The Hellenistic Widow

Yes, Joab, commander-in-chief of King David’s army, is an ambitious hothead and a ruthless, bloodthirsty warrior; Bible commentaries always peg him as a villain, but I kind of like the guy. I have been wading through 2 Samuel for months now and every time I bump into Joab, he makes me smile or shake my head in reluctant admiration. Why am I talking about a guy in my girl-power blog? Well, for starters, for a man of his time, Joab had a surprisingly modern attitude towards women (I think he gets that from his mother, but that’s another blog post for another day—soon, I promise). But today, we’re going to see him in action and study how one wise woman held up the juggernaut of his war machine with a simple request that led to a surprising reaction. (If you were raised in the south, like me, you’re probably reciting “Barbara Fritchie” right now, but it’s not quite the same.)  Okay, so here’s the scenario: Joab has tracked a scallywag upstart who set his sights on King David’s thr...

There’s a secret society that meets in ladies rooms, whether those ill-lit chamber walls are decorated with delicately floral wallpaper or scrawled with graffiti. The membership is fluid, consisting of whoever happens to be in the powder room when you arrive. The password? A simple compliment, complaint, sigh, tears or frantic cry for help like “does anyone have a safety pin??” Any of these openings uncorks a wellspring of advice, counsel, and encouragement from women who recognize a sister in distress. Despite the popular (and erroneous) understanding that women are catty and competitive, some of the best wisdom I’ve ever received has been from the highly glossed lips of a complete stranger who took pity on my current plight. It was at the height of the swing dance craze. I had wedged into the shockingly small, single-stall restroom at a popular live music venue (I almost said “dive," the more accurate, if less kind, description). I was drenched in sweat from a hilariously awful ...

                           Deposed queens and disenfranchised wives. Slaves and spies. Heroines and harlots. Shepherdesses, timbrel-waving dancers, unlikely leaders, desperate mothers, reckless daughters, fearless widows…. the Bible shares the sagas of women who were both emboldened and imprisoned by their biology and culture. I wanted to know how to live out my walk with God as a woman of the Word so I turned to the study of the Bible's women--the ones everyone's heard of and the quiet, powerful ones hidden behind wider stories of triumph and tragedy. This blog celebrates the wild-hearted women who crept in under the tent flaps of the patriarchy, the ones whose audacious faith was recognized and rewarded by their Maker and Master. I want to join this sacred sorority. I want them to teach me to fight like a girl for the only prize worth winning--to hear the Lord Jesus say, "She has done what she could. Well-done."...