It's raining, men

So, not to start this thing out by limiting my audience, but I want to talk to the men for a minute. (If you are a woman, keep reading, just try not to amen too much or strategically place this post on your man's desk.)

Guys, we need to be different than what is "normal." Somehow, it has become acceptable to exploit, look down upon, take advantage of, be rude to, demean and objectify women in our society.

*Now, I guess I will talk to the women for a minute (good thing you kept reading, huh?) because some of you have also bought into the lie that it is totally acceptable to be exploited, looked down upon, taken advantage of, treated rudely, demeaned and objectified. So, stop doing that. You are worth more than that. And a person who will treat you in that manner is not worth your time and efforts.* -end side note-

We look at the airbrushed, bronzed women on TV or in magazines and expect the women we are blessed to have to perfectly replicate this fictitious facade (i absolutely adore alliterations). So, as we sit and watch MNF, guzzling down pop and rubbing our Dorito residue-covered fingers off on our protruding stomachs, we ask ourselves (or our significant others if we're dumb enough) why she can't look more like that girl in the beer commercial. Oh, the irony of that picture...

We just don't get it, do we? I have heard and seen so many men treat their wives, fiances, girlfriends, etc like garbage. I have seen women leave the room in tears because of comments their insensitive men have made. I have watched as men totally disregard the value women place on hearing about our day and becoming intimate with us through conversation and sharing of dreams, feelings and thoughts by saying stuff like, "She always talks my ear off when i get home." I think the problem is that we are so entrenched in sexuality that we have boiled down relationships and intimacy to mean sex, sex, and more sex. To prove my point, let me ask a few questions...When is the last time you have found yourself interested in a woman first and foremost because she intrigues you? Are you more willing to compromise personality traits or physical traits? Are you more interested in a woman for the mother she would be to your children or for the process of making those children? What have women become to us? Do we treat them as God has intended us to?

Now lest you believe i am posting this to make girls think i am so sensitive and head and shoulders above the rest of my gender, let me offer this caveat. I sit, in my singleness, and realize what a testosterone-driven, mindless idiot i have also become. I have fallen in line with the American Pie, Howard Stern, MTV mindset that image consists of how hot a person is. (By the way, calling a woman hot...not all that flattering...) I find myself drawn to television that may be risque. I often notice a woman's body before her personality. I am human, and I use that not as an excuse to be the way I am, but simply as a barrier I must overcome to become who I should be. I should be literally disgusted to see women treated as mere objects, instead i am in my weak moments drawn to it. I am controlled by the wrong portion of my anatomy, and it makes me embarrassed and regretful. My father was an amazing example of what it means to be a Godly husband. He goes out of his way to make my Mom happy and make sure she is taken care of. She is his companion, his best friend and his treasure, and he did not tolerate for one second any of us treating her poorly. I remember him coming home from working a 12 hour shift at 1AM and doing the dishes so she could relax and not worry about it the next day. While other guys at work had complaint sessions about their wives, my Dad remained silent. So, it embarrasses me to think i would treat or think of a woman with any lower of a standard than he displayed for me.

So now i sit here, rambling on and listening to the rain hit the roof and the windows, and i wonder what we need to do to change this. The answer, i believe, is to ask for the rain of God's Spirit to come into our lives. Rain is interesting. It heals dry and parched lands. It erodes away layers of dirt and grime. (that sounded like a Tilex commercial or something) It can completely destroy or completely restore. I think we as men are in need of both. We need to have all this junk stripped away. No more lusting after women as mantle pieces or arm candy. No more demeaning and rude comments. No more acting like pigs. We also need restoration. We need to learn all over again how to honor the women we see. Sisters, daughters, co-workers, celebrities, wives, and on and on. Treat them like the sensitive, caring creations of God they are. Respect them and learn what makes them happy and what intimacy means to them. And talk about them in a way that would honor them. So ask God to change us into what He intended us to be. Ask for His rain to refresh and renew us. And beyond that, ask for His (insert cheesy Christian homonym use....) reign to come over our lives.