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What is it about us women that has us constantly wringing our hands and wondering “who we are?”
Is it unique to us? Or do men feel this, too?
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had talks with various friends opining that big gaping hole inside of us. Knowing that our hearts are restless; knowing that it is only Christ who can fill the hole; and still, we search. Still we call each other up and discuss how we are worried that a part of us may have been scraped away with the food scraped off dinner plates for the last however-many years. That it might be in the trash, waiting to be recovered. Or maybe it’s just gone.
Are we the sum total of the number of dinners we make in our lifetime? Are we the sum total of the number of kids we have? Or how well those kids succeed or not? Why does it feel so empty sometimes?
Colleen C. Mitchell has written about just such questions; the heart of them anyway. When she lost her youngest son, Bryce, she was left with a hole, too. And as she sat near a river in Costa Rica, she prayed and read the scripture and waited. She studied Jesus’ interactions with 12 different women in the Bible and found something there worth sharing.
And I’m so glad she did.
Are you the beggar woman at the table, settling for crumbs for Christ has a feast for you? Are you the woman who washes his feet with your tears and dries them with your hair? Or do you identify with adulteress, waiting to be condemned for your private sins when all he wants to do is forgive you? Or maybe you're like me and can identify with more than a few of the women in the Bible.
Then, this book is for you.
You’ll find the scripture excerpted at the beginning of each chapter - so you won’t even need to have your Bible prepped and ready to make your way through the book (not that you can’t do that). Following each chapter, Colleen has graciously included 4 questions to answer. I found myself journaling these questions. Giving myself time to pray and think before answering. It was good.
I have several friends who meet in “small groups” within their parish - or just on the side - and study various spiritual works for as long as it takes to get through them. I think Who Does He Say You Are is a perfect fit for this type of group study. Journaling the questions and answering them out loud to one another would certainly be beneficial. But if you don’t have a small group to read and discuss with, don’t let that stop you. Pick up the book and a little journal (an inexpensive little composition book is all you need!) and take your time through this book.
You’ll be so glad you did.
I received a copy of this book in the hopes that I would provide a (positive) review. But free books don't necessarily make good books: the opinions on this site are my own.
**Reprinted by permission.
