Ten Undeniable Truths of Womanhood

I may be Seminary Gal, but I should start today’s offering with a bit of a disclaimer: I’m not a women’s pastor or even a person who particularly likes talking about so-called women’s issues.  I don’t do women’s ministry as my primary vocation because I don’t fit the mold.  I’m not fond of pink and I don’t decorate my website with the obligatory blurry sentimental photos with a rose or tulip, cursive print, or the color lavender, which is the new pink now that pink has been coopted by breast cancer with the entire month of October devoted to everything pink for men and women alike.

But this is one of those instances in which God wants me to write something and I really don’t want to do it.  If the signs are everywhere, and frankly they are, I must have something to say that will mean something to someone.  Perhaps a woman.

I’ve been thinking a lot about women’s identities lately because of my personal life.  I’m actually surprised at how little has changed since the 1980s when I found a new identity in motherhood.  I faced complicated decisions that I see other women still facing today.

Along the way from motherhood to the present, I became a Christian and have asked myself a million times over,

As a woman, who am I in Christ?”

The Bible does answer that, in rather succinct terms: beloved child of God.  It answers the question of identity in the strictest sense, but not so much in the manner of purpose or practical living.

Throughout my entire life, I’ve seen women enduring conflicted lives regarding their purpose.  Irrespective of choices made, we live with internal questioning and reevaluation, desires that are incompatible with other desires, choices that require prayer and too often none of those choices are ideal.  Some choices are made for us, against our understanding of what is best, against what we want, or even against what the Bible teaches with today’s culture and yesterday’s traditions at war against the eternal Word.

Even when we make the decisions that we believe are godly, right, and best, we face criticism—spoken and unspoken—from the culture, from other women, from family, and from other arenas that seek to encroach upon that sacred territory of personal freedom, moral imperative, cherished values, and living life for Christ.

It is no surprise that many women plod through their lives with a sense of pensive gloom, a cloud of depression hanging over their heads, or unable to find true joy in the mundane things of life.  Little wonder that Christian women ask themselves what it means to be a Christian woman and many look to women’s ministries for answers to the questions,

What is my identity and where is my purpose?”

There is hope.

Over the next few days, I’m going to share my questioning in the form of Ten Undeniable Truths of Womanhood:

1. A Christian woman is still a complete woman, even without marriage.
2. No man can teach a woman what is the truth of womanhood, even Christian womanhood.
3. The Bible clearly outlines what womanhood is…and it isn’t always synonymous with motherhood.
4. Once a mother, always a mother.
5. Superwomen don’t exist except in the comics.
6. All women make choices of no return.
7. Biology affirms what the Bible teaches.
8. The Christian woman must learn to artfully balance following Christ while honoring the men in her life.
9. Submission and sacrifice aren’t bad words for women.  They are terms of love.
10. Women are meant to be the Lord’s maidservants and they bring glory to Christ by their obedience.

Perhaps these are not the only ten.  They’re ten that are on my mind and maybe on yours, too.  They’re not in any particular order, but they are how they came to print on a page.  You may disagree with me in these and that’s alright.  I’d even like to hear from you if your viewpoint is something for me to consider.  For those of you who love women’s ministries, keep up the good work, and please find room in your hearts for those of us who really aren’t all that into them because we don’t fit the mold.  Sisters can stick together even if we’re different.

If you’ve ever felt like a bad mom, a bad wife, a bad woman, or a bad Christian because of your womanhood, there is hope.  Enjoy my graphic, complete with pink, and flowers, and cursive, too!– as my olive branch into women’s ministries– as we look at Ten Undeniable Truths of Womanhood.  Maybe pink and lavender aren’t all that bad.  And I like flowers.  Maybe I can do this…