Tomorrow, the world will celebrate International Women’s Day in honour of the amazing achievements set by women in the past and those who are currently setting the examples for women to follow. I love being a woman. The gifts God gave us specifically is so special and I want to honour God through that.

Last year, I read an amazing book by Elisabeth Elliot titled Let Me Be a Woman. Her perspective on feminism and the Godly design for us as women was so beautiful and inspiring. Here’s some quotes from the book that I particularly enjoyed.

“The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian makes me a different kind of woman.”

“TO understand the meaning of womanhood we have to start with God. If He is indeed “Creator of all things visible and invisible” He is certainly in charge of all things, visible and invisible, stupendous and miniscule, magnificent and trivial. God has to be in charge of details if He is going to be in charge of the overall design.”

“God might have given Adam another man to be his friend, to walk and talk and argue with if that was his pleasure. But Adam needed more than the companionship of the animals or the friendship of a man. He needed a helper, specially designed and prepared to fill that role. It was a woman God gave him, a woman, “meet,” fit, suitable, entirely appropriate for him, made of his very bones and flesh.”

“The way you keep your house, the way you organize your time, the care you take in your personal appearance, the things you spend your money on, all speak loudly about what you believe. The beauty of thy peace shines forth in an ordered life. A disordered life speaks loudly of disorder in the soul.”

“The life of faith is lived one day at a time, and it has to be lived – not always looked forward to as though the “real” living were around the next corner. It is today for which we are responsible. God still owns tomorrow.”

“Very often (nearly always, I’m afraid) when I come to church my feelings are uppermost in my mind. This is natural. We are human, we are “selves,” and it takes no effort at all to feel. But worship is not feeling. Worship is not an experience. Worship is an act, and this takes discipline. We are to worship “in spirit and in truth.” Never mind about the feelings. We are to worship in spite of them. Finding myself scattered in all directions and in need of corralling like so many skittish calves, I kneel before the service begins and ask to be delivered from a vague preoccupation with myself and my own concerns and to be turned, during this short hour, to God.”

In honour of International Women’s Day tomorrow, I would like to highlight some of the amazing women who surround me and have influenced my life greatly: my mum, my sister, my mother-in-law, my sisters-in-law, my grandmothers, and my beloved friends. They each have their own story of determination, goodness, kindness, grace, love, and joy, even amidst trying and incredibly difficult circumstances. They inspire me daily and I thank God for them each and every day.

Proverbs 31:30 – Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Love, Gracie.