You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You were designed and shaped by the Creator Himself. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. While you were in the womb, growing and thriving within your mother, He knew you.
And He knew that you were a woman. He knew that your body was to be intricately woven and formed to be all things womanly and feminine. He created your body and your cycle. He gave you the ability to carry new life within you and to deliver children. He designed the life stages you would go through physically and emotionally as a woman.
Over the last few years I have studied more in depth the design of a woman's body. As I have studied, I have found a stigma that seems to run through talk about a woman's cycle and body and fertility and child bearing. It is almost a dirty thing to discuss a period and it's somehow embarrassing to ask questions about our cycles. While I am not here to get into the blatant details of a woman's body and cycle, I am here to say that it is a beautiful thing. And I am here to say that Christian women, more than anyone else, should have an understanding of and appreciation for everything about the bodies that God has given them.
Our Creator made us knowing full well that we would have a womanly cycle, through the entire month. He created sex and fertility. He designed our bodies to carry and give birth to children. He also knew that there would come a time that each woman would no longer experience this cycle and the ability to bear children, but instead move onto a new stage of feminine life- every bit as beautiful. The more I study, the more excited I am about the design of the feminine body. God has handed us the ability to understand our own personal fertility, to know how to please our husbands sexually, and to handle the ups and downs of our emotions and hormones (monthly, or as the years go by) in a godly way. I truly believe there is no excuse for us to be ignorant of our physical femininity. And I believe there is no reason that a young woman in a Christian home should be embarrassed to ask questions about her body. I would like to make several points that I have prayerfully considered over the last few months.
Periods are not "dirty". The period is one part of the monthly cycle that most women will experience. When young women are taught about their periods, they should understand that it is not something to be ashamed of. Obviously discretion about when and where to discuss this should be taught, but women of all ages should understand that God gave them their period as part of a greater feminine cycle that is crucial to life.
Pregnancy is not an illness. While I don't think our society outright states that it is such, I think there is an underlying idea that pregnant women are ill in some way. Pregnancy and child birth are beautiful and natural. I am so thankful for modern medicine and the ability to ensure even safer pregnancies and deliveries. But not every pregnancy is high risk and not every expectant mother is ill. There are so many health benefits that come with bearing children. God has chosen to make new life a blessing to the bodies of mothers. Young women often have the idea that child birth is just not worth it because "it hurts" and that pregnancy is uncomfortable. I have yet to bear children, so I speak with some amount of ignorance. But I do know that a loving God created pregnancy and child birth for the benefit of everyone involved and that the blessings far outweigh the challenges.
You do not have to be ignorant about your fertility. God has set up a beautiful, track-able cycle that women for many generations have learned to understand. Unfortunately, in a society of government taught sex education courses, many young women know nothing more about their own cycle than that they have a period once a month. Christian women need to take the responsibility of teaching their daughters and granddaughters to understand their bodies. If we do not, someone else will. And the information may be greatly lacking and sometimes misleading.
Doctors don't have all the answers. Once again, I am so thankful for modern medicine. I'm thankful for people who dedicate their life to studying the human body and medicine so that they can help others live healthy lives. But whose job is it to educate young people about their bodies? The doctor's? The sex ed teacher's? No. It is the parent's job. When your young daughter is taken into the doctor's office and asked if she is sexually active and if she has need of free condoms, she should have an adamant answer otherwise. When the doctor asks questions about the feminine cycle, young women should have a genuine understanding of what is being discussed. When government required information about female health is given to a young woman, she should know what is true and what is not. And if she doesn't know, she should know who to ask or to find out before blindly following a health care provider's advice. We can help our doctor to help us better if we understand our own bodies and beliefs.
We live in a pill-happy society. Christian women should not be ignorant of what is being put into their bodies. Doctors will prescribe the pill for many many things other than birth control. I cannot say that it is wrong in every instance because I do not know of each individual health situation. However, I personally have been prescribed the pill for a completely unnecessary reason and refused, first because of the abortifacient qualities and second because of the many other side effects. Women need to be ever-vigilant and educated on any kind of medicine they are prescribed. The pill is a dangerous thing and should not be taken lightly, considering that hormones are involved and so crucial to a healthy cycle.
Purity does not mean ignorance of all things sexual. Christian women, in their purity, should know the true design for sexual relationships and bearing of children. Women should understand their value and beauty and the way the Creator planned for them to use and enjoy their body. Christian women should not fear the unknown or have to wonder about their body. They should know the proper avenue to gain information about and learn to appreciate every part of feminine health.
On a related note, as Christians, our children should have a better understanding of the value and purpose of sex than the average playground bully. They should have enough guidance to understand what is right and wrong. They should not see sex as a filthy thing that cannot be discussed. When sexual comments are made, they should not be vulnerable to lies and misconceptions. They should fully understand that God created sex and that it is good, but that sinful people misuse it and only then does it become wrong.
Ignorance about our bodies can cause fear about what we might not understand, confusion about what is normal in general or normal to us as individuals, and wrong ideas about sex and what it is meant to be. Women who are ignorant of their bodies are vulnerable to lies and misinformation.
Understanding the feminine body and cycle boosts self esteem and protects Christian women from lies- whether blatant or underlying- about their bodies. When we understand our own bodies and appreciate them as temples we can help our doctors and care providers to give us better care. Helping our daughters understand their bodies will nurture physical, emotional, sexual, and spiritual health in all of life. When we know our bodies well we can have even more fulfilling marriages and we can offer so much comfort and advice to the women around us. Open discussion between women and their daughters will prevent young women from seeking advice in less than acceptable places where they might receive false or biased information. Let's not fear or ignore areas of our bodies. Please never think there are things you just don't need to know about your body or cycle. As Christian women, let's have a deep understanding of the beautiful design that is the woman's body.
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