Are You A Bell Sheep?

A few weeks ago I started reading Elizabeth George's book, Raising a Daughter After God's Own Heart.  In the very first chapter she refers to mothers as being the bell sheep for their daughters.   I confess, I had never heard of a bell sheep until that moment.  Maybe some of you haven't either.  Let me explain.  When a shepherd noticed a sheep who willingly followed him and stayed near him, he hung a bell around the neck of that sheep so the flock would follow the bell sheep...who, in turn, was following the shepherd.  Of course, we are the sheep and Christ is the Shepherd.  Now that we know what a bell sheep is let's explore three questions.  Are you a bell sheep, how to be a bell sheep and why should we be a bell sheep.

Are you a bell sheep?  
I can't answer that question for you.  Examine yourself, your actions, your motives, and your heart.  Are you loving the things of this world (1 John 2:15) when you should be loving the things of God (Deut. 6:5)?  Are we teaching our daughters, by example and by words?

How to be a bell sheep?  
Instructing her in God's ways
Have daily Bible time with her
Encouraging her to have a quiet time
Pray for her
ABOVE ALL:  Live a life that brings honor and glory to God

Why should we be a bell sheep?
The answer is to point our daughters to Christ.  Is it not our desire for our daughters to grow into godly women. Women who will love the Lord with all their hearts, minds, and souls. (Matt.22:37)  Women who will be godly wives and mothers.  Women who's lives will glorify God and be a testimony to lost world.
Ladies, let's be that bell sheep, let's lead our daughters to Jesus and teach them His ways for the furtherance of God's kingdom.

Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1 John 2:15

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deuteronomy 6:5

And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Matthew 22:37

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Are Your Christmas Lights Plugged In?

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.  I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; against such things there is no law.  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Galatians 5:19-26.

In Galatians 5:22-23, the apostle Paul list these "gracious habits" - "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."  All 9 fruit stand together and make up our walk with God.  They are like a string of Christmas lights - there is one string with many lights that all light up at once when plugged into the electrical socket.  But if one bulb goes out, then the entire string goes out.  That's how God's fruit is borne out in our lives.  Not one of them can be missing, and all must be evident - lit up - to be God's fruit.  As you recall your actions today, were any of these spiritual habits missing?  What must you do to get "plugged into God,"  the power source again?




Elizabeth George,
A Young Woman's Walk With God:
Growing More Like Jesus

What is God's Plan For Me as a Wife? (Part 3)

For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.
Ephesians 5:23

Have I ever agreed with God that my husband is my spiritual head?

Do I allow my husband to lead me, or do I resist his leadership, making it difficult for him to fulfill his God-given responsibility?

However, let each one of you live his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Ephesians 5:33

Does my husband feel that I reverence and respect him?

Do others know that I reverence my husband?

By my words, example, and counsel, do I encourage other women to reverence their husbands?

The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband.  for the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does.  Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
1 Corinthians 7:3-4

Do I reserve intimate communication, looks, words, and touch for my husband?

Am I giving of myself to meet my husband's sexual needs?

If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home.  For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
1 Corinthians 14:35

Do I motivate my husband to grow spiritually by seeking his counsel, input, and direction, or am I quick to run to my pastor or another counselor for answers to my questions and problems?

Does my husband feel that I value and respect his input and counsel




Biblical Portrait of Womanhood,
Nancy Leigh DeMoss

What is God's Plan For Me as a Wife? (Part 2)

So when the woman say that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Genesis 3:6

Is my life setting a godly example to my husband, children, and friends?

By my words or example, do I ever encourage others to act in a way that is contrary to the Word of God?

Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Ephesians 5:24

Do I respond to my husband's leadership in the same way that the church is to respond to Christ as its head?

Am I submissive to my husband in my actions, as well as in my attitude?

Does my response to my husband demonstrate to the world the beauty and blessings of submissions to Christ?




