The Follow Up

The other day, I asked whether you hold your hands with Palms Up or Palms Down. Let me explain.

God has been speaking to me for a while about the essense of femininity. This past Sunday morning, our pastor invited us to take the hand of the person next to us. I reached out as I always do with my palms down. I have read in the past, that this is a sign of strength and a sign of wanting to be in control, and likely that has something to do with why I do it, but more than that, with my height, often, if I am palms up, it creates a funny angle for my hand especially if someone is much shorter- if you have kids in your world, try it you will see.

As I reached out, I felt the Lord whisper "look around". I looked at the women around me, most of whom are setting an example for me of femininity, and they were all palms up. So right there in the middle of the prayer, I released my grip and changed the position of my hands. I was standing beside my cousin who is a strong taller man. As I stood there palms up there was something that felt very safe. Somehow, I felt protected and secure. I recalled the experience I recently blogged about Surrender or Submit... and the point about submission being 'choosing not to fight'. On some level, IN ME I think that even in this small gesture of hand holding, I was still choosing to fight.

Am I implying that for those who prefer palms down, that they are not feminine? Nope, not at all. This is a detail that God is touching on in MY life. Funny thing though, almost all of the women who commented were 'palms up'..... hmmmmmm