Advent - Guest Post

 

HOME OUR LATEST SUBSCRIBE Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Why Advent Is Wonderful for Women Imagine yourself as a woman born centuries before Jesus                        came to earth as a baby. You have no cultural or political                        rights to speak of and your safety is tied up entirely in                              your relationship with your father, brothers,                                                  or husband. But then, you hear the words of a prophet named Isaiah. He describes                        God forming a servant in his mother’s womb who will bring freedom.                        Isaiah says that God labors like a woman for his people’s salvation,                             and remembers his people with the same intimacy as a mother                                   who remembers the nursing baby at her breast. This God, it seems, greatly values women. As Beth Stovell writes in                                a CT Advent devotional, he offers a "combination of global salvation                          and personal intimacy." We see this most clearly in the person of                            Jesus,  whose light brings freedom to those held captive. During Advent, may we celebrate the first coming of a Savior sent                                by a God who loves women, and may we look forward to the second                      coming—the day when all oppression shall cease.

A Gift of JOY

Like most of us, writer Mary DeMuth has struggled through hard times. She has a heart for hurting women and recognizes the stresses caused by COVID-19. While struggling through the hurts of a damaged relationship she did what she does best:... putting her thoughts into words.

"Life right now is full of grief, confusion, and angst. In order to process all that, you need to know what the Bible says about difficult times and how to navigate through them."

Mary writes through the labor pains of her hurtful emotions. While we struggle to express these feelings, she finds the right words. The outpouring of these words opens the doors of healing and gives birth to her books. Until we can communicate our pain, we cannot problem-solve... we cannot heal and restore the joy to our lives.

Whether you are struggling with the life changes brought about by the coronavirus, a damaged relationship, or other issues, I recommend this little 25-page ebook. It's available free at:

http://marydemuth.ck.page/e7f47f3755

Doing well now? Copy and save it for another time. Share it with someone who needs to mend and heal a broken spirit.

I have followed Mary since she was writing her first book* as a sexual abuse survivor. As a writer, I understand how difficult it is to re-open the pain allowing the reader to recognize you've truly been in her shoes. No matter how battered her slippers may be, they can become the ruby red shoes that takes her home to the Creator and Lover of her Soul. Mary shows us the way, the how, and Who restores true joy.

* Author of 40 books currently.

The Red Balloon

Last week I felt like setting aside the book I was reading to switch to something more relevant to the current COVID-19 crisis.

Scanning my bookshelves I found several possibilities; then my eyes settled on:

                                                  Study Book

Because I purchase books ahead when I find something I might enjoy, I often find I already have what I'm looking later on. Fight Back With Joy and it accompanied study book is about the author's physical, emotional and spiritual battle with breast cancer.

True joy is not dependent on being happy or feeling good. It is like a rainbow with multiple hues and layers. 

Fight Back With Joy is her journey of discovery "using joy to fight back fear, regret, and pain while learning a new way of living - a life radiant with joy." Her humorous writing style makes you want to join her when she gets into her jammies, laughing and being silly. By the way, the workbook is as good as the book. I did not purchase the DVD, but I'm sure it's an added bonus.                                                                                           

As I was reading the book, which is touching my heart, and doing the pages in the workbook, I had a AHAH moment.

I am going to "fly" a red 🎈 balloon in my front window until this COVID-19 is tamed... to symbolize my fight back with joy. 

I highly recommend all my readers to read this uplifting battle plan! And maybe fly a red balloon? 🎈

ESTHER, Part 2

The Esther study is in its final week, but will continue to be available. I'm enjoying it and it has inspired me to read some other resources.

Here are some highlights from What Esther Knew by Connie Glaser and Barbara Smalley:

• Within 4 minutes a first impression is made; within the first 10 seconds, judgments are formed regarding social class, morals & intelligence. Often first impressions are lasting ones and are difficult to change. Yet Esther found favor in the eyes of Hegai and the king.

• The "Esther Effect:" things happen for a reason. Therefore, no looking back or why me? Instead look forward with courage and faith.

• As women, we have been taught not to brag or boast, but to be modest and deflect praise. Esther lived within a culture where women were passive and submissive. Esther and women of today learn to be bold for the Lord.

