Saturday, February 16, 2008
Three Incredible Women-February 16, 2008
The Bible speaks of many good women. Naming a few of the Old Testament, there was Rahab, who was very courageous and was used and blessed by God. There was Deborah, who was considered the Joan of Arc of that time because she led Israel to a great victory and was of great faith. The Shunammite woman took care of Elisha and even built a room addition for him. Some of the New Testament brings to mind Mary, the mother of Jesus, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist and cousin to Mary. There was Anna, who, after the birth of Christ, shared the will of God and His teachings to others. Joanna managed Herod's finances and contributed some of his money to the maintenance of the church. We should all remember Mary Magdeline. She was the "born again" prostitute who turned her life completely over to God, and He blessed her with the honor of being the first one to see Jesus after His death on the cross. There was Dorcas who did a lot of charity work, and on and on and on. But, I want to speak of three good women here in MY time. These three women all have a special place in my heart because, like me, they have been very diligent in getting their children to catechism every Saturday morning for the past two years. They sat right along side of these children to support the importance of this catechism, which is a preparation for their first Holy Communion. There is Barb, who, like me, has been blessed with somewhat of a weeping spirit. She brought compassion and tenderheartedness into a lot of our study. There is Elaine, the little mite who has the caring spirit and uses it everyday in her daily routine as a nurse. She offered dedication because, if she was working on Saturday morning, she would come in just to take the quiz. Then there is Pam. Pam is richly blessed with a buoyant spirit. Everything that came out of her mouth would be cheerful and lively, no matter what. These three incredible women have made the last two years of catechism such a joy to my spirit that I cannot explain. I am the oldest confirmed member of this small group of women with almost 50 years in the church, yet I have learned a lot from them in the last two years. They each have unknowingly contributed a piece of themselves to MY life and I will love them forever for that.
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3 comments:
Thank you Vicki! Of course, you made me cry! You have added greatly to my experience in Catechism also....
Vicki,
Our women's ministry is doing a session on Proverbs 31 - the virtuous women. I'd love to know your thoughts on that chapter.
Thanks,
Tam-e's mom
Marty
Marty, the Bible speaks of many good women in the old and new Testaments. I remember a Bible study I attended long ago about the "good, bad and the ugly" women of the Bible. This particular chapter in Proverbs, starting with verse 10, I think, emphasizes the significance of a wise woman. I've also heard that beginning in verse 10, this could have been written by a mother to her son, telling him what to look for in a wife. Although, the good women of the Bible possessed a lot of these qualities, I do not believe any possessed ALL of them. The only one, in my mind, that would come very close, would be Mary, the mother of Jesus. And that would be only by what we know of her from what is written in the Bible about her. I suppose my thinking is, God chose HER to be the mother of His Son, so she must have been more virtuous than any other, although still a sinner. The men of bible times interpretation of a virtuous woman would be quite different than that of the men of today, going from one extreme to the other. You know, like, women covering their heads, keeping silent unless spoken to, beatings to keep the demons out, etc. Today's interpretation could go from not wearing a skirt, not cutting the hair, to no make-up or working outside the home. The lists of both interpretations could go on and on. The bottom line, in my opinion, is a virtuous woman would be one who is faithful to the Lord, (all the qualities would come along because of that faith) and I believe we all, as faithful female servants to God, fall in that category of "a virtuous woman".
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