To Be Continued...More Challenges

A lady at church challenged me to search for jobs differently than before. It seems more hopeful, but the necessity of putting one foot in front of another is constantly present. It's easy to wish someone would do this for me, but no. The obligation falls on me. It's hard to stay motivated, except I need the money. Like the Bible says, "The worker's hunger drives him on." I saw it a different way on a bumper sticker: "I fight poverty. I work!" True. Then I ran into another challenge. Disrespect from men (and occasionally women) at church. Is this misogyny? Gynophobia? (Look those words up). Chauvanism? Shouldn't the church be protecting its single women rather than "beating up on" its own? I do know that if I was at my brother's church (same denomination), this wouldn't be happening. His presence would act as a deterrent. No man, no deterrent, apparently. The Bible talks about the care/treatment of "older women" (terminology open to interpretation, to be sure). I'm prayerfully considering how to handle this. It's tempting to bolt, but would that be a godly response? I visited with a friend yesterday (Becky R. - I've referred to her before). She called me "dignified" (the Bible says "older women" should be dignified). How does that show itself practically? (Becky hasn't seen me when I'm expressing myself with convulsions of laughter. She's very serious). Anyway, she could hardly believe it when I told her how the men at church were treating me. Her comment was that I'm so dignified and quiet that she couldn't imagine that my behavior could provoke such treatment. Thank God for supportive friends. I never thought of myself as dignified. Hmm. I still need to find out how the Lord wants me to respond to this.