Thanks for all of your prayers and good wishes!

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Church Overseers: The Elect Lady

She fell more than sat on the cushions after sending yet another charlatan out of her house. This one yelling that she was betraying the Messiah and would burn in hell forever for not accepting the stranger and his perverted version of the Gospel. She had the impression he was more disappointed in losing the luxuries her house could provide than losing the opportunity to teach. When she first opened her house for the church, there were not that many false preachers or people in it just to see what they could mooch off of her. Most of the itinerant preachers and evangelists were good honest people who really did want to tell the simple truth of Jesus Christ the Messiah. How he loved us all and loved to the point of death. How God in love raised Jesus back from the dead, and how Jesus’ followers were now to share that same love with everyone they met. She also missed the missionary couples who used to be more frequent visitors at her door. More and more the itinerant preachers were men who were single. And more and more of them were preaching against marriage because of the imminent return of Jesus. A servant came into the room with a young man who looked like he had just gotten off the road. She sighed. Another one. She rose to her feet, and said, “What can I do for you?” The man handed her a letter. “This is from the Elder,” the man said, “he told me to get it here as quickly as I could.” Her face lit up in a smile. Another believer, and better than that one from the Elder. She told her servant to get refreshments for the young man then bade the man to sit and tell her all about her old friend.

In John’s second epistle we meet another woman who is a church overseer, the elect lady: “The elder to the elect lady* and her children, whom I love in the truth,” (2 John 1). John wrote the elect lady to continue doing what she learned so long ago: “I ask you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning, let us love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning–you must walk in it” (2 John 5-6). But he also warned her of deceivers that were trying to convince people Jesus never had a physical body, and not to let them into her house to deceive the church that met there. She was the one who safeguarded the flock of Jesus in her city, and the Elder trusted her to discern the deceivers from true followers of Christ and not let them confuse or lead astray any who meet in her house.

The phrase “elect lady” is an interesting one. “Lady” is used to translate the Greek word kuria, and this is the only time it appears in the New Testament (vv. 1, 5). Its male counterpart is kurios, which is translated as “lord” or “master.” The male form refers to the head of the household, a guardian, or trustee (See Galatians 4:1 where Paul used the word to describe someone who owned an estate and was a guardian or overseer). People who owned and oversaw slaves were also called kurios. Not only is this woman a lady with authority but she is eklektos: she has been called or chosen for her position of authority. In Beyond the Curse, Aida Besançon Spencer gives “elect lady” an alternate translation: “the woman chosen to be master” (p. 109). This woman is called “master” and “chosen,” and she is given instructions to safeguard the church against false teachings.

For centuries the church has told women that we are much easier to deceive than men because of one verse in Bible: “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor” (2 Timothy 2:14). It doesn’t matter that the writer of this epistle was giving instructions to a problematic congregation that was having trouble figuring out what be a Christian met, let alone living like one. It doesn’t matter that this verse is only one verse in the entire Bible, and that the Bible has quite a bit to say about wise women who made better decisions than the men in their lives did. Oh no this verse is in the Bible and therefore has to be taken literally for all time, amen.

But two books after 1 Timothy in 2 John we find a letter addressed to a woman encouraging her not to let false doctrine infiltrate the church meeting in her home. From the beginning of the church women guarded the church from those who would deceive the church, like the Elect Lady and Priscilla. Women today are called to do the same thing in their churches.

* There is a debate about who the elect lady is. Is she the overseer of the church or is “elect lady” a metaphor for the church? It would be redundant to address the church twice as “elect lady and her children.” In both 1 and 2 John, “the elder” uses “children” to designate the church he is writing to (1 Jn. 2:1). “Elect lady” is singular and “children” are plural also pointing to different set(s) of people. In 3 John the almost identical greeting is given as 2 John: “The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth” (v. 1). Given the uniformity of John’s writing the elect lady then would be the overseer of a church that met in her house.

Related Post
Career Women of the Bible: Church Overseers, Ministers and Patrons

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Are there times you unplug? What do you do when on day’s you’ve decided to take a break from the computer? I’m thinking of napping and reading a book tomorrow afternoon. Well…after I get done with meetings at church.

Happy weekend everyone!

