a view through annie's eyes

Whatever your day holds, whatever obstacles you face, as a woman, it is just plain hard sometimes. I wouldn’t want to be a guy either, for a whole other set of reasons, but being a woman by definition means we care more than we probably should, we take care of everyone else often at our own expense, and we usually have a list of reasons why what we did that day was not enough. I remember when Beth Moore decided to call her Esther study, It’s Tough Being a Woman. To be honest, I was a little disappointed. I thought surely it would be heroic and triumphant like “For Such a Time as This” or romantic, like “One Night With the King.” Arguably the best female hero of the Bible, Esther’s courage is hard to muster, especially for a woman. She wins the lives of her people as only a woman could, with God’s favor and her grace and beauty. Over the course of the ten week study, I finally realized It’s Tough Being a Woman might be a bigger theme than any of the proposed titles I could imagine.

At this point in my own life, being a middle-aged Godly woman is a huge challenge. To act consistently with grace and compassion, to be an example to younger women, to live victoriously with strength, and yet retain beauty and softness is a constant struggle. The balance has shifted. Being feminine is being weak. Being domestically inclined is seen as a wasted career. We all know these things and I don’t have the answers. I do see how God’s plan works for us to be who we were called to be and be genuine to that calling, whatever that calling looks like. All this thinking makes me tired, so I’ll just close with telling you I get to go somewhere fun tonight. Point of Grace and Selah will be in concert and guess who is going to be there? Me and two of my best music-loving friends! We girls need to stick together like that. Hope you get a Girls’ Night Out soon. You earned it!

This guy was the delight of the concert tonight. His name is Jason Catron. Well, Selah always has my heart, but we had four separate performers tonight. Besides Jason Catron and Selah, Point of Grace had the pianist from Avalon and he sang two amazing songs also. What an evening of worship. Here is a taste: