deng-li-xin32

Oholibamah: Girl by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Oholibamah: Girl

Please be a girl. So I can dress you up and style your hair. So I can have small helping hands. So I can have a companion in this man's world to talk to and share with all the wisdom and beauty of womanhood. I want you to know the wonder of living in a woman's body, of carrying the potential for creating life. I want you to be free to show your emotions, to cry sometimes, to be weak, which they wouldn't let you if you were a boy. Please don't be a girl. Because they will forget your name. They won't count you in their genealogy lists. They won't value you the same as your brothers. I don't want you to suffer as so many of us have done, to be

Rachel: Give me Children or I Die by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Rachel: Give me Children or I Die

When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” (Genesis 30:1) Give me children or I die - die of yearning after waiting all this time. All my life it was all I ever wanted, taken for granted - I never thought it would be this hard, never dreamed I might become one of Those whose arms stay empty all their lives. Give me children or I die - die of envy, surrounded by others, my maid, my sister, who become pregnant if you but cough at them. Why not I? Don't I deserve something good as well? Why does she have four, and I not even one? Is that fair?

Parable of the Lost Coin: God is a Poor Woman by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Parable of the Lost Coin: God is a Poor Woman

It's just a coin. Maybe, to you. Something small, replaceable. Not to me. Six hungry mouths to feed, ten precious coins for bread and meat, ten times a hard day's work, ten coins to last us a week, maybe two. And then? We'll see as we always do. But now there's just nine. Where is the lost? It's just a coin. Maybe, to you. Not to me. One night more awake to the tune of hungry children crying themselves to sleep, one day of labour wasted away, one day's sweat poured out in vain, precious hope and sustenance collecting dust somewhere under a cupboard. It's just a coin. But I will turn this house upside-down if I must. And I will sweep awa

Woman of Thebez: Mightier than the Sword by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Woman of Thebez: Mightier than the Sword

O great tyrant, powerful king, you thought you had won, thought power was strong. See: you were wrong. Now you lie in a pool of blood dying at a woman's hand, your head bashed in by kitchenware. The millstone is mightier than the sword. Fear went before you, destruction followed, fire swallowed women and men. They said you were unstoppable, they said you were unbeatable. They thought power was strong. Seems they were wrong. Ashamed to die at woman's hand, your head bashed in by kitchenware. The millstone is mightier than the sword. Not power is strong, but furious love, the love that burns behind the stove, the love that feeds little op

Abimelech's Mother: No Mother Knows by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Abimelech's Mother: No Mother Knows

No mother knows what will become of her son - and if she did would that change anything? Maybe I should have seen. Maybe I should have suspected. Little misbehaviours, small cruelties. Maybe I should have known. Maybe I could have if not for that thing that clouds a mother's eyes. But even if I did would that have changed anything? No mother knows what will become of her son - that he might be a king, that he might be a killer, murderer of his on flesh and blood, tyrant, oppressor. Maybe I could have known if not for that thing that clouds a mother's eyes. No mother knows, but sometimes, sometimes, no, often, she asks herself: Why did I n

Shiphrah and Puah: Breaking the Law by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Shiphrah and Puah: Breaking the Law

I would love to be an upstanding citizen, do what the law says. Usually, I do. I would love to submit to authority, obey my rulers. Usually, I do. But I cannot, now. For how can I obey the laws of man if they would have me break the Law of God? Don't you see the death all around you? No - you only see the law. Don't you hear the piercing cries of bereft mothers? No - you only hear the law. Don't you care for the vulnerable trampled underfoot? No - you only care about the law. How can you value something dead above pulsing, screaming life? How can you expect me, a servant of life to obey the rule of death? Sorry. No. I don't care anymore.

Widow Jerusalem: I Cannot Save You by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Widow Jerusalem: I Cannot Save You

"But I, how can I help you? For he who brought these calamities upon you will deliver you from the hand of your enemies." (Baruch 4:17-18) Alone with the pain, alone without you. What can I do? Watching you as you go astray, watching you fall and be taken away, away from my loving arms. What can I do? What could I have done to protect my lost sons, to prevent all this pain? What can I do to rescue you, bring an end to these wounds you inflict on yourselves? What can I do? How can I save you? What sacrifice could this mother make? I'd make them all, I'd destroy myself if only if only I could rescue you. But it would be in vain. What can

Lo-Ruhamah: What's in a Name? by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Lo-Ruhamah: What's in a Name?

