My friend Shawna put out a call on Twitter asking folks to nominate cool women from the Bible that they'd like to read more about. I nominated three and Shawna and I ended up having a great conversation about my girl Esther. Love her! Shawna and Esther. Here's how it went down:
Shawna: Is trying to decide which woman of the Bible I should write about next. Any biblical women you would like to read about?
Shula: How about Rahab? The first hooker documented as doing God's work.
Shula: Or perhaps Abigail who proved that even if you're married to a complete asshole, that God will honor your faith & action
Shula: Or Esther who proved that being a brave warrior queen and a hottie are not mutually exclusive.
Shawna: Those are all great women. I love your take on Esther.
Shula: grin thanks. I love Esther. She's my girl. She reminds me that self care and preparation are valid tools of bravery. Shawna: I like that take on her. Self care is something I am slowly learning, and I like looking good and feeling beautiful
Shula: (smiles) (hugs) me too, darlin'. I'm still learnin' too.
Shula: Interesting Esther didn't run into the throneroom in a ratty bathrobe hair in curlers screaming "we're all going to die!"
Shula: Nope. Miss Girl prayed and dolled up and walked in calm collected wearing Lancome and a great corset. Betcha boots she did!
I love twitter! I love how twitter makes conversations like this happen.
Love y'all. Good night!
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
My first SexyMamaMoment
When our first child was born, he spent the first few days of his life in the neonatal intensive care unit at the hospital. Delighted Husband and I were there with him nearly all the time. This was before my awakening so sexy wasn't usually on my radar. I had not yet cultivated my worldview that I was a sexy woman. But I had this moment. And I want to share it with you.
Beloved Child was a bit premature, and fussy, so the pediatrician suggested I open my blouse and give my baby skin-to-skin contact. They had these beautiful pale yellow privacy shades they placed around my rocking chair. Feeling a little awkward but hungry to hold my baby and let him know mama was there, I unbuttoned my maternity blouse, unwrapped my little darling (he looked like a little burrito in that white hospital blanket!) and laid my sweet baby against my abdomen and covered us both with a blanket. He was jaundiced, so he looked so foreign next to my skin. But in his face he looked just like me and in my heart he felt like mine! mine! mine! It was a peaceful, quiet moment amidst all the beeping chaos of the NICU.
Then I looked at his father.
Delighted Husband was looking at me and Beloved Baby like we were all that was precious in the world. And then I caught it..that quick tiny sparkle in his eye. Just like that, I was lost in the tractor beam of Delighted Husband's gaze. Without words, we remembered what we did to create this child. A blush crept over my cheeks and I looked at Delighted Husband with this self-aware heat in my eyes. My eyes said, "We made love. It was fabulous. You made me pregnant, and now I have this amazing little person nestled up against my skin. Oh my God."
In that moment, Delighted Husband snapped a picture.
And in an instant, the moment was over. The nurse walked up to draw blood from Beloved Child and crying and chaos pushed in and drowned out the moment.
Weeks later, I went to the store where I had gone for the film to be developed. When I got to that SexyMamaMoment photo, I was elated. Standing there in the pharmacy all disheveled and sleep deprived, I looked at that photo and thought, "oh my God, is that really me?" and it was. I didn't feel sexy there in the store. At all. At all. At all. But in my trembling hands I held photographic proof that my moment had really happened.
I put it in the photo album, along with all the other photos of Beloved Child's first six weeks. When friends from church asked to see baby pictures, I didn't think twice about handing over the photo album while I went to go boil some water for tea. I don't remember what he said, but I remember one of our church friends coughing and looking at me in an embarrassed putdown way and swiftly handing off the baby album like it was contaminated. I was flooded with embarrassment. I didn't have much confidence then. And I was Southern and here was a guest in my home offended by something I had given him. I was seriously infected with the disease to please. When our friends went home that night, I took out the picture of my first SexyMamaMoment, and I tore it up. To this day, there is a blank spot in that baby photo album. And oh I would fill it if I could. I have searched for the negative and I cannot find it. I have tears in my eyes just remembering what has been lost. How I would love to see that picture today!
There's a lesson here, my darlings. Don't let anyone look down on you for owning and recognizing that you are a sexual being. Don't let others erase your beautiful defining moment or put down your identity as a beautiful sexual creature created by God. Hold on to the good in your life. Hold on tight! Stretch marks and mortgages and fatigue and soccer leagues and teacher meetings and client meetings and HOA meetings will try to push in and take those moments from you by encroaching on the time those moments can occur. But hold on tight!
Looking back, I realize that man was an illmannered prude and I was a naive woman who gave away her validation card quite too easily. Not any more.
