Boots and Roots

Today I got a glimpse of my 8-year-old daughter’s future.  It’s hard to put into words the vision in my head, but it’s a powerful one that brought me to tears.  She and I went out to set up a paddock for our turkeys.  The turkeys have been hanging out in my backyard for the last few months because it was so hot and so dry here that I was afraid they would die.  Literally.  Turkeys are pretty hardy creatures once they’re a few weeks old.  But they’re not the brightest animals in the world.  Which amuses the heck out of me that Benjamin Franklin suggested once that turkeys should be the national bird of the United States.  With our current state of affairs, Benjamin Franklin appears almost prophetic.  But I digress! 

Anyway, the temps are no longer hovering around 115F (actual OR real feel), and we’ve actually gotten some rain.  And, the turkeys have decided to go foraging in my neighbors’ yards. It is time for them to move! So off we went to go start that process.

We loaded up the electric nets, drove out to where the turkeys are going to be, unloaded the nets, and…..started the process of untangling them.  When I last picked them up from the field, it was HOTTTTTT, so they were not tied up or neatly laid out like I normally do.  That’s ok—I don’t mind untangling things.  It’s a little cathartic for me. 

Charlie…..I don’t even know how to describe it…  She, too, is detail-oriented, and is such a help when it comes to setting up fences.  You know, any time you involve a child in a task, that it is going to take way longer to get that task done than if you did it yourself.  Except today, the reason it took me so much longer was not because of having to correct her, but because I was blessed with an opportunity to sow deeply—I hope—into her future. 

In Genesis 2:18, the Hebrew words used to describe who Eve is are “Ezer kenegdo”.  These words have been translated into “helper”, “helpmeet”, and other such words that, frankly, are not only half of the description, but also taken out of original context. In fact, this single-word translation of a 2-word descriptor, “helper” or “helpmeet”, has arguably led to the subjugation of women throughout the centuries.  Thank God we no longer are viewed as property, or have to get our husband’s permission to open a bank account!!  I am so grateful for the generations of women who came before me and fought those battles!!  Subjugation of women was never in God’s original Will.  Yes, we are to submit to our husbands. And our husbands are to serve us. Sounds pretty equal, right? And yes, we are the weaker sex, physically. And yet, we are the ones chosen to bring forth life into the the world. And yes, our husbands are our protectors and defenders.  And we are to nurture them and our whole family. But that Ezer Kenegdo wording was never meant to portray women as weak and helpless. Quite the opposite, in fact.  It more or less translates to “strong helper.” The Jewish understanding of these words is that woman will either be her husband’s strong helper—or if their relationship is out of balance, either because he abdicates his role as head of the household, or she outright steals his role from him—then she will be his strong adversary.  And we can certainly look all around us and see this in action every day. 

The word “Ezer” is masculine in form.  In other places in Scripture, that word is also used to describe mighty warriors, and even God himself as Israel’s mighty warrior, protector, and defender.  To be clear, this in no way puts us on the same level with God—any more than this word puts warriors on the same level of God.  But, Ezer is a word of warrior-level strength, not weakness.  “Kenegdo” means complementary.  We are our husband’s helper—not in a weak, subservient way.  Not even a little bit.  Our husbands fight many battles a day.  And so do we, as women—regardless of whether we work outside the home, work at home, or our work is running our household.  And just like we need our husbands to join us in our day-to-day battles, we need to join our husbands in battle as well—back-to-back, fighting together.  We aren’t meant to simply cheer him on from the sidelines. We are meant to get into the mud and the muck with him, and have his back.

Again, I can’t put into words what I saw with Charlie.  The image of the future I saw.  But her helping me in such a significant way, at just 8 years old, showed me that she is strong physically and mentally.  I already know these things, but the future image was so real and visceral.  I saw her as a wife who possesses strength, power, and humility. I saw her as a wife will fight with her husband for their family, and against worldliness, rather than fighting with her husband to be against him. I saw her as a strong, complementary team member, totally capable of holding her own. She, at 8 years old, possesses physical and mental strength that I see missing in many grown women, decades older than her. Today, at 8 years old, she could dance circles around many boys her age. This is not a woman to be messed with or taken lightly. And I jumped at the opportunity to say these words to her. I pray that my words ring in her ears as she gets older, and the world starts whispering lies to her. I pray that she marries a man worthy of her. And most of all, I pray that she always remembers her worth, and who she is as a warrior princess of the Most High.