What's in a name? Any name would be sweet unless you are burdened with the name they gave me. Two letters too many and the Loved becomes the Damned: "No-Mercy" they called me - just fancy that! "No-Mercy" - imagine the awkward looks every time I introduce myself. Picture little me, shunned by other kids, the brunt of every bully's jokes, a victim from the start of my father's stupid choice. What the hell, Dad? Did you even stop to think what it does to me? "God told me" - whatever! What about me? You made me your message but also made me messed up, blessed me with childhood trauma and chronic doubt in God. But guess what: I have learnt to

Deborah: Fight Like A Girl by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Deborah: Fight Like A Girl

When men run and hide their heads in the sand I'll fight like a girl. When men stand and falter, their hearts in their pants, I'll fight like a girl. When no man will rise and take uo the sword I will arise and fight like a girl. And I will advise and I will encourage, steady their shaking legs because a mother knows how to teach little boys to walk. And I will be there to hold sweaty hands, give that little push into the right direction because a wife knows the words a man needs to hear. Why should I not teach, correct and encourage? Why should I not lead or show them the way? Why should I not heed God's call above culture? Why hide my gif

Pharaoh's Daughter: Just Like Me by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Pharaoh's Daughter: Just Like Me

Foreigners. Outsiders. With your strange religion, your alien ways. Taking our jobs. Lazy ingrates. Who knows what you're planning? Who knows when you'll be more than us? Who knows what you'll do? What then? Stereotypes are like horoscopes: broad enough to sound so true, convincing enough that you can't smell the lies. But I see you mourn your children. You're just like me. Stereotypes are like horoscopes. So easy to hate all of you, for the actions of a few, so easy to let fear distort your features, till you're no longer people but monsters to be culled. But I see you mourn your children. You're just like me. Because I've mourned my ch

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Oholibamah: Girl by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Oholibamah: Girl

Rachel: Give me Children or I Die by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Rachel: Give me Children or I Die

Parable of the Lost Coin: God is a Poor Woman by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Parable of the Lost Coin: God is a Poor Woman

Woman of Thebez: Mightier than the Sword by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Woman of Thebez: Mightier than the Sword

Abimelech's Mother: No Mother Knows by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Abimelech's Mother: No Mother Knows

Shiphrah and Puah: Breaking the Law by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Shiphrah and Puah: Breaking the Law

Widow Jerusalem: I Cannot Save You by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Widow Jerusalem: I Cannot Save You

Lo-Ruhamah: What's in a Name? by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Lo-Ruhamah: What's in a Name?

Deborah: Fight Like A Girl by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Deborah: Fight Like A Girl

Pharaoh's Daughter: Just Like Me by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Pharaoh's Daughter: Just Like Me

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Susanna: The God Who Questions Me

Body by April-Little, literature

Literature

Body

My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and as such, should be treated with respect and dignity. No, my body is not something to be ashamed of. My breasts are not battlefields on which temptations fire their arrows, my legs are not poison if found to be uncovered, my hips are not a stumbling block, my body existing is not a sin. In the Church we say, “Please God, not man” so why are we teaching our women to appease men? The reason I dress modestly is to please God, the reason I stay pure is to please God (and not just in the physical sense, since let me remind you, being pure in heart is what’s most important). It is not f

The people I've met by randomMeAndBob, literature

Literature

The people I've met

To the girl with ivy in her hair, dressed in ripped up denim, who dared to wear her heart on her sleeves To the boy with the ace bandage, working in the pizza parlor and called the wrong name too many times To the kid I once knew, now living in France, chasing after a dream and finally free Thank you for seeing me. You are beautiful. I'm glad you're okay. And to You, the stranger I know only through scraps of poetry and a place I call home, That reminded me I wasn't alone Though we may never meet again, Though we have never spoken a word,

Psalmody 2 2017 by QuiEstInLiteris, literature

Literature

Psalmody 2 2017

I am to love my neighbour as myself, to offer my humanity and help. So says the Lord my God, who shaped my soul. Yet, 'Hate your body!' cries the frenzied world, and bids me look with horror on the face my Father sculpted with His loving hands. What love can neighbours hope for in a place where love of self has faithlessly been banned? The world may do its worst, may rage and rail; I'll love myself and thee till strength should fail. --- To support my writing, please visit www.patreon.com/mrgraham