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Company Girls are what Rachel calls those of us who join her sanctuary-making. And on Friday we all get together for coffee! Write a blog post about your week and then go to Rachel’s to link up and read what everyone else is doing. Don’t have a blog? No worries! If you want to join us for coffee, leave a comment on Rachel’s post.

Why haven’t I been spending time with the Company Girls? Because I have been making major progress on my book proposal! Whoo-hoo! I am over half-way done with it! The second sample chapter is almost done, then it’s editing the introduction, updating my market research and outline, and writing the query letter (which will probably be the hardest thing to do). It’s almost there girls! I can’t believe it. I’ve procrastinated on it so long, but I got help. Cairene MacDonald at Third Hand Works helps creative types like me get organized and create systems that work for our right brained wackiness. She just launched a new class called Project Front Burner. It does exactly what it says it does: Cairene shows you how to set up systems to do the things you’ve been putting off and putting off and putting off…. I’ve been in the class since the beginning of July for the express purpose of finishing the proposal. Once a week we call in and tell Cairene our goals and get support. We work for an hour then check in, get advice, get support then work for another hour. The last time we call we tell what we did and we celebrate! I did just start out only working on the proposal on Wednesday, but through two months of the class, I am now working on it 3-4 times a week. The information Cairene gives us for how to do this has been exactly what I needed to organize this project and make progress. The best part is the system I learned from her is going to work for me with blogging and other writing projects.  Thank you Cairene for helping me turn The Damn Book Proposal into the The Damned Good Book Proposal. We’re almost there. For those of you who need help to break through a project you’ve been procrastinating on, I highly recommend Cairene’s class. Even if you don’t take the class, follow her blog.(This is not an affiliate link, and I’m not getting paid to say this: the class is just that good.)

The other reason I haven’t been around Home Sanctuary much is The 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge that The SITS Girls put on. It just finished up this week, and I still have eight days to go. But I am blogging more regularly, and I am making a plan for this blog instead of just blogging whenever. It’s been a lot of work, and I haven’t always kept up that well (over 500 bloggers accepted the challenge). But I have set up systems (hear that Cairene!), and I fell the most purposeful I’ve felt when it comes to this space. I’ve clarified what I want to do here, and how to get it done. The SITS Girl is making the Building a Better Blog a regular feature on their BlogFrog site for those of you who are interested in joining in. Don’t worry several new people have jumped on board to begin, and there’s always us stragglers working our way through too.

This summer hasn’t been all work. I’ve enjoyed some beautiful walks, went swimming both at a friends pool, and the beach (OK I got into Lake Michigan up to my knees–the water was cold!). I went on a wonderful weekend retreat with our church’s women’s group, my in-laws visited and we went to the Printer’s Row Book Fair, and I’ve preached. I’ve also read some good books, and am ecstatic that Eureka and Warehouse 13 are back on.

So how’s you summer going? Have you made major progress on a bear of a project? Have you and your kiddos taken any adventures? Read a good book lately? Let us know in the comments.

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Mary counted up the money her servant brought her from Magdala from her business there. She exported dried and salted fish to the rest of Israel as well as the Gentile areas around the Sea of Galilee. The last couple of months had been good for the business. Mary was glad because they were running low on funds Jesus needed for his itinerant ministry. The money seemed to go faster and faster; she began to wonder about Judas carrying the money bag for the group. Mary started to follow Jesus a few months ago after he healed her from seven demons. They plagued her since her husband died. She had been able to function and keep them at bay for a long time and succeeded in taking over her husband’s business. It hadn’t been that hard: after all she helped her husband with the business after they were married. But there had been a learning curve, especially dealing with the merchants who shipped her fish. She smiled. She was one of the best hagglers in Magdala now.

All of that had changed when she met Jesus. By that time, she was on the verge of going mad. She fought and fought the voices, but they won. All she heard was what they told her: her husband’s death was her fault, she’d bankrupt the business, why was she still alive? She didn’t deserve to live. Look at how everyone looks at you. She became a hermit. Her faithful servant kept the business running and lied for her. He told people who asked she was traveling, spending some time in Jerusalem and Alexandria. She hadn’t left her house for months when she heard Jesus was in town. Sitting by her window, where she could hear news, but not be seen, she heard of the excorisms. This prophet was able to cast demons out of people. For the first time in a year she felt a twinge of hope. May be it didn’t have to be this way. One day people crowded outside her house and talked about Jesus. He must be near by. Mary made a decision. She put on her widow’s weeds and covered her face with her veil. Steeling herself and taking a deep breath, she slipped out of the door into the crowd then she started pushing her way through the crowd in the direction everyone walked in. Slipping between people and ducking under arms, she finally made it to the front of the crowd. When she felt like she had a shred of courage, she looked up. Jesus was looking straight at her.

