Every week almost for the past year, my AP Language and Composition class has held discussions on the importance of certain controversial topics occurring throughout the nation. We've covered foreign allegiance, racial prejudice, aged literature, and are now talking about feminism. Writings like, Shakespeare's Sister, In Search of our Mother's Gardens, Beauty, and The Clan of the One Breasted Women have been rhetorically analyzed and picked apart to no end for the past month.

Yesterday in our little circle of 7 or 8 people, we analyzed the importance of religion (in the story's case, Mormonism) in regards to, The Clan of the One Breasted Women. We came to the section in the story where the author talks about how in the Mormon religion, "authority is respected, obedience is revered, and independent thinking is not. [She] was taught as a young girl not to "make waves" or "rock the boat" (Terry Tempest Williams). Some of the girls in my group then began talking about how this is expected because The Bible says that, "women are to remain quiet" (1 Tim. 2:12), and, "should be in submission [at the church]" (1 Cor. 14:34). It then began to sound like they (the girls in the discussion) felt the Bible restricted women from living their lives and being themselves.

This greatly saddened me because the Bible has taught me so much more about womanhood than just those few verses. I believe they are meant to remind women that God has uniquely ordained men to lead us, just as Jesus leads His bride, the church. I believe we are meant to respect our husbands and that our purpose is not to lead congregations in ministry - I believe this because I believe that every word spoken in the Bible is true.

But I want girls to know that the Bible is not meant to take away our passions, livelihood, and careers- in fact it gives us many. Through it, The Lord gives us our confidence (Proverbs 3:26) and our identity (1 Peter 2:9).

As cliche as it sounds, as I grow into the woman that God has predestined me to become and as my friends grow into the women that God has known them to be since before they were even thought of, I pray that The Lord will bless us with:

The strength of Deborah and Jael to fight on the good side of this spiritual warfare between God and the devil as God enabled them to fight their enemies in Judges 4 and 5,

The angel who protected Hagar as she was excluded and ostracized due to her enslavement and unwanted pregnancy in Genesis,

The surrender of Hannah as she willingly gave her son to the church in praise to The Lord for blessing her with a child in 1 Samuel,

The courage of Esther to fight for the lives of her people and call out Haman who sought out to destroy her cousin Mordecai in the book of Esther,

The patience of Noah's wife as she waited for the promise of deliverance from the great flood in Genesis 6-8,

The trust that the prostitute, Rahab, had to God in protecting His people in the book of Joshua, as she hid them from soldiers seeking their destruction. Her identity was no longer in the fact that she sold her body to other men, but in the fact that she was one of Jesus Himself's ancestors,

The loyalty of Ruth to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and her unwavering love for her despite the fact that they no longer held relation to one another,

The faith of Mary, Jesus' mother, in God to bear His child despite the rumors and lies circulating due to the fact that she had yet been wed to Joseph,

The witness of Mary Magdalene as she was the first to see Jesus after His resurrection. God gave her significance in His story of redeeming humanity,

The ears of Mary and the hospitality of Martha as Mary knew when to be still and listen to Jesus' stories and Martha knew to welcome others into her home,

And finally, the excitement and passion that the woman at the well had to hearing that Jesus has the living water needed for eternal life,

These are just a few of the incredible stories that the Bible illustrates the importance in the roles of women.

My conclusion to the feminist discussions in class is this - you are meant for more than idle sitting. You are more than the shine in your hair and the size of your breasts and the length of your legs. You are meant for more than white picket fences and mini vans.

You are meant to dwell in the fact that The Lord has made your existence to be more purposeful and extremely awesome than the expectations that the world has bestowed upon us. You are meant to dwell in the peace of knowing that your Heavenly Father sent His son Jesus to die on a cross for you. And you are meant to share that news with the rest of the world be it your children, your boss, coworkers, parents, or friends.

Those women made waves in Jesus' story. They rocked the Bible's boat. God made them significant, and He gives us value too.

You don't have to feel like the Bible confines you to a certain standard to uphold. Live as The Lord calls you to live - as a business owner, counselor, principal, doctor, housewife, mother, or accountant.

