Ways to Pin for Your Husband

So the most recent social media craze is Pinterest. {For people that don't know what it is, click here for the site or here for a quick summary.} You can find things you like all over the Internet and "pin" them in different personalized categories to go back and look at later.

The site is notoriously full of younger stay-at-home moms who pin things like ways to entertain a toddler on a rainy day, how to recover an ottoman with an old t-shirt, and what the best Crockpot stir fry is.

The stereotype of Pinterest-users is fine with me, cause there are also funny cartoons, great clothes and accessories, and cool ways to decorate your house with DIY goodies. So, yes, I'm on the site and I like to look through fun dessert recipes and funky ways to paint my nails.

There is also a ton of religious content on the site from any spirituality. There are jokes about how obvious a choice atheism is and every prayer you could think of. Which also doesn't bother me, because it's user-generated content and what people want, people pin.

Over the past few weeks, though, I've started to notice a trend amongst users. There are multiple mentions to things like "25 Ways to Show Your Husband Respect" and "Covering Your Husband in Prayer for 31 Days." So naturally I got curious. And y'alllllll, my inner feminist is struggling not to comment a big "OH PUHLEASE" on every one of them.

Not because husbands don't deserve prayer or respect. I think praying for others is nice and that in a marriage you should probably wish your significant other the best, at least for the first few years. But these lists include so many outdated, submissive suggestions like "make him his favorite dinner so he'll be happy with you" and "pray for his purity and that he resists temptation."

First off, how about homeboy prays for himself? Or for you? Or shows you respect?

OR, how about he learns to 1) cook for himself or 2) keep it in his pants so that you don't have to worry about him resisting "temptation."

But more importantly, it bothers me when religious women feel it is their duty to be submissive to a male and that they need to be lead in a marriage. Personally, I like the idea of an equal marriage where you walk hand-in-hand. Plus, I was never good at following in line.

So let's talk about Judeo-Christian women that you're trying to emulate. THEY WERE BADASSES.

They were such badasses that I took a whole semester-long class about women in the Bible AND one on feminist spirituality.

How about Jael from Judges, who straight-up drove a nail through a guy's head that was being chased down by Israel? Or let's talk about Deborah, who was the only female judge and lead military attacks. Or Sarah, who lied to the Pharaoh to save her husband and was subsequently then held hostage and raped. Or Abigail who stood up to her deadbeat husband to save herself and her family. Or Delilah who single-handedly brought down Samson? Or Rebekah? Or how about Mary Magdalene? Or Mary, Jesus's mother?

Not to mention the incredibly strong women in Christian history like Joan of Arc, Harriet Tubman, Sor Juana, Jean Donovan, Maria Stewart, Sarah and Angelina Hemke, Coretta Scott King or Fannie Heck?

These women were FAR from meek, gentle butterflies, cowering in the corner batting their eyelashes.

They were smart. They were kind. They were strong. They were thoughtful. They were ambitious.

And, yes, they were women.

My feminist self can rant and rave about taking ownership of your life and not sitting passively behind your father/husband simply because Ephesians says so, but it probably won't change any minds. So I think religious women should look to the foremothers of Judaism and Christianity, read the Bible stories of strong women acting courageously, and give up this passivity that has somehow stayed relevant.

Cause you know Joan of Arc wouldn't have pinned that.

Party of 5...er...14

My family went to the beach.

But not just my immediate family.

My mom and my dad, Ashley and Hunter, Lisa and Matt, Hunter's mom and dad, Matt's mom and dad and sister and sister's boyfriend, my dad's distant cousin and her husband, Jason and I...went to the beach.

Now when just my family of five used to go on vacation, it was some version of the Clampetts go to the beach. We would have some sodas, some lunch meat, a Piggly Wiggly bag of Little Debbie snack cakes, and some SPF.

The Edwards (Hunter & parents), however, know how to do a beach trip. Or at least the food. We get to our house and, by the looks of it, Hunter and his mother had bought out the Charlotte Costco. Not only did they bring food, they cooked it, too. And, unlike the Austins, they know how to cook it right. So we did not go hungry last week, to say the least.

With Matt joining the family in 350 days, he's having to get used to some of the Austin-isms that the five/six of us have grown oblivious to. For example, he doesn't like when I call my dad out for not acting right and use unkind names like...[meanie] and [negative Nancy]. He gets offended.

Matt also wasn't ready for the family conversation that took place concerning when Ashley should go into the ocean to pee, and the sequential events. Once we had all decided that it was the right timing for such event, Ashley did not walk into the ocean to about waist height and then return a few minutes later - she waded into the waves until the water reached her ankles and then straight up popped a squat.

The rest of us, of course, couldn't stop laughing in our beach chairs, turned around, pointing and gawking at her posted up in the kiddy pool. Which really helped her subtlety.

This is your attorney, people.

A couple times during the week, my dad's cousin came to visit for a few hours. She likes to share stories. And tales. And opinions. Needless to say, she doesn't need a penny to share her thoughts. At one point during the week, Jason must have said something about being in the sun, and Debbie came to the rescue. She whipped out some type of after sun lotion and began to rub it on Jason's arm. Now this is the boy who is bothered by nothing, and I was receiving some serious mental signals that a line had been crossed. The rest of us looked away and waited for it to be over.

Debbie wasn't the only family member who got to know Jason a little too well over the trip though, because Jason bought his bathing suit from Walmart. These days Jason is weighing in around 280, and he decided to see how far he could do a split in the sand... facing Ashley. Was this revenge for having to watch her relieve herself in the deep blue? We may never know but I won't rule it out.

Austin/Edwards/Hinson/Hill Week 2012 was a success, and I am extremely lucky to say that all of us get along famously.