Captivating

 
Whoa girls. Gotta recommend this book to you. This is one of the best books I have ever read about women. It's by the chic who is married to John Eldridge the 'Sacred Romance/Journey of Desire/Wild at Heart' guy. And I gotta admit I was almost ashamed to buy it, but it is so good. I don't mind recommending it to ANYONE. That's why I'm blogging about it. It's cool, clean high-quality H20. It's a message that every woman needs to hear. I've heard it before only to forget it. I've seen women live by this and I've been captivated by them, jealous of them. It's been awhile since a book has made me cry. Please don't be scared off by the Christian bookstore heading, it will put words to that ache. You know the one, the one that says "I'm not enough" or "I'm too much." Dont speak, don't ask, don't offer, don't love.. there is only disappointment there.

I admit I get excited when I read about how much God loves me or I find out that another human loves me. I glow. I absolutely glow when I know that I'm cherished. Sure, God feels far sometimes. It's up to me, and the other people in our lives sometimes to help us see God better. This book spoke of women who are beautiful when their hearts are at rest, not when they are cloaked in fear and anxiety. Women who can't be enjoyed fully because they are constantly striving. It speaks of women at 75 who shine with peace and who in coming closer to God become more themselves, not less. More free. Less afraid.

It talks about the movies we love and the stories we love and how they resonate with us for a reason.

I've always wondered what Jesus meant about coming to give us life to the full. Wondered how we can do that living in a place where there are only rules. In a place where we constantly fall short, and are seemingly expected to live on crusts of bread, and water and suck it up and deal. Stop being a girl, cause girls are stupid.

Satan tricked Eve. I've heard mentors of mine talk about why he chose to trick Eve, I've heard because women are more easily deceived, because we are more likely to want to conrtol our own destinies, because we felt Adam wasn't doing his job, thus we were more likely to take the bait. But there is another reason. Satan tricked Eve because he hated her. He hated her because she took his job. Lucifer was the former commander of all the Angels and his job was to deliver the glory and praises to God, to display his beauty, to be his messenger. That may make no sense until you consider the nations most devoid of God, and most spiritually bonded, how they treat their women. As second class, as trash, only good for prostitution, covered from head to toe in black.

This hatred trickles down in other ways. As many attempts at religion do, we fall away from that which was intended, and Christian people everywhere try to make their women all about character and servitude. Read: Frumpy. We totally miss the Ruth's the Tamar's, the Esther's and the Rahab's. Those scandalous and holy women who had a part in the lineage of Christ, but probably wouldn't dare darken the doorways of our modern day churches. I think of the woman in scripture who was a known prostitute who worshiped Jesus by washing his feet with her perfume, and wiping it with her hair. (I haven't done that in a few weeks or so). He was pumped, the disciples were all... "Hmm.. Uh.. Jesus,... what is she doing?" (and before you send hate mail, no of course I'm not saying go be scandalous, nor are they, they are just challenging our definition of holiness).

I could continue this stream of consciousness for hours and not do it justice, so read it, read it, read it. Then let me know what you thought.