Suddenly the voices went crazy in her head: No not him! He’s the Son of the God! He’ll cast us into the abyss! Run you whore run! Mary grabbed her head and screamed. Words came flying out of her mouth but she didn’t know what she was saying. She heard a quiet voice, quiet but full of authority. She never heard such authority before. She stood straight up, and everything was quiet. Not just the crowds. Her head was quiet. The voices were gone. She wasn’t mad anymore. Looking into the eyes of the man who freed her, she knew who he was. In front of her stood the Messiah himself. The Redeemer of Israel. She fell to the ground and said, “My lord.” Gentle hands raised her up and he said, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

That had been a year ago. Mary knew that wherever he went, she would follow. She ran home, and her servant was ecstatic to see her back to her normal self. After she told him what happened, she put him in charge of the business, packed a bag and followed Jesus.

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Women at the Time of the Bible by Miriam Feinberg Vamosh

Women at the Time of the Bible is an indespensable guide of the ordinary lives that ordinary women lived in the Bible. Author Miriam Feinberg Vamosh has lived in Israel for 40 years, and she is a tour educator who specializes in pilgrimages in the Holy Land. In addition to writing, she also lectures. This is a well researched book that is perfect for the regular person that wants to know more about the daily lives of their spiritual foremothers.

Feinberg Vamosh literally puts us in the shoes of Biblical women as she shows us their lives in beautiful prose and amazing full-color pictures. The chapters include:

• The Household: Home, Hearth and Beyond
• It’s Never Done: Women’s Work
• Under Caring Wings: Motherhood
• Ladies who Lament: Professional Mourners
• A Teacher for Life: Women and Learning
• Standing out, Speaking Out: Women’s Leadership

She also covers betrothal and marriage, how women worshiped, and the final chapter is on women who lived at the margins of society: prostitutes, mediums, seductresses, and loners. Each chapter ends with a portrait of a woman who personifies the chapter. The portraits are well written narratives of women like Martha, Sarah, Rahab, and Abigal showing us new insights into their lives.

The full color pictures on each page of the book help the reader to see how these women lived, and pictures of present day nomads show, that in some places, life has not changed much from biblical times. Feinberg Vamosh has firmly anchored this book in archealogical finds, history, sociological studies, and the biblical accounts to help us step into the ancient world of our foremothers.

My only quibble with the book was the price. I ordered if off Amazon.com, and I was expecting a bigger book for the price of $19.99, but the quibbling was soon silenced as I began reading the book and marvelling at the pictures. Take it from me: the book is worth the price. Feel free to click on my affiliate link to check out the book, and you can see inside of it at Amazon.

What are some of your favorite books about the women of the Bible? Any book open your eyes to see these women more clearly and show you something new on their part in sacred history?

This post was written for the Day 28, Post a review challenge at The SITS Girls #31 Days to Better Blogging challenge.

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Thank you everyone for the wonderful comments you left on why I’m not having children. You are an incredible bunch of women, and I’m so happy you found your way here. Thank you for all the love and support in the decision I have made.

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Ronna Detrick

Ronna Detrick created one of my favorite places online: RENEGADEconversations. She provides a safe place for faith, the feminine, and telling your truth. The thing I love about Ronna is that she admits how hard telling your truth is. Everybody always tells you to be yourself and say it like it is, and they make it sound like it’s such an easy thing to do. Of course, for those of us it’s not easy for (i. e. all of us), we wonder what’s wrong with us. Why can’t we be ourselves and tell our truth like everyone else? Ronna has created a space for those of us who call bullshit on the “just be you” people, who say it like it’s as easy as ordering a burger with fries. At RENEGADEconversations we talk about how hard faith, the feminine, and telling the truth is. We talk about how it’s sometimes hard to reconcile these three things in our lives.