Like most of my aha! heartfelt moments, this was inspired by another blogger who generously shared their heart in a post. So thank you Mama of Romance for your beautiful post Feeling Beautiful: It's Up to You.
She says, "Because I feel like I am beautiful, it shines through.
It's so much easier to enjoy sex, to be passionate, and to love making love when you feel beautiful.
Being a woman is an incredibly powerful thing.
The curves, the soft skin, the feminine features.
Giving birth, having a baby, motherhood - it's all a beautiful thing.
Mother's are beautiful."
Amen, sista!
I would add: when you do have a moment when you feel beautiful, don't let anybody talk you out of it. Nobody but you and God have the right to decide whether or not you're beautiful. And God has already voted Yes.
Love,
SW
Beloved Child was a bit premature, and fussy, so the pediatrician suggested I open my blouse and give my baby skin-to-skin contact. They had these beautiful pale yellow privacy shades they placed around my rocking chair. Feeling a little awkward but hungry to hold my baby and let him know mama was there, I unbuttoned my maternity blouse, unwrapped my little darling (he looked like a little burrito in that white hospital blanket!) and laid my sweet baby against my abdomen and covered us both with a blanket. He was jaundiced, so he looked so foreign next to my skin. But in his face he looked just like me and in my heart he felt like mine! mine! mine! It was a peaceful, quiet moment amidst all the beeping chaos of the NICU.
Then I looked at his father.
Delighted Husband was looking at me and Beloved Baby like we were all that was precious in the world. And then I caught it..that quick tiny sparkle in his eye. Just like that, I was lost in the tractor beam of Delighted Husband's gaze. Without words, we remembered what we did to create this child. A blush crept over my cheeks and I looked at Delighted Husband with this self-aware heat in my eyes. My eyes said, "We made love. It was fabulous. You made me pregnant, and now I have this amazing little person nestled up against my skin. Oh my God."
In that moment, Delighted Husband snapped a picture.
And in an instant, the moment was over. The nurse walked up to draw blood from Beloved Child and crying and chaos pushed in and drowned out the moment.
Weeks later, I went to the store where I had gone for the film to be developed. When I got to that SexyMamaMoment photo, I was elated. Standing there in the pharmacy all disheveled and sleep deprived, I looked at that photo and thought, "oh my God, is that really me?" and it was. I didn't feel sexy there in the store. At all. At all. At all. But in my trembling hands I held photographic proof that my moment had really happened.
I put it in the photo album, along with all the other photos of Beloved Child's first six weeks. When friends from church asked to see baby pictures, I didn't think twice about handing over the photo album while I went to go boil some water for tea. I don't remember what he said, but I remember one of our church friends coughing and looking at me in an embarrassed putdown way and swiftly handing off the baby album like it was contaminated. I was flooded with embarrassment. I didn't have much confidence then. And I was Southern and here was a guest in my home offended by something I had given him. I was seriously infected with the disease to please. When our friends went home that night, I took out the picture of my first SexyMamaMoment, and I tore it up. To this day, there is a blank spot in that baby photo album. And oh I would fill it if I could. I have searched for the negative and I cannot find it. I have tears in my eyes just remembering what has been lost. How I would love to see that picture today!
There's a lesson here, my darlings. Don't let anyone look down on you for owning and recognizing that you are a sexual being. Don't let others erase your beautiful defining moment or put down your identity as a beautiful sexual creature created by God. Hold on to the good in your life. Hold on tight! Stretch marks and mortgages and fatigue and soccer leagues and teacher meetings and client meetings and HOA meetings will try to push in and take those moments from you by encroaching on the time those moments can occur. But hold on tight!
Looking back, I realize that man was an illmannered prude and I was a naive woman who gave away her validation card quite too easily. Not any more.
Like most of my aha! heartfelt moments, this was inspired by another blogger who generously shared their heart in a post. So thank you Mama of Romance for your beautiful post Feeling Beautiful: It's Up to You.
She says, "Because I feel like I am beautiful, it shines through.
It's so much easier to enjoy sex, to be passionate, and to love making love when you feel beautiful.
Being a woman is an incredibly powerful thing.
The curves, the soft skin, the feminine features.
Giving birth, having a baby, motherhood - it's all a beautiful thing.
Mother's are beautiful."
Amen, sista!
I would add: when you do have a moment when you feel beautiful, don't let anybody talk you out of it. Nobody but you and God have the right to decide whether or not you're beautiful. And God has already voted Yes.
Love,
SW
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wise words from a wise woman
My friend Vanna over at TMB had something beautiful and profound to say about women's sexuality. I'm in awe and my heart immediately gave a shout of joy as I read her words.
