To Be a Handmaid of the Lord: A book review

When I recently wrote "Sister Value Yourself," an old blogging friend popped up in the comments, Angela Legg.  She spoke up on this post, I'm sure, because she and I share a soap box or two.  We believe women should be encouraged to eat of the meat of the Word of God.  That so many of the failings of women in our culture are because they don't recognize their value in God's eyes.  That the most important thing we can do as teachers of women is point them back to God's love and His word!  

It's these ideas that drove the new edition of her book, To Be a Handmaid of the Lord.  I reviewed the first edition two years ago when it was designed as challenging Sunday School or homeschool material for pre/young teen girls.  And I was impressed with it then. 


So when I asked Angela why she's putting out a new edition she told me that she discovered that a deep study such as she had already created was desperately needed by older women as well.  It's not only girls age 11-16 who need to be reminded of the importance of courage, holiness, friendship, and defying the world and its influence.  

The updated edition is appropriate for women of all ages and situations.  It is structured as a study guide.  By in large each lesson is a series of insightful questions pointed at a particular topic.  Some of these lessons focus on specific women of the Bible and others on character traits that we should be developing.  The questions vary from very straightforward, "List the fruit of the Spirit. (9 things)"  to much more complex, "Read Romans 13:1-2.  Should we obey the government? YES or NO If "yes" was Jochebed (Num. 25:59) right to hide her son? (Acts 5:29)."  And they all draw the reader on to find the answers themselves in the Word. 

To be a Handmaid of the Lord is set up to allow for two 13-week studies.  In other words it is a great value. Buy one set of books for your ladies' Bible class and have half a year's worth of material.  

A ladies' Bible class based on this material would require some commitment.  Each woman would need to take her material home, look up the scriptures, answer the questions and be ready for class. I judge that 15-30 minutes a day would be required of each student to keep up with the material.  If that seems intimidating, I encourage you to have more faith in the women around you.  When offered the opportunity and expectation, many Christian women rejoice to dive deeper into the word. 




Helene

PS.  If you want to find more of Angela, you can find her at The Diligent Woman. 
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