I have so many different topics swirling around in my brain, so I’m going to write a few different posts. Stay tuned!
Let’s start with a topic from the land I love which is near to my heart…single women over the age of 27. In the land I love, we (and I say we since I am 35) single women over the age of 27 are known as “leftovers.” True story. This is the nickname given to women who are, in general, college educated/career women who have forgone marriage to achieve their academic/career goals or who have simply not found their “Mr. Right” yet. I even read an article recently that went so far as to say that we “leftover” women actually lose our worth as we age and by the time we achieve our life goals, we are like yellowed pearls.
Really? So, what you’re telling me is that if I’m unmarried, I have no worth? This is unacceptable, but yet, this is the type of staunched thinking that my friends and students there face every day from family and friends who continuously hound them about their singleness. They are relentless in their teasing and will not stop until these young beautiful educated women give up their ambitions to satisfy the desires of their family. It usually results in a quick courtship with a man who meets the surface qualifications (i.e. has a stable job, a home, and can provide for her material needs). For these “leftover” women, romantic notions are but a dream and such fantasies are not a possibility because the clock is ticking and there is no longer time to wait on something that probably doesn’t truly exist. They must marry as soon as possible so that their family does not “lose face.”
I’ve found myself having the same conversation with my fellow “yellow pearls” more times than I can count and that conversation usually consists of me listening to them pour their hearts out to me and crying because they are being forced to find a husband and stop pursuing their dreams. They must give up their heart’s desires to appease their family’s desires. But what I want to say to each and every one of them and that I must say to myself, as well, comes from Matt. 13:45-46: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” THIS is what the Father thinks of us, my fellow pearls. We are not yellowed. We are NOT worthless. According to Ps 139, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” or as one lady so eloquently put it, “The Father don’t make no junk.”
So, when I return to the land I love, please keep me in your minds as I struggle to teach my fellow pearls of worth that they do have worth, they are loved by the Father and that He has a wonderful plan for their life. Join me in lifting up thoughts for these young women to discover their worth as His precious jewels.
sweetandsourmoments 