Calling All Men!

My daughters have always said that I am partial to men; that I have a compassion and understanding of them that I don’t have for females. Although this is hardly true, I do have to confess that one of my mentors who greatly influenced my life was particularly respectful of the differences in males and females and she sensitized me to those differences at a time in my life when I needed it.

That mentor was my principal, Juanita Tucker, gone on to be with the Lord since 1997, but her words of counsel and encouragement will live with me always. Juanita Tucker was principal of Phillips High School in Chicago, where she had not only taught, been a counselor, an assistant principal, and a principal, but this school was her Alma Mater as well! She had lived and worked in the same neighborhood all of her life! She had great regard for the changes that had occured in her community over the years, particularly as they related to males.

She admonished me to pay particular attention to the way that I addressed the males in our school. She recognized that young men growing up in a female dominated community often resented female authority over their lives. She modeled the kind of approach she expected me and the other female administrators to take – she always spoke with respect and very often would lower her tone to get their attention.Her constant encouragement and gentle spirit worked – even among the hardest of hearts.
Her intervention in my life came at a time when a divorce had me angry with men – just like God to turn my heart from potential bitterness to being soft and tender and in the opinion of my daughters – too sympathetic!

Joshua 23:9-11 (King James Version) gives a word to Joshua and the men of Israel that still rings true today:

“For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day.
One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.
Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.”

God made man in His image and in His likeness. It is not that God favors men over women, but He gave each of us different assignments, even though that at some points they are the same, the place of guardian and protector was the first assignment God gave to man and the call continues for men to assume this role. This week I want to encourage the men who are reading this post – as well as encourage them to write a word that I can share on this post that will encourage other men and encourage the women in their lives to continue to pray, to believe, to love, to stand by them and with them. This week I am calling all men to be that voice – “Adam, where art thou?”

God Bless You,
Maria