Biblical Portrait of Womanhood
Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Why Was I Created As A Woman, Part 3

For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.  I Corinthians 11:7

In the way I talk to and about men, do I show their God-created worth and value?

Am I a responder (rather than an initiator) in my relationship with men?

Do I make it easy for men to fulfill their God-given calling to lead in the home, the church, and society?

Do I respond to men in ways that communicate appropriate respect and affirmation of their manhood?

Do I seek to protect and preserve God-created distinctions between men and woman in the way I conduct myself, in my dress, and in my various roles as a woman?

Biblical Portrait of Womanhood,

Nancy Leigh DeMoss

What is God's Plan For Me as a Wife?

The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.
Pr. 31:11

Can my husband trust me to walk with God on a consistent basis and to respond to life's circumstances with praise, gratitude, and faith?

Can my husband trust me to be loyal and morally faithful to him?

Am I completely trustworthy in every area of my life--in my relationships with other men?  in my spending habits?  in the way I talk about my husband to others?

She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.
Pr. 31:12

Am I committed to support my husband in every way possible and to always act in his best interests?

Does my husband know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I am committed to him for life, no matter what?

Am I committed unconditionally to bless and serve my husband?




Biblical Portrait of Womanhood
Nancy Leigh DeMoss

How Does a Woman of God Conduct Herself?

And now, may daughter, do not fear.  I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.
Ruth 3:11

Do I have a reputation for being a woman of moral virtue and godly character?

Do I keep myself pure from all influences that could defile my heart, thoughts, or actions?

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
Proverbs 31:26

Do I bless my family, friends, and acquaintances by speaking words that are kind and wise?

Do I study and meditate on the Word of God so that I can know how to speak wise words?

Am I able to point people to specific Scriptures that apply to their lives and need?

With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.
Proverbs 25:15

Am I willing to wait quietly for God to change the heart of an authority that I feel is wrong, rather than pushing, manipulating, or nagging?

Do I seek to influence others by means of gentle words, rather that controlling or intimidating them with harsh words?

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.
1 Timothy 2:11

Do I have a teachable spirit?

Do I receive instruction with a meek, obedient spirit?

It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman.
Proverbs 21:19

Does my spirit make it easy for those I live or work with to be around me?

Do I frustrate others or make them want to stay away from me because of an argumentative or angry spirit?





Biblical Portrait of Womanhood,
Nancy Leigh DeMoss

How to Walk with God

To walk with God is to walk in the light of God’s countenance; to live as people who remember that all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we walk, that the darkness is no darkness with Him, and remembering this, to aim at never thinking or saying or doing anything we should be ashamed of in the presence of the great Searcher of hearts. To walk with God is to walk after the Spirit–to look to the Holy Spirit as our Teacher, to lean on Him for strength, to put no confidence in the flesh, to set our affections on things above, to wean them from things on earth, and to be spiritually-minded.

~ J.C. Ryle

What Makes A Beautiful Woman, Part 5

...likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire...1 Timothy 2:9

Do I avoid extreme or excessive fashions (hair, clothing, jewelry, make-up) that could call attention to myself or cause people to be distracted from focusing on the Lord?

Do I avoid extravagant jewelry or clothing that could flaunt my wealth or cause others to be envious?

Do my wardrobe and outward appearance portray a spirit of moderation, sobriety, purity , and reverence?






Biblical Portrait of Womanhood,
Nancy Leigh DeMoss

What Makes A Beautiful Woman, Part 4

...likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire...1 Timothy 2:9

Do I dress modestly?

Do my clothing styles encourage men to think pure thoughts, rather than stimulating them to have sensual thoughts or desires?

Do I dress in such a way as to draw attention to the herat and spirit of Jesus within me, rather than to my physical body?

Biblical Portrait of Womanhood,

Nancy Leigh DeMoss

What Makes A Beautiful Woman, Part 3

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.  Proverbs 31:30

Am I more concerned about cultivating my relationship with the Lord than about being fashionable, stylish, or physically attractive?

