Being Feminine in a Feminist World (part 2)

To see my critique of the Feminist movement and Part 1 of the blog, go here.


I really want to talk about what Biblical femininity looks like.  I think there are a lot of misconceptions about what the Bible teaches regarding what it means to be a woman and what our role is.  


Let me say what it is NOT and then contrast that with what it IS.  


What Biblical femininity is NOT: a woman must be in submission to a man...any man...whichever man is around.
What it IS: a woman must submit to her husband. (Eph. 5:22)  That is the only man that I must submit to, so I chose wisely.  And for the record, scripture tells us to submit to one another! (Eph 5:21) We shouldn't, as disciples of Christ, be looking out for our own interest, but the interest of others!  (Phil 2:4)


is NOT:  weak and helpless and needs a man to take care of her
IS: "She is clothed with strength and dignity" (prov. 31:25)  Don't get me wrong, I love that I have a husband who takes care of me, considers me, works to bring home an income so that I can buy things.  But that doesn't leave me weak, and certainly not helpless.  A godly woman is a woman who has both inner and outer strength!  Just look at the proverbs 31 woman...no where do you see that she is weak or dependent. 


is NOT: belittled because of anything
IS: honored because of her pious and modest behavior.  Is looked up to by other women as "having it all together." She is praised by her children and husband! And she is confident in her relationships because of her righteous dealings: honest and trustworthy.


is NOT: destined to live life wearing drab black dresses, covering her head, not wearing makeup or anything that makes her pleasing to the eye.  (There is an important note I want to make here.  If someone, because of their convictions, religious practices, or personal tastes, are described by the above comment, this is not a criticism of that, it is just a statement of my opinion that those things are not required of a godly woman by God.  Please, please take no offense)
IS: praised because of her womanhood and her beauty. (prov. 31:22, Song of Solomon chapter 1) She is not simply beautiful because of her outward appearance, but more importantly because of her Christlike character.(1Pet. 3:3-4)


is NOT: suppressed: sexually, personally, emotionally, or professionally!
IS: free from the negative consequences of promiscuous behavior, free from shame, free to be who God made her to be using whatever gifts God has given her!  And to have the help of the Creator of the Universe in using these gifts!


is NOT: controlled by her husband, by her lusts, by the culture, by a quest for beauty or youth, or by any human.
IS: controlled by the Holy Spirit and by herself (self-control) In other words, independent! 


So do you have real femininity or have you bought into the Feminist movement's definition?  


I wonder what you think of what I have written.  Do you agree/disagree?  There is so much more that I want to say regarding these topics, so there may be a part 3!  

Household Notebook: an overview

I have created (or rather re-created) my Household Notebook.  Do you have a Household Notebook?  Do you know what one is? It is basically a place to organize my job as household engineer!  A place to keep important stuff.   I decided I would share an overview of mine:

My sections in my notebook are as follows:
My Daily Docket : a one page summery that I complete for each day.  Click here to download my version...I LOVE it!  I adapted it from the one I found  here.
Routines: These are actually stuck to the inside cover of my notebook and include my A.M. and P.M routines
Financials: budgets, debt load worksheets, financial goals worksheets, and spending worksheets
To-dos: The master list that I use when things need to get done.  From this list I delegate, move to my weekly or daily to-do lists
Meal Time: My monthly menu plan, but you could also add a weekly menu planner and/or grocery lists.  Many people put in pantry/freezer storage inventory, too. Oh, and some put favorite recipes in here, but I have a recipe notebook in my kitchen.
Laundry: A stain remover guide
Emergency: An emergency list with numbers and info, you guessed it, in case of an emergency
Holiday: Maybe one of my favorite sections: has birthday planning sheets, and holiday gift budget planner
Blog: Eventually this will have a place to organize blog ideas and projects.
Projects: So far this just has my master project to-do list, but I will eventually have project/craft organizer worksheets in here, too
Yellow Pages:  place to store the family's important numbers.  No more running to the phone book or internet to find that one number that I used last month but can't remember the exact business name.
Ministry: My ministry schedule and lessons that I am using/working on.

Really, a household notebook should have a place for cleaning checklists (I have a full time maid so I don't have this section), a household inventory for insurance purposes, a place to keep warranties and receipts, school/activity schedules, medical info, babysitting info...the list could go on and on!   I am just getting started and may end up adding much more!

For more info, just google "household notebook" or some variation of that.
Here are links to the places I went to find the printables that I used:
Frugal Living
Buttoned Up
Martha Stewart
Organized Home

Being Feminine in a Feminist World (part 1)

Well...I thought I was being so creative in my title of this blog.  I have been mulling over writing something like this for a long time and this title fit so perfectly.  Then I go and google it to see what all was out there about this topic and I came across a mountain of writings/blogs/books/articles all by this name or some variation of it.  Oh, well. I'm not copying anyone, I'm just not that original!

I really struggle with writing blogs.  I have a list of like 10 different things that I want to blog about; some creative, some spiritual, some logistical, etc.  The problem is that I only get like 15min. at a time to write and it always seems like such a daunting task to write the whole thing at once.  And then there are pictures to get off the camera, organize, edit, and post.

So...here goes...something.  I am going to start this discussion and hope that someday I will be able to come back to finish everything that I want to say regarding the topic.

First, I want to mention my thoughts on Feminism as a whole...I want to hear back from you regarding these things.  Feminism as a movement for equality of women in the political, economic, social arenas is an extremely loaded concept.  Should women have equality in politics? Yes.  Should women have equality in the job market?  Yes.  Should women equality economically? Yes.  All of those things we have today (for the most part) because of the feminist movement that said the status quo of keeping women in there place by political and social "rules" was no longer acceptable.  Women are intelligent, capable, strong, economically savvy  and politically shrewd.  There is no reason that they shouldn't be able to participate in the market place in the same capacity as men.  They should have suffrage, equal pay for equal work, and should not suffer discrimination because they are women.  They should have the opportunity to pursue economic gain and should lose the stigma of "old maid" if they aren't married by 25.  

Let me tell you where Feminism has gone wrong: The idea that women's rights and women's roles are the same thing, that women are sexual beings (just as men are) and should have sexual liberties that have traditionally been afforded to men, and that in order to be strong, brave and independent, a woman must behave as a man does with the exception of flaunting and using our sexuality to our advantage.

The reality of the matter is that women and men are different.  We are NOT equal in roles and we are NOT equal in authority in a marriage or in the church.  The problem is how the feminist movement takes offense to this instead of celebrating it!!  Let me say that I would not be a man for all the money/power/authority/rights in the world.  I don't want that.  I like being a girl.  Being a woman. Being feminine. God, in the Bible, celebrates femininity!  God made us feminine!  We just need to know what that looks like!

 Click Part 2: What does being feminine look like?   to see the rest.