Sisterhood of Women

I have always loved women. Little girls, big girls, moms, women whose grey strands show the fruit of their labors-- I love them all. I feel so privileged to know so many amazing women. I am surrounded by a treasury of gifted, beautiful women.

I love to hear the stories of women as they struggle toward womanhood through being a wife or becoming a mother or a caretaker. The beauty of these stories often comes in the similarities that the stories have with one another. A recurring theme is often digested better when given in little parts. One needs to think on them, condense and distill them. There are truths to be learned. It is encouraging to know that the path of a woman is not one that is lonely or solitary, but is rich with the footsteps of those who have traveled before us and that travel next to us. These shared experiences are not lost on me and I crave to write them down, carve them in stone so they are not lost to the next generation as they start on their path. I am often rewarded to hear the stories of those who came before me, met the obstacles that I now meet, and with a practiced and wise word advise me on how to overcome. The hard-won gems of wisdom that are passed down to me, the blessed listener. I gather them together in the vault of my mind, a treasury to be shared with others or accessed myself in times of need.

We are so blessed to be women! To bear burdens, and cares, to bear fruit and bare breasts! When I was pregnant for the first time I wondered at the amazing role I had come upon- to bear precious lives; to be entrusted with such an amazing treasure- LIFE! Just after I gave birth, a woman came to keep me company over that first week of new-mom frenzy. She held out her arms as smiling she said “Welcome to the Sisterhood of Mothers!” She gave a name to the connectedness I felt driving home with my bundles of joy- sisterhood of mothers. This sisterhood is a sustaining force for me. I long to corral all the lone moms out there not connected to her sisters battling it on her on! Come forth! God did not intend us to be Lone Rangerette. We need to hear each other’s stories. We need to hear what God has done for us again and again.

That God would allow me to help in a small part of His creation- the joy! the privilege! He also allowed me the benefit of identifying with the sisterhood of those who lost a child also. Both experiences- of bringing forth lusty life and of quietly letting life slip away within the darkness of my womb- are precious treasures to me. They are gems that I would never barter away for all gleaming, twinkling ones in the world. Some gems of wisdom are cut with edges that bite into one’s skin and leave lasting marks. I grasp them all the same. I am grateful for both experiences. It only adds to my story. One that I hope to pass down and pass on that someone else not stumble on their path.