CELEBRATING MASCULINE STRENGTH (PART ONE)
I love that when God created male and female, He called His creation very good. I think it’s worth taking some time to celebrate that.
For the last several years, I’ve spent so much time studying and talking about God’s design of the female body — our capacity to receive, to feel, to experience pleasure, and what our bodies can teach us about the heart of God.
And in all of that, I’ve also grown in my appreciation for masculine design and the gift it has been to me personally in my marriage.
Over 21 years, I’ve watched the strength of my husband serve me in ways I probably didn’t have language for when we were first married. The way he looks at me, touches me, speaks to me, cares for me. The discipline and integrity behind those things. All of it has shaped my ability to receive from him.
As I’ve looked back, I keep coming back to three things his strength has given me: I have felt seen, safe and celebrated.
I’ve felt seen in the way Wyatt looks at me and knows me. I’ve felt safe in the gentleness and patience of his strength. And I’ve felt celebrated in the way he has loved my body through six pregnancies, changing hormones and just a lot of life together.
That has been a really important part of my own healing.
There have been seasons when shame or fear made it difficult for me to receive, and even seasons when I felt very disconnected from my body. Over time, Wyatt’s strength and the way he has stewarded it toward me has helped me open up to more care, more connection and more pleasure.
That’s some of what I want to explore in this new series.
I want to talk about masculine strength as I’ve experienced it in my own marriage, and some of what I’ve noticed over years of studying marriage, sexuality and God’s design of our bodies. This is the story I have and what I’m willing to share, and I hope it invites some curiosity about your own marriage too.
What does it look like for us to really appreciate the way God made us male and female? And how might we get better at noticing and celebrating the good in one another?
In this first episode, I’m beginning with the ways Wyatt’s strength has helped me feel seen, safe and celebrated, and why that has mattered so much in my own ability to receive.
I’d love for you to listen and join me in the conversation.
Learn more about pleasure in Back to the Garden: A Married Woman’s Guide to Pleasure by Design. It’s a great place to start and it’s an instant download you’ll come back to season after season.
Have a question you want Francie to tackle on the podcast? Send her an email — she's always taking notes.