In her last two posts Ronna asked two questions: what are you saying no to and what are you saying yes to? Ronna points out that what we say no to is often more telling of who we are and what we value more than what we say yes to. We can’t say yes to everything, or we never get anything done. What we say no to opens up the space we need for the things we really want to say yes to. We have to say no to make room. Here are a few of the nos I came up with:

• Spending so much time online (particularly on Twitter and Facebook)
• Watching so much TV
• Fear
• Thinking I can’t make money writing
• Procrastinating

I want to say no to these things, so I can make room in my life for what I really want to do. This is what I want to say yes to:

• More time writing
• Finish writing books I’ve started to write
• Figuring out how to monetize my writing
• Time with My Hubby
• Time with friends
• Yoga and exercise

What about you? What things do you want to say yes to? What are the desires locked deep down in your heart that you want to make room for? In order to make room for your yesses, what nos do you need to say? What boundaries do you need to draw to make room for your desires?

If you have a few minutes, please pay Ronna a visit. I promise you will not be disappointed.

[Here is The SITS Girls 31 Days to Building a Better Blog challenge update: with this post I knocked out Day 23 Call to Action, Day 25 Ask a question and Day 26 Improve a Blog. I'm doing a pretty good job of catching up and keeping up.]

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Martha and Mary by Denis Maurice

If you like to garden or plant flowerbeds, there is a lot to do in the spring. There is getting the soil ready and planting, fertilizing, mulching, and all the watering. For awhile there is a flurry of activity then it all settles down. Aside from some weeding and watering, there is not a lot to do until it’s time to harvest. But if the watering and weeding aren’t done then there will be no harvest. It can be tedious and mundane, but the tedious and mundane must be done in order for all the work in the spring to pay off. The church year is set up the same way. We have just come out of the flurry of activity that began on the first Sunday of Advent. We have been through Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and now Pentecost. We celebrated the events of Jesus’ life and the birth of the church–all the high holy days have come and gone. And this Sunday begins what the church year calls Ordinary Time. This time of the year is called Ordinary Time because the order of services in liturgical churches does not vary from the regular schedule. From the Sunday after Pentecost to the Sunday before Advent, this is the watering and weeding time of the church year. There are’t any high holy days to celebrate and a lot of activity to be involved in, but just as in our gardening, what we do this time of the year will determine how well we worship and celebrate during the high activity times in the church.

In Luke 10:38-43 we meet two sisters who can give us some ideas of how we can spend Ordinary Time in order to be ready for the high activity time when it rolls back around later this year.

This has always been one of my favorite stories because of the intimacy of it: Jesus is hanging out with friends in their home–just like we do.

First we’re going to give Martha her due–all of us would be doing the same exact thing if Jesus came over to visit us. And if Jesus and His disciples ate anything like Pastor Jonathan we’re talking a lot of food.

One way to look at this story is to put the sisters on opposite poles–Martha is the doer; Mary is the one being with Jesus. There’s only one problem with looking at the story this way: none of us live in a world where we can divide our lives into either doing or being–we need both. So did Mary and Martha. The Martha things have to be done: we need to eat and clean and do laundry, and all of those other wonderful normal life things. Let’s face it, we can’t sit around all day being filled with glory: life does happen. And the same is true in the church: there are things that have to be done. Outreach, evangelism, and hospitality are a few of the Martha things the church needs to do. So we really can’t polarize the two sisters the way most people want to. Yes, prayer and devotion are needed, but the natural outflow of time spent with Christ is service to others. Martha and Mary are two sides of one coin.

Going back to the observation that this Sunday begins Ordinary Time–we have just ended the season in the church that is Marth’s season. There has been a lot of activity, and we have done a lot. But now begins Ordinary Time–the time of watering and waiting–Mary’s season. The question is will we switch gears? Although Mary is the one who is lifted up and admired for choosing the best part, and Martha is the sister we shake our heads over, most of us in our day-to-day lives act more like Martha than we do Mary. Or anyway I do. When we get busy it’s easier to drop the Mary part of our lives. Most of the time when we get busy our devotional life is the first thing to suffer. Because there again, the Martha things–like eating–have to be done.

