Happy May!

I’m feeling compelled to lean into this crazy time and learn what I need to let go of, as well as what I need to do to reset my life. What a unique and fabulous gift we have been given.

With next week being Mother’s Day, I have been thinking about moms and women. I’ve had a complex relationship with women, which is weird because I am one. You’d think it’d be easier. Our relationships with other women can undermine or elevate us.

I recently read an article about Reese Witherspoon that shared how she is an advocate of other women, not seeing them as competition but by working together, they raise each other up and accomplish more. Also, Beth Moore speaks of the camaraderie that she and other women speakers have for each other. They are there for each other, even though they are doing the same thing. I love that!

When I was younger, my fear of not being liked or fitting in, coupled with my insecurity of not knowing who I was: what I believed; how I viewed myself; how I viewed others and my place in the world, left a vacuum in my life. It would suck in everyone’s point of view and expectation of how I needed to act or talk to be accepted. It made it very hard to learn what I thought or believed.

Here’s a few things I learned since then:

• When we respond out of fear or insecurity we cannot be who we are. We are stuck imitating others and lose the very thing that makes us unique and valuable.

• Not being liked by the cool kids, however dreadful at the moment, will not kill us. It can free us to discover ourselves and those we do fit with.

• Most women are like a plate of spaghetti: we are all jumbled together with each piece intertwined with the next. We may not be able to communicate what is wrong or right at that moment, but with love and patience we can unravel the pile of emotions. (Most men are waffles, they have boxes that they very nicely keep things separated and don’t understand spaghetti).

• Women are such a wonderful mix of opposites. I remember my mom yelling at us one minute and the next answering the phone in the sweetest voice. It was amazing. Women are both fierce and gentle; hope-filled and the-sky-Is-falling; battle-ready and battle-worn; “I will do anything for you” and “I’ll take you down if you mess with my family!”

• Jesus elevated women. He changed the game when He respected, loved and accepted women in a culture that didn’t. He gave them a place of honor.

Like no other time in history women have a voice and a place at the table. We need to use it wisely and humbly. We can turn the world upside down when we walk arm-in-arm together.

If you are a woman, stand tall! You are made uniquely and wonderfully. There is no one like you!

If you are a guy, love the women in your life. They are strong, but need to be loved and appreciated.

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring praise at the city gate.”
Proverbs 31:26&27, 30&31

I hope you have a great day and know how much you are loved!

All my love ~ Jodi xoxo

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