The Great News for Us Ladies!

So, I'm sitting in Panera Bread doing my research on my feminism paper. I feel so sophisticated! Believe it or not, I actually get more work done when I come to the mall with Adam when he goes to work, than I do when I sit at home all day. The distractions of the mall aren't as tempting as the distractions of computer and Hulu.com. (-:

My research is coming along pretty well. Yesterday I looked almost exclusively at essays written in support of the egalitarian position (women can fill ALL ministry roles), and today I'm looking at those in support of complementarianism (women cannot be pastors or elders). So yesterday I was an egalitarian and today I'm a complementarian. d-: I haven't looked at much on the roles of women in the home yet, but that should be interesting!

I won't write what side I think I'm coming down on yet, but I will say this. Both sides (at least that I've read so far) view women as completely equal in worth and value to men! This is worth celebrating. It is obvious to me that God could have made the Biblical passages clear that women are less than men, or that men are somehow created more in the image of God than women are. But He didn't! The creation narrative is plain that men and women were created equally, have equal value, and equal responsibility in ruling over the earth. Galations 3:28 confirms it in the New Testament.

Whether or not equality of personhood means the same thing as equality in roles is the question at hand. I'll let you know what I come up with!

An Unconventional Date

Last night Adam and I finally were able to go on a date...we've been trying for a few weeks, and it just kept not working out. Last night we were supposed to actually go to someone's house for dinner, go to a birthday party, and Adam was supposed to go to work for half an hour (to see how to close). Dinner got canceled, but the other two obstacles remained...Fortunately the place we had a gift card to was near both the two other things on the agenda, so we went to eat at Noodles & Company, then went to the birthday party for half an hour, then to Crabtree Mall where Adam works for half an hour. I just wandered around and found this beautiful dress I'll never have (much less have occasion to wear). We then came home and enjoyed the rest of the evening together. Date nights are good.

I would strongly recommend the Whole Grain Tuscan Linguine with the Parmesan Crusted Chicken if you ever get to go to a Noodles & Company.

A Woman's Tears

How many times have you used your tears to manipulate your man (or any man for that matter)? I know I have done it more than I like to admit. For the past couple days I've been thinking about this tendency to use my emotional responses to circumstances to manipulate others (mainly my husband or in the past other guys).

My brother once said 'When Hannah laughs, the world laughs with her; when Hannah cries, the world does whatever she wants.' It's not that I purposefully try to cry because I think 'mwahaha, now he will do whatever I want'. No, it's more like I just go with the flow, and allow my emotions to be used for my own benefit, usually to satisfy some desire. In most instances I could stop the tears or the pouting  or the wounded puppy dog glances, but I don't. Just the other night, some plans of mine and Adam's got messed up because of several different circumstances, but I was mainly dissapointed in Adam's part in it. This time I really did try at first to control the emotions. I calmed myself down by folding laundry, but when he came in, I couldn't stop myself from being a little pouty. Adam knew what was going on, and kept trying to make me feel better, trying to get a smile from me, but I wouldn't give it to him. Finally he suggested taking me out for ice cream...that worked!

Ken Sande, in the book The Peace Maker, wrote this:

"A woman has a unique ability to set the tone in a home. If she is not careful, she can  pervert that gift and use it to create an irritable, unpleasant, uncomfortable atmosphere that tells her family, "Either get in line with what I want, or you will suffer." Such behavior is an act of unbelief. Instead of relying on God's means of grace to sanctify her family, she depends on her own tools of punishment to manipulate them into change."

Another example: just the other night I was upset at Adam for something silly. I came home and told him that I had not picked up bagles like usual that night because when I had the chance I was crying. "Why were you crying?", he asked. "Because I was mad at you. I still am." I said, with my nose in the air. I proceeded to tell him why I was mad. I got over it quickly (I usually do), but while we were talking, I told him that I think I usually get mad and stay mad at him just to get even...to get revenge for whatever it is I think he did.

God gave us our femininity for a reason...He made us to be generally more sensitive than men...He gave us emotions, and doesn't mind when we cry. But He doesn't want us to use those gifts for our own gain. I think that if our husbands have seriously wronged us, or we see a man abusing his own gifts God has given him as a man, our tears can be used to show a man his wrongfulness. But when we (I!) cry or pout over little things, hoping (consciously or not) that that will help me get what I want, we're abusing the power God has given us as women.

Let Me Be A Woman...in my spare time

I'm currently reading the book (in what little spare time I have from reading all the assigned books) Let Me Be A Woman, by Elisabeth Elliot. It's neat because it's written like a letter to her daughter right before her daughter got married. The chapters are short and it's easy to read...I always love her style of writing. I'm only on the 7th chapter though, so I'll have to let you know how it was when I finish it. It was lent to me in a timely manner, since I'm currently working on a research paper that is about whether or not feminism is Biblical. Hopefully it will not only help me to be more of the woman God made me to be, but also give me some insights on Elliot's interpretation of scriptures in this forever long debate about the role of women in the home and church.

I'll let you know how the research paper goes too.

Good Brownie Pudding Cake, Not Evil

In my Bible study today, my friend and I talked about the verse in Proverbs 31 that says that the excellent wife does "good, and not evil" to her husband all the days of her life. So, I decided to put that into practice! It was the first day of work for Adam, so before he came home I baked him a cake.
I got the recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It says that it has been in the book since 1944, and was a wartime favorite because it doesn't use butter or eggs, and skimps on the sugar. It really is very easy. The only disappointment was that it takes an hour to cool (I guess for the pudding to set), but I had to go to church before it was finished, so I didn't get to have it while it was warm. But I did have it when I came home, and it was really delicious! I put  whipped cream on top, but the recipe says it would be good with vanilla icecream, which I'm sure is true...we just don't have any at the moment. (-:
Here is the recipe:
1 cup All-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups boiling water
vanilla icecream (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (actually, I found that the top of the cake got a little burned, so I would maybe start preheating at the beginning of step two instead). Grease an 8x8x2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a medium bowl stir together the flour, granulated sugar, the 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, the baking powder, and salt. Stir in the milk, oil, and vanilla. Stir in the walnuts.
2. Pour batter into prepared baking pan. In a small bowl stir together the brown sugar and the 1/4 cup cocoa powder. Stir in the boiling water. Slowly pour brown sugar mixture over batter.
3. Bake for 40 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and cool for 45 to 60 minutes. Serve warm. Spoon cake into dessert bowls; spoon pudding from the bottom of the pan over cake. If desired, serve with vanilla ice cream.