Monday, July 23, 2012

Lessons in Womanhood

This weekend I took some time to work on my  home. It is not crumbling but somethings needed TLC.

The hot item on the to-do-list was change water filter. H2O is so important out here and  I somehow missed the note the filter needed to be changed every 6 months....mine was 12 months old. Oops!

While cleaning and changing my filter I listen to a podcast. It was in-tilted Womanhood. When I pushed play I thought it was going to be all about how women are equal but have to submit.......blah blah blah. To my surprise it was amazing! The quote that grabbed my full attention was "The battle of the sexes did not start in the 60's. It started in the garden."

WOW! Ok, I was listing now! For 40min I learned more about my natural nature...the one that craves to live in harmony, before sin hi-jacked the harmony God He created between man and woman. Harmony that was built on love and respect. This truth fit in so well to what God has been teaching me....yeah I know I thought I was done learning to, guess I was wrong. ;)

Over the last few months the Lord has been showing me what I thought...about life and marriage was way off base! The line "your life will start when you get married," is false. God has things for me to do now, things I need to do as a single lady. He is not holding back "my happy ever after" because I do not trust Him enough, or because my standers are to high. It is because He has things to do in me and through me in the mean time. He also has been trying to get the understanding of Biblical womanhood through my very thick scull!

A book I am reading has shown me how much the world has jacked up (sorry for the language) what is means to be a woman. The book is rooted in God's truth, something that is so powerful. This power is something I am now learning first hand. Reading this book, studying God's word on the topic, and fully letting things go has become so freeing. Freeing from the lies of this world.

It may be hard to see or believe but this world has turned the idea of womanhood upside down. And while it was being turned upside down, the enemy blinded the church to what he was doing. If people asked the Lord to give them His eyes, we would see how off the mark even the church is on Womanhood.

There were many moments over the last few months I was kicking at screaming at the Lord. Me submitting?! Are you nuts Lord? Something in me, yes yes I know it is my sinful nature,  loves being a woman who can speak her mind. Maybe that is my California up bringing.

Ladies you all know what I am talking about. You feel it too. The verse that talk about how we are to submit, be under your husbands, or in my case father's authority. Your skin just crawls, your heart starts to beat faster, and you feel like showing the world how strong you are on your own.

Well, I know that feeling all to well. It is something that the Lord has been trying change in me. Something I was blind to . Something the world told me I did not need to learn, and I bought into it. God has been so loving with me. So loving He brought me to Africa to teach me who He created me to be. Created me to be a lovely lady with His understanding of womanhood.

Now trust me, I am not prefect and still have many miles to go. But the biggest battle has been own, God has shown me that when I bend  my sinful will to His concept of womanhood, peace like a river invades my soul!! So, I bend my will to His and learn a little bit more about myself and what it means to be a woman of God each day. I pray you do the same. And I pray the lies of the enemy lose their power over you through God's loving and powerful word.

Monday, July 9, 2012

A Second Birthday!

Today it is a second birthday. A day that was history making a year a go. The world is not the same today as it was one year ago. People were so shocked 365 days go while the newest country in the world stood on its on for the first time!

Today is the day that marks South Sudan's Independence Day. I am sure most of the world is going on with it normal lives. People most likely do not even know what this day means for so many  South Sudanese.

With all the joy of a country standing on this own there are also many battles this young country still has to fight. Rome was not built in a day and there is no way a nation can change decades of war, famine, and poverty in just one year. Below is an email I received in my inbox....the author is South Sudanese and puts the hardships of his country into words. Please read this email and then spend time in prayer for the nation,  its leaders, and peoples of South Sudan. God is working in many ways already, but there is a battle of light and dark being fought daily in the spiritual realm. A battle for the hearts and souls of the South Sudanese.  


One year ago today, South Sudan became the world’s newest nation. On that day, I stood beside my fellow Sudanese celebrating this remarkable achievement. But today, as conflict intensifies, I stand beside my brothers and sisters grieving.
In the past year, hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to South Sudan to escape conflict within Sudan. Meanwhile, issues between Sudan and South Sudan risk bringing the two countries back to war. The resolution of this conflict MUST be a priority for the international community.
As a Sudanese man from Darfur, I am proud to work for the Enough Project, because it is leading the push for sustainable solutions to the crisis.
To bring lasting peace to Sudan and South Sudan, we need to collect evidence of ongoing crimes against humanity in order to hold perpetrators accountable. We need to tell policymakers to stand up for the people of the Sudans. We need to show the world that we want this conflict to stop—once and for all.
Sincerely,
Omer Ismail
Enough Project Field Researcher and Policy Consultant








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