Isaiah 40:31: She is strong.
2 Samuel 13:28: She is valiant.
Proverbs 31:25: She is fearless.
Psalm 46:5: She is enough.
A woman wears many hats. She can be a healer, a fighter and a leader. She can be a wife, a mother and a sister. She can be a teacher, an astronaut and a doctor.
Women have played major parts in our history. From civil rights leader, Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat on the bus to Marie Curie, whose discoveries were effective forms to fight cancer. From Mother Teresa who devoted her life to helping the poor and hungry to modern women like Malala Yousafzai who fought for women’s right to education in Pakistan and survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban. Let’s not forget all the women who were degraded and jailed for fighting for our right to vote in the early 1900s and the women who have served bravely in our military whether as nurses, front-line soldiers or pilots.
We laugh. We cry when we are happy and cry when we are sad. We fall in love. We get our hearts broken. Anxiety and depression are no strangers to us. We fight for our families and our beliefs. We are prayer warriors. We are women of God.
We sweat. We bleed. Our bodies give life and our bodies change by season. We forgive. We’re passionate and we’re protective.
I have had female family and friends who have battled cancers, anxiety, death of a child/spouse, financial issues, and divorce and what one thing did they all have in common?
They overcame and survived.
But instead of being depicted as fighters and survivors, movies and TV and social media can depict women as shallow, sexual and vindictive human beings. Show likes Two And A Half Men, Married With Children and the modern MILF Manor all sexualize and degrade women’s characters.
We need more Olivia Bensons (Law and Order SVU) in the world.
We need more Dana Scullys (X-Files), too.
And how about Esthers (Book of Esther)?
Remember the popular book, “Men Are From Mars and Women Are From Venus?” Hard to believe, but that book was published in 1992…32 years ago!
Author John Gray made an interesting point: “Men are like rubber bands, pulling away and then bouncing back, while women are like waves, ebbing and flowing.”
When I thought more about that statement it does make a lot of sense in being a woman. Thinking about all the trials and tribulations in life, we as women certainly do bend and adjust accordingly; significantly better than men. We better adapt to our surroundings.
American poet, Luke Easter, said it best in his poem, “A Strong Woman Vs. A Woman Of Strength”:
A strong woman works out every day,
Pride in her appearance she portrays,
But a woman of strength kneels to pray,
Her soul in shape, God leading the way.
A strong woman claims she isn’t afraid of anything,
Looking forward to challenges each day will bring,
Women of strength show courage in the midst of fear,
Declaring triumph through faith because God is near.
A strong woman is easily impatient back and forth she will begin to pace,
Counting on her holier than thou attitude instead of depending on faith,
A woman of strength is assured trust in God will always carry her through,
And at the Creator’s appointed time she’ll receive all that is justly due.
A strong woman has faith that for the journey she’ll have enough,
No matter how uneven the terrain or roads being rocky and rough,
A woman of strength knows it’s in the journey she will become strong,
And the love of God is forever with her, no matter how difficult or long.
We all know every day is Mother’s Day, but as we celebrate moms all around the world on this special day, remember to thank and hug that Proverbs 31 woman/women in your life.
I have created a YouTube video titled “Women: Perception Vs. Reality”; a humorous take on what women really do each day. Hope you enjoy it!
Click here to watch.
To all the women in my life, family and friends, I wish you all the very best this Mother’s Day. Thank you for all that you have done, continue to do and will do.
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