As a woman, I have seen that clean and tidy ideas can wreak havoc. When I hear jokes about how “women like to make things look pretty” in Christian circles, it leaves me inadequate. As a woman who would rather think about ideas and solve problems than make things pretty, it makes me an outsider. When women are described as the more emotional gender, I again am an outsider as tears don’t come easily to me. So I feel at home among the misfits in the stories of Scripture.
And with that my mind busied again, trying to glean the wisdom that God was showing me through this circumstance. I began to wonder what ways I’m carrying my child, building my strength while stunting his growth. Like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, struggle often plays a key role in our growth, but struggle is also meant to be shared (Romans 12:15). How do I know whether I am sharing a burden too big for another or just bearing a load they are meant to carry?
Choosing a Father’s Day card for my dad has always been arduous. Most have too many words for a man with few of his own. At least few that he shared with me. He probably had many words. He was an English major after all. Yet, somehow, to me at least, he was a man... Continue Reading →
Beauty in the Brokenness 