I have struggled with the place of women in my church, "THE Church", for a long time. I realized that, for the last 10 years or so, I have been silent about this because I gave up. I stopped caring. Okay, no. That's not true. I didn't stop caring. I stopped wanting to care. I knew that the questions I used to ask at every opportunity (much to the chagrin of "the powers that be") were not taken seriously. They were being answered with long-suffering looks and slowed down sentences that only repeated their previous statement but with more condescension. I was the trouble maker. I was the young woman who did not know her place and who was never content just to 'believe" that God made things this way. I did not believe that God's purpose for women to stay home and have babies. I did not believe that women should be seen and not heard. I did not believe that women need permission from anyone (except God) before she made a statement or ta