Bethiepoo03

Woman, you are beautiful part 1

Ok, this is the blog that has been inside of me for weeks,
but I have not had the chance to type it, so here it
goes. This is part one of a few. BTW, MEN, read this
too...it's about God as well ;)

lol...I suppose this one begins as all others...."I have
been reading this book..." :) It's called "captivating" by
John and Staci Eldridge (the same authors who wrote "Wild
at heart" about men). This book is amazing! I'm going to
try to SUMMARIZE the major points of the book. (you know,
for someone with a degree in English, I should be better
at summarizing :)) and I'll quote a little from the book
as I see fit.

OK, first, women are relational to the core - God brought
women to be the ones to remind the rest of the world that
all of this life stuff is about relationship - "She too,
bears the image of God, but in a way that only the feminie
can speak. What can we learn from her? God wanted to
reveal something about himself, so he gave us Eve. When
you are with a woman ,ask yourself, "what is she telling
me about God?" it will open up wonders for you. First
you'll disover that God is relational to his core, that he
has a heart for romance. Second, that he longs to share
adventures with us - adventures you cannot accomplish
without him. And finally, that God has a beauty to
unveil. A beauty that is captivating and powerfully
redmptive." (26) "Life changes dramatically when romance
comes into our lives. Christianity changes dramatically
when we discover that it, too is a great romance. that
God yearns to share a life of beauty, intimacy, and
adventure with us. 'I have loved you with an everlasting
love' (Jer 31:3)(29).

"When God creates Eve, he calls her an ezer kenegdo. "it
is not good for the man to be alone, I shall make him [an
ezer kenedgo]" (Gen 2:18). Hebrew Scholar Robert Alter,
who has spent years translating the book of Genesis, says
that this phrase is "notoriously difficult to translate."
The various attempts we have in English are "helper"
or "companion" or the notorious "helpmeet". Why are these
translations so incredibly wimpy, boring,
flat...dissapointing? What is a help meet, anyway? What
little girl dances through the house singing "one day I
shall be a help meet?" Companion? A dog can be a
companion. Helper? Sounds like Hamburger Helper. Alter is
getting close when it translates it "sustainer beside
him." The word ezer is used only twenty other places in
the entire OT. And in every other instance the person
being described is God himself, whenyou need him to come
through for you desperately....God calls us to a life
involving frequent risks and many dangers. Why else would
we need him to be our ezer? You don't need a lifesaver if
your mission is to be a couch potat. you need an ezer
when your life is in constant danger"...(32) the author
goes on to describe the charater of Arwen in Lord of the
Rings, and how she was beautiful and Aragorn loved her,
but she was vitally important.

OK, so that's the first point, women are important. The
second point is that we have a beauty to unveil: John
talks about nature, how it's not primarily functional, but
it's primarily beautiful.

Women's eternal question is "do you see me? Am I
beautiful? Do you delight in me?"...God asks the same
questions. Ok, this concept of a woman at rest is
important, try to stay with me here as i quote again "And
what does beauty say to us? Think of what it is like to be
caught in traffic for more than an hour. Horns blaring,
people shouting obscenities. Exhaust pouring in yoru
windows, suffocating you. Then remember what it's like to
come into a beautiful place, a garden or meadow or quiet
beach. There is room for your soul. It expands. You can
breathe again. you can rest. It is good. All is well. I
sit outside on a summer evening and just listen and behold
and drink it all in, and my heart begins to quiet and
peace begins to come into my soul. My heart tells me
that "all will be well"..That is what beauty says "all
shall be well"

And this is what it is like to be with a woman at rest, a
woman comfortable in her feminine beauty. She is
enjoyable to be with. She is lovely. In her presence
your heart stops holding it's breath. You relax and
believe once again that all will be well. And this is
also why a woman who is striving is so disturbing, for a
woman who is not at rest in her heart says to the
world, "all is not well. Things are not going to turn out
all right." (38).

Beauty invites - "the same is true for a beautiful garden,
or a scene in nature. You want to enter in, explore,
partake of it, feast upon it. We describe a great book
as 'captivating'. It draws you in, holds yoru attention.
You can't wait to get back to it, spend time with it. All
of the responses that god wants of us. All of the
responses a woman wants too. Beauty invites" (38)

Beauty nourishes - he gives the example of a woman's
breast..and how a woman's body is one of the most
beautiful of God's creations.
Beauty comforts - example of sending flowers to a grieved
person.

"Beauty is without question, the most essential and most
misunderstood of all of God's qualities - of all feminie
qualities too...A woman knows, down in her soul that she
longs to bering beauty to the world. She might be mistaken
oh how (something every woman struggles with), but she
longs for a beauty fo unveil. This is not just culture,
or the need to 'get a man'. This is in her heart, part of
her design. (41)

"One of the deepest ways a woman bears the image of God is
in her mystery. by "mystery" we don't mean "forever
beyond your knowing, " but "something to be
explored". "it's the glory of God to conceal a matter"
says the book of proverbs, "to search out a matter is the
glory of kings" (25:2) God yearns to be known. But he
wants to be sought after by those who know him. he
ways "you will seek me and findd me when you seek me with
all of your heart" (jer 29:13). There is a dignity here;
God does not throw himself at any passerby. He is not a
Harolt. If you would know him you must love him; you must
seek him with your whole heart. thi sis crucial to any
woman's soul, not to mantion her sexuality. "you cannot
simply have me, you must seek me, pursue me. I won't let
you in unless I know you love me." (41).

Ok, that's good for now. Leave your comments ;) love you
all.
beth