Amen, sista! (Applause) I can hear the roar of the crowd in a stadium as women stand up and cheer for themselves and for their glory..the magnificent sexual feminine glory they've been given by God.
| Vanna wrote: |
Most women haven't been exposed to the idea and fact that sex was designed by God as a gift for THEM- their pleasure, their satisfaction, their release, their relaxation, their freedom... Sex is their right, not just an offering they have to make to the altar of marriage to keep a husband. |
| Vanna wrote: |
| A husband can't do it for his wife, encouragement is nice but until she has that "AHA!" paradigm shift, she'll be stuck in "He just wants me to enjoy it more so he can have it more" mode. Its still all about him until she realizes that she is actually getting in the way of her own sexuality... not just his. She needs a total renewal of the mind, and fresh outlook. |
Amen, sista! (Applause) I can hear the roar of the crowd in a stadium as women stand up and cheer for themselves and for their glory..the magnificent sexual feminine glory they've been given by God.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Women Olympians
I am watching my favorite part of the whole Olympics...the Parade of Nations.
I have a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.
The women.
They are so beautiful.
All so different
so differently beautiful
and all of them so beautiful I have a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. Unplanned, these words keep leaping from my throat,
"Look at her! She's so beautiful!"
There is no formula. There is no specifications list. No engineering document dictating cheekbones must be at a particular angle or eyes must be a certain size. I look at each woman Olympic athlete and I see a woman in her glory. And she knows it. This is perhaps the the crowning moment of her life. And she is so beautiful. And she knows it. So alive. Beaming energy so vibrant it makes the stadium lights redundant. Glory.
Women are so beautiful.
I have a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.
The women.
They are so beautiful.
All so different
so differently beautiful
and all of them so beautiful I have a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. Unplanned, these words keep leaping from my throat,
"Look at her! She's so beautiful!"
There is no formula. There is no specifications list. No engineering document dictating cheekbones must be at a particular angle or eyes must be a certain size. I look at each woman Olympic athlete and I see a woman in her glory. And she knows it. This is perhaps the the crowning moment of her life. And she is so beautiful. And she knows it. So alive. Beaming energy so vibrant it makes the stadium lights redundant. Glory.
Women are so beautiful.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Face to Face With Extraordinary Women
Ooooh! How do I describe the energy to be found in the company of women? Time set aside just to gab face to face. Time to play, which for us girls can be doing craft-y things like scrapbooking or cardmaking, or can be telling stories and just generally goofing off.
I met the most incredible women tonight. I don't know that they would call themselves incredible, but seen through my eyes, they are. I went to a scrapbooking party tonight. One of the women at my table was a twinkly-eyed grandma sporting a cute hat. When I told her I thought her hat was cute, she grinned and shrugged off the complement saying "oh this is just to cover up my motorcycle helmet hair".
What???
Yep. You heard that right.
This amazing grandma and her man rode several hundred miles today. Having a real Wild at Heart moment apparently! and here she was sitting with us tonight, trimming pictures and selecting background pages and complementary stickers. After riding several hundred miles on a motorcycle. Today. Whoa! What a woman!
Another woman I met tonight was a soft plush girly-girl with a timeless Celtic face straight out of a book or movie. She brought fiftysomething different stamps three colors of inkpads and made these exquisite cards! And for part of the evening, she nursed her adorable baby while conversing with us, never breaking her stride. This woman created beauty and made it look effortless. and she did so while nurturing life and teaching me how to do stamping. While making funny charming conversation with the women at our table. Whoa! What a woman!
We women are an extraordinary tribe. We really are.
I met the most incredible women tonight. I don't know that they would call themselves incredible, but seen through my eyes, they are. I went to a scrapbooking party tonight. One of the women at my table was a twinkly-eyed grandma sporting a cute hat. When I told her I thought her hat was cute, she grinned and shrugged off the complement saying "oh this is just to cover up my motorcycle helmet hair".
What???
Yep. You heard that right.
This amazing grandma and her man rode several hundred miles today. Having a real Wild at Heart moment apparently! and here she was sitting with us tonight, trimming pictures and selecting background pages and complementary stickers. After riding several hundred miles on a motorcycle. Today. Whoa! What a woman!
Another woman I met tonight was a soft plush girly-girl with a timeless Celtic face straight out of a book or movie. She brought fiftysomething different stamps three colors of inkpads and made these exquisite cards! And for part of the evening, she nursed her adorable baby while conversing with us, never breaking her stride. This woman created beauty and made it look effortless. and she did so while nurturing life and teaching me how to do stamping. While making funny charming conversation with the women at our table. Whoa! What a woman!
We women are an extraordinary tribe. We really are.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