As we begin the season in the church called Ordinary Time what can we do to make sure that we are watering what has been planted during all the activity of Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost? The first thing Mary did was stop and sit. She left the activity of the kitchen, went and sat at Jesus’ feet. The first thing we need to do is decide when we are going to stop and spend time with Jesus. The next thing Mary did was listen. Now we normally equate this with devotional time: reading the Bible and praying, and that’s fine. That is one way to read this story, but there is another way. This is more than just “quiet time with Jesus.”

Martha and Mary by He Qi

In Jesus’ day and age women were not taught the Bible. In fact, one rabbi of the time said it was more profitable to teach your dog the Scripture than your wife. In this time to sit at a rabbi’s feet meant that you were receiving formal training with him as his disciple. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet with the other disciples, and Jesus taught her as he taught them. This was formal religious education–not just quiet time. Relax. I’m not going to suggest that everyone go to seminary. But this does mean we should be studying the Bible. So may be part of the water and waiting time of this season should be a little in-depth Bible study. It might also be a good time to read about what others have said about Jesus and following him. Some of the more modern writers include Henri Nouwen, Marva Dawn, and Susan Muto. But don’t be afraid to dive into the old fogeys either: Augustine, Hildegard von Bingen, Benedict, or Teresa of Avila. Madeline L’Engle said that “Faith is best expressed in story.” Some of the best theology you will read anywhere can be found in novels: John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Hannah Hurnard’s Hinds Feet on High Places and Mountains of Spice, C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, any book by Madeline L’Engle. I couldn’t be the Tolkein freak I am if I forgot The Hobbit and The Lord of the Ring trilogy.

I know I’ve just given you a lot, but I like having options, so I like giving a few as well. As you’re thinking about this summer and the things you would like to do to draw closer to Jesus as Mary did, remember why we are stopping, sitting, listening, and learning. We are doing all of this to know him. We are setting this time aside to know Godde.

In the end, I don’t think we need to polarize the two sisters as much as we do. Martha and Mary can be brought together. This was done a few hundred years ago by a monk named Brother Lawrence. Brother Lawrence joined a monastery because he wanted to devote his time to quiet prayer and meditation. Once in the monastery guess where Brother Lawrence found himself? He was assigned to run the kitchen. So much for quiet. But in the middle of all of his activity, getting up early to collect eggs, haggling at the marketplace, picking veggies, and fixing meals, he discovered that Godde was with him in all the noise and busyness of his life. He said, “The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clutter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess GOD in as great tranquillity as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Sacrament.”

I saw this growing up with my mom. Mom would be out in the kitchen making supper when I would hear her start to hum hymns, and I knew she was praying. She still does it: I go home, and I’ll hear her out in the kitchen. And I wait. Then it begins: the humming and the praying. I find I do the same thing when I’m cooking in my kitchen.

As we make time to do the Mary things: sit, listen, and learn, we’ll find being aware of Godde’s presence in the ordinary busyness of our lives becomes more and more normal. We’ll also find we don’t have to be either Martha or Mary; at different times we will be both. There are times we will be called to spend time with Godde alone. There will be other times we are busy serving our families, friends, church, and community. These two sides of life should move naturally in and out of each other. As we spend time with Godde, she will give us the desire to serve. As we serve and run low on resources, we go back to Godde for fresh indwelling.

As we go into communion I want to read the Brother Lawrence quote again: “The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clutter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess GOD in as great tranquillity as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Sacrament.” We are getting ready to receive the Blessed Sacrament–communion. As you take this time to spend with Godde, ask her to remind you of this moment through your busy week, and to make you more aware of her presence in the busyness of your life as she made her presence known to Brother Lawrence in the busyness of his kitchen.

This post was originally published in June 2007. I breathed new life into it for Day 21 in The SITS Girls 31 Days to Building a Better Blog Challenge.

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For some reason the idea that not all people, including plenty of women, have the desire to become parents, and more specifically, the idea that not all people who can have children, should, remain two of the most taboo things any person, particularly any woman, can say out loud. While endless media coverage has been devoted to the so-called “mommy wars” between working moms and stay at home moms and those who are pro-choice and those who are not, the real gulf, is one so controversial that the media hardly covers it at all: the gulf between those who do not wish to become parents and everyone else who thinks that by shear of virtue of being on this planet and not being a serial killer, you should.

