What's A Dame To Do?

I recently came across a board game called What's A Dame To Do? And I found it fascinating. First of all, it's one of those 'get to know you' games, which is great. I am driven by relationships and am therefore a huge fan of anything that involves getting to know people better (in a kosher way, thank you!). Of course, it would only be a game for girls, though it'd be very interesting to pull guys into it. But then I wondered if even women might be a little hesitant to play the game. I mean, after all it is meant for girly girls, or so it seems. So it got me thinking about this issue that has been coming up lately: being okay with being a girl.

In today's society women made it possible for them to be seen equal to men. This does not always pan out in practice, but it certainly is striven for. After years of fighting for the right to join the military, be a working mom, live independently from men successfully, and even have children without the help of a man (!), there has risen a culture where women are beginning to believe they have to be men. Bare with me on this one, but I do see that often women (without realizing) feel in order to compete with men, they have to be like men. And there is now this negative stigma around being girly. Being girly is for women who aren't successful, women who aren't smart, women who aren't as superior. You may think it's harsh, but it truly is the attitude many women have taken upon themselves. I know because I've been there and I've recognized it in others. Countless others.

AND IT IS SAD! What is wrong with being a woman? Nothing. God created man and woman to be unique, and to be wonderfully special within that uniqueness. God loves it that women are so often in touch with their emotional side. God loves it that women are so often relationally driven. God made us with the desire to be delighted in, the hope to be adored, and the need to be loved. I can imagine Him delighting when we get excited over a boy. I can imagine Him laughing when we turn red after being told we are beautiful. I can imagine Him compassionately holding us when tears flood down our face over a broken heart or hurt feelings. He truly is that kind and wonderful Father with the kind of laugh that comes up from the depths of His gut, and the kind of arms that wrap all the way around you and absorb you into Him. And we are His daughters; His beautiful, delightful, lovely daughters. And that is a wonderful, wonderful reality.

So, girls, be excited about being you - a woman. Don't be embarassed about being too girly or feel ashamed when you want to feel beautiful. It's a wonderful thing to be a woman. And when we finally let go and embrace the female inside of us, there is a freedom that comes and a joy that penetrates to the core of our womanly-souls.

Praise God!