Windows.

Tonight I laid on my bed with my window open. There was a Kenny Chesney/Tim McGraw concert happening at LP Field and I could hear it clearly from inside my house so I decided, "Why not listen for free to a concert people had to pay lots of money to hear." The advantages of living in Nashville and close to downtown. Anyway...


The concert ended and I left the window open. So many sounds permeated my house. Cars driving by. People walking by talking. Sirens. Dogs barking. Bugs making noise and birds chirping from the overgrown lot next door. Car horns. City life.


Then I shut my window and closed the blinds. Some sounds disappeared...some sounds were muted. 


As soon as I shut the window I felt less connected, less in tune with what was going on outside, less like anyone out there would actually want to know what was going on inside. Now I was just alone.


I feel like I do this to life sometimes, shut the window and close the blinds. I don't want to be brought into anymore brokenness and I don't want to experience any more of the pain that is reality. I deceive myself into thinking that the world is muted and start looking inward because that's a whole lot easier than giving a damn. Somtimes I'm deceived into believing I am alone and no one out there really wants to know that I'm here. I am deceived in believing I am okay alone and why would the people around me really want to know what's going on with me...if I'm truly vulnerable maybe people wouldn't like me anymore. 

Then God pulls the blinds up and opens this window of my soul and...

I'm reminded of the community I have around me.
I'm completely honest with a friend and instead of passing judgement, they look past my messiness and continue to listen and love me.
I'm reminded that God seeks to redeem this world and the brokenness in it and He intends to use us to do that.
Old friendships are strengthened and new friendships are started and it's an affirmation of the fact that we're called to live this life together.

I realize that when I pray continually for God to break my heart for what breaks His and to give me eyes to see...He's just answering that prayer.

I'm re-connected to my community, this city, this world and I know that what makes me valuable is the  fact that I am a child of God who is defined by that and nothing else and that He has called me to give a damn because He does.

Maybe I need to start keeping the windows open more often.

Women.

Single woman. Smart woman. Woman in ministry. Independent woman. Woman hoping to be married someday. Woman living out her calling. Woman who is a leader. Woman capable of more than people give her credit for.

This is me. I am all those things. And quite simply, obviously, I am a woman. I've been burdened lately with the fact that the world and unfortunately, the "Christian" world especially doesn't think all these things are okay. 

I hear things like "God's intention for Christianity is for it to have a masculine feel" (said by a pretty famous and popular Christian leader). No, I don't think that's true at all. God created us in His image...and he created male and female so how do we get away with saying God has a "masculine feel"? I heard someone say once, "Only in both male and female can we fully understand God's image. We can't understand God just looking at male or just female." (Rachel Held Evans is doing a series on this...it's a great post so make sure to read it here!!)

This post originally had a different "feel" and was a bit more cynical and angry. There are plenty of things I could say out of anger...and I believe justified anger, but I don't want this to be just a rant. A friend suggested I went more of the constructive route. Yes, I am tired of being challenged by brothers and sisters in Christ telling me woman shouldn't be in my "type" of ministry. Tired of hearing stories of Christian leaders who don't support women in their calling. Tired of people looking over or not acknowledging how important women were in the Bible and in the story of Jesus (See a great blog on this here). 

I want all women to be encouraged in their calling. Some women are wives and mothers, some women are nuns, some women are single, some are executives, some are teachers, some are in ministry, etc. All those things are great. God gives us each a unique calling...I just want you to feel encouraged in that calling. Know whether or not it fits in the box of "typical" and "traditional" things women have done, it's more than okay not to fit in a box.

I want women to know they are valuable and worthy. They can be confident in the calling God has placed in their lives and know that God didn't make a "weaker" sex. I want my brothers and sisters in Christ to know and believe these words from Frank Viola (see blog link below):

Brothers, honor your sisters in the Kingdom of God. For God honors them. When our Lord pulled Eve out of Adam, He didn’t take her out of his feet below him. Nor did He take her out from his head above him. He took her out of his side.

Sisters, you are fellow heirs in the Kingdom of God. You are fellow priests in the church of God. You are honored. You are cherished. You are valuable. You are needed.

Men. Women. Father. Mother. Single. Married. Wife. Husband. Student. Teacher. Executive. Minister. We are all part of the family. One is not better than another...we all just are. 

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galations 3:28

If you agree or disagree, please read Frank Viola's blog here because he says it way better than I can.