I think that it was Eleanor Roosevelt who said, “A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.” In my thinking, a teabag never becomes fully itself until it finds that hot water. Maybe it is so with women, as well. In fact, this could be a commentary on our culture—there’s been a lot of “hot water” in which women have found themselves these days.

At this very moment, the strong women who are on my heart and in my prayers are the mothers, grandmothers, neighbors and friends who have, in any way, been hurt by the numerous hurricanes that have recently come through the Caribbean and the Southeast U.S. The women who have protected their children and families, while evacuating or hunkering down are heroes to me.  May God continue to be with them.

In a loftier and less tragic area, the Olympics were a highly competitive international cup of “hot water”. This summer I found myself glued to the television. There were so many strong women athletes, though some left especially vivid impressions on me: the strength and beauty of relay runner Sanya Richards; the fortitude and persistence of 41 year old (you go, girl!) swimmer, Dara Torres.

Though these two women were medalists, a strong woman who left a particular impression on me was the runner, Lolo Jones. She struck me as strong because she lost her race, without seeming to lose herself. She tripped over her hurdle and lost a race that most folks expected her to win. She was elegant afterwards, congratulating the winner and saying of herself that she “tripped over a hurdle twice a year... and unfortunately, [that race] was her day.”  She did not show her self- doubts or self-deprecation in the interview.

The political stage has also been a place for expression for strong women. Last night, I watched the Republican National Convention as Gov. Sarah Palin give a speech where she offered a kind of strength and a sense of herself to a nation curious to get to know her. I see evidence that she is a strong multi-tasker, as governor, wife and mother of five. (How does she do it?)

Last week, Mrs. Michelle Obama showed her strength of intellect when she offered a speech that connected her with strong women of the past, especially, in this case, Fanny Lou Hamer, who was denied speaking and seating privileges at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Likewise, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton gave a speech that was strong in voice and strong in its historical connections to the battle for women’s voting rights. 

Strength in women comes in many different forms and expressions. My goal and my calling in ministry are to bring out the spiritual strength of women in our church and in the Body of Christ, as a whole. This strength is based on our born place as daughters of the Creator, made in the image of God.

Through our relationship with God through Jesus Christ, I think that all of us women may be stronger than we even know. Maybe the next cup of hot water in which we find ourselves will be the evidence of God’s strength at work in and through us.