Friday, March 27, 2009

It's Tough Being a Woman


This week at church we finished doing Beth Moore's ESTHER Bible study. The subtitle of Esther is this: It's Tough Being a Woman. I think that I loved this particular Bible study more than any other I've ever done. I just adore Beth Moore, and she was so funny in this study that at times I wondered if she'd lost her mind (in the cutest way, of course!) And I loved reading the story of Esther, which I'd never heard before. A beautiful queen who saves her people, risking her life by revealing her identity, saving the Jews from the evil Haman, a man who plots against Mordecai and ends up getting a taste of his own medicine. A story about turn-arounds and God coming in to rescue the weak and the needy at just the right time. A story about an orphan girl who came into her own power. Love that.

I've never yet considered myself a woman. Although 40 is on the horizon, the title of "woman" doesn't yet fit me. Being short, shaped like a 12 year old adolescent boy, and having the voice of an 11 year old, "girl" still fits me.When I was still teaching in an elementary school, substitutes often tried to get me to line up with their class. At best, people refer to me as a "nice young lady". I'll take that! But I don't know that its tough just being a woman. I think its tough being a human being, period.

How many of you who read this blog think its tough being a woman? I wish that more of you would post replies to my entries. I want to know more about you. I know there are at least a dozen of you who read, and many more who pop in, from all over the world. I want to know, what is the toughest thing about being a woman in your part of the world? What is the toughest thing about being you? What is it that you need? What would make your life easier? A best friend? A new car? A husband who knew how to do dishes? A new heart?

2 comments:

Michelle's Day said...

One difficult thing about being a woman is the seeming injustice of gender roles. It STINKS to have to get up at 5 a.m. while my husband gets to sleep till 7; to have to work all day and sometimes into the night with few breaks while my husband goes to work and comes home and watches tv. And that's what's expected apparently (in America at least). Men view women as overly-emotional and illogical. I've seen so many men's bad decisions, however, that were completely based on emotion and lack of logic. So while I get to spend more time with my kids because I'm a woman (the mom), the hard part of being a woman is mostly in my mind and heart.

What would make life better? A real friend. Not just a "say hi at church" kind of friend and definitely not a "call when I need something" kind of friend, but a real friend to share everything with. You've said on here before -- God is always with us and that's the most important thing. But it would sure be nice to have someone with skin on here to hold me, too.

Jenn said...

Hmmm...the toughest thing about being a woman...I feel the need to do it all. I didn't grow up knowing how a marriage worked as my parents split when I was 8. So, I work and work and work at trying to be the best wife and the best mother. I exhaust myself. I think that is the toughest thing, for me, about being a woman.