• We're also taught not to talk to strangers, which causes many women to lack the initiative to network and interact with people we don't know. These inhibitions can make it difficult for us to be used by God. Esther didn't know anyone when taken to the palace, but she had to learn much to be an effective queen. For example, she wore her royal robes and stood (didn't kneel) when approaching the king to emphasize her royal status. And when confronting Haman she knew the exact words of Haman's edict and used them in her appeal. Obviously, she had developed a network for information. At the same time, I believe, she found favor with many palace workers.

• Between chapters 4 & 5 Esther transforms from a powerless queen to a brave and courageous leader. She gained skills of communication, analysis, strategy, timing, and how to use them. When she presented her appeal to the king, it was on her turf and she was in charge. 

• Although her beauty attracted many eyes, it was her choice to follow her conscience, to do the right thing that makes her our role model. She took a leap of faith which lead to increased strength of character and allowed her to rise above adversity.

• And I loved this. Esther had chutzpah. Meaning she could be the drama queen when necessary, with the ability to make gutsy and clever moves.

• "Esther's story isn't about ancient Persia. It's about us! It is filled with inspiration and lessons that are timeless and universal."

That's a peek at a few good, thought-provoking ideas I've been reading.

Selah ~ think on this   

Connie

Book # 6: Around the World In 72 Days

What do Canton, torture and executions, lepers, temples, and Christmas have in common?

One Nellie Bly, a 25-year-old New York investigative reporter, who left Hong Kong the evening of December 24th for Canton.

The things she saw there did not include goodwill to all men.She had to set aside her holiday merriment for empathy and sympathy as she saw the horrors the poor chinamen endured.

Only one thing was shared that day. Curiosity. She in them and them in her, a single white woman traveling alone.

Little did they know she was on her 61st day of traveling around the world.

Jules Verne's new book Around the World in 80 Days was the source of her challenge to her editor. "I can do it in 75 days." She does... in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes! 

This is her story. One I recommend for women from 10 to 100 years old. Like the people along her travels, I, too, am curious about this woman. So I went on an online search about her and women in 1889.

Women's Rights

"During the early history of the United States, a man virtually owned his wife and children as he did his material possessions. If a poor man chose to send his children to the poorhouse, the mother was legally defenseless to object. Some communities, however, modified the common law to allow women to act as lawyers in the courts, to sue for property, and to own property in their own names if their husbands agreed.

"Equity law, which developed in England, emphasized the principle of equal rights rather than tradition. Equity law had a liberalizing effect upon the legal rights of women in the United States. For instance, a woman could sue her husband. Mississippi in 1839, followed by New York in 1848 and Massachusetts in 1854, passed laws allowing married women to own property separate from their husbands. In divorce law, however, generally the divorced husband kept legal control of both children and property.

"In the 19th century, women began working outside their homes in large numbers, notably in textile mills and garment shops. In poorly ventilated, crowded rooms women (and children) worked for as long as 12 hours a day. Great Britain passed a ten-hour-day law for women and children in 1847, but in the United States it was not until the 1910s that the states began to pass legislation limiting working hours and improving working conditions of women and children."

~ http://www.wic.org/misc/history.htm

Women's Fashion
"Like most upper-class ladies in Chicago in the 1880s, Mrs. Allerton changed clothes several times a day. Victorian fashion magazines and etiquette books dictated that a proper lady wear different kinds of dresses for different events, and Mrs. Allerton and her peers all had afternoon reception dresses--which were different from both evening reception dresses and afternoon "walking" dresses, also worn for shopping or paying calls.

"The basic rules were that day dresses were more covered up, especially at the sleeves and neckline, than those for evening, and indoor dresses were more delicate than dresses designed for riding in carriages or walking. Dresses for the opera or the ball were the dressiest and barest of all. 'Once you see what the component parts are, you can sort of figure out how they got through the day.'"

~ http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/in-clothing-the-well-dressed-woman-of-1889/Content?oid=874671

Events of 1889 include:

• Benjamin Harrison became the 23rd USA President.
  
• The first issue of the Wall Street Journal was published.
  
• The first jukebox was installed in a saloon. 5 cents to listen.
  
• 4 territories joined the States of the Union: North and South Dakota, Montana and Washington as #42.
  

This was the world of Elizabeth Jane Cochran (1864-1922), who wrote under the pen name of Nellie Bly. She launched a new kind of investigative (often undercover) journalism. 

                                                            

Any book that stimulates my thoughts, curiosity and/or enlightens me, gets a thumbs up from me.

See Book #5 for my review of her other book, 10 Days in a Mad-House.

Both are available through www.ichthuspublications.com.

Selah ~

Connie