women | Grandma's Ramblings

In 1872 Ulysses S. Grant ran against Horace Greeley for the presidency. At this time women could not vote. In spite of this prohibition, Susan B. Anthony and her three sisters attempted to register to vote at a local Rochester barbershop. The election inspectors at first refused to register the women. After Susan quote the 14th Amendment and threatened to sue the inspector if they would not register the women, they consulted a local Rochester lawyer. John Van Voorhis was a suffrage supporter. He adviced the inspectors to register the sisters pointing out that the blame would be on the women if they voted.

On election day Susan led fourteen other women to their assigned polling stations. When challenged, they took an oath that they were qualified to vote. New York State law prohibited refusal to anyone who took such an oath. Federal law prohibited accept a ballot from anyone ineligible to vote. Caught between the two laws, the election inspectors allowed them to vote.

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton started the first national women’s rights organization in 1869. Called the National Women Suffrage Association, they urged women to vote and to file federal lawsuits if they were denied the right to vote. They used part of the 14th Amendment to demand the right to vote.

Part of the Amendment states: “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States.” This Amendment had been added to the constitution to allow rights to newly freed slaves.

After the election warrants were issued for the arrest of Susan B. Anthony, the women who had voted with her, and the officials who had allowed the vote. Anthony had expected to be denied the right to vote and planned to then file a suit in federal court. She was surprised when she was allowed to vote and then arrested.

She used the lawsuit to grow attention to women’s suffrage. She asked, “Am I not a citizen?” After reading the first section of the 14th Amendment, she asked “Are women persons?”

In 1873 Anthony was tried in federal court for voting in a congressional election when she was deemed unqualified to vote. She was sentenced to pay $100 for violating New York State law. She refused to pay and Hunt did not have her jailed for failing to pay. He did not want to give her a chance to appeal to the Supreme Court.

This strategy encouraging women to try to vote and then file a lawsuit if they were denied became useless when the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled “the Constitution of the United States does not confer the right of suffrage upon anyone.”

Women suffragists then began campaigning for a constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote. The House of Representatives passed the 19th Amendment on May 21, 1919. The Senate followed on June 4, 1919. After being submitted to the states for ratification, the Amendment came into effect on August 26, 1920.

The Constitution was adopted in 1787. It stated, “We the people.” However, the “people” it included as full citizens was a small group. Only white men who owned property could vote for many years. It was not 1868 that black men were included in the right to vote. The right for black men to vote that was given in 1868 was soon severely restricted by the many “Jim Crow” laws the South enacted. (But that is for another blog.)

Women, both white and black, had to wait until 1920 – 133 years after the Constitution was adopted.

Women have come a long way politically since 1920. Congress in 2024 has 25 women in the Senate (25%) and 126 in the House (29%). Considering that women make up at least 50% of our population, we clearly have a long way to go to gain equal representation.

My daughter knows how much I love books. She recently brought me four new books from her Book of the Month Club membership.

Knowing how much I love history – and historical fiction – three of the four books are that genre. One is a story of women during the Vietnam War era. ”The Women” by Kristin Hannah gives a view of this period from the eyes of women who served in Vietnam and then returned home to a divided nation. She knows I will love this one for several reasons. Kristin Hannah is one of my favorite authors. After reading one of her books last year, I went to my local library and checked out all her books. Also, the Vietnam area is the time I grew up – my first husband fought in the war as a Marine. I look forward to reading this one soon.

Recently I posted about a new book I was reading about the indigenous people of North America, “Rediscovering American” by Ned Blackhawk. The book she gave me, “Killers of the Flower Moon” by David Grann tells the story of the Osage Indian nation in the 1920’s and the birth of the FBI. I can’t wait to read that one. Recently I saw a movie was made of this book. First I will read the book and then watch the movie. Many times the movie takes liberties with the actual story of the book so I want to read that before I watch the movie.

But the one most appropriate to read in the month of February as we celebrate Black History Month is “Sisters in Arms” by” by Kaia Alderson.

