Becoming Women of the Word: How to Answer God's Call with Purpose and Joy

by Sarah Christmyer

Overview

Winner of a 2020 Catholic Press Association book award (third place, scripture-popular studies).

The women God called to bring his chosen people into the world were ordinary women who struggled with emptiness, oppression, infertility, and loss—yet who found strength and hope in God. In her first book, Sarah Christmyer—codeveloper of The Great Adventure Catholic Bible study program—pairs the stories of key Old Testament women with stories of women she has known to show us how we can hear God, say yes to his call, and share him with the world just as they did.

Breaking open the scriptures to reveal the historical, cultural, and biblical context in which Old Testament women lived, Sarah Christmyer breathes new life into their stories and makes their lives surprisingly relatable. In the process, she shares stories from her own faith journey and the lives of family and friends to show how the same principles that turned ordinary women into heroines of the faith are true for our lives today.

Each chapter of Becoming Women of the Word highlights the spiritual legacy of one or more women in the Old Testament. Their world was vastly different from ours, yet they faced the same questions we do: when we can’t feel God’s presence, where do we find help? When our world is collapsing, where is God? Why should we trust him? How can we trust him? Christmyer simply and clearly draws from the lives of these women important principles that help us to trust—even as we struggle with doubt. For example:

• Through Eve, we learn to hold on to God’s promise even when we fail.
• Sarah reminds us to wait on God’s timing to make us fruitful.
• Miriam, the sister of Moses, shows how to lead by example.
• Ruth and Esther challenge us to see womanhood as a gift.
• Hannah and Judith inspire us to trust God even in matters of life and death.

These unforgettable portraits create a colorful mosaic of faith, encouraging us to mine God’s Word for spiritual treasure and to pass on the gift.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594718779
Publisher:	Ave Maria Press
Publication date:	08/02/2019
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	1,063,993
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Sarah Christmyer is a Catholic writer, speaker, and adjunct faculty member at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is the codeveloper and founding editor of The Great Adventure Catholic Bible study program, of which she served as director from 2010 to 2013. She is the general editor of the Living the Word Catholic Women’s Bible from Ave Maria Press.

Christmyer earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Gordon College in 2017. She is a member of the board of directors of Malvern Retreat House, where she also serves on the spiritual programs development committee. She is the author, coauthor, editor, or contributor of more than twenty-five books and bible study programs, including Becoming Women of the Word, The Ave Catholic Notetaking Bible, Gaze Upon Jesus, and Walk in Her Sandals. She is a regular contributor to Leah Darrow’s Lux Catholic app and a monthly columnist for Liguorian.. She has blogged for WINE: Women In the New Evangelization, the American Bible Society, and Ascension Press. Christmyer has been a guest on EWTN, CatholicTV, and numerous radio programs and podcasts.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Daughter of God, Remember Who You Are! xi

Eve: In the Beginning, There Was Love 1

Sarah: God Calls Us to Trust 13

Leah and Rachel: God Longs to Fill Our Hearts 25

Miriam: God's Love Gives Us Worth 39

Rahab: God Is in Control of the Storms of Our Lives 53

Deborah: God Calls Us to the Leadership of Love 67

Ruth: Gods Kingdom Has Room for Us All 79

Hannah: God Listens to Our Prayers 91

Esther: God Has Called Us "for Such a Time as This" 105

Judith: God Created Our Beauty for Good 117

Postscript: Daughter of God, Be a Mother of Faith! 131

Acknowledgments 137

Notes 139

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Christmyer makes the women of the Bible come alive for us today, and we find in their faith journeys important lessons for our own.” —Edward Sri, Catholic theologian and author of Walking with Mary

“Becoming Women of the Word shows us how our beautiful gift of femininity tightly binds us together—we are all daughters of a King, sisters in Christ, and spiritual mothers with a powerful purpose in God’s family plan.” —Kelly Wahlquist, Founder of WINE: Women In the New Evangelization

“BecomingWomen of the Word is not only a rich, thoughtful, invigorating portrayal of heroines of the faith who have gone before us. It also explores practical, non-preachy takeaways of how the ancient truths these women knew can in fact transform our often-frenetic lives today.” —Ellen Vaughn, Author of It’s All About Him

“Sarah Christmyer beautifully and personally walks us through the lives of such incredible models as Ruth, Miriam, and Esther, sharing with us not only our rich heritage as modern Catholic women but also examples of true luminaries to help guide each of us on our unique paths to eternity!” —Katherine Meeks, Executive director of Endow

“Sarah Christmyer is dazzlingly brilliant and a great writer. It’s difficult for me to avoid using too many superlatives when speaking of her work and her perspicacity when it comes to the important questions of life.” —Thomas Howard, Catholic literary scholar, professor, and author of On Being Catholic

“Becoming Women of the Word offers a unique blend of personal testimony, salvation history, and study of the biblical text. In this user-friendly Bible study, Christmyer introduces us to the women of the Old Testament—and to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom they foreshadow. Christmyer presents the stories of these biblical women along with those of devout and courageous women who were her ‘spiritual mothers’ in the faith. This is an excellent example of how Bible study should lead us to reflect on our own experience . . . and then to praise and thank the Lord.” —Sr. Sara Butler, M.S.B.T., Professor Emerita of Dogmatic Theology, University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, Illinois

“This book is one journey that every sincere Catholic-woman-God-seeker cannot afford to lose out on: Reclaiming who we are as women, and recognizing who God made us as women to be in his great plan of salvation.” —Christine Sharmila Rego, Homiletic & Pastoral Review