“The average amount spent on a wedding in the U.S. last year was $24,070.” ~ USA Today

There are few times in life when one must stand up to begin a revolution, but the moment has come for me. For far too long women have struggled in our country for equal rights, and in so many areas of life the battle has been waged successfully. Already we see more women graduating from college (1.3 females for every male**). Yet there is one area of life where the ancient prejudices still reign.

Today, with our great advancements, we still practice the degrading principals of the dowry. The bride’s family is still expected to pay for the wedding – as though a man must be paid to take you daughter in marriage! With so many barriers destroyed, how can we not tear down this final wall of disgrace? I urge you as a church to mount up your protest. As parents of daughters we should refuse to pay…

Of course for me this is especially close to home, because yesterday we had our sonogram – and yes we are expecting our third baby girl! We have no idea of her name, but my silliness aside, we are thrilled! Girls are wonderful! Huggable!

And I think I will set out to teach them, “who needs a man”, because honestly daddy can’t afford one… Of course this may lead to violence, in which case:

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Taylor Girl’s Wedding Fund.

** On another note, the college graduation rates were a little disturbing. Especially when I also read that there are more boys ages 18-24 than girls (15 to 14.2 million – all numbers taken from USA Today). I am not sure what to do with this information, but if the pendulum continues to swing… Coming to the church, we see an even greater divide of female to male involvement. These are distressing trends and ones about which we should be in prayer!