This story is about the first all-black, all-female battalion of the Women’s Army Corps. The 6888th Postal Battalion (the Six Triple Eight) was sent overseas during World War II. Mail sent to U.S. servicemen remain undelivered, stored in air hangers. A shortage of postal workers led to a massive backlog. This battalion was faced with the challenge of clearing this backlogged mail and making sure the servicemen received their letters and packages from home. In order to do this, they kept track of 7 million identification cards with serial numbers to distinguish between soldiers with the same name. The women worked 24/7 with three shifts, eight hours per shift, seven days a week. Their orders said they were to clear all the mail in six months. After accomplishing that goal in three months they moved on to France making sure undelivered mail was sorted and sent on to the servicemen.

It is hard to imagine what these women went through to serve their country. Remember this was in the 1940’s when the Army was just beginning to consider allowing women to serve in the armed forces. As World War II required more and more men to fight on the front lines, the armed forces began accepting women in non-combat position like weather forecasters, nurses and telephone operators. The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was created in May 1942 and converted into an active-duty status as the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in July 1943.

Sexual harassment was common, as were implications that women had traded sexual favors for their military ranks.

For the women of the 6888th, there was an added disadvantage. The Army was segregated. black WACs were in a separate company than white trainees, had separate lodging, dining tables, and even recreation areas. They took basic training in Georgia and local establishments often would refuse to serve them while welcoming the white WACs. In Elizabethtown, Kentucky, a police officer brutally beat three black WACs for sitting in a “white” waiting area.

Thankfully when they arrived in England they received a warm welcome. Venturing into town they found they could enter any establishment they wanted and be served. Local residents invited them into their homes. When the white soldiers were asked by the British citizens why the women had an early curfew, it is said they replied “after midnight they grew tails.”

Coming back from the war they faced continued discrimination because of the color of their skin. In February 1946, the unit was disbanded at Fort Dix, New Jersey. There were no parades, no official recognition of the great service they provided to the servicemen helping to keep up the morale of the men.

Individually, however, many used the GI bill to further their education and achieved success in their civilian life. In November 2018, 75 years after their service ended, a monument was dedicated in their honor. This monument is at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

They received the Meritorious Unit Commendation for Meritorious Service during Military Operations in February 2019. In March 2022 President Biden signed into law legislation passed by Congress awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the black women members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Sadly, only six members were still alive to receive this recognition.

However, in recent years the battalion’s history has gained more attention and books and documentaries have been written. These brave women led the way for other black women who want to serve in the Armed Forces. In World War II, African Americans accounted for 5.7% of all women in the WAC in 1943, and as of 2020 they accounted for 34.1% of women in the Army.

Reading of the empty tomb, there is one story that I love the most.

Mary Magdalene is standing outside the empty tomb weeping in despair. All her hopes were crushed when Jesus died on the cross and was placed in a tomb. This man who had delivered her from the bondage of sin. This man who had made her feel a person of worth once again. This man who had showed unconditional love.

Not only was he dead, and with him all the hopes and dreams she and his fellowers had cherished, but now even his body had been stolen.

Who would have taken it? Why would they have taken it? Would they desecrate his body? How sad to not even have his body to anoint and properly bury.

Suddenly she saw a man standing nearby. She thought he was the gardener. Why did she not recognize Jesus? First, she clearly was not expecting a dead man to be standing before her. Perhaps in her tears her eyesight was even blurred. Perhaps Jesus had purposely temporarily allowed her not to recognize him.

How did he reveal to her who he was?

Not by telling her “I am Jesus.” “Don’t you recognize me?”

He simply called her by name.

At the sound of her name in his mouth, she recognized him. What a joy to think that to Jesus, Mary was not just another one of his followers. She was not just “Hey you.” This was Mary.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

“Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father.”

Whenever I read this story I am reminded of the time in my own life when Jesus spoke my name.

At fourteen my father, who I adored, left my mother, sister and me. He also left the church and turned away from following the Lord. I was devastated. He had been my role model. I saw him night after night sit at the kitchen table after supper and read his Bible. Following his example, I loved the Word of God.

