Comments on Carolyn's Reflections: Deployed!

Carolyn... Thanks for your encouragement...ezers ...

2009-05-16T09:35:00.000-05:00

Carolyn...

Thanks for your encouragement...ezers we are from the beginning and ezers we are till the end...forever bearing the image of our incredible God, creator of heaven and earth! Now that's a calling that inspires me to get up in the morning and engage in the battle of life!

Mother, wife, daughter...a woman who simply loves Jesus.

Shalom

Corrie,

Yes, we must look reality squarely ...

2008-06-26T11:06:00.000-05:00

Corrie,

Yes, we must look reality squarely in the face—not just our Western realities, but the realities women face beyond the borders of our culture and time. The real world context is where we put our conclusions regarding the teachings of Scripture to the test. Not, I might add, with pragmatic self-serving standards of measurement in view, (e.g., Does this work for me? Does it bring me success? Do I like this?), but rather to make sure we haven’t drawn conclusions that exclude anyone from the possibility of answering God’s call on their lives.

Also, we must draw our conclusions from the whole of Scripture and not just certain statements. For example, the assumption that men have callings and women don’t must take into account Jesus’ calling on all believers to follow him, to combat the Enemy, and to build his kingdom. Where does the Holy Spirit’s distribution of spiritual gifts fit into this discussion? Or Paul’s strong statements about the advantages of singleness because of the freedom it brings to focus on the kingdom of God?

One has to ask whose “calling” is pushed to the forefront in the book of Esther, or in the story of Mary and Joseph, or in Mary of Bethany’s choice to sit at the feet of Rabbi Jesus and to anoint him for his burial? A deep sense of kingdom calling saturates the stories of women in Scripture and not just a few of them—as wives and mothers, judges, queens, and bold advocates for others, rabbinical students and disciples, and in many, many other spheres of life.

Thanks Deborah for the reminder that what enriches and cements our callings as women is our identity as followers of Jesus. He is the one who charts our course and often takes us down paths we never meant to travel. All along the way, no matter where he leads us, he has rich purposes and kingdom assignments for his daughters.

What a wonderful insight, Carolyn. Thank you for ...

2008-06-26T00:06:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful insight, Carolyn. Thank you for this blog post. There are many who teach that a woman has only one calling and purpose in her life and that is being a wife and mother ONLY. The woman has no vision or calling on her life from God of her own. Her husband/father is the one who has the vision or calling and she is to serve her "head" in his calling because that is HER calling.

No exceptions. No deviations.

It is time we start to look at reality and start to see that God, indeed, gives women a vision and calling.

Hi! I really liked what I read. I am both a wife...

2008-06-25T20:04:00.000-05:00

Hi! I really liked what I read. I am both a wife and mother, but I struggle with feeling stuck there. As much as I enjoy both immensely, I know God has called me to use my gifts in other ways, too--without feeling guilty for doing so!
One thing I would like to add--
as Christians, we are called to both do and to be who we are in Christ. I don't want to be defined just by what I can do or can produce. I want to be known as well by who I am, knowing too that who I am is also shaped by what I do to carry out God's purposes in my life. I want who I am in Christ to shape my life purposes and my life purposes to mold me into a more Christlike woman of God. So often I feel a disconnect between the two.
Peace & Joy--Deborah

Meredith,

You are speaking for a lot of wom...

2008-06-25T10:27:00.000-05:00

Meredith,

You are speaking for a lot of women who, for one reason or another, have always felt left out of the conversation about God's calling for women. While I do not underestimate the sorrow that comes with lost dreams, I am learning that losing our dreams does not mean we’ve lost our calling as women in any sense. God’s purposes for his daughters have never required us to have matching resumes. Our calling is to follow him and advance his kingdom on the individual path he has charted for us. That raises the bar for all of us, whether we are wives and mothers or none of the above.

Welcome back into the conversation!

Dear Carolyn,

Wow - thanks for this thought...

2008-06-25T02:08:00.000-05:00

Dear Carolyn,

Wow - thanks for this thoughtful reflection. As your books, it's got thinking in it that one does not usually find in Christian literature. I am a woman to whom God has chosen not to give children, and although I am a wife, not having children raises the inevitable identity questions, especially for later in life when there will be no grandchildren, no weddings, no graduations. It's a death experience.

I have long thought about the fact that even for my friends with children, being a mother is still not the primary calling that the church claims. For women like those you describe here, there must be something more. God's call is not a part-time vocation!

I look forward to reading more of your thoughts and those of your readers -- thanks for the blog format!

Meredith