Stronger – Introduction

I recently came across a journal my Mom kept while I was in hospital at the age of 14. I have scoliosis, AKA curvature of the spine, and underwent surgery to correct the curve and install some hardware to keep my spine straight. No surprises, it was the most physically painful experience of my life. What stood out to me the most as I read the journal was how my Mom kept saying how strong I was. Now, I need to give you some back ground. No one in my family would call me strong. I am very sensitive to pain and never was athletic. So, to read this journal and realize that my Mom thought I was strong – well that stopped me. What is strength? Do people see me as strong? What does that even mean?

Strength is a loaded word. You can be strong physically. Or strong mentally. Maybe even strong willed. Sometimes strength is just stubbornness or resistance masked. Other times strength looks like tears and fetal position with another person.

Strength is a loaded word in the church. We quote passages about weakness and strength, but usually end up using those passages to hide our self-reliance. We lead out of our own strength, rather than risk the road of dependence and empowering through God. We live out stories that tell men to lead and women to shrink.

Strength is a complicated word for women. I have struggled with this idea. I still struggle. And the struggle is real.

I read an article recently in which the writer expressed his disappointment at the types of stories Disney was telling. They have moved away from stories where the princess is rescued by a handsome prince and started to tell stories about strong girls and women who engage in a more traditional hero story. He believed that these stories were anti-biblical and a detriment to young girls. I strongly disagreed*, almost immediately thinking of the woman in Proverbs 31 (note: this passage has been challenging for me throughout the years). She is a strong, fierce woman. The woman in Proverbs 31 is not waiting to be rescued by a prince. She is a strong, capable woman, who loves her family through her skilled leadership. If I step away from all of the cultural baggage I have with this verse, I can see a representation of how strong and capable women are. Of course we are. We birth children from our bodies and then keep on moving. We fight adversity and keep trying to live the lives we are called to live. This passage doesn’t prescribe attributes that every single woman is to have. Rather, it celebrates how amazing we are.

I began to think of the film Wonder Woman (because you can’t have a post about strong women without talking about the patron saint of fierce women). There’s a scene early on when she is training and her coach Antiope begins to yell out, “You’re stronger than this, Diana.” Just like Diana, we wrestle with our God-given strength. There is a chorus of voices all around us trying to proclaim that lie that we are weak and insignificant. It’s so easy to let this chorus invade our minds. Will anyone accept me this way? What do others think about me? Am I really strong enough?

As this all churned in my head, I began to think about the possibility of this series. Stronger is about creating space for a conversation on what it means to be a strong Christian woman. I have invited women to share their own stories about how they have landed in their strength as deeply loved children of God. A big slice of this path is about finding strength, not on our own, but within a deepening relationship with Christ. If this is our starting place, then how do we think and process and wrestle through our callings, giftings, personalities, weaknesses, and strength? These are the messy places I have invited this group of women to engage with, through stories out of their own lives.

My hope is that this series would welcome you, encourage you, and challenge you. I’ve been giddy, yes giddy, as women have agreed to share their stories. I think there’s so much available to us in God’s kingdom and I hope that we will open our hands a bit wider and receive. John 10:10 (NASB) tells us: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. May you find a deeper sense of abundant life through this series.

* While the story of rescue is significant within the Bible, it’s a rescue that’s needed by both men and women.

I’ve asked each of my contributors to share a song that encourages them as a woman. These songs are available on Spotify, Stronger-the blog series playlist. Consider this playlist a companion to the series.

We’ll be using the hashtag, #strongerwm during the series. So feel free to share a post and share your thoughts.