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Print Textures of Life
by Stacy Wiebe
I love being a woman. It's who I am. It's who I am becoming. While I've crossed many thresholds–the doll days, the boy crazies, dorm life, marriage, and entree into the corporate world–I'm still on my way to becoming all the woman I was created to be. I have so much to influence, to create, to giggle about, to weep over, to communicate, to overcome, to love, to live. And so do you. We're all on our way. Along my journey, I am seeing and embracing fuller truths; three I share with you.
The Stuff of History
"Well-behaved women rarely make history." Laurel Thatchers Ulrich
"I want to be an astronaut . . . a meteorologist . . . a flight attendant." No matter what I aspired to, Mom and Dad said, "Go for it. You can do it." They thought my potential could send me to the stars.
There may be, however, something more powerful than such encouragement, more crucial to success than even talent or opportunity. It's a spirit shared among women who've made history. I see it in the fiercely compassionate Mother Teresa; the resolute Rosa Parks who made a stand for civil rights on an Alabama bus; trans-Atlantic aviator Amelia Earhart; and Myanmar's voice for democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi. These women have been strong, passionate and relentlessly committed to something beyond themselves. That's what I want to be.
That Beautiful Strength
"A woman is like a tea bag. You never know her strength until you drop her in hot water." Nancy Reagan
I admire palm trees: their regal stature, sturdy trunks and the tuft of leaves on top that waves lightheartedly in the breeze.
Elizabeth, a woman I met recently, is a palm. She has midnight hair and ocean eyes. Never mind that she stutters–she's tall and lithe–a dancer. Six months ago she found a note from her husband's lover. Now she and son Matthew are on their own.
She's broken, but not bitter. She's hurting, but seeking wholeness. She's developing her own dance instruction business and making positive choices. Her soul, like the palm, exhibits both beauty and strength.
Seeing her, and watching the palms sway in my front yard, makes me ask: What choices do I need to make to be stronger? What beauty in me will be revealed when the winds pick up?
Savor the Season
"Oh earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize . . . Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it . . . every, every minute?" Thornton Wilder, in Our Town.
Last year, my husband and I traversed North America. I heard the spring runoff trickling in the creek beds of South Dakota. I gasped at the brazen scarlet of fall in Vermont. I felt the Atlantic wind at Myrtle Beach. As I grow to appreciate the glory of each season, I'm learning to celebrate the seasons of womanhood.
My mom is enjoying life with just Dad. My friend, Jennifer, is studying marine ecology in Bermuda. Another friend, Katy, makes Microsoft's multi-tasking look like child's play. And after five years of marriage, I'm ducking questions about having kids. Each of these seasons has its beauty, and even its irritations. All bring vitality, texture and movement to life.
Aren't summer berries so shortly full and sweet? Little children so briefly little? Oh, heart, embrace the season.
~ Stacy Wiebe is the editor of Christian Women Today. Since writing this article for Women Today Magazine several years ago, she became a mother.
More reasons to celebrate:
Discover the joy in your life
Get comfortable in your own skin