Transgendered? No U-Turn for LaVern

For many years while I lived in Nashville, Tennessee, I would hear the familiar voice of “U-Turn LaVern.” She was the radio traffic reporter, notifying her listeners of auto accidents and offering alternative routes. I never saw her face or met her in person, but I always liked her style and her fitting nickname, “U-Turn LaVern.”

Little did I know then of the major gender crisis that had gone on in her life. Through junior high and into high school, LaVern wished she had been born a boy. She did boy stuff and had no interest in more typically feminine activities. And she grew into a very large woman.

In her own words:

I Wished I Had Been Born a Boy

“Probably until I was well into junior high and maybe even high school I was fairly convinced God had simply mixed me up with John Mark, the name my parents had selected if I had been born male.

 “You see, I am over six feet tall and very large framed. I wear a size thirteen shoe. My hands are as large as any man my height. I was always told I had a pretty face but because of my height I was able to carry a lot of extra weight without looking fat and the fullness on my frame tended to make me look less pretty and just attractive. Still I never felt pretty or much less feminine.

“So for many years I wondered. Did God make a mistake?

“Life was very difficult at times and the scars of adolescent taunts, a very low self-esteem and deep, deep loneliness took its toll for many years but that was the journey God had for me.

“I am so thankful I was not approached by anyone that might have worked to convince me I was not what God made me to be and I wonder often, what if?

“I suppose it was probably easier to be a ‘tomboy’ rather than a ‘girlie’ or ‘sissy’ guy but maybe not. Just like the guys opposite me, I was having trouble finding comfort in what God made me to be.

“It’s a journey I am thankful was accompanied by parents, peers and mentors that taught me God does not make mistakes.”

Lavern is now in her 50s. Married over 26 years, she is a mother of four.

----

Think about it. If LaVern were growing up today, secularists would likely urge her to explore her gender identity and to consider a change. With her doubts about being female, her desire to be male, and her low self-image, she might have been drawn to become trans-gendered.

Instead she believed what Moses wrote in Gen 1:26-27 and Jesus affirmed in Matt 19:1-9. It is God the Creator who makes a person male or female. He does not make mistakes.

So LaVern chose to make the most out of being what God made her to be: a woman! As a result, now in her 50s, she has been married well over twenty-five years and is the mother of four.

Did LaVern make the U-turn? She did not!

As a result, she has found joy in God’s creation and design.

She goes on to write:

“I am so thankful my path was exactly as it was.

“I am so thankful that eventually it was a path that led me to a man, my husband, that filled the deep loneliness with a love so complete I can’t imagine life without him.

“I am still a tomboy. I struggle to identify with many of the women in my life.

“I had a conversation with a co-worker just last year. I was concerned about my inability to connect with a couple of the women I was working with. I told him I could not understand why they seemed to not like me, why they almost seemed uncomfortable around me. His response still makes me laugh. He said, ‘Well LaVern, you’re basically a dude! You’re intimidating.’

“So still, as basically a dude, I am completely and fully a girl, a woman.

“Fully and completely comfortable with who and what God made me to be.

“I still detest dressing like a woman. I hate dresses and frills.

“I spend as much time as possible in my favorite muck boots and weathered tattered clothes working outside, getting as dirty as possible.

“I love working with my hands till they are rough and worn.

“I’m proud my hands look like hands that work, not like a man but like a woman.

“A woman that may be a bit rough around the edges but make no mistake, still one-hundred percent woman.

“The woman God made me to be.

“Perfect but flawed.

“And praying without ceasing for those still on the journey to find peace and understanding of their own flawed perfection and the perfect plan God has for them.”

Thank you, “U-Turn LaVern,” for showing us that some U-turns are the wrong turns, and for reminding us that God’s path is always right.

https://uturnlavern.wordpress.com/2015/06/04/155/

Ephesians 6 - Earthly Roles and Spiritual Warfare

 For other posts in this series, click the label, "Ephesians - No Other Savior!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"No Other Gospel!" - Initial Steps for Studying Galatians

After Paul left Galatia, false teachers arrived who undermined his authority and the free gift of God’s grace. They tried to force these Gentile converts to be circumcised, and the new Christians fell for it! Paul was astonished. He reacted with the fieriest words he was ever inspired to write. Why would anyone trade freedom in Christ for bondage to the Law of Moses? Those clothed with Christ in baptism are free from the curse of the Law. We are free to serve, to love, and to give.  We dare not turn from Christ to sin, fall from grace, and be lost.

As you prepare for this study:

Read all of Paul’s letter to the Galatians at one sitting, and write down several of your observations.

Read Acts 13 and 14, and use your Bible maps, to study and review the cities Paul visited as part of his mission efforts in Galatia. List the events that took place there.

Place:                    Event:                    Significance:

Read Acts 15, and keep this “Jerusalem Conference” in mind as you read Galatians.

How does the letter compare or contrast with Paul’s other letters – in its greeting, its content, and its style?

What is the tone of the letter? Positive? Disciplinary? Gentle? Firm?

What is Paul’s state of mind? Is he happy? Fired up? Surprised?

What does Paul say about himself in the letter?

In what ways, and with what words, does Paul compliment the Galatians?

In what ways, and with what words, does Paul criticize the Galatians?

What major concerns and questions are addressed in the letter?

What false teachings does this letter seek to correct?

What doctrines and truths are taught?

What leadership principles emerge? What leadership challenges?

What words stand out as you read?

          Words that are repeated:

Words that express shock or dismay:

Words that rebuke or correct:

Words that commend:

Words that condemn:

How would you outline the letter?

What title would you give the letter as a whole?

What does Paul want the Galatians to do – or to stop doing – after reading the letter?

If you were to teach Galatians to someone else, how would you go about it?

 

 

Galatians 1 - The Gospel from God, not from Man

For other posts in this series, check the label, "Galatians - No Other Gospel!"

Galatians 2 - For Gentiles, Not Just Jews

For other posts in this series, check the label, "Galatians - No Other Gospel!"