The New Eve

I'm currently taking a Sunday morning class at my church called, "The New Eve." The class is about godly, authentic womanhood in the 21st century. I guess I had never really thought about that, so I was interested in learning more about it.

While sometimes Dr. Robert Lewis (he's the guy who's doing the class--via a DVD) sometimes comes across very strongly that every woman should get married, have kids, be a stay at home mom, etc, he's got some really good stuff to say. He talks about how women feel about themselves today (many are struggling with security, balance, trying to do it all, loneliness, raising children, saying 'no' etc.--and are fearing things like failing as a mother or wife, trusting God, missing out, divorce, insecurity, feeling God's love--just to name a few). He says that if we would just think about God's calling on our lives, instead of our own wants or desires (or listen to what the world tells us we should do or be), we'd live much more abundant lives and be able to figure out the issues of femininity, of motherhood, of a career, and of the freedom that our mom's generation worked so hard for us to get.

I didn't realize what a big issue this was until I started talking with some junior girls who are also taking the class. They are told (by parents, teachers, the world, or themselves) that they need to pick a major, pick a college, and be able to provide financially for themselves--without relying on family or a husband. One of the girls said that when people ask her that age old question--"what are you going to do with your life?--she replies that she simply wants to be a wife and mother. And they begin to ask her questions like, "What if your husband dies?" or "What if you don't get married right away?" or others like that.

I know that education is very important, but what happened to the high calling of motherhood? What happened to respecting women and their dedication to stay at home and raise productive, happy, well-adjusted human beings? Another one of the girls said, “I just don’t think I’m going to have time for a husband or a family.” She’s only 16 years old, and this is what she’s been taught to believe.

As the class has continued, Dr. Lewis has focused more on God’s individual calling on our lives—which may include being a mom AND a CEO. He wants us as women to ask ourselves hard questions like, “How do I please God in all this—is He glorified by me trying to do it all?” or “Do I just make the choices for my life, family, and profession based upon what the world tells me I should do?”

I have to confess, I have made choices for my life based upon what I wanted. Brad and I have been trying to get pregnant again, but as I think about it, I never once prayed about whether it was God’s will for us to add another child to our family. I only thought about the joy of another child, and holding a precious baby in my arms again.

Is it that we don’t trust God fully with our lives, or are so prideful that we don’t really care what He says, or haven’t really fully made Him LORD of our whole self? I don’t know which one it is for me, but I do know one thing—I WANT to know God’s calling on my life, and I WANT to serve Him whole-heartedly. I guess I’m just like every other Christian woman out there—trying to do it all to the best of my ability AND be a follower of Christ.