I have the great privlege of adding a great article written by Stephanie Smith of Moody Publishers. I thought this is an appropriate placement because it goes well with the content of this chapter. The article is what follows. I hope it blesses you.
Women Who Say Yes: Where the Revolution Begins
By: Stephanie S. Smith
I come from a family of what many would call “strong women.” To illustrate, I’ll pull a few snapshots from the family tree. First of all, meet my mother, who has been happily married to my father for 32 years and still goes by her maiden name. Her mother, who is as blonde and blue-eyed as they come, won the “Best Woman of the Year” award when she was in nursing school—from an African-American sorority. Then there’s Nana, on my dad’s side of the family, who has traveled to 150 countries…and counting. I also have a great-grandmother who was valedictorian of her class at Barnard, a top-ranking college for women at that time, when it was unusual for women to get a degree. This is the same woman who later became a Lieutenant in the New York City Ambulance Corps, safely transporting WWI soldiers from returning ships to NYC hospitals. She led a troupe of drivers and trained them to fix ambulance motors in her backyard, all the while in a dress down to her ankles.
These women, and others, have left a legacy I hope I can someday continue. But times have changed since they left their marks on society, and the public image of a “strong woman” has evolved significantly. A “strong woman” might be the successful career woman or the Sunday School teacher, depending on who you ask. Rosie the Riveter and Susie Homemaker have faded into the past, and a diverse array of female role models have taken their place.
The problem is that these models often offer conflicting messages. For example, the celebrity artist who speaks out against domestic violence becomes inconsistent when she also produces explicit music videos that exploit women nevertheless. Sadly, the church is not except from this confusion. There are both churches that bar women from praying aloud in the sanctuary, and churches who worship God as “She”.
In a culture where gender roles and feminine freedoms are ever-shifting, what is a woman supposed to look like, anyway?
This question, among others, is what brought over six thousand women together in Chicago to discuss, pray over, and explore. At this historical event in 2008, Joni Eareckson Tada, Janet Parshall, John Piper, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Mary Kassian and others spoke about what it means to be a woman according to God’s divine design. The conference has since spread into what is now known as the True Woman Movement, and Voices of the True Woman Movement: A Call to the Counter-Revolution is the written compilation of messages presented at this conference.
What I most loved about Voices of the True Woman Movement is that the lives of the authors are as much of an inspiration as their writing. Their personal stories illustrate the heart of their teaching as they delve into the Scriptural foundations of true womanhood, the cultural conceptions of true womanhood, and application for women to live after God’s own heart. Joni Eareckson Tada, for one, encourages women to view life’s setbacks as God’s refining process for His beloved children. And because I know Joni’s testimony of persevering despite her quadriplegic condition, I wholeheartedly believe her.
Neither does this book corner women into a category, on the contrary, the women who wrote it represent various situations in life. In this book I heard from women across the spectrum, women who are professors (Mary Kassian), stay-at-home moms (Janet Parshall), pastors’ wives (Karen Loritts), and single women who minister to their “spiritual children” (Nancy Leigh DeMoss). The contributors recognize that a woman is a woman regardless of her status in her family, career, or ministry. Like Esther, who is used as a prime example in the book, God has placed all of His daughters in positions of influence, whether that position is as a single or a married woman, a stay-at-home mom or a career woman, etc. Nancy Leigh DeMoss writes, “A true woman is more than a good wife and mother, a loyal friend and daughter. More than anything else, she is enthralled with the Lord Jesus Christ…He is center of her universe and her life revolves around Him.”
As a women’s ministry major in college, I spent years studying other people’s definitions of biblical womanhood. There is no end to the opinions of others over gender roles in the home and church. After a while, I avoided the conversation altogether because I grew weary of it, one circle will always consider you too extreme and another too conservative. And yet—I find the simple response of the Voices of the True Woman Movement to be refreshing: “A true woman says, ‘Yes, Lord.’”
That’s it.
A true woman is anyone who answers the Savior’s call with a ready, willing, yes. That was Esther’s response when God positioned her to save His people, it was Hannah’s response when she committed the life of her son to the temple, it was Mary’s response when the angel announced she would bear the Messiah. The authors take you through the lives of these women and others to show that the women who say “Yes, Lord!” are the ones who leave a lasting legacy.
The book quotes Clergyman John Angell James, “Every woman, by her virtue or vice: by her folly or her wisdom; by her levity or her dignity, is adding something to our national elevation or degradation…” Voices of the True Woman Movement recognizes this powerful influence in the hands of women and empowers them to use it for Christ. Rather than pointing fingers, this book speaks to the heart, the place where women can make the choice to say, “Yes, Lord!” and embrace whatever these words of surrender may bring.
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