Wednesday, June 13, 2007

domestic goddess

sometimes I hate the fact that I have become so domestic. Wasn't it me in college that was "the feminist?" I was the only woman in the pastoral program. I was so very proud of that too. I fought for the right to take those classes along with the boys, I fought for the idea that women could be ministers too. I was labeled as a feminist. I was looked at as radical. No one really stopped to hear my views, or really listen to what I had to say, if they had they would have realized that I am not all that radical and that I don't believe that women should be senior pastors except in special situations. That gets into Theology and interpretation of the scripture and I am really really tired of explaining that to people, so I'm not going to bother here.

The whole point is that I fought for a really long time to be respected as a woman minister. There was a point that I didn't even want children. And now look at me. I'm a SAHM with a very part time church job. I cook and clean and wipe kids butts every day. I'm gardening, baking, and sewing. When did I turn into this person? The better question how can the same person who was such a feminist now be enjoying the role she is playing now? It's crazy to me that I take so much pleasure in domesticity.

This week was a pinnacle in my domestic goddess status. I sewed a dress (that I altered from the original pattern) for my beautiful little princess this week. Oh. My. Goodness. I had so much fun doing so. And when I put it on her I think I squealed in delight. I baked the best banana bread I have ever tasted - it was of my own creation. I used fresh herbs from my garden to roast a whole chicken, I used the pan juices to make some of the best sauce ever. And why didn't anyone ever tell me gardening was so fun? Getting my hands in the dirt and taking care of flowers is so rewarding. Not that I have a huge garden -I live in an apartment, but I take joy in sitting on my patio with all the beauty that I have nurtured around me.

I started all this domestic stuff in the attempt to be the perfect mommy. I think that that is one thing that birth parents and adoptive parent often share (not all the time, I am generalizing), the feeling that one must be perfect. But along the way I have found that I really do enjoy being domestic. I still HATE cleaning and especially washing dishes. But I love creating. My creativity can go crazy in the kitchen, garden and on fabric. And there is something amazing about saying - "I made this!"

the dress on my beautiful princess

banana bread and coffee on my patio


fresh herbs for my cooking!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

well, don't forget that you might have some things that others don't have!! and i know you know exactly what i mean!

such a beautiful dress on such a PRECIOUS little girl:)

BTW - i want the banana bread recipe

~l

Anonymous said...

also had to add that i recently discovered that vineyard church as a national organization have decided to not only support women pastors as senior pastors but also to allow them to be in leadership positions both regionally and nationally! while they still leave it to the local churches to decide whether or not to ordain women in each local church, i was excited to see that they are making intentional movement to make women feel welcomed into the pastoral community.

it made me happy :) you can read more at the link below, if you like.

http://www.vineyardusa.org/upload/docs/women_sept_06.pdf

~l

Anonymous said...

oops - link got cut off.

http://www.vineyardusa.org/
upload/docs/women_sept_06.pdf

mskimkim said...

That dress is wonderful! Domestic Goddess things are fun. What a lovely post.