Women

A couple of friends sent me this poem recently and it go me to thinking =)  I will copy the poem below and then add my thoughts underneath.

One Flaw In Women  

Women have strengths that amaze men. 

They bear hardships and they carry burdens,  

but they hold happiness, love and joy.  

They smile when they want to scream.  

They sing when they want to cry.  

They cry when they are happy  

and laugh when they are nervous.  

They fight for what they believe in.  

They stand up to injustice.  

They don't take "no" for an answer 

when they believe there is a better solution.  

They go without so their family can have.  

They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.  

They love unconditionally..  

They cry when their children excel  

and cheer when their friends get awards. 

They are happy when they hear about  

a birth or a wedding. 

Their hearts break when a friend dies.  

They grieve at the loss of a family member,  

yet they are strong when they  

think there is no strength left.  

They know that a hug and a kiss  

can heal a broken heart.  

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors. 

They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you  

to show how much they care about you.  

The heart of a woman is what  

makes the world keep turning.  

They bring joy, hope and love. 

They have compassion and ideas.  

They give moral support to their  

family and friends.  

Women have vital things to say  

and everything to give. 

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN,  

IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

Please pass this along to all your 

women friends and relatives to remind them just 

how amazing they are

Are you ready? Here are my thoughts.

A writer from some several thousand years ago wrote a similar tribute to women, and it was recorded in the book of Proverbs, chapter 31.  For years, I have heard this passage alluded to by many preachers and teachers and, to be quite honest, I normally would feel resentment toward the author and would dismiss the content as being culturally irrelvant and unimportant to me.

I realize that many religious institutions will use such passages as a sort of instrument to try to "put women in their place", which naturally will instigate rebellion in a good many of us and rightly so.  As I read the above poem though, I suddenly had this thought that, whether originally intended or not, perhaps we could read the passage in Proverbs 31 as more of a tribute than instruction.  Perhaps the writer was simply listing a bunch of things he appreciated and valued in his own wife, and hoped his son would be so blessed as to find someone like he had; a warrior woman who knew her worth.

I think, that if we could read it from that perspective, perhaps we would feel more edified than humiliated.  Perhaps we would feel seen and acknowledged, rather than demoralized.  Perhaps we would realize that, even all those centuries ago, even when women were considered property, at times less valued than cattle, there were men who saw our true beauty and value and even wrote about it.  Perhaps even then, Father sought us out and whispered to our hearts, "You have no idea how precious you are."

 

Janna

Sex-Slave Supermodel

In Cambodia, little girls are sold into sex slavery and forced to have sex repeatedly for years, starting at ages as young as four years old. They are gang-raped, beaten, used, abused, drugged, demoralized, degraded, soiled, used, and abandoned.

We buy our daughters Barbie dolls and airbrush our models and idolize anorexic anesthetized remnants of what used to be the promise of something so much more. We embrace the idea of parading our daughters naked for all the world to see, claiming we are modern, when all the while, we are pimping them, abusing them, exploiting, demoralizing, degrading, soiling, using and abandoning them.

It is time for the warriors to arise and open our eyes and see the beauty longing to be rescued right before our eyes. When will she cease to be the god of sensuality and pleasure promising to satiate the abyss within our own souls? When will the mind-altering, mind-numbing, emasculating, self-serving veil be lifted?

The girl-child takes mind altering drugs to somehow protect her conscious self from the horror of being displayed, used and abused by the pedophile, the tourist, the camera man, the media, the audience, the masses of people under the same dark cloud that keeps them from seeing the truth.

There is a Man who rises with the roar of the lion in His chest and the fury of a thousand fathers in His eyes. To ride with Him, it will take much more than mental fortitude or theological certainty. It will take a visit into His throneroom, a snapshot through His eyes, a revelation of supernatural proportions. Do you dare take the risk? Do you dare ask Him to show you what He sees?

(photo above found at georgepechtol.com)

Who is in the Storm

Psalm 107:23-31 Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they see the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep. For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; so He guides them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!