Do I live in the constant, conscious recognition of the presence of God?

Do I desire to please God more than I desire the approval of others?




Biblical Portrait of Womanhood,
Nancy Leigh DeMoss

What Makes A Beautiful Woman, Part 2

For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves...1 Peter 3:5

Am I more concerned about being holy than about being happy?

Am I placing my hope and trust in God rather than in people?

Biblical Portrait of Womanhood,

Nancy Leigh DeMoss

What Makes A Beautiful Woman, Part 1

Do not let your adorning be external--the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear--but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.  1Peter 3:3-4

Do others see in me an inner radiance and beauty that are the result of a grateful, yielded, trusting spirit?

Do I focus more time and effort on cultivating inner spiritual beauty than I do on matters of external beauty?

Biblical Portrait of Womanhood,

Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Why Was I Created As A Woman, Part 4

The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.  Genesis 3:20

Do I recognize and accept my God-created calling to be a bearer andnurturer of life?

Do I consider it a high and holy calling to be a "mother," whether of physical or spiritual chilren?

Am I actively involved in bearing and nurturing life?





Biblical Portrait of Womanhood,
Nancy Leigh DeMoss





Biblical Portrait of Womanhood,
Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Why Was I Created As A Woman, Part 2

"For man was not made from woman, but woman from man.  Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.  I Corinthians 11:8-9

Do I recognize and accept that God created the woman to complete, complement, and help the man?

Is my life helping and blessing the men around me in ways that promote holiness and godliness?










Biblical Portrait of Womanhood,
Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Why Was I Created As A Woman, Part 1

"Then the LORD God said, "it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." Genesis 2:18

Have I embraced my God-created design to be a helper to the man?

Am I willing to sacrifice my own ambitions and aspirations in order to fulfill my primary role and aspirations in order to fulfill my primary role and calling as a helper to my husband?

Am I providing companionship for my husband?

Am I completing and complementing my husband, rather than competing with him?

How could I better help my husband fulfill God's purpose for his life?

Am I promoting healthy, godly marriages in the ways I relate and respond to other women's husbands?

Am I maintaining the kinds of boundaries in my relationships with men that promote biblical standards of purity?

Biblical Portrait of Womanhood,

Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Pole Dancing For Jesus!

"This is the natural progression of the, "If it feels good, God must be in it" approach to worship in many churches today. Listen carefully to her statements. She is regurgitating folk theology prominent in many churches, complete with the, "I don't care what other [Christians] think"/Don't judge me mentality. And this is in the Bible Belt (actually in my back yard)!"  Voddie Baucham

This is VERY disturbing...and sad. 

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Rom 8:29

Do not let your adorning be external--the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear-- but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.  For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. 1Pe 3:3-6  

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." 1Pe 1:14-16

The Soul of Modesty

Yesterday I listened to a most excellent message on modesty by C.J. Mahaney.  Pastor Mahaney brought out points in ways that I had never thought of before.  It  was such a blessing.  Modesty may not be an issue for you.  Maybe you could use this message to minister to others, perhaps a daughter, friend, sister, neighbor, etc.  I highly recommend it to all.  Here are some highlights from the message.

