Little Women in a Modern Age

I always imagined that I would have four children, but I didn’t guess that they would all be daughters. But as my stomach swelled time and time again, and each time the ultrasound tech announced that it was a girl, my heart joined the swelling of my stomach as I imagined what life would be like for all of these sisters to grow up together.

But there were other things I hadn’t imagined too when I set out being a parent (at such a young age- birthing my first just two days after I turned 23!). I didn’t foresee divorce and remarriage and a step-brother and a half-sister (and a whole host of other things). The journey of life is unpredictable yet thrilling.

I am an old soul who loves classic literature, traditions, and old home charm. I dream of days gone past, the 1800s and little women in dresses, even while I sit comfortably wearing leggings in my insulated, dry-walled home with central heat and air. There was a time where I latched on to all things of the past—old books and old homes and hymns and Martin Luther theology—but my convictions have led me to see that even these things at one time were new. When I moved into the 1931 farmhouse, I basked in its character but was thankful for the updated plumbing and found the picture that proved before its existence, there was just a log cabin on the property, and before it, just grassy farmland, and before it, Potawatomi occupied the land.

All old things have their beginning. And many beginnings are what have led us to today… the 21st century on this spinning, rotating planet full of billions of people. So I have learned to embrace the new along with the old. New books that have taught my daughters and I honest history, new homes that need less tender loving care, new songs that awaken my soul, and new theology that centers the heart of God and looks to wisdom and love over rules and gatekeeping.

I’ve been tempted so often to cling tight to my own little women, to hold them to days of the past, to what feels safe and comfortable. For millennia, parents have been driven by fear to latch on to the past, believing those were the glory days, believing that new ideas and change can only result in disaster. But what I am learning is to let go and trust the beating of time.

The past is important. The past has beauty. But so does the present and the future. What does it look like to raise little women in the modern age? That is the question that I continue to ask each day and that I plan to explore here. Behind every mother is a woman, too, and this is also a place where I’ll explore topics of faith and deconstruction, spirituality, cultivating peace, and creating a better tomorrow while believing in the future generation.

Today my little women are 12, 10, 9, and 7. I’m currently pregnant with my fifth girl, and I revel in what a privilege it is to bring five little women into this world, a world that is recognizing but still waking up to the value and strength of a woman. My prayer for my daughters is that they would grasp onto truth, beauty, and goodness from the past and present to guide them in creating a future that is better and brighter for all.