Sisterhood

I grew up in a family of boys--Mom and I were the sole estrogen-producers in the house. That sort of dynamic was great for developing my sense of competition, a love for sports, and a strong throwing arm (seriously, I can still throw a football better than some guys). But not having a sister became a stumbling block for my relationships with other girls. What was this sister thing all about?

During my college years, one friend in particular helped me break through that barrier. Erin had two younger sisters of her own, so she had been living in the hood--the sisterhood--all her life. And after spending three years living with her family (after college, while I was in seminary), my initiation into the sisterhood was complete. And I'm here to tell you, it's nothing like the brotherhood.

Women draw strength from other women in a unique way, I think. Shared experiences, similar tastes, and common physiology all serve as bonding elements that guys, by virtue of their Y-chromosome, just aren't able to join. We love the guys, but some things they just don't understand (right??). A healthy sister relationship, whether by blood or by heart, will encourage and inspire and commiserate and support and rejoice and mourn...sisters need each other. Those of us without biological sisters must reach out to our girlfriends to find a "kindred spirit" in the tradition of Diana and Anne (of Green Gables fame).

Not every sisterhood is a safe place. Rachel and Leah allowed their difficult marriages (to the same man!) destroy their relationship. They set their children against each other, stoking jealousies and hatred that affected the history of their family for generations. Many women struggle to overcome hard feelings and competition with their sisters. They've been hurt, betrayed, abandoned...trusting is hard to do. If you have been or are in that situation, know that there is hope. Jesus makes all things new.

On the plus side, consider Mary and Martha. They had different personalities that caused the occasional conflict--and who doesn't?--but they were united in their devotion to each other, their brother Lazarus, and their Lord Jesus. Nothing in Scripture indicates that theirs was anything but a safe relationship.

And don't forget Mary and Elizabeth, cousins of different ages--Mary was a teenager, Elizabeth was probably over 40  (considered too old to have children).  God used both of them in two life-stages that their culture would have written off: Mary was too young, Elizabeth was too old. But look what God did with them! And I love how they came together in a beautiful picture of obedience to God's word and faithful care for one another.

The Sisterhood can be a beautiful place. What are you doing to make yours inviting, safe, and honoring to God?

The Whole Church

This blog is written by women, for women, to women (primarily). And since we focus on the spiritual most of the time, it should follow that we writers and readers are concerned about our relationship with God. And if we believe in Jesus Christ, call him our Savior and Redeemer, then no matter where, or if, we attend a local house of worship, we are all part of the Church--the Body of Christ. Through our feet He travels to the far away, through our arms He comforts the broken, through our words He brings life and healing. We are His representatives, just as our believing brothers are.

Sometimes women tend to think less of themselves than God thinks of them. But the Bible is pretty clear that He treasures and values us. Genesis 1:27 -- "God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them." IN THE IMAGE OF GOD...did you get that? We have been created to resemble Him. He gave us a calling, a responsibility, to join with our brothers to "fill the earth, and subdue it" (v 28).

Often we stop at the command to "be fruitful and multiply," relegating our worth and work to that of wife and mother. Not only does that bestow a false glory on the role of mothering, it cheats the young, the single, the widowed, and the elderly. As a wife of one godly man and the mother of four young children, I strongly support the ministry of motherhood. It's important, even crucial. But not every wife gets to be a mother. 

Before I was a mother, I was a wife; before that, a single woman; before that, a young daughter. Did I have a role then? Or was I just waiting for my potential to be fulfilled once I married?

If statistics prove true, there's every chance that I will outlive my husband and become a widow in the (very far, I hope) future. What then? Is my job finished? Am I washed up in the church? When my kids are grown and gone, will my purpose fly with them?

Of course not! May it never be. Yet this is a message we find ourselves struggling against far too often. Let's get back to the original story, the one God wrote before sin entered our relationships and messed us all up. Women are half the church, and we are called to join the other (male) half in order to maximize the gospel of Jesus Christ. God wants the whole church together to fulfill His purpose. It's how He designed it to work.

The short video here was created by Synergy and shown at the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, a worldwide gathering of evangelical leaders held in Cape Town, South Africa, last month. Find yourself in the images that flash before you, and be encouraged!