Life as a Christian Woman

People don’t generally think of Christianity as being a part of the modeling life or fashion industry. We are bombarded by the images of scantily clad men and women, models on the heroine diet, and photographers pushing the limits of “fashion” versus “pornography.” The high profile out-of-control parties make the news channel line-ups almost every night. When Jeff Calenberg, a Christian and model, started Models for Christ, he recognized the void of ministries within the fashion world and set out to change it.

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Life as a Christian Woman will be hosting a blog carnival to discuss issues relevant to today’s women of faith. For the first edition, the issue is Christian women and domestic violence.

After reading several articles on the internet, it became clear to me that there is often a disparity of opinion between men and women on the issue of coping with domestic violence in Christian marriage. Many prominent male evangelists, including Dr. James Dobson, advise women in abusive situations to “leave while the heat is on” and then return. In other words, women are to put their very lives in danger over and over again with the goal of changing their husband’s behavior. This is so wrong on so many levels. Or is it? It is time for Christian women to make their voices heard on this issue. Here is your chance.

For further reading, this article by Bill Berkowitz is a great place to start. To participate in this blog carnival, simply send your entries to Aprilfreelance@aol.com, or use the contact link in the sidebar. Submission deadline is August 13, 2007. Entries will be posted on this site, with links included where provided, on August 15, 2007. This blog carnival will also be listed at Blog Carnival.com if you wish to visit me there.

All opinions on coping with domestic abuse from a Christian view are welcome, but please follow these guidelines:

• Entries should focus on domestic abuse in Christian marriage. Childhood abuse, abuse by church leaders, etc. are separate issues that need to be addressed separately.
• Please do not use full names except for people already in the public eye (such as televangelists). We are here to express ourselves from a Biblical basis and as Christian women, not to accuse.
• I realize domestic abuse is a heated issue for many people, men and women alike. Write your entry, set it aside for a little while, then go back and read it again before submitting. Sometimes when we write from heated emotions, we say things or reveal things we later regret.
• Anonymous posts are acceptable. Please state in your entry if you do not wish your name or link to your own website to appear.

I look forward to reading your opinions on this important issue. Invite your friends to speak up and speak out.

christian women, domestic abuse, christian marriage, blog carnival, faith, ministry, religion

While some churches continue to debate whether women should work, the reality is that a large percentage of Christian women do have jobs or are searching for jobs. Maybe your husband’s income isn’t enough, or maybe you are a Christian single mother trying to support your family alone. Whatever your case, there are job search programs and support for working Christian women.

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Remuda Ranch, a Christian eating disorders clinic and the nation’s leading treatment center, has expressed concern over a trend among diabetics with eating disorders. According to Remuda’s Medical Director Brenda Woods, M.D., young diabetic women are manipulating their insulin doses to control their weight. By underinsulating themselves, sugar is flushed out of their bodies through urine. This manipulation is having deadly results: according to a recent study, the mortality rate among anorexics is 35%.

That means that 1 in 3 young girls and women will die from using their insulin as a tool for aiding their eating disorder. Among those who do not die from it, lasting medical problems due to undertreated diabetes and malnutrition leads to heart problems, liver and kidney problems, vision loss, and musculoskeletal problems. Christian News Wire stated, “Medical damage that a diabetic woman might more typically expect to experience in 30 years, she is accelerating to five or seven years.”

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I just received an e-mail asking for prayers for a man injured while on a family vacation in Australia. Please pray for Robert and his family, and pray that God’s Spirit will be able to fill the thousands separating them right now.

Please send an e-mail on behalf of my husband, Robert. He was injured during our family vacation in Salzburg, Austria, fractured his hip, and has had a complete hip replacement. The children and I had to continue on flight return plans and leave him in the hospital there. The surgery was successful, and he is otherwise healthy. He needs prayer for his spirits and healing process. We are presently working on how we will get him home. Thanks.

Laura

prayer, prayer request, christian, healing, faith

My car started acting up this morning while I was running errands. Since I live in a small town, public transportation is not an option unless you count over-priced taxi service. My first thought was to pray that it would run long enough to get it to my mechanic. Usually this prayer goes something like, “Lord, if you can part the Red Sea I know you can push this car another half mile.” Then, of course, I prayed the problem will be something simple and inexpensive. I found a friend that could follow me to the shop and then bring me home. During the tense drive wondering if the engine was going to blow up, I started wondering if Mary ever had to deal with donkey trouble.

