You are Captivating. That's basically the jest I am getting from this book thus far. But let's be honest. Really honest, because you really don't
have to read this. Last night I had the choice to watch Planet Earth or read this book, and I most def chose Planet Earth. So I got as far as the introduction. But I feel like that's as good a place as any to start.
"The mystery of the feminine heart was meant to be a good thing, by the way. A source of joy. Yet it has become a source of shame- women almost universally feel that they are 'too much' and ' not what they should be'."
I am the kind of person that really likes to question blanket statements, even though I believe most of us are the rule and not the exception. Do I really feel that I am "too much" or "not enough"? I will be the first to admit that I think rather highly of myself in most circumstances. But let me tell you about a time when I did not.
Two days ago, in my blissful Marriage&Family Class, we watched this great (sike!) movie on the Song of Solomon..it was detailed and....intimate. Post-viewing we were asked, as a class, to list out some defining attributes of Men Vs. Women. The majority of the class is male and so defining femininity obviously came first. It went something like this:
- clothes
- shopping
- whining
- feelings
- crying
- can't make decisions
- moody
Now, here I am..confidently sitting with two of my girlfriends in awe of this awful list. However, none of us weighed in at all. I had nothing to say. Amongst ourselves we asked "Are we really that pathetic?" We answered with a resounding "NO!" that faded into a "yeah, kinda.."
The point is..we do all those things. Spend and speak too much, feel too much, are TOO MUCH. And we acknowledged those then and there and left the classroom feeling absolutely pathetic.
In hindsight, it is obvious that that list is not completely accurate though infused with truth.
The fact of the matter is that we are a many great things, a many depraved things, even. We are human. And to a degree, the deep sections of a woman's soul and also her habits can be "too much" and make them, I would dare to say more than males, feel that they aren't what they should be.
But who, in either gender, really is? We are all His workmanship, progressively being conformed to the image of Christ with a promise of faithfulness on the part of our Creator and the hope of glorification in our heavenly home. That is the culmination of our fallen state and the part that provides hope.
More on a women's soul is coming...but for now,if you think you're pathetic or limited to a silly, list, you think you're "too much" or "not enough" or not what you ought to be..
Rest assured & soak in some truth:
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain!
Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Psalm 139:13-24