Now, confused, brokenhearted, I sat down at my piano and began to play. Music has always been a source of comfort to me. I go to it when I want to celebrate, when I want to cry. Singing an old hymn, “Does Jesus Care” this teenager sang it as a cry to God. Did He really know me and my hurt? Was this little unknown teenager living in a small house in a small town known to Him? Did he care?

As I sang from my heart, tears running down my face, I suddenly felt someone standing beside me. There was no one at home then but myself. I knew no one had come in the front door. Yet, I knew someone was standing beside me.

In that moment, I felt him speak my name. Like Mary, I knew it was Jesus. I was afraid to turn and look as I felt so unworthy to look on him. I never turned. But as sure as I know I am sitting at my computer right now, I know Jesus was standing beside me. He was telling me he not only knew my name, knew my hurt and sorrow, but he cared.

“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.”

Since we just saw England celebrate the 70 years of the reign by Queen Elizabeth II, I thought I would share her comments for my Friday list of laughter and wisdom (even though i am a day late.)

Grief is the price we pay for love.
None of us can slow the passage of time; and while we often focus on all that has changed in the intervening years, much remains unchanged, including the Gospel of Christ and his teachings.
When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead, they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future.
If I wore beige, nobody would know who I am.
It has been women who have breathed gentleness and care into the harsh progress of mankind.
Children teach us all a lesson – just as the Christmas story does – that in the birth of a child, there is a new dawn with endless potential.
We all need to get the balance right between action and reflection. With so many distractions, it is easy to forget to pause and take stock.
Let us not take ourselves too seriously. None of us have a monopoly on wisdom.
Memories are our second chance at happiness.
The world is not the most pleasant place. Eventually your parents leave you and nobody is going to go out of their way to protect you unconditionally. You need to learn to stand up for yourself and what you believe and sometimes, pardon my language, kick some ass.

On a trip to Alabama we were able to stop at the home where Helen Adams Keller was born and raised. Built in 1820 by Helen’s grandparents who came to Alabama from Virginia, the house is a white clapboard home designed in Virginia cottage construction. Called Ivy Green because of the English ivy that grew on one side of the house, the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1954.

Helen was born on June 27, 1880 and was a healthy child. At 19 months she became very ill (it is believed it was probably scarlet fever) and was left blind and deaf. Unable to communicate with the world, Helen became what was described as a “wild child.”

Her parents, desperate for help took her to see Alexander Graham Bell when she was six. Bell connected the family with a 20-year-old teacher from the Perkins Institution for the Blind. Ann Sullivan came to live with Helen in Alabama and stayed with her from March 1887 until Ann died in 1936.

As Anne began working with Helen she recognized that her family had given no discipline to her and she need to teach Helen both obedience and love. She convinced the family to allow her to take Helen from the main house and they lived together alone in a nearby cottage. After a few weeks as Helen began to respond to Anne, they returned to the main house ad the family.

Ann began having Helen feel objects and then would spell out the word on Helen’s palm. At first it was a difficult effort but a breakthrough came when Ann kept running water over Helen’s hand and then writing the word “water” in her palm. Suddenly it was as if a light went on. Helen understood what Ann was trying to teach her.

Having read the story of how her teacher, Ann Sullivan, was able to reach her through sign language, it was so amazing to see the well where this amazing event took place.

As Helen received a way of communicating with others, she quickly showed how brilliant a mind she had. By age ten she had mastered the Braille alphabet and learned to type. She then began the difficult process of learning how to speak. By 16 she had learned how to speak so well that she went to preparatory school and then won admission to Radcliffe College in 1900 and graduated cum laude in 1904.

She became an author and published several books including The Story of My Life (1903), Optimism (1903), The World I Live In (1908), Light in My Darkness and My Religion (1927), Helen Keller’s Journal (1938), and The Open Door (1957).

She became active in promoting laws and policies to help the handicapped. When she attended the Lions Clubs International Convention in 1925 she challenged Lions to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.” Accepting the challenge the Lions have programs aimed at preventable blindness every since.

At her home there is a statute of a Lion and plaques commemorating that partnership between Keller and the Lions.

There is a garden on the grounds with a bust of Helen as well as a statute inside the house of the young girl standing at the well where Ann Sullivan was able to reach her with the word “water.”

