Every woman knows a wilting flower.
You know the ones I'm talking about: the girls who only speak at the right time, who are very agreeable, who never offend anyone, and who seem to get on perfectly with every person they meet.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with these women, I'm friends with quite a few people like this and I love them to bits. But don't ever think that, if you don't fit into this category, that you're not being the woman God needs you to be. All this talk of Proverbs 31 frustrates me because I'm just not that woman and I think we need to stop striving to be her. I don't think that was the point in these verses. I think what we need to do is strive to be Christ-like, and all the things that He needs us to be will follow after this.
I'm certainly not a wilting flower. I'm opinionated, I don't agree with everything I'm told, I offend people (not in a nasty intentional way), I'm not everyone's best friend, I drink beer (don't worry, not excessively), I can be pretty loud, I listen to rap and metalcore...
So if God calls us all to be lovely, quiet little things, then I don't want to follow Christ.
But the beauty of being a Christian is that we're all called to be different.
I find sometimes that when I write these posts it's not only to benefit others but also myself. I have to write these things down to know that they're true. I read it in the Bible all the time but I still fear, when I spend time with my nice, quiet friends, that I'm doing something wrong. Am I too opinionated? Am I too loud? Should I stop drinking beer? Should I try to be friends with everyone?
1 Corinthians 12:12
"Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ."
(NIV)
God wants me to be outspoken and opinionated and loud because, if I'm not, who will speak for all the quiet women? Who will speak for the oppressed and the broken? Who will stand up to the lions of injustice in countries where women are told to be seen and not heard?
Do you want to know the funny part? This doesn't mean I don't want to be a wife or a mum. I love to cook and bake and look after people, I want to be something for my man, when I eventually find him, I want to be his helper. I want to have babies that I can laugh with.
Women in the 21st Century have a really exciting role. We have so many opportunities and options, we're no longer held back by biology. We can travel around the world and bake a cake the day after we get home. We can pull on the hiking boots and a 75 Litre backpack and still be beautiful and captivating. The world, my beautiful friends, is our oyster, and we better not take that for granted. So don't be afraid if you're surrounded by friends who are getting engaged and married and having babies, because the single life is beautiful, and before we know it we won't have it any longer.
The beautiful thing about 2012 right now, for me, is that I have a whole 12 months ahead of me and nothing holding me back. Ladies, we grow up so fast, so stop wishing for things that can wait and chase after what is right in front of you.
x
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