• Any biblical discussion of modesty begins by addressing the heart, not the hemline. We must start with the attitude of the modest woman.
• Modesty means propriety. It means avoiding clothes and adornment that are extravagant or sexually enticing. Modesty is humility expressed in dress. It’s a desire to serve others, particularly men, by not promoting or provoking sensuality. 
• Immodesty, then, is much more than wearing a short skirt or low-cut top; it’s the act of drawing undue attention to yourself. It’s pride, on display by what you wear. 
• There’s an inseparable link between your heart and your clothes. Your clothes say something about your attitude. If they don’t express a heart that is humble, that desires to please God, that longs to serve others, that’s modest, that exercises self-control, then change must begin in the heart.
• For modesty is humility expressed in dress. 
• Godly men find modesty attractive. They appreciate women who dress with self-control and restraint. They’re grateful for women who serve them by helping them fight the temptation to lust. 
• Ultimately, fathers, your job to raise a modest daughter culminates and concludes on her wedding day.
• Notice in 1 Timothy 2 that Paul goes beyond addressing a woman’s apparel. He says he desires “that women should adorn themselves … with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works” (2:9–10).
• Adorning yourself with good works means less time shopping and more time serving.  So, which are you more preoccupied with — shopping or good works?
• Modesty is important because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s why Paul is concerned about it. He isn’t simply a “cultural conservative.” This isn’t Paul’s version of The Book of Virtues. For him, the issue of modesty is about the gospel.
• The woman who loves the Savior avoids immodesty because she doesn’t want to distract from or reflect poorly upon the gospel.
• Make this your aim: that there be no contradiction between your gospel message and the clothes you wear. May your modest dress be a humble witness to the One who gave himself as a ransom for all.

The entire message can be downloaded at http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/blogs/cj-mahaney/category/modesty.aspx.

A modesty checklist from the message, http://www.sovereigngracestore.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=A1170-06-51

Food, Beauty & Control

This week I listened to a really great series by Bob Lepine, guest speaker on Revive Our Hearts, talk about three big issues that women deal with every day, food, beauty and control. If you haven't heard them, I highly recommend them. Here are some of highlights.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: I’ve sometimes said that the very first sin committed by the very first woman back in the Garden of Eden had to do with overeating. Ever since that day, a lot of us women have struggled to maintain a healthy approach to food.

Bob Lepine: Here’s the other thing: I also want to suggest to us that it is not wrong, it’s not sinful, it’s not inappropriate for women to pay attention to what you eat, or to have a desire to look good, or to exercise some degree of control over your surroundings. In fact, the Bible teaches that it is wise and prudent to exercise some wisdom in these areas.

I would say to men today, and I do say to men today, that passivity of the men today is one of the great sins going on in the church. God has called men to be leaders, to guide, to guard, to protect, to feed, to lead. And men say, “Just give me the remote, and let somebody else handle it.” That’s what a lot of guys will do, and it goes back to this passivity.

I want to make a couple of points here. I want you to see that all of us are in danger when we become dissatisfied with what God has provided for us.

Ladies, you want to know the secret of being content? Instead of focusing and dwelling on everything that’s wrong around you, set your mind on the good things you have. That’s a part of the secret of being content.

I remember hearing Elisabeth Elliot talk one time about a man having an ink stain on the pocket of his shirt, and she said, “If you looked at that, this blotch of ink, right there on the pocket of his shirt, here’s the question, ‘How much of that shirt is stained by the ink?’ Maybe one percent. Ninety-nine percent of the shirt is clean and pure, but where does your eye go? Right to the blotch. You almost can’t help but look at it.”

She said that’s the way a lot of women are with their husbands. A lot of husbands are good men with some ink stains, but you just can’t take your eyes off the ink stains.

Part of the secret of being content is to take your eyes off the ink stains and to look instead at what is praiseworthy, excellent, commendable, good, pure. Find those things. Affirm those things in your husband instead of always saying, “When are you going to fix that ink stain?”

You want to know the secret of being content?

• Think on the right things.
• Make your requests known to God.
• Model reasonableness in your life.
• Send more time rejoicing than you do.

Now you go, “What’s wrong with healthy eating? It’s a good thing, right?” Well, it can drift into idolatry. When what you eat or what you don’t eat takes on proportions that food was never intended to bear in life, when the importance of food becomes bigger than it ought to become, we’ve got a problem.

Obesity—listen to me—obesity is an issue when it affects your health and your ability to care for others or forcing them to care for you. So there’s an issue with obesity if it interferes with carrying out the mission of God. But what I’m saying is it’s possible for what a lot of women eat or don’t eat to become an idol.

