August 7, 2024

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A poem paired with Scripture for the season students return to school and the time of year we measure growth in the harvests. Our poet is Amy C. Ziehm who lives and works in the Washington, DC area. She is a member and Deacon of the Arlington Church of the Brethren. Amy is an avid quilter and the mother of two teenagers. She wrote the following poem several years ago for her son's birthday.

13

I know you only see

The painful awkwardness;

The slouching shoulders and uncombed hair;

The speed with which he leaves the room.

But he still needs his Mommy.

And every so often

He rests his head

Against my shoulder.

I see a kid trying so hard;

In a body he doesn’t recognize

And a world he doesn’t understand.

I still see

My son.

Hear these words from 1 Samuel 1:10-11:

She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly. She made this vow: “O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a Nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head.”

There is power in a mother’s prayer. Hannah vowed to God that if God gave her a son, she would give that son back to God. A mother can see and feel every aspect of her child’s life. Our love for them is often so overwhelming that as they grow and change right before our lives, we hold our breathe and pray without ceasing.

Next month we'll share the poem Amy wrote this year when her daughter turned thirteen.

We've been sharing notes of thanks from International Women’s Fund (IWF) scholars who recently gathered with the Movement of Anabaptist Women doing Theology from Latin America (MTAL) in El Salvador. In this final note of the series, Martha del Carmen García Maltez thanks you for empowering her to empower others.

A special thanks to Linda Shelly at Mennonite Mission Network for coordinating, translating, and delivering these notes to better connect us.

"Agradezco a IWF, por hacer posible mi preparación en estudios de teología, pastoral, y cultura de paz; eso me ha permitido adquirir herramientas que me han ayudado a ser mejor maestra de educación cristiana, y también a hacer mejor discernimiento de la palabra de Dios en las predicas. Así puedo levantar el autoestima de mi iglesia que son adultas mayores por tal razón dicen que ya no sirven para nada, pero ellas hacen un hermoso y poderoso trabajo desde la oración y la consejería. Me gusta mucho poder animarlas y empoderarlas con la ternura de Jesus. Al igual en el trabajo con niños, que son el presente de nuestras iglesias. Muchas gracias mis amadas hermanas por hacerme sentir igual a mí, útil e importante a pesar de mi edad. Dios las bendiga."

"I thank IWF for making possible my preparation in theological studies, pastoral, and culture of peace, that has allowed me to acquire tools that have helped me to be a better teacher of Christian education, better discernment of the word of God for preaching, and thus be able to raise the self-esteem of my church that are older adults for that reason they say that they are no longer useful for anything, but they do a beautiful and powerful work from prayer and counseling. I love being able to encourage and empower them with the tenderness of Jesus. As well as the work with children, who are the present of our churches. Thank you very much my beloved sisters for making me feel the same, useful and important in spite of my age. God bless you."

The cumbers are coming! And when they do we will be trying this recipe from Hope's Table, submitted by Meg Smeltzer-Miller and Mari-Ruth Juhnke for Herald Press' Recipe of the Week.

"The gardener of this baby cucumber isn't fully grown herself. She's 11 years-old and absolutely delights in swapping seedlings with her neighbors. Coming from a long line of farmers and gardeners, she learned to sprout seeds when schools were closed during the pandemic and developed her interest by finding gardeners posting online. She also receives an abundance of gardening tips and tricks when adults learn of her interest and shower her with their nurturing enthusiasm. Now she has a large garden full of promising vegetables along with the cucumbers—as long as she can keep the chipmunks distracted!" Submitted by Suzanne at MW USA

MW USA is partnering with Herald Press to celebrate the way we sustain and invigorate traditional food skills and the ways we are sustained by sharing our God-given gifts for preparing food together and for each other. We are collecting caption length stories (like the one above) of trying recipes, perfecting them and passing them on; videos of women making and tasting recipes, and pictures from your garden of the seasonal ingredients you use in the recipes or pictures of prepared dishes and fellowship meals.

Join in! Share your experience, send a picture or encourage a friend to share their recipe memory.

Don't miss our recent #RecipeOfTheWeek livestreams of Erica preparing fattoush and Brooke and her daughter making Stoplight Salad on Facebook and Instagram!

Coffee and Conversation is a sisterly place where we come together to listen and share with one another. In July we gathered together with Anabaptist Disabilities Network (ADN) to discuss Disability Pride. ADN is a nonprofit providing education, support, and resources for Anabaptist organizations to more fully include people in the life and leadership of the church. They offer services like assessments, consultation, and accessibility support for conferences. ADN also leads a network of over a dozen field associates who speak, write and provide workshops. Our shared conversation with them was led by a panel of ADN networked Anabaptist sisters and disability advocates, each with lived experience of different abilities.

