Polished Corner Posts {part 1}

"May our sons be as full grown plants...

and our daughters 

 as corner pillars

fashioned 

as for a palace..."

Psalm 144:12

It's that time of year again!  Time for planning (such as it is) our coming school year.

As a homeschool mom of three students, one aspiring student, a toddler, and an infant due mid-year, each new school year is an adventure and exercise in faith.  Planning (such as it is) can be stressful and frustrating, given the myriad options available for curriculum, teaching philosophies, etc. 

Planning.  This has become a word that evokes an immediate scoff from me.  It seems that nothing we plan ever goes as planned!  and I'm finding more and more as I grow in my faith and mature in my walk with the Lord, that regardless of how great my intentions and purposes are, more often than not my plans are waaaay off from His plans!  The vision, or destination?  No.  But the travel plans?  yes.  It's actually somewhat amusing if I really step back and think about it.  blink. blink.

So, over the years I have tried my best to surrender completely to God, in openness and emptiness, erasing whatever is in my mind and heart concerning "school", and trusting that He will not only fill it back up with a renewed, transformed purpose and wisdom, but that He will also steer me as I make a new course every year...every day.

What this planning process has put in mind, once again this year, is my vision for my beautiful little women and how to achieve it.  I want desperately to raise them in the freedom that God offers.  Freedom from the world and it's expectations, freedom to follow Him wholeheartedly, never looking back.  This hope has caused me to question everything I have ever known about education, about the future, about priorities...

God has blessed us with three lovely young women, to raise to His glory.  Man I love them!  But raising girls in our world, today, is a terrifying prospect.  It's downright overwhelming when my mind takes over and considers the dangers and worries, not to mention all of the possibilities!!!!!

Our girls today have limitless potential.  They are given freedom to do anything they desire, are empowered to pursue any passion or dream, and the opportunities they are afforded are unmatched across the globe and across history.

Women can be anything.  Women can do anything.

Brace yourselves.

While, in many, many ways this is good, it is a double edged sword.  There is an equally dangerous and damaging consequence.  Not as a result of the freedom necessarily, but of the direction that society pushes our girls in in pursuit of wherever this freedom  leads...

The messages that glorify this 'feminist philosophy' (for lack of a better term) are heard loudly enough, and embraced enough by our culture already that there is no need whatsoever for me to post about the good that has come about as a result.  What is not heard, or even questioned, is the other side of the sword.   That is what I intend to cover in the following posts.

As always, it is my deepest desire to pursue God's best for my family.  It is my utmost goal and priority to never conform to this world, but to have my mind renewed, to know the will of God in every situation we find ourselves in.  This is especially important as it pertains to my children and their future.

The Psalmist shares a blessing for his children and the children of his people.

His desire for their daughters:   To be as corner posts fashioned as for a palace.

This, too, is my desire.

Daughters:  Polished Corner Posts {Part 1}

What is a corner post?   

A pillar which lies at the corner of two walls, and unites them; the principal support,  which forms the corner of the structure.

To me, this blessing in scripture doesn't evoke a sense that women were marginalized in OT times (at least not by the Godly).  As a matter of fact, this blessing evokes a powerful sense of the innate strength, potential, and importance of women!

A corner post is absolutely necessary to the structural integrity of a building.  Similarly, I believe that women are absolutely necessary to the structural integrity of the home, of the community, and of society as a whole.    Women are strong.  Women are capable.  Women are needed to be strong and capable in every avenue wherein they find themselves.  

When God created man, he did not say "it's all good" as He said about His other creations.  He acknowledged that something was missing, "It is not good for man to be alone..." He observed, and so He created woman from him to be a helper, to provide fellowship and support, comfort and encouragement, and strength!

Women today are the same innately.  We are still important, and not just because the TV says so.  We are still valuable and necessary, still powerful, strong, and full of potential for both good and evil. The only difference is what is driving women today.  Ultimately whether or not a woman is willing to surrender and follow God is what it all boils down to...but there are so many factors, beginning from early childhood, that make hearing God's voice and following Him very, very difficult for women today.   The freedom, the opportunities, the pressures, all are things that pull at us, speak to us, scream at us!  The plans and dreams that God has are often muffled by the cries of the world, by our peers, by our own parents' hopes and expectations...

Something has to be done to truly free our girls. 

They need for us to help quiet the world so that they can hear the Lord's gentle leading.

They need for us to guide and direct them in Godly wisdom and counsel.  (they certainly don't need us reminding them of what the rest of the world is saying!)

They need for us to prepare their hearts, minds, and spirits for anything God calls them to do.  Not for what the world has in store, or even for what we hope they will accomplish in life.  

We do not, cannot, know the plans that He has for them.  But we have so much power to steer them towards whatever that is, or far far away from it!

We need to steer their hearts towards HIM first and foremost.  We need to lead by example, and show that we are following God's calling as women in our own lives.  

We need to strengthen them and give them confidence that whatever God calls them to do, He will equip them!

And for pity's sake, we need to stop prioritizing things that don't matter over things that will matter eternally!