Posted by Posted in character, God, Living for God, me, womanhood

My Journey to Womanhood

Today I am writing a testimony from my life about my journey to womanhood.

I grew up as a shy girl. I could play rough with my brother. I could be tough. But I also like my baby dolls, dresses and other “girlish things”.

Around 11 years old, I became a tomboy. I hated the color pink, left skirts behind, and loved to show my toughness.

I would only wear darker colors and didn’t like ANYTHING girly. I wouldn’t paint my nails for the world!

If you knew me when I was about 11 or 12 you would know, I was a tomboy. I was forsaking my womanhood.

I realize now, that was a mistake. You see, I thought girls were wimpy, they liked talking and painting thier nails and other wimpy things. My adventurous spirit had no place in that.

Then my mom started doing a devotional with me and my sister. It was called “Becoming God’s True Woman” by Susan Hunt and Mary Kassian. The book was pink, the pages had flowers all over them and I was skeptical.

But as the book progressed, I learned something about womanhood.

I learned that women are equal but different than men.

I saw examples of womanhood in Eve, Mary and other women from the Bible.

I learned that women are helpers, life-givers and support pillars.

All of those are very strong positions, pillars? life giver?

You can’t be a wimp to be those things. Now I strive toward womanhood.

Now instead of fighting my womanhood, I embrace my God-given roll.

I am not perfect but God has done a great work in me.

God convicted me that I need to start wearing skirts and dresses more. I don’t wear them every day but I wear them to church, nicer events and on days where we are out in public a lot. I found that I love to wear denim skirts. (I love denim!)

And the thing is I am still not your typical woman.

I still don’t like painting my nails, the color pink is not my favorite color and I don’t wear make up, fancy clothes or beautiful hair styles.

I still have a fiery, adventurous, warrior spirit and I am still tough. I still love building, farming, outdoor survival, weapons and other “boyish” activities.

But now my perspective is different. I now have a strong belief in things like modesty and purity. Not that before I wasn’t modest and pure but I didn’t really care about it.

The thing is I am the becoming the kind of woman God wants me to be. God designed me to be a mission minded woman, an adventurous woman, a I-will-go-anywhere-in-the-world-for-you woman, a warrior woman, a pioneer woman, an OK-I’m-trusting-you-Lord woman as well as a gentle, kind, compassionate, gracious, pure, modest, joyful, honest, tender and faithful woman.

(Note: I am not there yet! God is still working on me but He has helped me a lot in becoming that woman!)

I am His warrior and I am His princess. I learned that I don’t have to forsake the princess to be the warrior, the two go hand in hand.

God has shown me great examples of true women and has taught me that true womanhood is running after Him all your life.

There you go!

To God be all the glory!
Priscilla

Posted by Posted in Books to Read, womanhood

5 Books Every Young Woman Needs to Read

So as all of you know I am a big reader and I wanted to share five books I have read that I think all you young women would benefit from. Have at it!

1. Beautiful Girlhood
revised by Karen Andreola
This book is great for a study or for moms to read with your daughters. It talks about blooming like a rose into a woman. Every chapter talks about a different topic, sincerity, modesty, friends, books, public behavior and many more amazing topics. This book is older and holds a lot of wisdom that we don’t have now. Beautiful Girlhood is appropriate to read with younger girls too and I think some eight and nine year olds could benefit from reading this with her mom.

2. Becoming God’s True Woman…while you still have a curfew
by Susan Hunt and Mary Kassian
Becoming Gods True Woman is a devotional which again I think is ideal for moms and daughters to go through together. There are little assignments at the end of each devotional which are fun to do. This book transformed the way I thought about womanhood and the role of a woman. Women are life givers, support pillars and helpers. Very great book. And you girls who are like me and are NOT girly do NOT be fooled by the pink cover and flowery pages. This book was great with a lot of wisdom in it!

3. Let Me Be A Woman
by Elisabeth Elliot
This book is a collection of letters from Elisabeth Elliot to her daughter Valerie before she gets married. Coming from an amazing woman this book is sure to be great. It contains wisdom for the single, married and widowed with the majority of the book on marriage though. I really enjoyed it but I would recommend to maybe thirteen and up because there was a chapter on Godly use of sex. You can just skim over it like I did or read it with a parent if you aren’t comfortable reading about that. But it was excellent and you really should read it.

4. Daughters of Destiny
by Noelle Wheeler
From the daughter of “Little Bear” Wheeler, this book contains much to be praised! A collection of poems and stories of all sorts of women, this book is inspirational and interesting. Many heroines and noble women of history who have been forgotten have their stories told here. The book talks about daughters of virtue, home, strength, service, royalty, stature, liberty, lyrics, purpose and vision. Women like Jenny Lind, Clara Barton, Elizabeth Zane, Mary Slessor, Pocahontas and Betsy Ross have amazing life stories and these women and MANY others have them told in this book. Read it.

5. Before You Meet Prince Charming
by Sarah Mally
“A guide to radiant purity” is the subtitle of this book. True to that this book contains much about purity, keeping yourself until marriage and modesty of spirit. Contains many funny stories from the authors family and some fun activities. My dad went through this book with my sister and me and we all loved it so much. A must read for Christian girls!

Well there you have it ladies! You just added five books to the ever growing reading list. 🙂 Enjoy, benefit and learn from them!

Priscilla