REMAINING A LADY THROUGH THE STORM:

A Hunger for Righteousness Amidst the Vulgar Maelstrom

I have a cherished photograph from an old fashion magazine, likely Harper's Bazaar, perhaps from the end of 1990's or early aughts. 

The model is a very young lady, looks to be around 12 or 13 but looking quite mature with a solid and intense gaze, is dressed in a sublime Valentino skirt-suit. A deceptively simple design which I am certain has sophisticated inner workings, there is not a "sexy" or  aggressive tone whatsoever to this $4000 piece of majestic and masterful beauty, created from the finest fabric, most excellent craftspersons who made it and the wondrous design of Mr. Valentino Garavani.

The iconic black and white photo speaks to my battered soul with such overwhelming power and is one of the few fashion photos I saved after all those years of simmering on high-fashion magazines. The model in this particular suit emanates such incredible power of the lady-like, what I call "sublime understatement."  It carries no overt force, although her gaze is intense. The suit itself is extremely modest, with a knee-length skirt in very subtle gathers, the jacket cut in princess seams and very softly shaped to the waistline. Five dark buttons close it from waist to neckline, with no cleavage or showing off. She wears dark opaque hose. 

While I do not know a great deal about the masterful garments designed by Mr. Valentino Garavani, he was one of Paris' great haute couture designers, who certainly did not present "flaunt"  in any manner. 

My point in all this garment-gazing is the starkness of much of modern women's garments, that push sex, sex and more sex onto every thread of female apparel. Even little girls are shoved toward showing it all off, when that is the polar opposite of what little girls should grow up doing. This is not about "shame" or apologies for being female. This is about honoring the power of dignity and the deep feminine, the healer, the nurturer, the kindness, the blessing and not the stark aggression of the "cougar" or the sex-bomb. Women are given the immense ability to nurture life, only biological women can do that, in a tandem creation with a man.

I can speak of this because I myself pursued the skin tight jeans in my youth, even if not the overt cleavage or other brassy  display. I still knew how to get a boy's attention...even if it was only for a moment that dropped into the pit quickly.

I stand from the front lines of speaking out about the power of the state of ladylike, which is not a doormat nor a domestic slave nor a supplicant but rather a quiet realm of peace that is desperately needed in this world. The war betwen men and women may just be the oldest war of all and one I have been a sorrowful and intense participant, much to my weeping over many years. Losing track of the sex partners I had in my youth and aggressively pursuing men and a handful of women, brought only emotional chaos and destruction to my life in every area.  I can minister to some youth because of the disaster that happened to me. This is not about "holier than thou" or what is called "slut shaming" in the blunt vernacular of modern 2023. I have participated in being a "slut" and pursued the "freedom" the devil sold to me and my Boomer generation. It is a total lie and hence, my sincere desire as the "blunt Oregon girl", to speak some stark truths about just how the fallen angel works to steal, to kill and to destroy. I am a blunt girl of a righteous age (71 in 2023) and I can truly speak from my unhappy experience, to encourage young women to simply sit down with God in their spirit and seek His counsel. God is the One Who created sex! He designed male and female for one another, for the dual purpose of possible reproduction and also for the holy fellowship of one man and one woman for life, family, shared intimacy and a growth of spirit that comes from creating life, birthing it and raising the little ones to hopefully be honorable men and women and seekers of the freedom that only comes through walking with God.

As I never formally married and did not have children, I can only speak from the sorrow I endured for over a decade in my youth, as I ran from man to man to man, from sexually transmitted diseases, to two abortions in 1973, to the profound lie of "sexual freedom", otherwise known as the devil’s big lie.  I am simply grateful I survived. I was a prodigal from the Christian faith for 35 years and truly blessed that Holy Spirit did not stop coming after me to draw me back to God. For however many more years God will give me, I will attempt to be a conduit for the immense love of Papa God, to all His wounded human beings, to have a place to find help, healing, solace and transformation that only God can manifest. Just to be satisfied with the female body one was born in must be a big deal here in 2023. I have never once longed to "be" a man, as I am female and have had the blunt experience of bleeding every month for 35 or 40 years. That is the core of female, the monthly cycle that brings forth the reminded of our biological roots. Certainly not always fun or entertaining…but a part of how life is made, when connected with a man. Egg plus sperm can equal life.

We desperately need God's healing help for our rowdy and wounded souls.

After trying so many many different roads in my desperate years of wandering and rebellion, I can truly say that God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ are the pinnacle. They save, They heal, They comfort, They guide, They instruct and They protect. They will also judge on ahead. It is my most cherished and heartfelt prayer for others to experience the God I know, not a tyrant seeking slaves but the Father of Fathers Who seeks sons and daughters to be His family.

Wendy Williams November 25, 2023