When you consider she was blind and deaf, her achievements are even more amazing.

She fought for workers’ rights, for women’s suffrage and was an early member of the American Civil Liberties Union. She worked for over 40 years with the American Foundation for the Blind. Her speeches and efforts for the blind led to state commissions for the blind, rehabilitation centers and made education more accessible to those with vision loss.

She made multiple trips to other counties and met world leaders such as Winston Churchill, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Golda Meir. General Douglas MacArthur sent her to Japan as American’s first Goodwill Ambassador. Her appearance brought attention to the needs of Japan’s blind and disabled citizens.

A lot of credit should also go to her teacher, Ann Sullivan, who devoted her life to Helen. Her work with Helen as a child was depicted in the play The Miracle Worker. This play won the Pulitzer Prize in 1960 and was made into a motion picture in 1962.

Before WWII most of society frowned on women working outside the home. Most of the working women were from lower working classes doing menial jobs. With WWII there became a shortage of workers as so many men were in the armed forces plus there was an increased demand for wartime production.

In 1943 Secretary of War Henry Stimson said, “The War Department must fully utilize, immediately and effectively, the largest and potentially the finest single source of labor available today – the vast reserve of woman power.” To encourage employment of women, on April 1, 1943 the U.S. War Department published a pamphlet entitled “You’re Going to Employ Women.”

I found a copy of the pamphlet and I had to laugh at some of the advice given to potential employers of women. Here is just some of the statements in the pamphlet:

Women are pliant – adaptable
Women are dexterous – finger-nimble
Women are accurate – precision workers
Women are good at repetitive tasks
Women are fine color and material observants
Women can be trained to do almost any job you’ve got

Further instructions were:

In some respects women workers are superior to men. Properly hired, properly trained properly handled, new women employees are splendidly efficient workers.

In spite of the government’s propaganda campaigns to employ women, there was still some resistance. Some worried women would become too masculine, would take jobs from men, would upset home life, would have negative effects on children.

Minority women faced even more challenges to working. Black women found it hard to obtain a job. Women from Japanese and Italian backgrounds found widespread prejudices.

One of the main stars of the propaganda campaign was Rosie the Riveter. Rosie was a fictional icon representing women who worked in the WWII munitions and war supplies industries. She was designed to look strong enough to handle the manual labor, yet also feminine enough to reassure men that women working would not lose their feminine appearance. Rosie’s picture was seen in newspapers, magazines, posters, and even music.

Hitler used America women working in his own propaganda campaign noting that the German women’s job was to have babies and be good wives and mothers to the Third Reich.

Women found it difficult to balance work and child care. Eleanor Roosevelt encouraged her husband, President Franklin D Roosevelt, to create childcare facilities. She also encouraged employers to provide childcare facilities for their workers.

Women entering the work force changed much of the fashion for women. High-heels were out. Clothing had fewer adornments. Khaki jackets and blue jeans became popular. Following Rosie’s picture, slacks and headscarves was the fashion thing to wear. Wool and silk were rationed due to the need for military uniforms and parachutes. Manufactured fibers such as rayon and viscose became popular. When nylon was also restricted, women were forced to not wear stockings.

Along with women entering the work force at home, approximately 350,000 women joined the military. They served as nurses, truck drivers, mechanics and clerical workers. Military groups for women organized in WWII were:

Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps – later named the Women’s Army Corps (WAC)
Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (WAVES)
Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs)

Over 1600 female nurses received military honors and decorations for courage under fire. Women could only serve in the military in times of war until 1948 when Congress allowed women to serve as full-fledged members of all branches of the military.

Many feared after WWII that women in the work force would take jobs needed by the men returning from war. Many women gladly returned back to the home and many were laid off. However, WWII opened the door to women in the work force and this source of labor has only increased since then.

Checking the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, I found that in 2019 57.4 percent of all women participated in the labor force. And, as expected, women still made less than men. According to the Bureau in 2019, women who worked full time in wage and salary jobs had median usual weekly earnings of $821, which represented 82 percent of men’s median weekly earnings ($1,007).

