Growth and Struggle

If I were a heterosexual man, I would be an Orthodox Jew.  I would have easy access to a community of committed Jews, both spiritually and practically.  I'd never have to explain myself in the Jewish world; I would have peers and a place.

I am not a heterosexual man.  I am a homosexual woman.  Whenever an Orthodox Jew asks me why I am not Orthodox, I usually start with, "I can read Torah as well as the next guy over, and you won't let me."

I believe that I was made the way I am, deliberately by God, so that I could struggle and grow.  I don't believe my soul was meant to have an easy life this time around.  I believe I was meant to learn life lessons that can only be learned by living life, and I can't wait to find out what they are.

Side note: I believe that this is the same reason Reece's Rainbow assigned me a child in Russia for whom to pray.  I do not believe that God moved the Russians or that Russia banning American adoptions was God's work.  I do not believe that Reece's Rainbow taking down its listings of Russian children so that it could focus its efforts on children more likely to get homes was God's work.  I do believe that God knew all this would happen and, knowing I could handle the challenge, gave me "Rheann."

Growth and struggle, always.