Sarah led us off and mentioned using a variety of mobility equipment throughout her life. She explained how trying to stay outdoors with varying experiences of mobility has developed her adventure seeking and engineering skills. She named the benefits and difficulty of that process as just part of the beauty of God’s creation and living in a fragile body. After all, she said, “The only way we experience God is in our embodied experience.”

Then Rebekah lifted up her profound experience as part of a L’Arche community, where people, both considered disabled and not, share life together. This is where she found her calling in disability advocacy and a passion for helping others, especially in church communities, identify and showcase their own callings and gifts. Rebekah said, “It is powerful to watch a congregation take a step back and really start connecting with the members in the pews … It shows that while we all have different abilities, when we put them together, we can make something great. How are we living our lives to enhance and celebrate that [greatness]?” Later in the conversation, Rebekah answered, “It's making connections, it’s telling stories, and it’s learning from each other… We’re ALL called to love, and I think that’s the best we can do.”

Jennifer shared from her personal journey of learning about neurodivergence and the ways she is beginning to see how ableism has shaped her world view. She talked about how she must intentionally dismantle that. Jennifer works in her congregation to build community amongst children of a variety of abilities and brains, taking down barriers to foster full participation. Networking is a particular source of joy for Jennifer. She says it’s all about getting to know people: “It feels intuitive to me, as a follower of Jesus, who knows the world to be inherently diverse and complex ... Diversity is God’s design. It makes sense that there would be diversity in our bodies and brains.” 

Katie also works for equitable access, but her day job is on a college campus. She didn’t always want to embrace her own disability, but has grown to appreciate "the freeing way [she] can use every part of who [she is] to make a difference." For Katie, it’s not about being constantly happy or positive, but consistently accepting your changing mind and body over time. 

As a group, we discussed how everyone moves through and interacts with the world differently. We celebrated how different our conversation was that day than it would have been just a generation ago, and we rejoiced over the way varying ability and support structures are being increasingly understood as part of the natural environment—just another part of diversity. And after sharing a number of book recommendations, we talked about keeping the momentum going. It often starts with one person noticing or needing to deal with a barrier. Jesus certainly acted for just one person over and over and over again. And, of course, it's not just one person. That's the person who noticed and spoke up. Instead of assuming our way of doing church is fine for all who want to participate, we left asking the question: what would it be like to have church experiences where everyone could be a part and give their gifts?

Brooke closed our time in prayer, "Mother God, thank you so much for bringing these sisters together here tonight. Thank you so much for the beautiful diversity you offer in each of our bodies and minds. Help us to recognize the beauty in that. Help us to find creativity in all of these differences and to find connection across all of these things. We pray these meditations tonight were an honor to you and a blessing to all gathered here. Thank you for the vulnerability and wisdom shared here today." Amen!

Join us September 20-22 for spirit-filled worship, relaxation among women, trails to wander, and water to rest by. MW USA is delighted to be planning a time of connection and gathering for this year's Women's Retreat at Camp Friedenswald in Cassapolis, MI. It is a tradition of the Central District Conference, but it is open to ALL women.

You are invited to retreat into the wilderness and immerse yourself in sisterhood. Choosing Sisterhood is about celebrating the women in your life. We hope you'll bring your mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, or friend. Choosing Sisterhood is also about making a conscious choice to engage with women you don't know. Challenge yourself to invite a new friend, someone you want to get to know better. We will be honoring the various Sistering with photos and hand crafted frames. 

Do you know someone who would enjoy being connected to sisterhood? Invite them to sign up for the Grapevine too!

Being an MW USA donor makes a way for women to find their prophetic voice and find each other for embracing the whole world in God's mothering love. That is the love of one from whom we are born and the One in whose image we are created. It's the nurturing, embracing, exuberant love of aunties, mentors, daughters and dear friends. And where the world knows this love, people find unconditional belonging, satisfying joy, and lasting peace.

The ways of MW USA involve learning, supporting, listening, sharing, and caring. We learn with each other by gathering around women-authored Bible Study Guides. We support women across the world studying for spiritual leadership with annual IWF Scholarships. We Choose Sisterhood by listening to those who are different. We share our own story by engaging in Coffee and Conversation and writing for the Women's Voices blog. And we care for ourselves and each other through international Sister Care gatherings.

We love in these ways to make as many ways as possible for all to know God's love. Donating makes a way.

Mennonite Women USA

www.mennonitewomenusa.org

office@mwusa.org

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