It’s also possible for your preoccupation with appearance and beauty to become an idol, too.

You see, that’s part of the issue here. What you eat is what keeps your body going, but ultimately, your body’s not eternal. It’s your earth suit. It’s what you need to function. You want to keep it in good operating order, but your body’s not going to last forever. It’s going to wear out, and so whether it’s food or whether it’s beauty, you’re focused on the temporal, not on the eternal.

Eve was focused on the temporal, not the eternal. Her focus was moved from what God has said is important and good to what she wanted, and that’s when it became problematic.

• The issue is how much focus or importance do you place on physical appearance?
• How much are you seeking the approval of others, of men?
• Is your thinking about your outward appearance shaped more by the culture or by the Bible?
• What’s in your heart when you focus on your appearance? Is it value connected to your appearance?

So don’t neglect bodily exercise, but when you make that more important than the cultivation of godliness, you've got things messed up. And I see that happen too much in too many people.

Now, let me just add real quickly, there is one place in the Bible where it talks about physical beauty being important for a woman. You know where it is? It’s in marriage. It’s in the Song of Solomon. There are these passages in the Song of Solomon where the Shulamite woman is commended for making herself beautiful for her husband, where he describes her beauty as being alluring and appealing and attractive.

That’s the place in the Bible where your physical appearance is commended and called to be a good thing. It honors your husband. It is a gift to him when you make yourself beautiful, but let me quickly add this. No amount of physical attractiveness can compensate for a lack of godly character. A beautiful shrew is still a shrew.

By the same token, a plain-looking, un-made-up woman who smiles and radiates the goodness of God from her face is beautiful, is beautiful. See, there is a reflection of beauty that comes out in the life of a woman who is really focused on the things of God.

Ultimately, when Eve took the fruit, she was believing this lie. She was believing, “I will be better off if I know what God knows about good and evil, and then I can decide for myself what’s the right thing, and I won’t have to trust or rely on God anymore. I can be in control of my life.”

When God created the world, He said, “It’s good.” Here we’ve got Eve looking at the fruit, and she’s saying, “It’s good. It’s good. It’s good.” She’s already replacing God’s role in terms of what’s good in her life.

When we make something into an idol, here’s what we do: We inflate its function.Something becomes an idol when you give it more function than it was designed to have. It starts to function as a god in your life. It’s something that you start to worship and obey, and you will not violate the commands of your idol. It’s functioning like a god. It drives us with warnings and promises. We have to have it. It leads us to shame. Our life feels wrong if we don’t attain our idol.

• What do you organize your life around? Do you organize your life around eating and appearance? If so, they may have become idols.
  
• What do you want or crave or wish for? What do you obsess over? What preoccupies your thinking? What do you find your mind instinctively drifting toward? What fills your conversation? Is it food? Appearance? The things of God?
  
• What are you willing to sacrifice an inordinate amount of time or money to obtain? That may be an idol in your life.
  
• What do you fear losing? What is it, that if you lost it, you would lose your desire to live because all of the meaning would be sucked out of your life, all desire to move forward would be lost? That’s an idol.
  
• What do you rejoice over? What present or hoped-for things bring you great pleasure or delight? That could be an idol.
  
• What makes you angry or frustrated? Is it food related? Is it your appearance?
  
• What can cause anxiety or great stress? Food? Appearance?
  
• How do you define success or failure? How do you weigh your significance or insignificance?
  
• How do you define yourself?

At the root of all of our sin is idolatry. Someone has said, “Idols are cruel masters holding out false promises and making unreasonable demands of your life. They require that you sacrifice for them, and yet they make no sacrifices for you.”

How do you deal with idols in your life? You deal with them this way:

• First of all, you identify them.
  
• Secondly, you confess that they’re idols.
  
• Third, you turn from them. You repent. That’s what repent means—to turn from.
  
• And then, here’s the key thing: You have to replace the idol with God.

