March is National
Women’s History Month and this year’s theme Weaving
the Story of Women’s Lives is very intriguing to me. As I perused the website of the
National Women’s History Project (www.nwhp.org) I found these words “Our History Is Our Strength.” I thought, “Yes, that’s
it!” Our stories speak to our history and our history is our strength!
Many women carry
shame regarding their stories. Often women keep silent about their history and
many suffer with feelings of unworthiness because of painful events of their past. Even when we have accomplishments for which we can be proud, some women are less likely to share for fear they will be perceived
as aggressive, overbearing or even worse, being the target of another woman's envy or jealousy.
Like most women,
I too have things in my past for which I am not proud. There have been times in my life that I
wished my circumstances were different or that things would have turned out better.
Robert Clinton in his book, Connecting refers
to these things as Sovereign Foundations. These are things in our lives for
which we have no control over. For example, where we were born, to whom we were
born, our race, ethnicity, gender and sometimes the events of our lives that
characterize our history.
For example,
growing up as a young girl in the city of Chicago, I suffered with low
self-esteem because I was teased about being dark skinned. This week I received
an email from an elementary school teacher in another state telling me that she follows me on social media and noticed that I seemed to be very
comfortable in my own skin. She asked if I would be willing to speak with a
young girl in her class who shared she wanted to kill herself because she did
not like being dark skinned. When we spoke, I shared a little bit of my story
and told her that I would be willing to speak with this student on the phone if
she could arrange it with her parents. She then asked what it would take for
her to bring me to her city to speak to the girls in her school about healthy
self-esteem. I appreciate God for giving me the opportunity to share my story
and help a young woman know she is "fearfully and wonderfully made in the
image of God (Psalm 139:14).
To weave anything
requires the interlacing of threads of material composing a connected whole out
of the elements and details of different cloths and patterns. When I think of weaving the stories of
women’s lives I am made vividly aware of the differences women share. Yet, when
brought together in a bond of unity women’s lives create a colorful tapestry of
sisterhood and strength.
There are
experiences that color our history and while we may have painful memories
around those experiences we cannot change them. I often tell women, you are not
what happened to you, but you can use what happened to you to empower others
and propel you into greater stations of impact and significance. During this
Women’s History Month reflect on your story, share elements of your story, celebrate
the lives and the stories of other women and remember Our History Is Our Strength!
Dr. Toni
www.drrtonialvarado.com
