I am distinctly grateful that, as a woman, I have the unique privilege of experiencing an era and a culture in which I am not forced to live with a man who lacks integrity. I get to choose. I get to choose relationship with a man of character or none at all. I am one of the first generations of women who can make that statement.
I have a voice.
Life may not be easier for me than it was for my predecessors. Abuse, domestic violence, rape, human trafficking, and sexism express themselves now in unprecedented ways. It breaks my heart and it makes me angry. But I cherish the fact that I do not have to tolerate these atrocities, not in my bed, in my home, in my office, or in my church. I do not have to tolerate what was once (and sometimes still is) considered morally acceptable but demoralizes, degrades, and dehumanizes women - wives, mothers, sisters, daughters. I do not have to live with violence, abuse, unfaithfulness, and other forms of exploitation in the secret places of my life, in the vulnerable places of my heart and identity as a woman and as a human being.
I have a voice.
As a woman, I can and will be hurt; it can’t be helped. Men will abuse their power. Other women will abandon me for their own safety. I will be lied to, cheated on, used, objectified, & devalued. I do not deserve it, I do not invite it, and it is not my fault. I will not let it tell me who I am.
I count. I matter.
I have a voice.
I have a unique opportunity in this life, in this world, to pursue my own values, to build my own integrity, to practice my own convictions, to love and serve God as his image, as his creation, as a woman, with Christ as my savior and Lord alone, whether single, married, widowed, or divorced.
I have a voice.
March 20, 2012 Via
http://crimsonsparrow.tumblr.com/
I have a voice.
Life may not be easier for me than it was for my predecessors. Abuse, domestic violence, rape, human trafficking, and sexism express themselves now in unprecedented ways. It breaks my heart and it makes me angry. But I cherish the fact that I do not have to tolerate these atrocities, not in my bed, in my home, in my office, or in my church. I do not have to tolerate what was once (and sometimes still is) considered morally acceptable but demoralizes, degrades, and dehumanizes women - wives, mothers, sisters, daughters. I do not have to live with violence, abuse, unfaithfulness, and other forms of exploitation in the secret places of my life, in the vulnerable places of my heart and identity as a woman and as a human being.
I have a voice.
As a woman, I can and will be hurt; it can’t be helped. Men will abuse their power. Other women will abandon me for their own safety. I will be lied to, cheated on, used, objectified, & devalued. I do not deserve it, I do not invite it, and it is not my fault. I will not let it tell me who I am.
I count. I matter.
I have a voice.
I have a unique opportunity in this life, in this world, to pursue my own values, to build my own integrity, to practice my own convictions, to love and serve God as his image, as his creation, as a woman, with Christ as my savior and Lord alone, whether single, married, widowed, or divorced.
I have a voice.
March 20, 2012 Via
http://crimsonsparrow.tumblr.com/
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