Masonry Daughters

My dad lead worship the Sunday before last. The twins played keyboard, Sarah was on bass, I was on drums, and we borrowed a couple guitarists. After the service had come to a close, we finished our "closing jam session" (really what it is, because no one sings) as people left their seats and began to mingle or convert the sanctuary into a cafeteria.

As I began to dismantle and unplug the array of wires and set pieces, our guest speaker, Mark Hamby, who had given the sermon that morning, walked up and shook my hand. He told me that we did a good job, and that he thought it was really cool that a girl was playing the drums. He referred to Nehemiah 3:12 where Shallum repaired a section of the wall with the help of his daughters, a characteristic he calls "masonry daughters."

While I wouldn't use that verse to claim a biblical sanction for playing drums if my role in that vocation was ever questioned, I thought it was a cool characterisation.

I'd always heard the "Tom Boy" label and never liked it. In every case that I heard it used, the girl was always proud or rebellious, refusing to comply with feminine protocol just to be cool. It seemed to be governed by the idea with the role of a woman was ridiculous, and the "tom boy" was steppng out of her role as a young woman in order to prove a point.

I know several of these Masonry Daughters. My role model is Brianna Walden. She was the intern girl for the Oregon TeenPact classes that I staffed earlier this year. Every morning, she would fly delicately down the stairs, dressed in a skirt and suit jacket, a picture of wonderful femininity. And yet, the day before she had organized an unconventional roap swing activity for us girls, and played a mean game of Ultimate Frisbee, not afraid to dive and get dirty. The crazy stories she told of her outdoor adventures and the work she would do with her dad on their property, revealed that she wasn't merely the delicate jewel she appeared to be. She was definitely a masonry daughter, but she wasn't proud about it, and viewed it as part of being a daughter, rather than a rebellion against her role. She would do any job, but keep her beautiful femininity with her.

This is the kind of daughter that I want to be, willing to take my femininity with me while taking adventerous steps outside the usual paradigm to do the rough-and-tumble jobs. Tough, but refined. Fearless, but feminine. Willing, but respectful. We are Masonry Daughters.