The final page of the pamphlet I found gave me a last laugh:

A woman worker is not a man; in many jobs she is a substitute – like plastics instead of metal – she has special characteristics that lend themselves to new and sometimes superior uses.

After reading that, I had to wonder what superior uses they thought women would bring to the labor force. And I love their statement that a woman worker is not a man – just a substitute. They opened the door for women to be in the work force – and here we are – hardly a substitute.

Hard to believe that it has been less than 100 years since women were granted the right to vote. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on August 18, 1920, granting women the full rights of citizenship.

What is ironic is that four years before women were granted the right to vote, a woman had already been elected to the United States Congress. Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman to serve in Congress. While most of the USA did not allow women to vote until this amendment was ratified, some states had permitted voting by women.

Montana granted women the right to vote in 1914 and they soon elected Rankin to represent them in Congress. Rankin declared “I may be the first woman in Congress, but I won’t be the last.

She was right. Today there are 24 women in the Senate (24%) and 121 (27.8) in the House of Representatives.

While in Congress, Rankin proposed the formation of a Committee on Woman Suffrage, of which she was appointed leader. After WWI ended and her committee had issued a report for a constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote, she asked the congressmen:

“How shall we explain to them the meaning of democracy if the same Congress that voted to make the world safe for democracy refuses to give this small measure of democracy to the women of our country?”

While serving her first term in Congress, she voted, along with 49 men, to not enter World War I. After serving two years in Congress, she did not run to be elected for another term. Some historians believe her vote against the war led her to realize she could not get reelected. Her brother, Wellington Rankin, who was a prominent Republican in Montana, advised her not to run. He said “I knew she couldn’t be elected again if she did vote against the war. I didn’t want to see her destroy herself.” Many of the suffragists leaders felt she betrayed their cause by her vote.

Although she opposed the war, once we entered the battle, she voted for war-time appropriations to fund the troops and supported the government taking over the mines to gain resources for the war effort.

After leaving Congress, she continued to be active working for pacifism and social welfare issues. She worked for better health care for women and children. She became a speaker for the National Council for the Prevention of War and attended the Women’s International Conference for Peace held in Switzerland. She purchased a small farm in Georgia that had no electricity or plumbing and worked with others in the state to organize a study group on antiwar foreign policy. This group eventually became the Georgia Peace Society.

In 1940, at age 60, she returned to her home state of Montana and ran again for Congress. This time she was not alone – there were six other women in Congress.

After America was attacked by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. When the House opened debate on the resolution, Rankin tried to speak. Speaker Sam Rayburn declared her out of order and members of the House began calling for her to be silent. Members pressured her to vote for the war or abstain. She refused to do either. She said “As a woman I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else.” She was the only vote against the war.

After the vote she huddled in a phone booth in the Republican cloak room until security could escort her to her office. She did not run for reelection but she said “I have nothing left but my integrity.”

Leaving Congress, Rankin spent time on her ranch in Montana and her cabin in Georgia. She continued her stand against war leading a 5,000 person protest march on Washingtn in 1968 where she offered a peace petition to House Speaker John McCormack.

The House honored her on her 90th birthday with a reception and dinner. In 1972 she was named the “World’s Outstanding Living Feminist” by the National Organization for Women.

When she died in 1974 she was thinking of running again for the House so she could protest the Vietnam War. Today there is a statute of Rankin in the Montana State House.

Last year I shared stories of women who played a big part in history – yet are often ignored in our history books and their stories remain largely untold.

I wonder if anyone who read those blogs even remember those women now.

Dot Graden, Ann Caracristi, Virginia Adaholt, Jeannette Rankin and Katherine Johnson were all women who played an important role in the history of our country.

Deborah, Jael, Shiphrah and Puah were given small mention in the Bible, yet played important roles in the history of Israel as told in the Bible.

As we approach the Christmas season and hear the Christmas story, I wonder if anyone will stop and ask “Who are these women” that Matthew mentions in his opening chapters telling of the birth of baby Jesus?

Matthew’s first chapter is written to show that Jesus descended from the father of the nation, Abraham, and also from the kingly line of David. He mentioned many men but surprisingly he includes the names of five women.

