A Feminist by Nature

The other day the girls and I were recounting God's blessings and help to our family through 2010. We were talking about Matt's ordination which prompted Stella to ask, "Can girls be pastors?" "No...", I said, but was interrupted mid-sentence by, "What?! Why not?!" The part of me that is still being sanctified wanted to criticize God's way and affirm my little girl and encourage her to be  "liberated" and "independent." But, thankfully, because God is freeing my feminist heart from the foolishness of the world's way, I said, "The Bible says..." but once again, I was interrupted by an indignant, "That men are better than women?!" So I continued, "No, not at all! The Bible teaches that God made men and women equal in worth. But God has given us different jobs to do...and we have to trust that God's way is best." She was obviously disappointed.

I'm sure this is the first of many conversations we'll have about this subject. Not because there is anything extraordinarily rebellious about Stella above any other girl. But because she's a daughter of Eve - the first woman to believe the Devil's lie and question that God's plan for her was best.

We as women, and humankind in general, need to keep being cured of our suspicions of God. Milton Vincent says, "[T]he gospel changes my view of God's commandments, in that it helps me to see the heart of the Person from whom those commandments come. When I begin my train of thought with the gospel, I realize that if God loved me enough to sacrifice His Son's life for me, then He must be guided by that same love when He speaks His commandments to me. Viewing God's commands and prohibitions in this light, I can see them for what they really are: friendly signposts from a heavenly Father who is seeking to love me through each directive, so that I might experience His very fullness forever."

And I'll need to read that again...and again...when I'm tempted to indignantly question God's wisdom. Stella revealed openly what my heart often says to itself in a more "mature" way. May God help us both to submit to His loving ways and start our thinking with the gospel.