Toy Stories: Barbie — Nurturing vs. Domineering - Tuesday
Today’s Verse
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (ESV)
Falling down and scraping knees is a normal part of childhood, but not all kids respond in the same way. Some stay down and scream as though they’ve lost a leg, while others bounce back and ignore the dripping blood. Two of our three kids represented each extreme, and one kid fell squarely in the middle; you never knew which reaction you were going to get. One day, as this child displayed a particularly dramatic response, I grabbed the first thing I could find out of desperation and rubbed a magic green gel on the seemingly deadly boo-boo that was invisible to the naked eye.
Well, that was it. The magic green gel came in high demand, and apparently, it was a miracle cure for just about everything. Now you may be wondering what this amazing substance was; it was plain old aloe vera gel for sunburns. Aloe vera is great for a lot of things, but the “cure” was actually in me stopping to pay attention. And while it would’ve done no good to explain the placebo effect to a three-year-old, it did a lot of good for them to feel loved and cared for by Mom in that moment, regardless of the actual extent of the injury.
This is an example of the nurturing side of women that God has given us as a part of His image. But, there were also times when my kids needed to hear a less nurturing message from their Dad, like “walk it off,” “rub some dirt on it,” or our family favorite, “play through the pain.” At times, they also needed the encouragement to be resilient and a little tougher than they thought they could be.
The feminine, nurturing side of women (and the masculine, tough side of men) is not in conflict with one another. Together, they give us a more complete picture of God’s nature. And this beautiful picture is a reminder that in order to grow, we will need people in our lives to love and nourish us sacrificially, and we will need people to challenge us to endure and accomplish more than we can in our own strength.
APPLICATION
Who in your life needs some of your time and attention this week? Make an effort to just be present and be a reflection of God’s love and goodness in their life.
PRAYER
Lord, thank You that You are always available to us. Help me be available to those around me who need me to share what You have given me.