Friday Faves #11-The Top Influential Women Throughout History (according to us).

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                Wow! It is Women's Month, so we thought that today for Friday Faves we would offer up who our favorite Women throughout history are.  What a difficult decision this has been! Every time I thought about it, I discovered another woman who deserved my consideration.  Some that I thought of right away as a possible choice, after I studied more about them, left me feeling disillusioned at times and confused.  I had to remind myself that no one is perfect and although we put people on a pedestal, they are human, after all, with human weaknesses, but they are still capable of doing wonderful things.  And, no matter how wonderful a person is, they will always have detractors.  Look at Jesus! He had a bunch of detractors and he WAS perfect! So, I finally came to a decision!  But, before I tell you our choices, think about it yourself.

Who is your favorite influential woman throughout ​history?

            When my children were young, my mother-in-law gave them a wonderful set of books called Value Tales.  The books tell the stories of famous people and lessons or values to be learned from their examples.  Here is what the books are like: 

I have always had an interest in Harriet Tubman ever since I learned about her in grade school. I was able to answer a Jeopardy question about her when I was 10 years old and I really thought I was something.

These are the books that are about famous women. There is a wide array of values taught.

As I looked through the set, I remembered women that I had totally forgotten about! Jane Addams, Margaret Mead, Nellie Bly to name a few.

               These books begin by telling about incidents in the person's life in a story-like way that is easy to understand and interesting for children. After the boldly illustrated story, in the back there is a more advanced fact page that adds to the information already gleaned. I believe that children in the 2nd to 6th grades, roughly, would get a lot out of these books. They are on Amazon as a set, or you can also purchase them individually.   Here is a glimpse inside: 

,                When Madalynn was young, she read the Value Tale about Marie Curie.  She became very interested in her and later learned more about her and actually portrayed her for a class science report. When I asked her the question about her favorite influential woman, Marie Curie popped out of her mouth immediately.  So, Friday Fave #1 is Madame Marie Curie! 
                  Madalynn says that she admires Marie Curie because she was so intelligent and learning about her inspired Madalynn's own love of science.  Madame Curie's life was interesting, from her education and upbringing, to her love story and her discoveries. It was so poignant that she lost her life because of her wonderful discoveries.  Here is a more grown-up biography of her life.

             I want to add that Madalynn also did an excellent job in High School portraying the young Helen Keller in a school theater production.  There is also a Value Tale about her, but it is currently out of stock on Amazon.

                  Fave #2 this week is from Alicia.  Alicia considered many choices.  Then, she started reading a book on Kindle entitled Seven Women and the Secrets of Their Greatness by Eric Metaxas. In the introduction of this book, Mr. Metaxas explains his criteria for the women he chose.  I love his reasoning!  I have long held the same sentiment without being able to put it into words as well as he has. Here is a quote, parenthesis added:

"Many people suggested women (for his book) who were the first ones to do something that men had already done...What struck me as wrong about these suggestions was that they presumed women should somehow be compared to men.  But it seemed wrong to view great women in that way...I wondered what was behind this way of seeing things, that women should be defined against men? Or that men and women should even be compared to each other?
     Two interrelated attitudes seemed at play.  First, men and women are in some ways interchangeable, that what one does the other should do.  Second, women are in some kind of competition with men, and for women to progress they need to compete with men.  This thinking pretends to put men and women on equal footing, but it actually only pits them against each other in a kind of zero-sum competition in which they usually tear each other down."

                       Mr. Metaxas then goes on to make some really spectacular choices of women, a couple I had never thought about.  Alicia made her choice, Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc).  The book I have linked there has very good reviews.  It is written for Young Adults.  Alicia says that she is impressed with Joan's conviction and faith.  She didn't hesitate to act and to choose what she knew was right in spite of people trying to intimidate her.  Metaxas said in his book that many people think that Joan was great because she put on armor and became a warrior like a man.  But, in reality, there was nothing manly about her. It was her youth, innocence, purity and holiness that made it possible for her to achieve what she did.  He submits that it was "her vulnerability and womanly virtue that stunned and inspired the rough soldiers in a way that no man ever could do...In other words, there could never be a male Joan of Arc."  

                  Friday Fave #3 will be my choice.  I decided to choose Mother Teresa.  Here is a woman who gave her life in service to others.  After she left her home at the age of 18 to become a nun, she never saw her mother and sisters again.  She felt the call to be a missionary and a servant to the Lord from an early age.  She fed the poor, nursed the sick, helped the dying, yet she still had detractors.  She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, The Jewel of India and other awards and was recently canonized as a Saint by the Catholic Church. I love some of her quotes:

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
"If you can't feed 100 people, then just feed 1."

I love this. I found it on Pinterest from an Etsy shop. Click on it to purchase.

Here are 2 books.  One about Mother Teresa's life, and one filled with some of her quotes.

                   The final Fave today, and yes there are only 4 because I spent so much time agonizing over my choice that I forgot to ask a guest, is from Lindsey.  Here is what Lindsey said, "I choose Mary the mother of Jesus.  She lived her early life in such a way that she was chosen to be the earthly mother of our Savior.  She had a heavy responsibility to nurture and care for him, and then she had to watch him be tortured and crucified, which was probably really hard and awful to watch her son go through that.  But we know how much Jesus loved His mother.  Even though we don't worship her or pray to her, we respect her and honor her for who she was and what she did.  She gave Jesus His human side which allowed Him to understand our pains and temptations.  I am grateful for her righteous example."   That was beautifully put, Lindsey.  Or course, the best book to read about Mary in is the Bible, specifically, the New Testament.  You can click this link to get a free copy of the King James Version of the Bible.

               Since we have only given you four names this week, (well 5 if you count Helen Keller), make sure you comment and give us names of who you would choose!  There are so many women out there, too many to name them all, including many in my own life who have influenced me and others in our own sphere of existence.  I am so grateful to them!  I am so glad to be a woman.  Talk to you later!
​-Helen