RIS Women's Section Introduction

Welcome to the women's section. I am excited about the opportunities that this publication--and specifically the women's section--will offer Christian women around the world.

As women, we take on many roles throughout our lives. Most of what God asks us to do pertains to serving others. As daughters, we are commanded to honor our parents; as wives, we are commanded to submit to our husbands, to be their helpers in every way; as mothers, we are commanded to love our children and raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. In all of these roles, the essence of our obedience is service. We cannot be what we ought to be in the sight of God without living lives of service. While this is also true of men to some extent, a man's life has more to do with seeking out adventure, looking to the future as he marries and raises a family. A woman's life should and must pertain to the realm of service.

Because of the intensity of their work and the gravity of their responsibility, Christian women must work to renew themselves--indeed, to renew their spirits--as they live their lives out in obedience to God. To a great extent, our renewal will come from daily reading and studying of the Word. To a lesser extent, we can and should provide each other with support as we live and serve daily. The women's section will hopefully provide such support, not only in the form of articles written by Christian women including myself, but also in the form of interaction on the discussion forums on the website.

As with all new endeavors, this is an experiment. The overall publication--and even just this section--will go through some changes before we get comfortable. We hope that we have at least begun with a purpose that you will find practical and useful in your own lives and that we will provide you with articles to read, thoughts to ponder, reactions to share. If you have any input about how we can make the women's section better, please feel free to share it with me.

If you are interested in submitting an article, please contact us. I welcome all submissions and article ideas.

Sarah Longhenry
September 2006