WOMEN, our value, strengths, formidable
abilities, and the very substance of what it is to be female comes from our
Creator.
That alone should be the
end. Because when He created each woman,
He placed in her unique, defined, intentional characteristics designed to
reflect His image. We are of infinite
worth. I don’t need a day to remind me
of this.
So today, I’m at my “home office”
doing the soulful work of tending two little hearts. Making beds, reading sweet little books, doing laundry,
and playing with our two children – fully engaged, fully valuable, fully woman.
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