Book reflections: A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans

Special thanks to Mom and Dad for getting me the book I asked for for Christmas.

I was going to write a big long post about how great it was, but I've got some writer's block in that department. I think I'm just still digesting its awesomeness. May need to read it again. I kind of plowed through it in a matter of 3 days.

A few thoughts, nonetheless:

1. The stories of women from the bible at the beginning of each chapter were a major highlight for me. Tamar. Did not learn about her in Sunday School. Wowza. And she was supposedly Jesus' great-great-umpteenth-great-grandma.

2. I was impressed by the academic and biblical scholarship that led the author to design her project the way she did. I am inspired to read the bible again for the first time in many years. So far I've mostly read online, but Dan has a copy of the translation that I'm interested in studying, so I'll probably start on the dead trees version eventually.

3. I was annoyed that she complained so much about not cutting her hair. This is probably just because I am jealous. Ladies with thick hair that requires layers, I will never understand your pain. I recognize that you experience it; I just can't imagine what it would be like to have too much hair.

4. As I noted here, reading this book inspired me to take on a year-long project of my own. Breaking up a spiritual project/experiment/mission/whatever into monthly installments makes it feel more manageable. I'm thankful for the idea! I'd been feeling rather blocked by how settled my life is right now--having a family and responsibilities here, means I don't have the freedom to just give up a year of my life to mission work somewhere else. (I don't have any experience or credentials, either, but that's besides the point.) But I can do what I can, where I am. If my goal is to just do something by the end of the month each month, I can do that.

5. I love the concept of taking back Proverbs 31 and putting it back in its proper place as a praise of character, not a list of roles to be fulfilled and rules to obey. Don't be surprised if I call you "Eshet Chayil" sometime! It's a compliment. You can read about other Women of Valor on Rachel's blog. I fully intend to be this mom.

That's all for now. I know I had way more thoughts while I was reading it but I honestly didn't want to put it down long enough to write about them.