What value we women in the church have! As a Canadian wife of a Polish pastor in Poland, I have come to realize the great role Christian women play.
Recently my husband and I were discussing what we would do if one of us died. My husband surprised me by telling me that without me he could never be a pastor. I could not help but wonder what makes me so valuable to him and his ministry. After all, I perform no VITAL functions. My time is spent cooking, cleaning, entertaining, listening to my husband, and going with him to visit people.
All too often, we, as women, measure our VALUE based on our performance of VITAL functions set by today's society.
We fight and scream and yell, like we are told to by secular women activists, to redeem our rights. We allow them to tell us that we are second-class citizens because ... we aren't performing some VITAL functions that are supposed to prove our VALUE.
My husband washes and irons the clothes, vacuums the floor, and peels the potatoes. He hugs me, kisses me, and tells mehe loves me several times a day. Should I assume he does not love me because he does not bring me flowers?
Women have fallen into a trap, We have allowed people to influence us to assume that we are inferior if we do not adhere to the image of today's woman. Many of us are leading stressful lives trying to be what we aren't meant to be; consequently our strengths and talents are beingburied beneath that stress.
We are what we think we are. If we allow people to tell us we are inferior if we aren't being super mom, super employee, and super wife, we will be inferior. Not because we are but because we THINK we are, and then we spend the rest of our lives trying to prove we aren't!
What great contentment can be found in choosing to be satisfied in the position we find ourselves in! We can truly reach our fullest potential when we can learn to make the best of every situation we're in, when we focus on what is important to us, not what society deems significant and VITAL.
Separated from my beloved church in Canada, I found myself married to a pastor in Poland. Even though it was my own choice, and I knew God was leading me, it was hard to be content with my situation. I had little money for clothes and necessities, and our food supply was scarce. (I lived in Poland one and a half years before I was able to get clothing other than some winter boots and a sweater!) I found it difficult to sit in church and Sabbath school and not understand what was being said. I was lonely and frustrated. During those tough times I asked God to teach me what I needed to know to help me make it through the day.
Today I am the author of one of the best-selling vegetarian cookbooks in Poland. I am invited to give cooking schools all over Poland. Newspaper articles have been written about me, and I have been invited to speak on talk shows. My life has changed from dull and lonely to widely exciting.
Does this mean that I am more valuable now than when I stayed home and kept house? By whose values am I measuring myself? My VALUE is not measured by what I do, where Ilive, or who I married, but rather my VALUE rests in whose child am, God's. I am the most important person in the world! I am God's ambassador, His beloved child—no matter what I do!
Women have incredible talents for nurturing people. There are some people who will only be reached by a woman's special touch. Many times I can give my husband insight into situations by what I have observed.
We all need to realize we are not in a battle over who is more important. The battle is between good and evil. We, Christian women, standing side-by-side with our Christian brothers, can become a winning team.
