Women of Valor!

    While on vacation in June I had the opportunity to read Rachel Held Evans' A Year of Biblical Womanhood. There were a lot of wonderful thoughts and quotes in it, but the one that has stuck with me almost two months later is living as a woman of valor.
    I spent time in high school and college with women who worked hard to be a Proverbs 31 woman. I have even taught Bible studies on the topic. However, when we drop Proverbs 31 into evangelical Christianity it loses some of, if not all, of its original meaning. What has been translated as a good wife (in all of its derivatives) actually means a valorous woman. A woman who makes the most of everyday. A woman who takes risk. Who tries new things. Above all a woman to be honored.
    Honored so much so that Proverbs 31 was meant to be sung by a husband in front of guests to honor his wife. To brag about his wife. To express his love and care and affection. Not as a standard to have her live into, but celebrating who she already was - worthy to be loved. It is not an ideal, but who we are inside.
     Ladies, we are women of valor. We need to stop trying to change who we are and embrace who we are. In a profession that is relatively recent for women, women normally are more critical of each other than men. In fact, we are described as just being plain mean or catty. We need to celebrate each other as women of valor, not try to knock each other down - the world is trying to do enough of that.
    Men, who are the women you celebrate in your life? Who are the women of valor?
    This, my friends, is a blessing we need to pass on to the women in our lives. A reminder that we are all loved and worthy and to be honored for who we are. Who do you need to bless today with the reminder that she is a woman of valor?