Guest Blog: Claire Wright

Claire is a youthworker's wife, a perpetual student, an aspiring counsellor and a mother-to-be. She blogs at Life With Open Arms

    I have a confession to make. Actually, I had one to make a few years ago. It was something I was deeply ashamed of, so much so that for many years growing up, I hid it even from myself. But God led my heart to see it, and I said to Him: “thanks, but no thanks”, hoping that it might go away. But the desire grew, and I started to realise this truly was something big. A calling.

    It cost me a lot to confide it to a few of my closest friends at university, but the reaction I got blew me away. Not only did they not judge me, but these beautiful, modern, strong Christian women actually confessed to wanting the same thing! I started to tell more and more friends, and although many did not agree quite so readily, I was amazed to find that they respected me for it, and that there were a lot of young women who felt the same, but were equally ashamed of it or thought it impossible.

    Today, I share it readily with people, even those I know little, although it still sometimes costs me, and some people disagree and even judge so strongly I start to feel a little of that shame again...

So, here goes...

I want to be a stay-at-home-wife and mother.

    I know, this is supposed to be a post about being a Christian woman in the 21^st century. I know, women fought in order to be free from those 'shackles' long ago. They fought so that I may be able to have an education, a vote, a respected opinion. Except here's the thing: what if my opinion is that my calling is to be with my family?

    For me, to be a Christian woman in the 21^st century means living the life God has called you to, it means being more completely you, whether that is in a paid job or full-time family life, in single life or marriage, in church ministry or the secular world. It also means respecting that other people are different to you and have unique callings. I believe that God has called me to have my primary job be my family, but I hope that I would never judge a woman for returning to a job she is called to after having children. And I hope that they would also be respectful of those of us who choose otherwise.

    As Christian women, we are called to remember the importance of holding onto our femininity, of recognising and learning to love the way we were created by our Father in Heaven, and of understanding that the words “submissive” and “receiver” are not bad words. We are called to look to the example of Biblical women, and in particular, to Mary, whose greatest achievement in her life was to submit to the will of God and to raise Jesus, teaching Him to pray and helping to nurture Him.  We are called to recognise the power we hold as women, wives and mothers. We are called to fight, just as so many women have fought before us.

    So what should we be fighting for in the 21^st century? First and foremost, our faith. But we should fight also for our families and the families of those around us. And we should fight for that specific calling God has for us.

May we, as modern Christian women, be saints of the 21^st century.

WE NEED SAINTS

“We need saints without veil or cassock.
We need saints who wear jeans and sneakers.
We need saints who go to the movies, listen to music and hang out with friends.
We need saints who put God in first place, but who let go of their power.
We need saints who have time everyday to pray and who know how to date in purity and chastity, or who consecrate their chastity.
We need modern saints, Saints of the 21st century with a spirituality that is part of our time.
We need saints committed to the poor and the necessary social changes.
We need saints who live in the world and who are sanctified in the world, who are not afraid to live in the world.
We need saints who drink Coke and eat hot dogs, who wear jeans, who are Internet-savvy, who listen to CDs.
We need saints who passionately love the Eucharist and who are not ashamed to drink a soda or eat pizza on weekends with friends.
We need saints who like movies, the theatre, music, dance, sports.
We need saints who are social, open, normal, friendly, happy and who are good companions.
We need saints who are in the world and know how to taste the pure and nice things of the world but who aren’t of the world.”