Womanhood Revisited

Last year I got totally pumped to start a "Womanhood Movement". One that honors TRUE womanhood. The essence that is divinely part of having xx chromosomes.

In some measure that has been reignited due to several factors. The first being Mother's Day. That particular holiday has driven me nuts for some time. During years struggling with infertility it brought me to tears. When children did arrive and got old enough to talk back I began to see my ineptitude clearly (in my eyes) as a mother, which then made it so disheartening to look through the Mother's day cards for my own mom, read all these mushy things about how amazing I was supposed to be and fully feeling that I was not.

But now I have come to terms with mushy cards and what I see now is how many women truly honor their womanhood, but many feel left out because they haven't given birth.

Giving birth isn't what makes us women. It is one aspect of being a woman.

Being a woman is far more than giving birth. It is how we care for others, it is how we multi task, it is how we uphold and strengthen others, how we bring life, joy and color to the world. It is in how we mend hearts, cheerlead those who are losing, see a need to meet and meet it. It is how we care for children even when they aren't ours.

I recently heard Russell M. Nelson, a renowned heart surgeon, talk about how after losing 2 little sisters with the same heart defect he was devastated by their loss and wanted to quit. His wife let him cry his heart out then sent him back to work.  He was the means of many people being healed, largely because his wife held his heart for a while and then sent him back out to do his life's work. She had vision, she knew what he could become. She knew he was hurting and needed to grieve. She also knew she needed to put him "back on the horse" so to speak.

Years ago I worked for a very small company, there were 4 employees. A husband, wife and 2 other employees. The husband was an idea man. He was very creative. He was smart. He was also disorganized, gave up easily, changed direction frequently. But his wife was a rock. She kept him on an even keel. She knew when to let him run with an idea and when to reign him in. That company was very successful. It was largely because of the wife and her abilities to help her husband succeed.

I know so many women who are the mainstay for the fields they work in because of their innate womanly capabilities that have nothing to do with whether they are married, single, have children or not. Just for instance, look at the teaching field which is dominated by amazing women! Or the nursing field. Teaching, caring for, helping others to become who they are meant to be, or helping them die with a caring friend by their side. These are a few hallmarks of those professions which are hugely populated by women.

We need to keep celebrating true womanhood! We need to honor it as women, by being honorable women. The girls who are watching us need to know that we value how we are made, what we do because we are women. They need to see that there is a beautiful difference between the sexes and that those differences don't compete with each other, they complete each other.

I am going to refer you to last year's posts in hopes that you will take the Womanhood Challenge.
Please refer to this post:  blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3749357996298049904#editor/target=post;postID=560363364959238364;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=66;src=postname

So my dear friends, as you contemplate your week ahead, I want you to start thinking ahead. Who can you recognize for being an amazing woman? Who is it that honors being a woman? Who is it that delights in being a daughter of God? Who is it that holds the pieces together when it looks like they are about to fall apart? Who do you know that plugs along by themselves, but who would be so very much missed because she just does so much for others? Who has changed your world by being your friend or confidant? Let's take some time this week to ponder on it, perhaps write some notes and get ready to honor Womanhood next week.