In our first year of marriage, me and my husband had the delightful opportunity of travelling to Canada and visiting his family who lived there. It is a beautiful country and we spent time with relatives, getting to know them and being treated to some stunning scenery in the process. It was my first long distant flight and I was expecting the jet lag that everyone talked about on our return home. But the jet lag seemed to drag on and overwhelming tiredness seemed to engulf me. It took me a little while to realise that I wasn't quite feeling myself and I began to suspect that something quite wonderful was happening and at the same time filled me with trepidation. A trip to the doctors and a phone call later with shaking hands and beating heart I picked up the phone to call my husband to tell him we were going to be parents. Joy and fear filled me, a blessing from God was on it's way but what kind of parents will we be? I still felt so young and inadequate and at times the responsibility seemed overwhelming but God knows best was the words that kept me going and in some sense trying to convince me everything was going to be alright. That little baby is about to have his 7th birthday and he has 2 more brothers and another sibling on it's way. It did turn out ok. I always remember that first pregnancy though, the first flutters, the first kick, the first time I got to hold our precious boy, the first smile. I had a supportive husband, family and church and knew that people were looking out for us.
In Womanly Dominion we are introduced to Mary, the mother of Jesus, however her first pregnancy was far from usual. The virgin mother...how can that be most people will ask as we all know how babies are made, impossible some people would say. Mary would have had dreams and plans and an order to them and yet one visit from an angel and her world was turned upside down. Gone was the chance for a happy family gathering celebrating her marriage, gone was the innocence of youthful dreams of a happily-ever after wedding. She was to face criticism and hardship and although Joseph did marry Mary it was not the way she thought things would happen. But Mary endured the challenge and submitted to God's will which went beyond pregnancy. Imagine the great responsibility she would feel knowing she was raising Immanuel, a perfect sinless boy watching on and seeing a sinful mother trying to wade through the struggles of motherhood. Finally Mary had to bear the pain of watching her son suffer on the cross, Mary had a strong spirit.
From one Mary to another Mary our attention turns to the sister of Martha. This Mary is well known for sitting at the feet of Jesus whilst her sister Martha in the midst of a busy household reprimanded her sister for not helping. I have sympathy for Martha, I really do. I am a wife to a husband who works shift patterns, mother to 3 boys and another on the way, home educator, leader of a toddler group, a card-making business on the side and the countless chores involved in running a house....yes I'm certainly busy and often find myself flapping like Martha and feel the pressure of running a household and far too often I have tried to do it all in my own strength. Mary was able to put aside the pressures of physical serving to spend time with her Lord, she recognised the importance of being with Him, learning from Him, being in fellowship with Him. Let us be women of dominion and set aside time purposefully each day to be in God's word and to pray to Him. Let us close the doors on list of chores and activities set for the day and spend time cultivating a relationship with God.
Further into the New Testament we are drawn to consider two more ladies that can teach us valuable lessons. Phoebe and Priscilla were members of the early churches and in Romans 16 The apostle Paul commends these ladies to the church for their valuable work that they carried out. I hope that if you go to church yourself that you have found one that values women and the service they carry out, not to be leaders at the front, elders or preachers, but certainly not to be overlooked as purely coffee and tea bearers. Chanski puts it to us that Phoebe was very possibly a woman of wealth who used her possessions to serve local believers and the spread of the gospel, she was a servant of the church and faithful in her service. Priscilla's theological knowledge of the scriptures proved useful as she respectfully took Apollos under her wing and showed him the errors in his theology, not to put him down but to build him up so that he can be of greater use in God's kingdom. Priscilla had a husband but it is widely thought that Priscilla may well have been the stronger character and more able to teach the scriptures in her home, privately.
There are lots of lessons to learn from these women mentioned in the New Testament. I am grateful myself for this gentle reminder that our roles within our families and churches do not need to look like our husbands because we are women uniquely gifted to be help meets and can be used for God's kingdom in many useful ways.
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