Did her donkey ever just refuse to move? We know that camels and donkeys did die along the road on long travels. Did she ever experience this ancient equivilant of the engine blowing up? Did her transportation ever bite her, like a car that just stalls at stop light but starts right up again? What happened if you fed it fuel it didn’t like?

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Sometimes thoughts and questions come to us as we study God’s word and think on what it means to be a Christian. Exploring our faith at times brings new revelations. Other times it brings a smile. Then there are those times when we wonder in awe at things mankind may never discover until face to face with our Maker. Books, art, music, and sermons are all fueled by pundits and ponderables. Here are a few of my own.

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Sometimes the simplest lyrics can be the most awe inspiring, especially when sung by a phenomenal voice. I have been fascinated with Sarah Brightman since I was a teenager. The Broadway stage and Andrew Lloyd Webber made her famous, and her talent continues to be otherworldly. Her control and pure notes make me embarrassed to say I am a first soprano. I have loved classical and stage music since childhood, and Sarah Brightman is for me the greatest soprano to come along in generations. When you match her unbelievable vocal range to the simple lyrics but complex score for Pie Jesu, you cannot deny the touch of God on your heart.

The lyrics for Pie Jesu are in Latin, but the approximate English translation is as follows:

Latin
Pie Jesu
Qui tollis peccata mundi
Dona eis requiem
Agnus Dei
Dona eis requiem sempiternam

English
Merciful Jesus
Who takes away the sins of the world
Grant them rest
Lamb of God
Grant them everlasting rest

Source: Jos van Geffen

This amazing video is put together from Christian artwork and set to Sarah Brightman and Paul Miles-Kingston singing Pie Jesu. Turn up the volume and have a tissue ready:

Photography by Simon Fowler; Courtesy of Official Sarah Brightman Website www.sarah-brightman.com

Pie Jesu, christian music, Sarah Brightman, christianity

I came across this message on a forum. Please add Dot to your prayer list. Even though the person that made the request is a professed atheist, that person recognizes the power of prayer in the life of a Christian. She needs our support. Here is her post:

“Hello!
My almost-SIL (Dot) has been diagnosed with brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme type IV. This is the most deadly form of glioma, and her prognosis is not good, 1 to 6 months.

We are going to fight with every tool we can muster. Dot has a strong Christian faith, and this will be a powerful weapon for her in the months ahead. Will you please include her and my brother in your prayers?

Those of you who know me are probably aware that I am an atheist, you may have read my little riff about about all religions being a matter of opinion until someone’s Messiah shows up. That applies equally well to my non-belief. I will happily debate about religion, but I also respect that a person’s faith can be a powerful force for good in their life. At this time, what I believe doesn’t matter. This isn’t about me. I have and will continue to bow my head in silence when Dot wants to pray. I hope that the folks reading this will not hold my beliefs against my warm, wonderful, loving a-SIL.

Thanks for reading, and for your prayers and support in this time of dire need.”

prayer request, healing prayer

The dove is often used as a Christian symbol of purity and of peace. Have you ever wondered why a dove? The word “dove” appears 41 times in the Bible beginning with Noah sending one forth to discover if the flood waters had abated.

The dove was one of the acceptable sacrificial offerings to God in the Old Testament. When Jesus was baptized, the Spirit of God descended like a dove and lighted upon him. Isaiah mentions mourning like a dove. The Song of Solomon speaks of the eyes of doves and as undefiled.

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I finally had my fill this morning. I receive e-mail scams and phishing e-mails everyday due to my name and contact information being in several places on the web. Most of these phishing messages claim to come from Nigerian officials. Some e-mail scams claim to be a poor woman whose husband died and left 5 million dollars in the bank, which she can’t get unless it first transferred to a US account. I have also received several claiming I won the UK lottery. Usually, I just delete these e-mails and go about my business. But after reading some messages on social websites, I realized that there really are people who fall for these scams. Usually it is women who are desparate for money and will try anything to get it. I suppose our emotional nature makes us as women more susceptible to the pleas of a young widow (who may be a 50-year-old man writing from a corner office). The following is a quoted message from one of these forums:

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A group of children from my church, including my son, is going to Georgia for an overnight trip on Monday. Please keep them and the adult chaperones in your prayers for safe travel. I will not be going on this trip (see my post on God Given Gifts: Did He Forget Something?) but it should be a lot of fun for the kids. They will be going to a theme park with a wild animal zoo and a water park. The group is scheduled to return home on Tuesday evening. Add the children to your prayer list for a couple of days.

