i’ve posted some of these thoughts on instagram the past few days but they’re just some things i wanted to share in a blog so that those of you who may not use instagram will just have the ability to hear some thoughts that have been in my brain lately.
here they are:
women in different culture! women in general!
Woman, she is beautiful. timeless. she gives life and nurtures that very life. working tirelessly to provide for her family and love them all the while. i’ve been thinking about these thoughts a lot lately: the role of a woman in the different cultures i’ve been saturated in is drastically different. focusing mainly on African culture vs. Filipino culture: I’ve noticed, women in Africa cannot look man in the eye for over a second or two, or it is considered flirtatious. when you walk into a room of men and women, men are to be greeted first. In African culture women are inferior, they are to be submissive and are handed the tasks of “a woman.” cook, clean, children, repeat. They are suppressed, devalued and neglected.
Since my time in the Philippines I’ve seen women drive motorcycles wearing dresses. I’ve seen friends of mine receive tattoos by female tattoo artists. I’ve been able to acknowledge women and men in whatever order, without being “disrespectful and degrading to man.” Ive seen the ways women leave their families to work in bars, to be bought and sold for a night just so that their families, hours and hours away, just have a meal.
I’ve seen woman live in drastically different ways. Heartbreaking ways. But also empowering and beautiful ways.
The common denominator in all of this is that selfless and sacrificial love in woman is universal. in every culture, every country, every town, in every corner of the universe i’ve learned drastically the ways woman sacrifices for those she loves. It’s beautiful, i’m learning a lot. to appreciate the timelessness of sacrificial and unconditional love. To walk in admiration and learn to replicate that sacrificial love.
It’s in her eyes, in her spirit, in her heart. It’s in her wrinkles, her stretch marks, her smile. Woven into who she was created to be. Beautiful. In every crack and crevasse, every pound of her being. she is beautiful. and i am thankful. thankful to be a woman and to know insanely influential and crazy strong women.
here are photos of just a few women I’ve learned crazy amounts from in the last 18 years of life:
my momma: Tracy!
selfless and strong. bringing sacrificial love a new meaning. Momma you’ve taught me what it looks like to lay down your life for someone else. to give everyone and everything you have without a single doubt that you’d run out or wouldn’t have enough. Thank you crazy amounts for loving me at my worst and my best. For choosing to do everything in your power to make us girls happy. thank you for fulfilling every role known to man. Mother, Father, Grandparents, my counselor and advocate. My batter up when I just couldn’t swing anymore, and everything in between. For screaming and yelling at the sidelines of our soccer games from when we were kids, to cheering us on from the sidelines as we grow up. Thank you for the influence you’ve had in my life, i love you!
My aunt:
Auntie! You are a believer.
You’ve always believed in me. You’ve pushed me to follow my dreams and to not only follow them, but chase after them. You’re an encourager, someone who empowers. You fight for me. and you’re relentless about it. You fight for people, for justice. You’re incredibly bold, and strong. Someone I deeply value and admire. Someone who’s always made me feel beautiful, and loved. You’ve taught me a lot about the importance of being a woman. About keeping our earth clean. About standing your ground, and for what you believe in. You’ve taught me more than I could ever explain and for each of these things i’m thankful. You’ve taught me the importance of fun. You are fun. You bring light to my life, and i LOVE YOU! I miss you, i’ll see you so soon.
My sisters! :
My sisters have all kept me wildly on my toes. Tested my patience, and driven me crazy all the while being some of the fiercest lovers i know. Giving me shoes to fill as a role model to them as well as teaching me in the simplest yet most intricate ways. Girls, I will forever love you all. I mean that.
Ansley Thompson & Janet Webb :
Two of the most influential people in my life. 2 of my younglife leaders. Two insanely devoted women that have shown me crazy amounts of love. Who’ve given definition to the words “Love is patient. Love is kind.” Two ways they replicate the love of Jesus is the way they love others, the way they’ve loved me. Patiently, and kindly. Never shying away from the biggest questions and hardest most exhausting teenage drama. I’m afraid words will never really be able to encapsulate the ways i’m grateful for the two of you, but just know that every cell in my being is thankful for you women.
Isabella:
One of my very best friends.
She just recently passed away this last December, but she is someone that I will deeply honor and admire for the rest of my days. Someone who was able to be my voice when I felt voiceless. Someone who sat with me during some of my darkest days and gave me reason to hold on. Someone who’s fought hard for me, and been one of the very best friends i’ve ever had. Someone who’s loved me well, even from miles and miles away. And someone i will love forever. bella boo, I miss you and i love you something wild. Always have, always will. Hell or high water.