It was never intended to be an independent project. Your sanctification is a group project, and you’ve got to be able to do it with sisters who love you and who will help you, and you can fight the battle together.

Grieving June Cleaver

Mary Kassian | November 9, 2010

Actress Barbara Billingsley, best known for portraying the quintessential supermom on the television comedy ”Leave It to Beaver,” died recently at age 94. In her signature role as June Cleaver, Billingsley personified the ideal middle-class mother and housewife in an era when relatively few American women with children worked outside the home.

June Cleaver was presented as a flawless housewife cheerfully running a home: baking cookies, stuffing celery with peanut butter, vacuuming in high heels, preparing meals, greeting her husband with a kiss when he arrived home from work, and tucking in her two adorable sons at night. June was kind, gentle, loving, and ever-patient. She was known for her signature line, “Ward, I’m very worried about the Beaver,” whenever her younger son got into trouble or seemed despondent. June’s life revolved around her family. Though college educated and capable of a career, she was happy and content in her role as a wife and stay-at-home mom. And therein lay the rub.

In the early sixties, a landmark book, “The Feminine Mystique,” burst onto the scene. It claimed that women were NOT happy as housewives—at least they shouldn’t be happy in that role! Those women who were content as wives and moms simply hadn’t had their eyes opened to the extent of their oppression. Men had duped them to believe that a June Cleaver-type of existence was worthwhile and satisfying, when, in fact, such a role was subservient, and demeaning. As this feminist message spread, women in the sixties and seventies began to vilify Billingsley’s June Cleaver ideal.

Fast-forward the tape fifty years. A whole generation has had its consciousness raised to believe the idea that homemaking and caring for family is demeaning to women. The June Cleaver “Leave it to Beaver” ideal for womanhood has been replaced with a Carrie Bradshaw “Sex & the City” one. We’ve denigrated the value of marriage, children, home, self-sacrifice, and morality, and elevated the value of independence, career, self-indulgence, and sexual freedom. And our marriages and families have suffered as a result.

Today’s women have realized the feminist dream of being freed from the June Cleaver feminine mystique. But studies indicate that they are more miserable than ever before.

So what are we to do? Should we start playing “Leave it to Beaver” re-runs and tell women they’d be happy if they followed June Cleaver’s example? Should we encourage them to start wearing high heels and pearls while vacuuming? Should we run advertising campaigns that glorify the value of ironing, or disparage women who can’t bake cookies from scratch?

Some people romanticize the fifties, and believe that women would be happy if they squeezed themselves back into that mold. But woman’s happiness does not come from checking off all the boxes on someone’s “perfect woman” list. According to the Bible, happiness flows out of a right relationship with Jesus Christ. Until the spiritual aspect of a woman’s life is in order, her happiness will remain an elusive goal.

That said, the folks in the fifties did get some things right. They placed a high value on character, marriage, children, and morality. They recognized that God created men and women with differences that, when honored, contribute to the well-being and stability of the home. Though not the ultimate foundation of happiness, every woman knows that when her marriage, children, home and relationships are doing well, she feels a whole lot happier than when they are not.

Barbara Billingsley said in 2000, during an interview for the Archive of American Television. “June was a loving, happy stay-at-home mom, which I think is great.” Asked to compare real-life families to TV families, she responded, “I just wish that we could have more families like those. Family is so important, and I just don’t think we have enough people staying home with their babies and their children.” She maintained that “women who stay at home to care for their children may find in it the best — and most important — job they’ll ever have.”

Whether a woman ought to pursue an education, career, or have a job outside of the home is not at question here. The question in my mind is, “Do we as a society believe that family is so important that we uphold caring for home and children as the best and most important job a woman might ever have?”

Let’s just hope that this quintessential June Cleaver-ish idea hasn’t died along with Barbara Billingsley.

References:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/10/16/obit.barbara.billingsley/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/arts/television/17billingsley.htmler