Strength and Dignity are Her Clothing
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| I've had this since our beach trip last August.. but every time I see it, I'm in awe once again of G-d's glory and power. |
The year is 1676. You, your husband, and your two young children are heading out from your fairly comfortable home in Dorchester, to unbroken territory on the banks of the Connecticut River. That was last spring. Now, in late October, you find yourself nearly destitute of much that is needed for pure survival, careful though you were. Accordingly, your husband sets out for a small barge about ten miles downstream, which in turn will take him thirty-eight miles further to Springfield. You don't want him to go; you plead with him, "The winter is on its way, and I and Little James and Emma need you here!"
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| There. This girl. I love this girl. |
Unfortunately, you know all too well that it is quite useless to argue. If he doesn't go, you will starve anyway. Your eight-year-old son, Little James, slips his hand into yours as his father kneels in front of him, looks him in the eye, and gives him the known speech of the times: "Son, I'm going to be away for the next few days. This makes you the man of the house while I'm away. I'm trusting you to take care of Mama and your little sister." "Yes, Papa," he answers trustingly, looking up at you, and squeezing your hand already for reassurance. "Goodbye."
During his absence, you take care of what's left: milking the cow, cutting firewood, tending the cattle; and when the evening come when he is to return, you situate yourself at the narrow window to watch for him. Snow begins to fall.
At 9 o' clock, your instinct tells you that he must've been overtaken by the now heavy snowstorm. "If I can reach the knoll and kindle the fire, it would show him the way..." you think to yourself. After gathering your supplies, you flouder through the snow to the knoll.
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| Isn't she adorable? |
It's ten o' clock before you make it, and half-past before you can actually kindle a fire. You bundle yourself up in the blankets you brought, and set your teeth for a wait.
It's half-past twelve when you see a shadow, and hear a shout; and your husband, exhausted, tramps beside the fire. The snow soon ceases to fall, and after resting 'till morning, the rescued pioneer, and you, his brave wife, return home to your two sleeping children- safe.
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| Look at the potatoes I found in the garden when we were weeding the other day!! Grace-Hope and I planted these as seedlings- must have been overlooked when we harvested! |
I've noticed this is a big struggle when it comes to femininity in Christian circles- girls generally are worried about the whole equality part of it. But you know, that's where actually being/becoming the beautiful woman G-d created you to be comes into play- look at Mrs. Chute from the story above.
"The life of the pioneer woman was hard, and its scope was narrow, but that scope was filled to its utmost bound with the nobility of duty and bravery... instead of fainting at the sight of blood, these women could act when the need came, and bind up the wounds of husband, father, or lover. Here was the field where, instead of shuddering at the rifle's sound, a woman's hand should dextrously load, and if the worst came, she should be able to surely aim and fire the unerring weapon of the frontier."
-Noelle Wheeler( Daughters of Destiny , pg 33, paragraphs 1-2)
"Mm-hmm, sure, Sierra," you might be thinking, "Give me one of those "weapon of the times," and I'll show you how I can load and fire this thing without a shadow of a doubt on how it's done! But just f.y.i., we aren't in pioneer times. How on earth can that apply to me in our day and age?????"
Well, kudos to you if you can load and fire a gun=) And the above was an illustration: even though we aren't in pioneer times (they were much "worse" off; though some (myself included) think they were probably better off than today... just for the record...), we can still think and act as pioneer women today. It's common to find people that believe the extent of femininity is wearing dresses, scooching around the house dusting in frilly aprons... but it's so much more!
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| Do I Not Have a GORGEOUS sister? Well? |
In Proverbs 31, we read about the virtuous woman, not going around dusting in frilly aprons (I mean, of course that was probably part of her routine!), but showing diligence, trustworthiness, respect, compassion, economical knowledge, and courage, among others. If you re-read the scenario I placed you in above, you can probably distinguish many of those traits. The pioneer women were clothed with strength and dignity, and, though many came from comfortable, if not priviledged, homes, were not afraid to get their hands dirty. They adjusted accordingly to the wild, albeit beautiful, life on the frontier- all in an ankle-length skirt, I might add.
Girls, we may not be in the pioneer era, but what about today? Do you greet your father or brother with a cheerful heart ready to bless? Will you lay your hands to the spindle with a willing heart? Are you ready to answer when your little brothers or sisters need your help, no matter what it might take you away from? Let's be pioneer women, and look for ways to be uniquely feminine in a G-d-oriented way.
"Though dreary their lives, and familiar with peril rather than pleasure, their souls were noble, their hearts steadfast, and their actions irreproachable. They may have been unlettered, and untaught in frivolous accomplishments, but truly feminine they were for all that."
-Noelle Wheller (Daughters of Destiny, pg 33, paragraph 4)
Article and all pictures, Copywrite, 2011, Sierra Brewer
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