I sat at my desk contemplating, and procrastinating, the words I should use in compiling a very dificult, but necessary, letter I had to write to a dear friend. My mind drifted from the arduous task at hand to letters in general written for a hundred different reasons; business letters, love letters, letters of resignation, notes of encouragement, Christmas letters, and a host of other reasons for writing letters. This was more than a text message ~ this was a woman’s letter that had to be penned.
I imagined what it would be like to receive a letter written thousands of years ago from Eve, the first woman on earth who walked and talked with God in a paradise garden. Or, to empathize with Sarah amidst her longing to conceive a child. What if I could read a letter from Rebekah relating the tragedies she endured because of her own lies and deceit?
How would I feel if I received a letter from broken-hearted Rachel as she watched deceit and betrayal from her own father and sister play out before her the morning after what should have been the most wonderful night for her and her beloved Jacob to start life together as husband and wife. How could she have known that although she had Jacob’s love, her sister had his baby.
Imagine receiving letters from Miriam that cover a lifetime of courage and faith, fear and insecurity, disobedience and God’s chastisement as she accompanies her youngest brother who was called to lead her Jewish people from bondage to freedom in the Promised Land. I wondered what it would be like to come by a note from Deborah, the first woman judge over a nation of rebellious people
Would I have tender compasion if I were to receive a message from Tamar, daughter of a king, in which she shares her deepest secret for her guilt and unspeakable shame? Or, a letter from Esther, an orphan girl, who grew up to become the unlikely queen of a nation?
I concentrated on these eight women in particular because of their rich heritage and their uncanny relevance to women of the twenty-first century. Surely through such letters I would realize the essence of a woman fashions the person she will become.
I did write the letter to my friend with renewed compassion and deeper understanding for her situation. At the same time, a book was forming in my mind ~ a book of letters from several women written thousands of years ago to today’s women who share many of the same struggles, emotions, triumphs, and love of those women from long ago.
Several months later, my book, “Letters From the Past,” was published. I gave my friend the book. After reading it, she began to look at her circumstances with renewed faith, hope, and encouragement,
Another friend read it and called me saying, “Girlfriend, you’ve got to make this into a Bible study!” As a result, “Womanhood: Becoming a Woman of Virtue,” was written.
What I have discovered from this experience that started with the unpleasant task of writing a woman’s letter of Biblical counsel to a friend, resulted in two published books. My encouragement to you is to be the woman God intends you to be, to be obedient as God leads, to love others and to share their walk with a compassionate heart.
May you know the Lord’s blessings as you bless others.