I encourage you to read Part One for the background and set-up for what follows next ~ Nancy There’s a lot more chronicled in this palace story than there is time and room to delve into here. As I stated in Part One, it was the difference a day makes – and what transpired in…
Tag: women’s issues
The Difference a Day Makes
Esther’s story has so often been told and re-told to the point that I’m tired of hearing the phrase ‘for such a time as this.’ Where’s the encouragement in that?! you say. Bear with me, for I know that phrase presents a necessary challenge to stand up! speak up! do something! at times we may…
Nine
It’s long been said that age is just a state of mind. If that’s accurate, then I moved to a new state at the age of nine. Though I lived in the house I grew up in from nine months old to age 19 when I married, I was nine when awareness, awkwardness, and anxiousness…
Acknowledging the Eldership of Women
Ishshah’s Story is pleased to feature the following archived Her History post authored by Cheryl McGrath. Away for a short break, Cheryl’s voice and heart stimulates us still through her writings. Enjoy the first of two posts to be featured while she is on a brief sabbatical. When I was both a young woman and…
Carrying the Light
My friend and I drove around back roads looking for inspiration. Springtime in the Rockies, when trees blossom and snow gleams on mountain peaks above greening valleys, is a joyous time for amateur photographers. We understand that journeys can be destinations in themselves. While checking out a village by the river we passed an abandoned…
In the Middle of the Day
It is our pleasure here at Ishshah’s Story to welcome back author and blogger Linda Jo Reed of the U.S. The following guest post, her second contribution to the blog, offers an engaging retelling of the Samaritan woman – the woman at the well. Linda Jo’s first story, Upheld in Life Change, can be enjoyed…
Saying Yes
“He leaned on the pulpit, and said in a stern fatherly voice, ‘Now ladies, there’s a case here in the news where a wife is making accusations against her husband. You need to understand this. There is no such thing as rape in marriage. There’s no such thing because the Bible says your body belongs…
The Remarkable Katharine Bushnell
I’d like for you to meet one of my favorite people, Dr. Katharine C. Bushnell. Obviously I never met her in the flesh since my friend Kate was born in 1855, a bit before my time.[1] She was a physician, missionary, crusader, reformer, author and speaker as well as a brilliant and original scholar who…
The Woman Who Touched God
To all our Ishshah’s Story readers and supporters we wish you the very best of everything for Christmas and the coming year. We look forward to sharing, fellowshipping and hearing from you in 2016. This last post for 2015 was recently shared at Bread for the Bride and poses the question if Jesus was not offended…
A Quiet Revolution
Feathers were getting ruffled on both sides. I realize that infers an invisible line in the sand. The dangerous thing about an invisible line is that it is like electricity. You can’t always see it but you can sure feel it when you reach out and God forbid, touch it. The females in the office…
Is It Time For You to Be Our Guest?
Got something that needs saying? A lesson learned, an inspiration, a moment of wisdom, a revelation, a story to tell, a beautiful creation? There will be no better time than now. Take a look at the multiple ways you can share on our Ishshah’s Story blog site. Ishshah’s Story is your story! We want to hear it, we…
What Jesus Taught on Marriage and Divorce
Jesus taught on divorce in Matt 19:1-11, Mark 10:1-12 and Matt 5:31-32. Matt 19:3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” NKJV Divorce for “any reason”, also called “any matter divorce” was supported by those who…
Not Quite Marilyn
“Inner beauty won’t get you free drinks.” Some of the most enlightening conversations are those engaged in by other diners sitting within earshot of your own table. On two occasions in a matter of months, this type of overheard commentary un-graced the breakfast I had just asked the Lord to bless. Sadly, both times it…
Celebrating: Feisty Females of the Middle Ages
The Middle Ages, or Medieval Period, covered one thousand years of human history, from the fifth to the fifteenth century. It was a time of feudalism, superstition and the rise and fall of kingdoms. It was also a time when Christianity was primarily represented by one established Church, ruled by the Pope in Rome, who…
Shall Women Be Silent?
Shall Women Be Silent? Our purpose here is to explain why 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 doesn’t mean that women should forever be silent in church. The scripture appears to forbid women speaking in church but today it is common practice. To prevent encouraging people from picking and choosing which scriptures to believe and which to reject, it is critically important…
Submission
In September of 2014 Cheryl McGrath posted an article on male headship using the story of Ananias and Sapphira from Acts 5. Traditionally, women have been told that they were to submit to their husbands, but if you read this article, you’ll see that Sapphira’s sin was in agreeing with her husband in deception rather…
Keeper of My Heart
Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are. – Franklin D. Roosevelt – (former President of the United States) Keeping your heart and keeping the rules are two very different things. My childhood revolved around being a rule keeper. There were all kinds of labels stapled to my pseudo coat of many colors… Teacher’s Pet…
Celebrating: Pandita Ramabai of India
A simple wooden cross hidden in scrubby farmland near a railway line now marks the grave of Pandita Ramabai. Yet this petite and remarkable Indian woman, of Hindu descent, was one of the greatest social reformers of her time; a linguist who spoke seven languages; a poet, educator, and author; and a staunch champion…
What Women These Christians Have!
Just posted on our Facebook Page: “Asking why today….why after two thousand years since Christ women believers are still gagged in the church, why numbers of women in leadership are still so disproportional, why I had to go back to a fourth century pagan philosopher to find this revolutionary statement: “What women these Christians have!”.…
Acknowledging the Eldership of Women
When I was both a young woman and a young Christian I would often wander with some friends down to Speaker’s Corner at the Domain in Sydney for some Sunday afternoon entertainment. Speaker’s Corner, as the name implies, was a space in the city given over for anyone and everyone with a cause to present…
Joy Comes in the Morning
Weeping may endure in the evening, but joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5 – LITV In this particular case, joy arrived at precisely 3:52 a.m. The new little life you see in the inset photograph breathed his first breath on Sunday, the 9th of November before even the sun was up. The night of…
Jesus Was Not Politically Correct
God does not always approve of what is culturally acceptable. A few years ago I read a statement that is so simple I wondered why I had never thought of it. I don’t remember the exact words but the concept was that just because God deals with people within their culture does not mean…
The Lady From Number 31
I’ve been noticing a resurgence in interest in the blogosphere lately in the proverbial ‘virtuous’ wife of Proverbs 31. The Junia Project has a good article here and there’s another here by Rachel Held Evans. I agree with the excellent insights in these posts, but I also have a slightly different perspective on the Proverbs 31 wife…
Celebrating: Dr. Catherine Hamlin of Ethiopia
When Dr. Catherine Hamlin arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with her husband Reg in 1959, neither had ever seen a case of the medical condition called ‘obstetric fistula’ which would soon become their life’s work. Born in Sydney, Australia in 1924, Catherine was the second eldest of six children. Her father was a successful businessman…
Material Girl
I am not a seamstress by any stretch of the imagination. However, I do enjoy strolling through a fabric shop, running my hand over smooth satins, handling chunkier wools, and looking at the vast array of material that offers unlimited combinations. In that scenario, my imagination can sew up a storm! Nor do I cop…