I grew up in a secular world that assumed I would have kids because I’m a woman, and I grew up in a sacred world that assumed the same. In fact, the Evangelical/Fundamental tradition I grew up in told me my highest calling in life was to be a wife and mother. By my early 30s I wasn’t sure I wanted to be married or have children. I had spent a year in Barcelona in 1997, and I liked the freedom of being single. I loved the idea that I could pick up and leave tomorrow if that’s what Godde wanted me to do. I loved my freedom. I was not sure marriage and children were worth what it would cost me. I changed my mind about marriage (I am happily married to my best friend), but I did not change my mind about having children. We are not having children, not because we can’t, but because we don’t want to. I’m ready to go off the birth control pill and decided it was time to just fix what I consider to be a problem: the possibility (however slight) that I might get pregnant. Tuesday I am going in for a tubal ligation. I am relieved. Not only will I get off the pill, there will be no more pregnancy fears. If I was still in my former tradition I probably wouldn’t say anything about the surgery. Or if I did, the automatic response would be: “Well you can always adopt.” Not having kids–choosing not to have kids–is not a conscious option in my former circles.

Now I go to church with two other married woman who made the decision not to have children (and there is another couple who don’t have children–I don’t know if they chose that or it just happened that way). Both of them are on the other side of 50 and have no regrets that they did not have children. The church I attend is fine with our decision not to have children. They don’t treat us like errant children who aren’t getting in line to go to recess. I no longer hear, “Oh you’ll change your mind” in that voice denoting someone patting your head because you’re the silliest, little kid they ever saw. I know how lucky I am. Even in the most progressive and liberal Protestant churches the assumption is, if you’re a woman, you’ll have children.

I was reminded when Elena Kagan was nominated to the Supreme Court how taboo it was for a woman not to choose to have children. As Keri Goff points out in her article:

Every major profile of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addressed the fact that they do not have children, as if it represents some boat they missed on the world tour known as life? Not to mention the veiled (and not so veiled) references about their sexuality that permeate cyberspace. As though no children = gay by default.

Could a political couple, who chose not to have children, even get elected in our country with its obsession over “family values” (whatever that is; hard to tell with all the family-values politicians committing adultery or some kind of fraud)? So with trepidation I confess that I do not want to have children, and that I am taking steps to make sure there are no future surprises. I know it’s the right thing for me and my family, and yes, my husband and I do make a family, children or no children. I grew tired of narrow definitions of family a decade ago when no one in society or church would recognize that I was part of a family, even if I wasn’t married. It didn’t seem to matter that I was a daughter, sister, aunt, and niece. What I wasn’t was all that mattered: I wasn’t a wife or mother. I still find this to be true now that I’m married. My husband and I aren’t a “real family” because we don’t want children. It’s not enough that we’re husband and wife.

I know there are those who will think I am selfish for not having children, and you’re right. I am selfish. I know how much time and energy it takes to raise kids. I know how large of an investment it is, and there is no return policy. I do not want to spend my time and energy raising kids. I want to spend my time and energy writing books. I am going to give birth and create new life: I’m just going to stick to giving birth in a metaphorical and spiritual sense.

I keep thinking that, of all places this should be OK is within the church. After all, Jesus redefined “family” in his teachings. For him family was not your biological kin but those who obeyed Godde: “But to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ And pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother’” (Matthew 12:48-50). It should be fine for a Christian woman not have to have kids to fully follow the calling Jesus placed on her life, but it isn’t. It’s assumed that all other callings will be subsumed under The Call to Motherhood. My only response is no. My highest calling is not to be a mother. My highest calling is to be a writer. I can’t even say that my calling to be a wife beats out my call to write. I’ve been a writer ever since I could write (a good 34 or 35 years now), and I was making up stores before I could write them down. I’ve only been a wife for four years. This idea that I should suppress who I really am–a writer–to be something I am not and have no desire to be–a mother–is just un-Christlike considering what Jesus thought of biological families and how he treated women, especially single women.

I am glad that I found a church that does not believe every woman’s highest calling is to be a mother. I’m glad I’m in a place that recognizes my gifts and talents and encourages me to use them to build Godde’s kingdom in our world. Because there are plenty of Godde’s children that need our love and care who are not part of any other family. I’m hoping that my writing reaches a few of these people and draws them closer to Godde.

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