Who were these women? Why were their included in this list?

(NOTE: Of course we have no idea what these women looked like. These pictures are only an artist’s idea. I found it interesting in searching for pictures of Biblical characters that the majority of them are white even though we know the people of the Old Testament were from the Middle East and I am sure Jesus was not blue-eyed and blonde.)

The first one mentioned is Tamar. Her story is told in Genesis 38.

As you read her story you might wonder what this woman, who was probably a Canaanite and who solicited sex from her father-in-law, is doing here. A daughter-in-law of Judah, after her first husband died she married his brother. This was the custom when a man died leaving no children. On the death of her second husband, Judah promised to give her his third son as a husband when he was old enough to be married. However, he had no intention to do so. When it became apparent to Tamar that she would not have another husband, she posed as a prostitute and solicited a sexual encounter with Judah. This very questionable action on her part was her pursuit of justice for herself. Remember, there was no social security in those days and women without a husband or children often had little or no resources to sustain them. When Judah realized what Tamar had done to make sure she was taken care of he said “she is more righteous than I am.”

Then there was Rahab. We learn of her in the book of Joshua.

The Old Testament says she was a prostitute in the city of Jericho.

Not only a prostitute but a Gentile, we find Rahab had heard the stories of how God had delivered the Israelites out of Egypt and had led them in the defeat of King Sihon and King Og just across the the Jordan River from Jericho. Clearly she believed that Israel’s God was the true God as she hid the spies sent to check out Jericaho. She told them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you….for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.”

Rahab clearly believed that the God of the Israelites was the true God and she was willing to risk her life to help them. She also apparently believed this was the way to save her own life. Looking out not just for herself, she asked for protection for her family. Her faith in the God of the Israelites saved her and her family when Jericho was defeated by Joshua’s army. She later married Salmon and gave birth to a son, Boaz, who we meet later in another woman’s story. Jewish tradition says Salmon was one of the spies she hid.

Our third woman’s story is given in the book of Ruth.

The story of Ruth is a beautiful love story. Not only the story of love between Ruth and her husband, Boaz, but also Ruth’s love and commitment to her mother-in-law, Naomi. Ruth was also a Gentile. She had married into Naomi’s family when the family had settled in Moab trying to escape a famine in their own land of Israel. While there Naomi’s husband and her two sons died, leaving Naomi and her two daughters-in-law widows. Naomi decided she needed to return to her own land and her own family. One of the daughter-in-law stayed in Moab with her own people, but Ruth refused to allow Naomi to go back home alone. Her Words to Naomi are often used in wedding ceremonies. “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” Once back in the land of Israel, Ruth continued to do all she could to take care of her mother-in-law. Read the beautiful love story of how Ruth came to find a new husband in Boaz, son of Rahab.

Our fourth woman is Bathsheba. We really know little about this woman except in the context of King David’s adultery and later murder. Caught in a difficult situation and in that culture, forced into betraying her husband, she suffered not only the death of her husband but also the death of her child by David. But it appears she remained resilient and later she gave David another son who became his father’s heir. She is a good example of how life may put us in situations over which we have little control, but God is still faithful.

Of course, we all know the story of the last woman mentioned, Mary. What a story it is! A simple young girl living in a town far from the hustle and bustle of the day is told by an angel that she is going to have a child. Imagine the fear that would fill her heart. To be pregnant before marriage was an offence punishable by stoning. Who would believe her story? Yet we all know her response was “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

These women and their stories tell us much about God and his love. He chose those we would have never have picked to be the earthly ancestors of God. Yet, in selecting these women, I think it reveals hope to us all.

God can and will use anyone who is willing.

God and and will use the weak and the foolish.

Those people may reject – God can and will use.

I think it all shows just how much the story of Christmas is about Jesus coming to be “one of us.” To take on our weaknesses, to know hunger, cold, pain. His birth, his earthly life show us that he truly can relate to us who are weak, with faults and in need of a Savior.

My devotion today told the story of the woman who anointed Jesus with costly perfume as he sat at dinner with his disciples. Her action was criticized by those who thought it was money that could have been better spent on the poor.

