Hello everyone! After a long hiatus of no blogging, I am happy to return in time before Christmas to share with you what special meaning Christmas truly holds for me as a woman. If you have noticed, I love the topic of femininity and it's just a beautiful God-given gift to every woman that should be exclaimed over!
As Christmas approaches with all it's splendor and excitement, I go back to the story of Mary and her amazing example that she left on the pages of the Bible for us ladies to read and put into practice.
Here's an excerpt from Elizabeth Elliot's book The Essence of Femininity: A Personal Perspective.
The gospel story begins with the Mystery of Charity. A young woman is visited by an angel, given a stunning piece of news about becoming the mother of the Son of God. Unlike Eve, whose response to God was calculating and self-serving, the virgin Mary’s answer holds no hesitation about risks or losses or the interruption of her own plans. It is an utter and unconditional self-giving: “I am the Lord’s servant. . . . May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38). This is what I understand to be the essence of femininity. It means surrender. The gentle and quiet spirit of which Peter speaks, calling it “of great worth in God’s sight” (1 Peter 3:4), is the true femininity, which found its epitome in Mary, the willingness to be only a vessel, hidden, unknown, except as Somebody’s mother. This is the true mother-spirit, true maternity, so absent, it seems to me, in all the annals of feminism. “The holier a woman is,” wrote Leon Bloy, “the more she is a woman.” Femininity receives. It says, “May it be to me as you have said.” It takes what God gives—a special place, a special honor, a special function and glory, different from that of masculinity, meant to be a help. In other words, it is for us women to receive the given as Mary did, not to insist on the not-given, as Eve did. (Elizabeth Elliot "The Essence of Femininity A Personal Perspective Ch. 25)
It is hard to humbly and obediently say yes to a decision which will change your life. It is scary to not know what lies ahead of you. Neverthelss, with a full faith in God and a “May it be to me as you have said” on our lips, we will know that God is in control and He knows what He is doing. As a woman, remember Christmas as a special time to surrender to God what is unknown and use your feminine beauty for Christ's glory. With an obedient, humble and meek spirit, remember Mary's example and most of all glorify Christ as the true meaning of Christmas! May you and your family have a Merry Christmas!!! God bless!
As Christmas approaches with all it's splendor and excitement, I go back to the story of Mary and her amazing example that she left on the pages of the Bible for us ladies to read and put into practice.
Here's an excerpt from Elizabeth Elliot's book The Essence of Femininity: A Personal Perspective.
The gospel story begins with the Mystery of Charity. A young woman is visited by an angel, given a stunning piece of news about becoming the mother of the Son of God. Unlike Eve, whose response to God was calculating and self-serving, the virgin Mary’s answer holds no hesitation about risks or losses or the interruption of her own plans. It is an utter and unconditional self-giving: “I am the Lord’s servant. . . . May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38). This is what I understand to be the essence of femininity. It means surrender. The gentle and quiet spirit of which Peter speaks, calling it “of great worth in God’s sight” (1 Peter 3:4), is the true femininity, which found its epitome in Mary, the willingness to be only a vessel, hidden, unknown, except as Somebody’s mother. This is the true mother-spirit, true maternity, so absent, it seems to me, in all the annals of feminism. “The holier a woman is,” wrote Leon Bloy, “the more she is a woman.” Femininity receives. It says, “May it be to me as you have said.” It takes what God gives—a special place, a special honor, a special function and glory, different from that of masculinity, meant to be a help. In other words, it is for us women to receive the given as Mary did, not to insist on the not-given, as Eve did. (Elizabeth Elliot "The Essence of Femininity A Personal Perspective Ch. 25)
It is hard to humbly and obediently say yes to a decision which will change your life. It is scary to not know what lies ahead of you. Neverthelss, with a full faith in God and a “May it be to me as you have said” on our lips, we will know that God is in control and He knows what He is doing. As a woman, remember Christmas as a special time to surrender to God what is unknown and use your feminine beauty for Christ's glory. With an obedient, humble and meek spirit, remember Mary's example and most of all glorify Christ as the true meaning of Christmas! May you and your family have a Merry Christmas!!! God bless!
2 comments:
Very nice post, Nadia, but i'm a little disappointed because i thought you were gonna share with us what special meaning Christmas truly holds for ME as a man...lol, jk ;) (wow, the emoticons might not turn out right in this post from what i'm seeing as i type, so let me tell you what that was - a semi-colon and an ending parenthesis) Lo and behold, i just found out that the singular form of parentheses is parenthesis. Pretty cool. But anyway, i'm sure you realize i'm just kidding, just don't tell Luke cuz he may mistake it for pride ;) although i have long since discovered that i have nothing to be proud of that i have not received from the Lord...
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