When I was little girl, I used to love World War II movies. I imagined myself being in them. I dreamed of growing up, keeping my hair long, putting it in braids and then tucking them up under my helmet. I planned to disguise my gender so that I could join in. I sensed that the men in these movies were part of something heroic, valiant and worthy. I longed to be a part of it, too. In the depths of my soul, I longed to be a part of something large and good; something that required all of me; something dangerous and worth dying for.
There is something fierce in the heart of a woman. Simply insult her children, her man, or her best friend and you’ll get a taste of it. A woman is a warrior, too. (You ought to see Stasi at laser tag. It cracks me up. I mean, she gets intense about it.) But she is meant to be a warrior in a uniquely feminine way. Sometime before the sorrows of life did their best to kill it in us, most young women wanted to be a part of something grand, something important. Before doubt and accusation take hold, most little girls sense that they have a vital role to play; they want to believe there is something in them that is needed and needed desperately.
Think of Sarah from Sarah Plain and Tall . She is needed; their world is not right until she becomes a part of it. She brings her courage and her creativity to the West and helps to tame it. We are awed by the nurses in Pearl Harbor, how in the midst of a horrifying assault they bring their courage and strength to rescue the lives of hundreds of men. The women in The Lord of the Rings trilogy are valiant and beautiful – women like Arwen, Galadriel and Eowen bring change the fate of Middle Earth. And what about women like Esther and Mary and Ruth, biblical characters who had irreplaceable roles in a Great Story.
(Captivating, 11)
From The Ransomed Heart, by John Eldredge, reading 333
Ransomed Heart Ministries www.ransomedheart.com
Thomas kept very busy playing with all the toys and watching all of his siblings and cousins. He was a good little boy and did well on the trip.
