Thank you! For a woman with no children this day can be so difficult. For many it's incomprehensible that being not married means that you won't have children. Especially when you are a teacher - "You love children so why don't you have them?" It's the age of the single moms apparently.
So thank you for this post!

There's another list going aruond with descriptions like these about people in the Bible who were used by God. It's so funny but it's encouraging too. If God can use unadjusted and weird people like that there's hope for us ;)

I love Ikea. For many people here in the Netherlands going to Ikea is considered a day out with the family. There is an indoor supervised children's playground, a restaurant with good (and fun) food, and the lay out is very clever. No woman can leave the building before walking through the kitchen utensils department. It's "heaven" just before you are at the cash register. Very clever!!

And people know when they come in what to expect. They know about the children's department (very important!), they know where the restaurant is and where to find the couch they want.

Our buildings should be just as easy to navigate. And make sure people don't feel uneasy or left in the dark when they take part in the service (a small handout with "what it means what you see us do" would be nice) and make sure there are people around to answer any question they might have.

You don't have to pull out all the bells during a service. Be who you are (that's what Ikea does too).
In the end it comes down to the message you have (the product). You can't water that down but you can make it easier to get to.