Good morning, everyone! I have a lunch in about 20 minutes here at the University of Houston, so I probably won't be as long-winded as usual in my post. I wanted to get this up in the morning, though, since I know some of you are accustomed to reading a new post at this time.

Last night I visited Sam Houston State University, up in Huntsville. First thing about Huntsville-- it has the largest statue of Sam Houston along the highway that I've ever seen in my life. It must be five stories tall. Apparently, ol' Sam died in Huntsville, and they're very proud of the connection. I wish I could have gotten a photo of myself with it.

Once again, at SHSU we did the Bible study on Numbers 27:1-8, the daughters of Zelophehad. I may not have mentioned that before-- if you haven't read it, you should. Usually when I do this study, I have the group reflect on a couple of questions based on Eric Law's community Bible study process:

1. How does God's response to these women transform Israel and empower them individually?
2. What is God calling you to do, be, or change through this passage?

One student, Carrie, brought up something I hadn't considered when reading this passage before with other groups-- by God telling Moses that the women in the passage should own property, God is essentially indicating that they are not property themselves. In statements of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:17), God essentially treats the wife as a piece of property belonging to the man. Yet here, God is saying women can receive an inheritance themselves and that they are equally God's children. Buried in Numbers, we find one of the first statements of God's value for women.

One last thing-- I had an interesting conversation last night. Someone asked me about NNPCW's work and why we're always talking about feminism (a question that perhaps some of you are asking). This person suggested that maybe we would reach more people if we just cut that out and talked about faith generically. What I pointed out was that NNPCW, from its very beginning, has been rooted in the justice concerns of women. What makes our ministry different from all the other ministries of the Church, whether they are Christian discipleship groups or spirituality groups for young adults, is that we choose to focus on women's lives and women's experiences in our outreach. We believe that God has something unique to say to women-- God hears our pain, God is not silent to our concerns, and God values our gifts to the Church. When we lose that focus on women and on their unique faith journeys, we lose our reason for existence. We become nothing more than a Christian girls' club.

So I hope you enjoy reading about the experiences and insights of women in Texas, and how they've encouraged me in my own faith journey as a woman. Off to lunch I go!

"And the Lord said to Moses, 'The daughters of Zelophehad are right; you shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them.'" --Numbers 27:6-7

Kelsey