The Golden Calf

So the Israelites wanted a golden calf. They wanted what all the other people had ~ something tangible to worship. And yet they had the "pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night" ~ the presence of God being manifested so they could know He was with them. But it wasn't enough. Because he wasn't doing it their way. And He wasn't giving them the things that other people with other religions had.

Sound familiar? God, give me something tangible here. I need money in my bank account. I need my debt paid off. I need a better house, a better car, a better job. I need better friends, a better church, a better program. I need a better spouse, more recognition, more validation. I need health. I need . . . a golden calf. Something I can touch. Something that will glisten in the sun.

We want Him to come down to our level and manifest Himself in our carnal world in the flesh. Guess what, He already did. He came to our level and manifested Himself in the body of a man. He performed miracles. He fed thousands. And He died alone.

Why? Because He didn't do things our way ~ and He still doesn't. And we don't like it. We never have.

Now He invites US ~ the same way He invited the Israelites of old to come up the mountain and behold Him ~ He invites us, "Come up here, my beloved." He invites us to rise above our circumstances and our pain and our delusions ~ to see with His eyes. To hear with His ears. To live a life that transcends our carnal reality and enables us to fly.

Let's stop asking Father to do things our way.
Let's say yes to the invitation and let Him do the rest.
It might hurt ~ it will hurt ~ but, oh! It will be worth it.

J.

Redirect

We look to each other for significance.
We ask those defining questions and we are asking the wrong ones.
Am I lovely?
Am I worth dying for?
Do I have what it takes?
We have been asking the wrong people our whole lives.
It's time to ask the right One.
His answers might surprise you.
Or they might not.
He loves to work through our loved ones.
But sometimes they fail.
He will never fail.
If we expect our parents, our friends, or our spouses to answer the Question, we have put them in His place.
And then we wonder why we are not satisfied.
It's time.
Know Whose you are.
It's game time.
J.

Lose Yourself

There's a popular artist in pop music culture called Eminem. You might have heard of him (or switched the dial on your radio swiftly when he came on, depending on your tolerance for offensive language.) His lyrics often carry varying degrees of anger, discontent, and even deep-seeded pain. He wrote one song about a guy born on the wrong side of the tracks, so to speak. He's been dealt an unfair hand and faces betrayal and animosity at every turn. And yet he comes upon a moment of opportunity in which, if he is willing to lose himself completely, he can lay hold of his dream and be set free from his prison once and for all.

The song is crude and will offend many of you but I'm going to copy it here anyways. I suggest you give it a listen as well (try playlist.com) - I find it very moving on a number of levels.

Firstly, I am inspired by the song. I am inspired by a hurting kid who rises up and says, "I'm not givin' up that easy!" and lets out his gigantic roar. I'm inspired for myself, at the idea of losing myself - defying fear - standing up and letting go.

The other day, as I listened to the song at rather alarmingly high decibels in my car, Jesus hit me with an even more inspiring take on this. As Eminem chants, "so here I go, it's my shot, feet fail me not, this may be the only opportunity I've got!" I saw HIM (Jesus), dressed in battle gear, galloping fiercely on an unbeaten trail, toward a small door - an unlikely opening - into the heart of a lost soul.

Paul Young writes in The Shack that, even though not every road leads to the Father (in fact, only one road does), He will take any road necessary to get to us. This is profoundly moving to me. We have a Father who will go to any lengths to rescue us - a savior who will charge down any path toward any chance, no matter how dismal, to get to us. He sees each one of our lives from the perspective of eternity and He knows precisely the moment that is the best moment to show us the reality of His love and the absolute lost-ness of our independence. Not everyone will accept His offer, but if there is a chance ... Any chance at all ... He will take it!

When you read this song - and if you risk listening to it - even though obviously not all the lyrics apply - think about Him. Think about His tenacity. Think upon the fierceness of His love. Here is Lose Yourself:

Look.. if you had.. one shot,or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted.. in one moment
Would you capture it.. or just let it slip? Yo..