As we near the start of another school year, a lot of families will be going on vacation and end-of-summer trips. Adding a travel prayer to your list for the next several weeks is important. It seems like stories of children and adults being hurt or killed at theme parks are in the news every day. Vacations with our children create wonderful lifelong memories of family, but they also open us up to unfamiliar places and greater risks. Ask Jesus to ride with you and your family. Keep a running dialogue with God in the back of your mind and ask Him to help you stay focused and alert both when driving and at your vacation destination. Some accidents cannot be avoided, but some are due to inattentive parents or caretakers. God will help you stay on track and vigilant during family outings. So when you add a travel prayer to your list, be sure to include both safety for the children and awareness for the parents.

christian, prayer, children, vacation, family, prayer request

I wrote Journey of a Sinner in 2001, and in 2004 it was chosen as the 1st place winner in the Poetry of Today Christian poetry contest. The length prohibits me from submitting it for publication, so I decided to share it here. I hope you enjoy it.

JOURNEY OF A SINNER

A lone man traveled down a dark and deserted road
In a worn and weathered gown, the remnants of a robe.
His features seemed so slight, his age advancing to death’s door;
He had faced many nights and would not see many more.
His hand rested atop a long and battered sword,
Testament to wars fought with valor for his lord.
And on his brow a scar, pale in the full moon light,
Gave hint to days by far more harsh than this cold night.
Hunger gnawed his body and never left his thoughts,
But he knew that in his life it was paled by a bigger drought.
The many years of death and slaughter had begun to take their toll
And bore a hole straight through his heart to the center of his soul.
All the battles he had waged without fear or hesitance
Never prepared him for this time of facing eternity’s presence.
For days he had been wandering, seeking a peaceful place
On which to rest his heavy burdens and wait for death’s embrace.
But no sight, as yet, had brought that stir he longed for in his heart –
A hint that all would be well and the end worth the start.
With darkness closing in and the moon appearing overhead,
His eyes gazed upward, his steps faltered, and his soul filled with dread.

With the last of his strength, he shouted, “Is there no rest for an old man?
I have served my time, defended my king, brought peace to all the land!
I have been honored at court; the bards sing praises to my name.
The fields of death were not my choosing; I am not to blame!
The spoils of war made me a rich man, built me a castle of stone.
But in my last days a tormented soul brings me here to die alone!”
Too weak to go farther, he laid down his sword, the scabbard a pillow of sorts,
And closed his eyes, fighting back tears, ashamed of his sudden remorse.
Through the dust of the road he stared ahead, searching for the proof
That his time on earth had not been wasted, but still it seemed aloof.
And then, the tiniest flicker, a flame? Could it be?
He saw the faint orange glow but still wondered, should he believe?
The longer he watched, the brighter it grew, and suddenly he dared
To stand slowly, hoping against hope, his loneliness had been spared.
He gathered his sword, straightened his robe, and started toward the light,
His heart leaping, willing his body not to shiver against the cold night. (more…)

I often search the web for Christian images to use in my writing and for designing cards and stationery. I have come across some great and some not-so-great sites, so I though I would share a few of my favorites with you. When looking for clip art or animated graphics, be sure to include “free” in your search phrase. Also, always read the Terms and Conditions pages. Many sites may offer free Christian images for only personal, not commercial, use. Other sites offer only certain images for free, or require that you enroll in an exchange program or e-mail list. You may also be required to pay a membership fee before being allowed royalty-free use. Whether you do that is, of course, up to you, but I always stay away from those programs.

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I just had to share this post with you. It hit the front page of Netscape, which is rather unusual for this type of story. But it is a must read that will bring you closer to God. Share it with everyone in your life who needs a lift today.

Now That’s God

christian, women, faith, miracles, religion, God, child, animals