And understand that He made you not to be just "good," but, "very good."

This letter is to the one sitting in the back of the room. To the one standing alone, observing the world going round -- without them involved. This letter is to you who rarely speaks a word because no one dares breathe one in your direction.

You precious, significant soul. 

My heart breaks for you. It breaks for you in a way that none other can ever compare. 

It's so difficult to throw yourself out there, to wear your heart out on your sleeve, to be vulnerable in front of a people who fail to understand -- a people who might never understand.

It's so hard to crack a cheesy joke, laugh your obnoxious laugh, or dance your favorite jig because maybe they'll think yours doesn't make any sense. Or maybe in their eyes, you'll be too loud, too weird, too abnormal to continue to hang out with. 

Maybe you can't volunteer to play that game because you'll mess up and your team will tear you to pieces for costing them the win. 

You can't share a secret because no one has ever dealt with the same stuff that you have and if they knew who you really were you'd be ostracized and persecuted -- so you stay out of their lives anyway.

I know you. 

I've been a lonely before,

and in a lot of ways I still am lonely. 

I know because for a little under a year I struggled with an addiction to pornography. At the same time, I was a 10-year old girl. I felt like my parents would hate me, my friends would ditch me, and my church family would resent me. In my childlike eyes, my sin tainted my very being and I couldn't speak about it in fear of ending up alone. To avoid the emptiness of being left by everyone I loved, I isolated myself from them. I walked away -- and ended up lonely anyway.

I know because on the first day of seventh grade I sat alone in a room full of strangers, anxiously waiting for a familiar face to walk through the door of my homeroom class. Instead a girl strutted in asking the "popular" table who she'd sit with if they didn't pull up a chair and when one of them suggested me, she looked me in the eye and replied, "No, she's ugly". For the rest of the day and for the majority of the year, I sat alone.  

I know because my freshman year in the high school department at church was spent on the back row. I hated going, I hated the "church faces", and I hated the fact that I failed to fit in to the place that was supposed to feel the most like home. 

My loneliness is not my story though -- and neither is yours. 

Our loneliness here on Earth is a testament to the never-ending pursuit of our Friend and Father who will one day be with us for the rest of eternity.

I know this to be true because as a 10-year old girl sobbing in her bedroom in the middle of the night, begging her Heavenly Father to save her orphaned soul, He did. And it was in the most embarrassing way possible because no one wants to look their dad in the eye and tell him that they'd been watching people on the internet committing vulgar and tasteless acts. But He saved me because despite my own personal vulgar and tasteless act -- He is still good. 

I know this to be true because even though I walked the halls of seventh grade by myself, in eighth He blessed me with the kind of best friend that lasts for life. And we have our differences and issues but I have no doubt in my mind that if I need her, she will be there and the same will be reciprocated for her. 

--My sophomore year of high school, He blessed my with a core friend group including two other girls who pursue The Lord and walk life with me. 

I know this to be true because at the end of my freshman year as I was sitting in the darkness on a Wednesday night worshipping The Lord by myself, I saw out of the corner of my eye one of the senior guys at the time turn towards one of the sophomore girls and ask her to go sit with me. And she did. 

So maybe right now you're drowning in solitude. 

But know that The Lord is your ultimate companion. Because He provides for all of our needs, and even if His plan for right now is that you walk some miles without the company of other human beings, He'll be with you every step of the way.

So please throw the frisbee as hard as you can in that game of frisbee golf -- aim for someone's hands but if you miss, brush it off and let your team's frustration roll off you like the sweat dripping off your brow.

Laugh as loudly as you want because eventually everyone else will be laughing too and even though it might be at you, they'll like your uniqueness and consider you genuine for it -- if they're cool. Feel free to throw in a snort every once in a while to keep them on their toes. 

And hey, I'm still struggling with this too because its life and life is hard so know that you aren't walking through loneliness alone.

Because you are not alone.

Sincerely,
                  A fellow wayfaring stranger