This month is Women's History Month. This is a time for us to reflect upon and celebrate the contributions women have made to the world. As we recognize those heroines, we can feel a sense of accomplishment and pride as women. Would it not be nice to feel this way all year long? Well, women, we can. " Is there no queen inside of you?" Are you not worth celebrating each and everyday? Are there not women around you doing great things daily? Let us not limit ourselves to celebrating others that we have never me before and will probably never meet, but let us celebrate ourselves. Remeber where God has brought you from and where He is taking you. He has done great things in your life. Do not wait to celebrate the historic moments others have created, but celebrate the ones you are creating now. Put that "In Quotations."
"We are all engaged in the task of peeling off the false selves, the programmed selves, the selves created by our families, our culture, our religions. It is an enormous task because the history of women has been as incompletely told as the history of blacks."Anais Nin (1903 - 1977)
I facilitate many groups for both men and women, teens and adults. I allow each participant to tell their story, to share their experiences. There are some that are ready to share and the rest are content to listen. With this being the case,most of the discussion is informed by a small percentage of the group. Thirsty to hear the rest of the voices, I begin to probe and direct questions to the silent. I want to have a full discussion and have a more complete story. Unfortunately, this world does not have a fair facilitator. There isn't one fairly assigned to hear the voice of all people. With this being the case we as women must work to make sure the whole story is known. Where the story of women has spaces to be filled, we must be ready to fill it. We must be ready to share the truth of who we are in order to begin to "peel off the false selves" we have been assigned. The next time someone asks you if you have something to say, say it. Say it with dignity knowing that you are helping to make our story more complete. Join in the quilting of stories that bring voice to so many voices that had no chance to be heard. Your story does matter. Put that "In Quotations" “If you want to be powerful as a woman, act like a man.” -Society
Women have been under attack since the beginning of our existence on earth. It started with the serpent, moved to Adam and landed us to today’s attack on woman. Every attack has been to get woman to undermine her own authority, her own assets and her own voice. The above statement has been painfully true for women, because we have bought into the lie. It may have been due to the need to survive and make it in this world for some, but for most they hold that statement to be truth. There are many attributes of the woman but they have become minimized by men and other well meaning women. Can you list the positive character traits of a woman? Can you remember the last woman you encouraged to win on her own character as a woman or did you challenge her to do it like a man? Have you ever said “I am going to do it because men do it all the time?” How about this statement, “If a man can do it, I can do it.” The mere fact that many of us measure ourselves next to the man is a display of the idea that the man’s way is better and much more powerful. The greatest gift you can give the oppressor is to continue to measure yourself by the standards they use to oppress you. Women let us discover the beauty of being a woman. Let us discover the power that resides in having a womb, breasts, estrogen and soft skin. Let us stop measuring our gifts by the man’s gift. Let us stop depreciating our selves by acting like men and approaching situations the way a man would. Women have many gifts the world is waiting to receive. Put that In Quotations. Lisa Bevere, noted author, states " Women percieve each other as problems and men as answers." This struck me immediately. Could this possibly be the reason so many women claim they can't get along with females? Could this be the reason so many women say "I don't have friends, just associates?" Yet, these same women go through men like toilet paper. You can find them hanging with the guys with a beer in one hand and a dart in the other. Ready to aim fire at the next woman that she percieves to smile at her man. Women we are better than this but we have bought the lie that women can't be trusted, that women don't know as much as a man and that women only keep up gossip. Believe it or not men gossip, they lie and they certainly don't know everything. The only man to ever walk the earth that knew everything, was Jesus. Guess what? He was born of a woman. A woman that gave us The Answer to all problems. A woman that worshipped and celebrated the gift of life with another woman, Elizabeth, who also produced a man that pointed out the problems of other men. We appreciate men and affirm them in new ways, when we realize that we don't need them to be the answer. Women we find our answers, we become our answers when we connect, build and worship with each other.
Put that "In Quotations" |  Rhonda HillRhonda is a dedicated mental health professional with a passion for justice, community,family and women's issues. She has a master's degree in marital and family therapy. She president and founder of Keystone Ministries, a community based organization. CategoriesAll |
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