Deviation Spotlight

Susanna: The God Who Questions Me by deng-li-xin32, literature

Literature

Susanna: The God Who Questions Me

God used to be easier when his views fit my own, when he affirmed what I already believed, when he moved within my stereotypes, proved right what I already knew. God used to be easier when my enemies were his, when he affirmed my prejudice, when he approved of the boundaries drawn up between "us" and "them". God used to live in this comfortable box of the culture I knew and the worldview I treasured, among people I loved who thought just like me. But now You have opened the box and He runs wild and free, challenging me and who I thought He is. This God questions my long-held beliefs, challenges all I thought I knew, tears down my prejudic

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About deng-li-xin32

Deviant for 14 years
desideria32.blogspot.com
She / Her

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Delicious Cake: My, that's a delicious cake (1)

My Bio

I am an ordained pastor in the Swiss reformed church, currently doing a doctorate in New Testament alongside part-time work in a parish. :) I love studying the Bible and sharing what God teaches me as I read and study~

I grew up in Taiwan as a missionary kid - my parents are still missionaries there. It has been my dream to go back and serve there as a missionary too - I'll see how God leads!

Ever since 2010 I have been working on the women of the Bible project: I'm writing a poem for (almost) every woman in the Bible. (Check it out here: deng-li-xin32.deviantart.com/g…) This project has been an amazing experience and is teaching me a lot.

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Ten Seconds Prayer for Taiwan: www.taiwanteam.org/index.html
Women of the Bible Poetry Project: desideria32.blogspot.com

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But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. (Ephesians 3:8)

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Favourite Visual Artist

Albert Anker, He Qi, Marc Chagall, Kees de Kort

Favourite Movies

Lord of the Rings, Jane Austen movies, movies based on books, WWII movies, some Chinese historical movies, ...

Favourite Books

Missionary biographies, historical fiction set in China, Lord of the Rings, Narnia

Favourite Writers

J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Fanny Crosby, anyone who writes missionary bios ;)

Tools of the Trade

Scrap paper, pen, pencil, watercolours, Bible...

Other Interests

Christian mission, languages, culture, travelling, Bible, flute, history, theology, East Asia

Posts

Jun 7, 2020

Where else you can find me! :)

1 min read

I'm not very active on deviantArt anymore, mostly because I have less time to write and only get about 4-5 poems out per year max since starting to pastor a church... XD whoops. (Well when you have to write a sermon almost every week it's harder to write poetry in between.) There are more places where you can read my poetry, in particular the Women of the Bible project - with more commentary plus art. You can follow my facebook page "Women of the Bible Poetry" (https://www.facebook.com/biblewomenpoetry/) or find all the poems on my blog (http://biblewomenpoetry.blogspot.com/). Project is now at 142/182, but the list keeps growing because there are SO MANY WOMEN in the Bible! And to think I started out with a list of only 40...

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Apr 4, 2018

Good Friday 2018

0 min read

This is why I am Christian... Because my God freely became weak and mortal and vulnerable. Because my God chose to become what is shameful, dying a criminal's death. Because my God endured suffering and gave it worth by making it the place where he is most fully revealed. Because my God suffered in solidarity with all those who suffer, not just looking on from afar but himself becoming a victim of our human cruelty. Because my God rejected vengeance and forgave instead, giving hope and a new chance also to those who are perpetrators. Because my God is not high up on a pedestal but down in the dirt with all who are suffering and opp

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Feb 12, 2018

Currently reading the Gospel of Mark in light of the 12 Steps (from the co-dependent perspective). Oh my, the insights! Might make a book out of my notes when I'm done .. seeing as so many Christians (in my opinion / my personal experience) have been...

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Profile Comments 790

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Feb 13, 2019

OMG. This has to violate at least one of the Commandments... On a funnier note, it's become something of a meme on this guy's channel, thanks to his review of it ^^

May 24, 2018

I apologize in advance for any revulsion this will cause you, but I feel it important that you look at this site: biblicalgenderroles.com/, and especially this article: biblicalgenderroles.com/2018/0…. This sounds like more of what that verse in Timothy says about the Devil quoting Scripture for his own purposes...

May 26, 2018

Oh. My. Word.
I think I got only half way or less, that guy is SO. DISGUSTING. I don't understand why anyone should defend abusers unless they are also one. UGH. I stopped where he said a husband has a right to his wife's body. So wrong...
Thanks for the warning!

Ugh this stuff makes me furious.. and they call themselves "Christians"..

May 26, 2018

I know, but I felt it important to share it with you, because it's Pharisees like him that turn people away from Christianity...

HolyCross9

May 21, 2018

Greetings, friend in Christ. Just so you'll know, I left a prayer request in the comments section for the Great-Comission group.

Dec 1, 2017

I'd like to see your take on Satan/Lucifer...