The Ideal Woman

A woman's heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her.

The quote is from Maya Angelou, an American writer noted for redefining the autobiography genre.

I got the quote while I was browsing Facebook and came across one of the wedding pictures of Bro Franco and Sis Mae. It was a simple photo of the newlyweds with the quote strategically overlaid via Photoshop on the groom's suit.

The quote got me thinking about how the brothers in my community, Ang Lingkod Ng Panginoon (Lingkod), perceive women and what their criteria of the ideal girlfriend should be.

For me, the criterion was simple: someone just has to be smart for me to be infatuated at her. I've shared this to a lot of people that if a girl is smart, everything else follows. My thinking was that, considering their rarity, intellectually engaging women are and should be more attractive (Unfortunately, most guys don't share my sentiment). 

But Rommel, a fellow brother in the community, shared to me another thing that guys should be looking for instead. During our prior conversations, he talked about the 'essential' stuff that should be in every single guy's wish list when he's out looking for someone to court. It's non-negotiable. It's something that's more important than brains or beauty. And it goes something like this: the woman has to have a relationship with God.

It's simple really but it's something that's very hard to fake. I've had only glimpses of it observing everyone during the prayer meetings or even during our fellowships.

But it was during the Regional Lingkod Training Conference (RLTC) that I saw how transformative the quality was and how evident it is. For close to a week, I was surrounded with women whose aura were pleasantly different. Their genuine smiles spoke of the joy and happiness they felt inside. Their confident demeanor reflected the peace and serenity that pervaded their inner selves. The way they spoke, honored, and encouraged one another showed how much love they had to give. These were women of God and they were beautiful.

Angel, another Lingkod brother, shared to me the need to be with such a woman. A woman who has a strong relationship with God inevitably pushes her man to "level up": to be more Godly and holy. The man wants to become a better man for her and, because of the standard set by the woman, he does become one. He becomes more loving, more generous, more life-giving.

To end, the quote mentioned earlier sums it up: a godly woman chooses to love her man because she loved Him first. And a man, seeking to win her love, must be ready and willing to seek and find God.