Jesus responded that she had done a beautiful thing and this act was in preparation for His death. He also added that this wherever the Gospel was told this woman’s story would be included.

According to the Gospels, this was not a cheap jar of perfume purchased at the local storefront.

Matthew referred to it as “an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment.” Mark called it “an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly.” John says it was “an expensive ointment made from pure nard.”

Researching the fragrance “nard” it appears it would probably have been imported from India and according to the complaint of Judas, it would have cost at least a year’s wages.

Not only did this woman share this expensive perfume, which may have required all her savings to purchase, she took quite a brave step in coming in and kneeling at Jesus feet. He was having a meal with his disciples. Not a place for a women to enter except to serve the men.

This was extravagant worship! She gave all she had both in her finances and in her courage to act.

Makes me wonder how much my worship is extravagant. When in a worship service at church, do I just sing the words or do I really think about their meaning and sing to God from my heart? Sadly I think how many times people wonder into worship minutes after it has started and greet others as they amble to their seats? Is our worship authentic or do we just go through the motions?

Worship is more than just a service at church also. The word is derived from the Old English weorþscipe, and simply put means to give worth to something.

I give worth to God by much more than the half hour or so of singing on Sundays. I give (or don’t give) worth to God by the way I live, how I treat others, how I spend my time, my energy, my resources.

Thinking of this woman’s extravagant worship, I ask myself “Does my life reflect that kind of love and commitment to God?”

In line with that thought the story of David in 2 Samuel tells of worship that is extravagant. David wanted to buy a field from Araunah the Jebusite to make an offering to God. Araunah offered to give David the field, the wood for the fire and the animal for the sacrifice. David insisted on paying for it all and said, “I will not make an offering to God that does not cost me something.”

Dear Lord, may all I say, all I do, all I think be an offering of extravagant worship and may I be willing to give all of me – talent, time, energy, finances – to honor you.

You will see lots of pink ribbons this month as October has been designated as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

In 1979 wife of one of the prisoners held by Iran in the hostage crisis decided to use a yellow ribbon to show support for her husband. Soon there were hundreds of yellow ribbons displayed around the country to show support for our brave men being held captive. The history of a yellow ribbon goes back hundred of years. It is believed that the Puritans brought the story in a song of a women who wears a yellow ribbon to remember her love who has gone away to war.

‘Round her neck she wears a yeller ribbon She wears it in the winter and the summer so they say If you ask her, “Why the decoration?” She’ll say, “It’s fur my lover who is fur, fur away”

Since then many groups have used a colored ribbon to bring awareness to their own cause.

Red ribbon – AIDS awareness and for heart disease
Orange ribbon – leukemia awareness
Green ribbon – mental illness awareness
Purple ribbon – Alzheimer’s awareness

And the list goes on and on.

Breast cancer is something all women should be aware of. Men can also get this disease but they count for only a small percentage of all cancer cases.

As a cancer survivor I encourage all women to do all they can to prevent this disease. Some important things to consider:

Maintain a healthy weight
Stay physically active
Eat fruits and vegetables
Do not smoke
Limit alcohol consumption

I also strongly recommend a monthly self-exam. John Hopkins Medical Center states:

“Forty percent of diagnosed breast cancers are detected by women who feel a lump, so establishing a regular breast self-exam is very important.”

This is how I discovered my cancer.

If you discover a lump or are told you have breast cancer, please do not panic. If discovered in the early stages, survival rates are usually 100%. Even in later stages, treatment keeps advancing and survival rates keep going up.

For me my diagnosis was not good. I was told without any further treatment after surgery, I had only a 15% chance of being alive in ten years. With a vigorous treatment of chemotherapy and radiation, my survival rate went up to 25%. But here I am 17 years later cancer free.

As my husband said when we received the terrible diagnosis:

“It is not over until God says it is over.”

Another cancer survivor whose diagnosis was worse than mine but who survived for years told me:

Don’t worry about the statistics. That is all they are – numbers. Make your own statistic.

But do your self-exam monthly!!!!