Grace:
Someone I very quickly became best friends with. A woman of insane amounts of love. brimming over with love, splashing and spilling love onto every being she meets. Someone i miss like crazy and haven’t known a while but also someone I know I will be friends with forever and ever. Here, there, everywhere. No matter where in life directions tug at our hearts – I know i have a home wherever you a are. you are rare. you are a treasure, and i treasure you. Crazy thankful for your sisterhood.
Lucie:
My wonderfully amazing Squad Leader but even bigger and better than that, a sweet and cherished friend of mine.
Lucie has been with me for all nine months of my race. there were 3 weeks in between when visa problems sent her back to New Zealand, but for the most part, she’s been with me everyday for the last 9 months. She has shown me devotion, sacrifice, love, discipline. She’s been perspective, and wisdom. She’s been a constant representation of the gospel alive. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Thank you JESUS for Lucie. Thank you for giving her the heart and capacity to love us girls well. Thank you for renewing her and refreshing her in ways she’d be able to replicate the things she’s learned from you, and begin teaching us the things she’s learning. I’ll never really have the words to say thank you for all that you’ve done for me Luc, but just know – I look forward to forever alongside someone that loves the Lord and replicates that love in such authentic ways as you do.
Kate:
You woman! My squad mentor!
She’s been over my entire squad for the last nine months, and even before we launched. She’s spent crazy amounts of time interceding and pouring her soul and spirit into leading us well. Kate, thank you in every language for being the woman you are. For always pointing us back to the Lord and being crazy amazing at fulfilling your role as not only a mentor, but as a friend to all of us. I’m afraid i’ve done a poor job at expressing to you my gratitude throughout the last nine months, but Kate: I really do hope you know that i’m extremely grateful Jesus chose you to be over gap o. we love you.
Lillabea:
Not really even sure where to begin with this one. A woman that has surely changed my life. Someone whose shown me new ways to get creative with whatever is handed to me. Someone who so naturally carries light into situations making them even brighter; someone who also seems to carry life and light into dead situations. Allowing situations at face value, redemption and revival. Showing me more and more of the Lord in the ways she lives her everyday life. Someone who’s consciously aware of where her life comes from. her breath, her help. Jesus. Someone who considers people before herself, every single time. For 7/9 months of my race I’ve lived side by side and hand in hand with someone who’s grown me. stretched me. and pushed me closer and closer to God. Eating, sleeping, and simply being beside me; during some of my darkest days, she’s held my hand, wiped my tears, and given me reasons to laugh in the midst of madness. Shown me love. hurt with me. Cried with me. Lived life and life to the full with me. Provided me with friendship to last my lifetime on this earth and also eternity in heaven. Thank you always for laughing with me, being insanely strange, for teaching me in so many more ways than one. For listening to me and giving me fresh perspective. Being fresh eyes and ears. Thank you for always empowering me & for being someone i can naturally confide in. Thank you for loving me well, for buying in, and for being someone I could so easily call a sister of mine. i love you forever.
Taylor:
Someone I feel incredibly loved by. Someone with crazy amounts of wisdom and patience. A woman that’s taught me what it looks like to be rooted and rooted deeply. Someone i have loads of fun with, but also someone who will sit in a room with me and spend time fervently praying for the world as tears flood our eyes because of the brokenness of humanity weighs heavy on our hearts. Someone i deeply admire and respect. A woman of honor. Someone with crazy influence in her life. In her families lives. In her friends lives. In my own life. A woman I’ve learned mass amounts from. Who finds truth and application in scripture and so actively and naturally lives it out. She sees people, and loves people as they are and where they’re at. I’m thankful for you Taylor. i love you i love you i love you!!!
Thyme:
Someone who keeps me on track. Who so compassionately loves not only me but everyone around her. Excitable. Bursting with life and light and joy. One of my first memories with Thyme is from training camp. One night after a session, I’d been on my face crying so hard from things that just hurt me. She came over to me, picked me up off of the ground and held me in arms as i cried and cried. She cried with me. She didn’t say a word, she held me there as we sat. And every time I pulled out of her hug to look at her, more tears would stream and the tighter she’d hold me. Thyme is a dreamer. She musters up the wildest ones, inviting me alongside her to chase them. She’s sweet. She makes me laugh hard. She’s passionate and persistent and loves so well. I learn a lot from the woman she is. I’m not really sure my life would be as exciting if it weren’t for her. Crazy amounts of thankful for this one. I reaaaallly love you Thymey Limey.
•••
There are so many other women in my life that have played a part in who I am today. That have shaped and molded me into the woman I am. I could honestly write novels about these women, But i’ll stop it all at, I wouldn’t be the same without each and everyone of you. I thank Jesus every day for giving me you women, and I hope to someday be half the women you are. Thank you from my inner most being for being apart of my life. For bringing me great joy, and for loving me so well. I love you people!
