The Women I'm Reading
Since I'm no longer a public school teacher, I miss out on awesome things like pretending to pay attention in faculty meetings, lunch hour, and my favorite, Women's History Month. I used to make sure my kids would read all of the female authors that were notable and that the curriculum deemed unworthy. It was my favorite part of the teaching year, with April for poetry Month right after. Oh, but then there was Macbeth.......I digress.
In honor of the Women's History Month that I overlooked and missed, for yet another year, I thought it might be fun to clue you in on some of the women bloggers I spend most of my time reading. These women are as witty as they are, well, real. They prove to me day in and day out that yes, of course, women's voices are as valid and integral in matters of instruction, encouragement, theology, philosophy, hermeneutics and exegesis just as they are at sharing how to budget organic meal plans and organizing car pools. I'm thankful they make it a priority to send out their thoughts into the deep internet abyss for floundering people like me.
Here's the List (in no particular order)
When I want to be challenged in my growth and encouraged to "work out my salvation", I sit down with Carolyn Custis James to remember that I'm an "ezer". I always leave feeling empowered, ready to stand in the gap for those I've been called to and mostly, so glad God crafted me to be a woman. Truly. (I've obsessively read her books as well, The Gospel of Ruth, Half the Church, and The Lost Women of the Bible. So. So. Good.)
I often hear my own thoughts reflected back to me through Rachel Held Evans . I am brought to tears by her honestly, her desire to reach God through her doubt and searching, her longing to love others and her occasional confusion on how to marry that with the Bible she loves so well. I love her bravery, and her heart and that she lays it all, good and bad, on the table.
When my soul feels broken and I need refreshment, encouragement and a giant dose of my reminder of the Prince of Peace, Ann Voskamp provides a depth and breadth of biblical knowledge and truth I'd be lost without. Her words have brought me back from the ledge more times than I can count, simply because she allows Jesus to talk through her.
When I need to learn not to take myself so seriously, that there's grace for even screw-ups like me and throwing Motherhood into the mix, Kristen Howerton provides both the insight and the humor necessary to survive pre-school applications and Let It Go on repeat.
I resonate closely with Jen Hatmaker and applaud her strength and conviction for discussing the difficult, while exemplifying what the term, "truth in love" really, truly means. Her blog is covered in grace and love but mostly, it's about Jesus- the person and what he's called us to do. Love Him. Love his people. The End. She does it well.
Lastly, though this collaboration has some men thrown in there, I wanted to share The Liturgists as we're still in the Lenten season, and truly, I've found the liturgies to be most refreshing and beautiful. God is the creator of all things, the Father of beauty. It feels so wonderful to celebrate and meditate on that! I'll leave you with an excerpt:
Holy
You oh God are Holy
Trees clap their hands for you
Oceans they dance for you
You are holy
Oh the mystery of it all
I can never peer within
I'll never find the words or understand
The fullness of a God
Become a man
Holy
You oh God are Holy
Trees clap their hands for you
Oceans they dance for you