International Women’s Day

It’s International Women’s Day, a day to honor and celebrate the cultural, social, economic and political achievements of women. It’s a day to remind ourselves why girls are so amazing.

In the course of human history, the female population has been horrifically oppressed, abused and mistreated.

And yet…

Girls are amazing because they never quit.

Girls haven’t quit trying to get to school. Women haven’t quit providing two-thirds of the world’s unpaid labor. Women haven’t quit giving birth to the world’s next generation. Women haven’t quit advocating for equality, freedom, opportunity and dignity.

Girls start fighting the second they are born and they keep fighting until they day they die. In studies of neonatal intensive care units, baby girls are more likely to survive than baby boys, and around the world, women consistently outlive men.

Girls have proven again and again that they can go far when people invest in them. Microlending studies have showed that women in the developing world are exceptional entrepreneurs. They are more likely to repay the loan than their male counterparts, they make better financial decisions than men and they are more likely to invest in their community.

 

Women haven’t quit changing our world for the better.

My prayer for the rest of us is that we would treat women like the beautiful, capable, intelligent, valuable treasures they are. That we would invest in them spiritually, emotionally, academically and financially. That we would give of ourselves in order to give little girls around the world the one thing they need most to succeed in life: A chance.