Girls and Boys

Ever feel like the same message keeps popping up in your life??  I've been reading a book now (at a snail's pace) about the differences and distinctions between boys and girls for several months.  It's been a great read for several reasons and in fact, I'm getting ready to review it on here soon.  What I appreciate the most about it, is that it has reinforced for me the truth that we are created equal (male and female) in the image of God BUT we have been given very different roles and jobs to do.  So although kids may gravitate toward all kinds of things, they cannot deny the role their gender will play as they grow up and become who God created them to be.  Gender matters. 

I mean, no one had to teach her to put a baby on one hip and talk on the phone at the same time, right??

 She's definitely immitating her Mama yes, but she's also got very instinctive impulses that encourage her to nurture and multi-task because she's a girl.  There is no way to sum up in a few words the broad implications of being a girl and the many ways girls are different, but it's as clear as day to me that I definitely have a GIRL and a BOY and even in these early years, they are not the same.

So as I've watched my little girl and little boy interpret the world in two different ways, my ears have been perked to anything I read or hear on the subject.  Which brings me to my next link, probably the best sermon I have ever heard for Father's Day.  Such a critical message for our homes, our families, our churches, etc., that is really a much larger conversation than what has been started here.  But still, if you've got 30 minutes to listen to this, it is worth your time!  If you know and love a man of any age/stage OR if you are a man, this is for you.  Be encouraged by it too...Gender matters and we've all got jobs to do.  I'm so grateful that my kids get to grow up with the Daddy that they've been given.  We are both doing our best to model Biblical malehood and womanhood to them, because we've been commanded to by our God, but also because it matters.  They've only got one Mom and one Dad to show them how what life looks like from 2 different perspectives and to point from two different vantage points, back toward ONE God. 

So there you go, my unsolicited two cents. 

If I never read a word about gender, the things I observe from my own children alone, would be enough to convince me.  I love the responsibility and privilege of training a little girl and a little boy who will soon grow up to be a Godly woman and a Godly man of the future.  For all the time we invest in ministry to others, there isn't a more significant spiritual work than the two little lives under our care.  We are full time missionaries to them and we've commited our lives to faithfully sowing the seeds so that God can reap the harvest, all by His grace alone. 

Hope you enjoy this slice of daily life around here...

On any given day, there are schedules to coordinate...

...households to run...

...children to care for...

...Diaper bags to pack...

...Pajamas to lay out...

...Baths to run...

...Things to organize...

...Rest to be had...

...Stretching to be done...

...Supplies to gather...

...Conversations to be had...

So while a little one works and the other one rests...

We can encourage natural tendancies and praise God given abilities.

We can appreciate our differences and celebrate the unique viewpoints that everyone brings to the table.

But mostly, we can just love each other for WHO God created us to be! 

Differences and all...

A fearfully and wonderfully made little boy and little girl.

"For you formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. 

I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.

My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in the secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed,

And in your book they were all written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them."

Psalm 139:13-16