[Verse 1]
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
to drop bombs, but he keeps on forgetting
what he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth but the words won't come out
He's chokin, how? Everybody's jokin now
The clock's run out, time's up, over - BLAOW!
Snap back to reality, Oh there goes gravity
Oh there goes Rabbit, he choked
He's so mad, but he won't
Give up that easy no, he won't have it
He knows, his whole back's to these ropes
It don't matter, he's dope
He knows that, but he's broke
He's so sad that he knows
when he goes back to this mobile home, that's when it's
back to the lab again, yo, this whole rapshody
He better go capture this moment and hope it don't pass him

[Chorus]
You Better, lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go (go)
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime
You better, lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go (go)
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime
You Better..

[Verse 2]
Soul's escaping, through this hole that is gaping
This world is mine for the taking
Make me king, as we move toward a, new world order
A normal life is boring; but superstardom's
close to post-mortem, it only grows harder
Homie grows hotter, he blows it's all over
These hoes is all on him, coast to coast shows
He's known as the Globetrotter
Lonely roads, God only knows
He's grown farther from home, he's no father
He goes home and barely knows his own daughter
But hold your nose cause here goes the cold water
These hoes don't want him no mo', he's cold product
They moved on to the next schmoe who flows
He nose-dove and sold nada, and so the soap opera
is told, it unfolds, I suppose it's old partner
But the beat goes on da-da-dum da-dum da-dah

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
No more games, I'm a change what you call rage
Tear this motherf*n roof off like two dogs caged
I was playin in the beginning, the mood all changed
I've been chewed up and spit out and booed off stage
But I kept rhymin and stepped right in the next cypher
Best believe somebody's payin the pied piper
All the pain inside amplified by the
fact that I can't get by with my nine to
five and I can't provide the right type of
life for my family, cause man, these Godd*n
food stamps don't buy diapers, and it's no movie
There's no Mekhi Phifer, this is my life
And these times are so hard, and it's gettin even harder
Tryin to feed and water my seed plus, teeter-totter
Caught up between bein a father and a primadonna
Baby momma drama screamin on her too much for me to wanna
stay in one spot, another day of monotony,
has gotten me to the point, I'm like a snail I've got
to formulate a plot, or end up in jail or shot
Success is my only motherf*n option, failure's not
Mom I love you but this trailer's got to go
I cannot grow old in Salem's Lot
So here I go it's my shot, feet fail me not
This may be the only opportunity that I got

Listen: http://www.playlist.com/playlist/additem/254750481

WARNING: May be offensive adds on the above linked page

J.

Without Wavering

Paul and I are in an interesting place right now. We have been through one hell of a year or two and now, right when I was hoping it would all ease up, ka-wham (is that a word?) we're smack-dab in the middle of another firing squad. One of the common prayers around here is, "God, please give us wisdom." For quite some time, we weren't getting much by way of a response.

This morning I was reading a word based on this scripture in James: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double- minded man, unstable in all his ways."

I've thought about this last verse many times, heard it quoted, and quoted it in relation to being focused in faith. I had never really noticed that it comes directly in relation to asking Father for wisdom and believing that He will give that wisdom ~ and liberally even. For me, this makes the scripture more applicable and far less vague as far as how we are supposed to avoid this double-mindedness. I have to admit, I have often believed, without realizing it, that we avoid double-mindedness by trying harder to believe in our beliefs about Him. This, of course, is a work of the flesh, which in the end will produce zero fruit.

Instead, James is simply asking us to choose to believe in God's faithfulness, and His faithfulness to keep His promise. That's it. We don't know how or when or what it will look like but we can choose to believe in His character and goodness to do what He said He would do.

So I asked Him again this morning, "Father, give us wisdom and insight. Help us to see our circumstances and the trials before us with your wisdom and have the wisdom we need to make good choices." And this time, I believe. Not for a specific outcome but that He will give us wisdom liberally and without reservation.

J.