UPDATE: I just want to reiterate something I said at the end of this post: I would LOVE to talk with you about these issues, but I am begging you, please, please take a day or two and pray about it and meditate on it before you approach me! And again, I thank you. :)
Ironically, just minutes before I created this blog, I wrote on my old blog, stating that it still existed. haha. Sometimes it's funny how life works. :) Anywho, I wanted to post that same blog here, minus the opening statement. :)
Today, you can call me Suzie Homemaker. The last time I told my mom that I had been Suzie Homemaker, she said, "Katie Homemaker." To which I replied: "No, Suzie Homemaker -- my identity is not in homemaking, it is simply something I do once in a while."
Yes, I am a feminist. No, I am in no way suggesting that there is anything wrong with being a "homemaker." In fact, I think that homemaking is quite an art, and I look forward to making my own home someday (Could it be sooner rather than later, Lord?). However, for me personally, and I believe it is with many other women, homemaking is not something I want to be identified with simply because I am a woman!! (I think that men are just as capable of being a homemaker, and many men could do a much better job at it than I ever could...) In fact, homemaking is not something I want anyone to identify me by. First off and foremost, I want to be identified by who I am in Christ. Secondly, I want to be identified with the talents that God has given me to use in ministry! (Because God has called me to ministry. If God has called you to homemaking, then GO FOR IT, and pursue it with all you've got!) Then, someday if someone happens to put me in a "homemaker" category as something I do on the side of my purpose in life, I will gladly accept that charge.
You see, one of my favorite parts of today was, believe it or not, ministry. My church has an upcoming event for the kiddos, and somehow I ended up making the flyers for it. (I am sure that it was a God-thing, btw.) Today I spent a couple hours printing and cutting over 800 flyers. (Thank you, AB and Starlite for hours and hours of experience in that department!!) I loved getting to use the gifts God has given me -including the precious gift of time- to play a small part in the impact in the life of (prayerfully) many, many kids! Especially, since, you know, I DO NOT LIKE KIDS. Ok, I like some kids, sometimes. And I love a lot of kids, most of the time. But overall, I am not all about them. Making the flyers gives me the opportunity to have a part in something that isn't exactly my 'cup of tea.' And, yes, I somehow enjoyed the time I spent in the church office by myself (the part where Pastor came in and about gave me a heart attack-not so much). I just love serving others, and I thrive off of getting to be a part of ministry!!
Ok, back to the feminist thing. If it bothers you that I am a feminist, then I suggest that you first take the time to find out what being a feminist really entails. (BTW, There is quite a wide range of feminism out there, some more conservative, and others more liberal.) And if you are still bothered by it, I encourage you to pray about it, and to read about women's liberation in a little book we like to call ---The Bible. Yes, folks, you read correctly. Jesus Christ came to bring liberation to all people -even women! Have you ever read John 4, where Jesus talks to a woman at a well? Yeah, well, men (esp Jewish men) did not go to wells, much less TALK to women who were there (esp SAMARITAN women...). But Jesus did. He did not care about the restrictions of the culture (esp the RELIGIOUS culture!), rather, Jesus cared about the spiritual well being of a person, who just happened to be a woman. :)
Oh! The implications of that story in John 4 never cease to astound me!! Especially the implications of the little words in pink. Jesus was a Jew. Jews were (and are) God's chosen people. Yes, folks, that is the same God that Christians serve. When Christ came, he provided a way for ALL people to be a part of God's chosen people, despite their ethnicity, religion, or gender (among many other things ...). So, if Judaism was "the religion" of the day (kind of like many people consider Christianity to be "the religion" of the day today...), and Jesus turned Judaism and many of its legalistic ideas upside down (have you ever read the New Testament, people!?), then why are we not called to do the same with Christianity? Because over the last couple thousand years, I believe that Christianity as a religion has been distorted because, let's face it, that's 2000 years of BEING HUMAN...and we are by no means perfect. Think about it - 2000 years of mistakes. Yes, God is sovereign, and I believe that there is much truth still to be found in Christianity (hence, I am a Christian...), but I also believe that it is well worth it to (pardon the 4 Him reference coming on...I'm really really sorry....) "GET BACK TO THE BASICS." And what, you may ask, are those basics? Well, my friends, I am sure I am missing a few at least, but here is what comes to mind.
- Jesus Christ is the Messiah, who lived on earth as fully divine as well as fully incarnate.
- Christ's ministry was
revolutionary unorthodox. - Christ LOVED ALL people.
- Christ died on a cross to bear the sins of humanity.
- Christ rose again!
(It wouldn't be a complete post without a list of some sort! And what better list to have?? hehe)
Well, I have said a lot. Over 900 words to be exact. And I have said a lot that some would see as controversial, but these are all things from my heart. I am so thankful that God has allowed me to learn what I have learned, and that I am nowhere even near done learning!! So feel free to talk to me about any questions or concerns you may have! Although, I do ask that you spend some time in prayer over the issue before approaching me about it. :) Thanks!
I love you all,
Katie
