Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

proverbs 31

Why I'm a Proverbs 31 woman (but it's not what you might think)

I’m a Proverbs 31 woman.

You know how Proverbs 31 gets a lot of attention (both negative and positive) and women strive to live up to this seemingly impossible list of ideals? Yeah, that’s not what I’m talking about.

Before the famous part of that passage are these words:

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.” Proverbs 31:8-9

I have been drawn to and inspired by these words for as long as I can remember. I am a writer to the depths of my inner self, and when I feel paralyzed to do something, I return to these words and know that even if I can’t do, I can always tell.

I’ll admit: I’m not always good and faithful with this. A couple of years ago, I signed up with an organization called The Exodus Road to use my blogging voice and audience to tell people about the awesome work they are doing to rescue people from trafficking and sex slavery. And then I sort of stopped, not because I stopped believing in it, but because I got busy with other things. Badge_IBlogForFreedom

Well, I’m glad to say this partnership is back, and in the coming months, I will blog once a month (on the 8th or 9th of the month) about trafficking and sex slavery. When I first joined The Exodus Road blogging team, I wrote this post about why I care about this issue. You can find my previous posts under the category “The Exodus Road.” I’m mildly embarrassed by my blog silence on this issue, but I’m grateful for the re-launch of this amazing opportunity.

I respect what The Exodus Road is doing. They are passionately pursuing freedom for those enslaved and they are partnering with organizations around the world to accomplish this mission. They are changing lives and telling real stories of real people being rescued. It’s not just a fad for them.

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I’m humbled by their work. And I don’t want to be indifferent to it.

Because it’s easy to go about my life and not think about people who are not free. I live in America, the land of the free, so my worldview is a bit skewed. But in other parts of the world, there is no freedom. And in the grand scheme of humanity, if there are enslaved people somewhere, then I, too, am enslaved.

I might not be able to go to the places where investigators are gathering evidence on traffickers, but I can tell you about the work they are doing. And I might not personally know any victims of trafficking but I can tell your their stories. You might tire of hearing about it, but my hope is to keep telling you about this issue so that none of us forget that there are real people in our world who are really captives.

I know I can’t do everything, but I know I can do something.

Telling–it’s my something. It’s a start.

And it’s better than nothing.

I hope you’ll follow along with these stories and find your something, too.

Man! I feel like a woman: Review of A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans

In my Shania Twain phase, years and years ago, I remember a song by this title (Man! I Feel Like a Woman) that, intentionally or otherwise, suggested a woman who wanted to “do what she dared” had to let loose and, essentially, act like a man.

biblical womanhoodI was never one to notice sexist messages or inequality. Recently, though, I’m seeing it everywhere, thanks in part to influences like Rachel Held Evans’ new book A Year of Biblical Womanhood. (Like the kid in The Sixth Sense tells Bruce Willis, “I see dead people,” I feel like telling those I meet, “I see gender inequality!” I’m sure that wouldn’t be awkward at all.)

I stumbled onto Rachel’s blog when one of her posts was referenced in a class my husband was taking at seminary. He left the link open, I read it, and I went back for more. Then a friend quoted from her first book in a sermon, and I decided to subscribe to her posts. She was talking up the release of this, her latest, and the premise intrigued me. In it, Rachel sought to live out in a year all the biblical “rules” in the Bible regarding women. She called her husband “Master,” she kept quiet in church, she slept in a tent on her front lawn during her period. And while she has been highly criticized for making a mockery of the Bible and womanhood, I found her year of biblical womanhood a courageous act on behalf of all women.

Rachel takes one for the team, not to mock women or the God who created them, but to elevate women to their equal standing with men. Through her year of living biblically, she honors women by reclaiming Proverbs 31 from the “to-do” list it has become and exposes gender bias that has become unequivocal truth in some denominations.

I laughed out loud while reading the book. I cried reading stories of South American women who have lived hard lives to save their families. I read passages out loud to my husband when I was moved, tickled or outraged. (I was all three.) In one case, this was to my benefit. After learning that Jewish men are the ones who memorize Proverbs 31 and recite it in celebration of their wives, and that “woman of valor” — eshet chayil, in Hebrew — is a blessing, my husband has started to say this to me for little things I’ve done or for no particular reason at all.

Whatever you’ve heard about this book, good or bad, you’ve got to read it yourself. Rachel is witty, passionate, honest and serious about the Bible. Which is why she wrote the book: to free women from misconceptions about their roles in God’s kingdom because we’ve taken the Bible literally when we shouldn’t have.

On her blog, Rachel honors women of valor regularly by sharing their stories. You can find the series here.

This is one takeaway I have from the book: honoring women for their acts of valor, whatever they may be. So, don’t be surprised if I shout Hebrew at you or randomly hail you as “woman of valor.” Because we’re sisters and we need all the encouragement we can get.