Taking Stock
I’m taking stock today of…
A mother, who gave birth to this breeched and mixed up baby, teenager and young mother.
Two grandmothers, who taught me hospitality and perseverance.
Two daughters, who daily challenge and thrill me with their young womanhood.
Three aunts, dotting on an only niece with favorite foods and thoughtful gift giving.
Two mothers-in-law, who treat me as if they gave birth to me.
Three great-grandmothers, a grand pleasure to know and be known by such wisdom.
Dozens of teachers, giving countless hours that my desire for knowledge might be quenched.
Two cousins (we are a family of mostly boys), who giggled in church basements and Christmases.
Countless friends, some who are more like sisters, or what I imagine a sister would be.
These are just the immediate women I am blessed to know and who in some big and small ways have come to know me. Add the presence of those I have met through social media (mostly the only reason I still bother with it), and I don’t have time to do the math. They have influenced and taught me lessons on life, spoken or observed, positive or not so much, for the last forty-something years. And as I stop to contemplate the lessons learned, I wonder at the experience of a woman’s life, the great opportunity that waits for us, if we are willing to share it. That God would create such a beautiful creature as a helper for a man, to walk beside, and to create herself, whether more humanity or to feed into the created all around her. Women, we are here for extraordinary purposes.
Today, celebrate all the women in your life. Women, celebrate other women. Notice the specialness breathed into each one by their creator. And let your life be on display for who you are first and foremost – a child of God – uniquely made and loved for this day and everyday you have breath in your lungs, to love, to show mercy, to speak into the life all around you.