The Super-Woman Epidemic

There is a trend among American women. Actually, I can only attest to American women because theirs is the behavior that I have had the privilege [AKA exhausting burden] of observing most closely. It is that of the Super-Woman. The social media world has only perpetuated this epidemic because all of us normally average women have the ability to read thousands and thousands of Super-Woman blogs/FB statuses/Tweets and feel bad about ourselves, which typically leads us to hurry/work/cook ourselves into a frenzy of the crazies. That or we give up entirely and still find ourselves in the crazies. And not the kind of crazies that are joke-worthy either.

Here’s the thing about that, though, social media is brilliant because you can make your world APPEAR to be whatever you want it to. And we are ALL about appearances, gals. I take a picture of my house when it is freshly cleaned every two weeks [or less]. I send out a status update declaring my wonderful mommy/daughter day a TO-tal success and conveniently leave out the part where I verbally bit her tiny little, painfully adorable head off. THIS IS NOT REAL LIFE! These are PRETEND super-women. Wannabe’s, if you will, who will never, ever be what they’re striving for because they’re striving for the wrong thing AND because they’re drawing their strength from the wrong place…down time in front of the TV, the computer screen, a glass of wine.

A pretend super-woman is always hurried. She runs around frantically and always seems to be sweaty and out of breath. She is quick to share her own accomplishments and gush over the latest thing she has discovered she’s good at. She is incapable of saying, “No.” Ever. She is habitually exhausted, must have a perfect house at all times, and, most importantly, just does not have time to sit down with the Word of God because she is just so.darn.busy. She jokes that she hopes her sentence prayers are enough. I know all of this because I am a recovering pretend super-woman.

Now, there is such thing as a super-woman. She’s the one that is super because the Holy Spirit lives within her and somehow helps her supernaturally do all the things she does as well as she does them. But you never hear about her fabulousness from her own lips. In fact, you really don’t know that she’s a super woman until you spend time with her and realize just how much she does, how much kindness she extends, how much of herself she gives. She IS good at a variety of things but is so secure in who she is in Jesus that she no longer feels the need to broadcast them over the social networking world or whoever is standing closest to her. She loves to share her talents but only insomuch as they help OTHERS. And she has no qualms about saying, “No.” She senses the worth of her work, be it much or little, and is content to let that be who she is for whatever season she is in.  And she values her time with the Lord above all else. Clings to it like a lifeline. Knows the value of those sentence prayers cannot be matched when they are paired with the power of God’s Living and Changing Word. She is worth far more than diamonds.

Not a one of us starts off as a do-it-all type of woman. It probably seems overwhelming to all of us in the beginning. But if we walk on the slow and steady path of knowing Jesus – of MAKING Him more important than ANYthing else in our lives – we will look up one day and marvel at just how much He helps us get done in a day. So if you’re a pretend super-woman, my heart goes out to you because I know what it’s like to strive and toil and still not feel like you’re enough. As it turns out, though, being a woman who pleases the Lord really isn’t so darn exhausting after all. Spend some time with Him. Carve it out every day for 2 weeks and TELL me you don’t taste the freedom. I dare you.

And if you’re a recovering super-woman, like me, keep choosing Him first every day. Above your husband, your kids, your job, your friends, your poor-pitiful-me’s. He will always be the reason you have enough for the rest of ’em!

And if you’re an actual super-woman, well, you probably don’t even know you are one. Which makes us love you all the more!

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