Becoming a Woman of Influence: The Case for Cookie Bakers
From Christianworldviewnetwork.com Oct. '07
The headline on a news story this week read, “Laura Bush Not 'Baking Cookies.'” The article detailed the First Lady's increasing involvement in national and international issues, and the headline referred to Hillary Clinton's now famously sneering reference to the fact that she wasn't the type to “stay home and bake cookies.” A local women's college in our area has a billboard campaign that shows the face of a woman with the words, “Become a woman of influence.” Apparently, going to college is the path to power and influence for women. For several generations now, the prevailing belief has been that those women who want to be of some consequence in life had better drop the cookie dough, leave the babies behind and head for the work force. This fallacy has done incalculable damage to the family and most specifically, to the young children of our land.
If the observation that the “hand that rocks the cradle rules the world” is correct, the world is being ruled today by an ever changing army of low paid daycare workers. The tender nurture of one's own offspring is now viewed as unsavory work that should be outsourced to strangers as soon as possible. Once, women outsourced their laundry or their house cleaning. Today, we send the children out for daily care. Entire generations have grown up in day time orphanages where the vast majority of their day is spent without their mothers. It is little surprise that America's children are not doing well. In the book, Home Alone America: The Hidden Toll of Daycare, Behavioral Drugs and Other Parent Substitutes, author Mary Eberstadt details the fact that America's children and teenagers are dealing with a tidal wave of issues virtually unknown to early generations, including alarming childhood obesity rates, eating disorders, ADD and ADHD, self-harming, alcohol and drug use, sexual promiscuity as lifestyle, venereal disease and suicide. She points out that if the public debate ever shifted from what is best for mothers to what is best for children, there would be no debate over whether mothers of young children should pursue full-time careers outside the home. What is best for children should be obvious to everyone—the care of their own mothers.
In recent years, educators beginning with preschool teachers have observed a radical change in the seriousness of behavioral issues of the young children they deal with. Children, raised in a pack from their earliest childhood and socialized with their peers rather than loving adults in a home setting, are exhibiting shockingly anti-social behavior. Ironically, the push for greater “socialization” of babies and toddlers with their own peers has produced the reverse affect in children---anti-social behavior. The notion of a child being expelled from daycare or preschool for violent behavior would have seemed absurd at one time. It is now commonplace as little ones who have had to grow up in a “Lord of the Flies”, survival of the fittest setting from earliest babyhood have developed aggressive behavioral traits to protect their own turf. If mother is not there to look out for you, even small children understand early on that they are their own best protection, and biting, kicking and hitting are the frequent result. Deprived of the strong bonding with their mother, these weakly attached children are then labeled as behavioral problems at an early age and tagged for behavioral drugs in order for teachers to be able to handle them down the road in school.
With this reality staring Americans in the face, why do mothers persist in believing the media perpetuated lie that real women of influence aren't home baking cookies, but are out dragon slaying in the business world? Why are women now systematically trained to deny their nurturing instincts as mothers and taught to adopt masculine characteristics of aggression in order to be deemed a “success” in society? As I asked in an earlier column, why are so few couples committed to making financial plans that enable mothers to stay home to care for their babies? I believe with all my heart that God instilled in the hearts of females the desire to nurture and care for others. It is part of what makes womanhood a beautiful thing. The modern feminist movement rejects God's plan and His design in creation and subverts what womanhood is all about. America's babies are the poorer for it.
Motherhood is far more than changing diapers and baking cookies. It is the job of a master weaver. We as mothers daily weave the fabric of our children's lives. For babies and young children, mothers are the sun around which their world revolves. Every diaper change for a baby is a chance for eye contact that builds trust and love between mother and infant. It's not about diapers. It's about a child's world. To those who accept and love God's design for motherhood, it is a precious and sacred thing to look into those beautiful baby eyes. The bond of trust and love that mothers build through daily care is the bedrock foundation for that child's lifetime of emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. For mothers and fathers who are tempted by the siren song of a bigger house, a better car, and more disposable income, walk carefully. Make sure that whatever decisions you make for your family's income, that you at all costs don't interrupt the work of the weaver of your children's lives.
The handwriting on my Mother's Day card was the typical, awkward writing of a ten-year-old boy. The note was decorated with a drawing of a flower comprised of hearts. This is what my son wrote, unedited.
Mom,
Your (sic) the absolute best mother in the whole world! Thank you for all your hard work, patience and love. You are the most important part of the whole universe. You make people! Have a happy Mom's Day!
Love,
William
The bold letter emphasis is mine. Young William knows what all the hard-bitten feminist experts and authors will never admit. Mothers are women of profound influence. They make people. With every batch of cookies, with every story time, with every bath, a human being is being formed. That, my women friends, is true power.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
A Sober Wife
From Our Readers ~ A Sober Wife
by Phyllis Sather, Avon, MN
"That they may teach the young women to be sober..." Titus 2:4
I'm currently doing a book study on marriage with a younger woman, but I'm certainly learning every bit as much as she is. The chapter we are on for this week is about being sober. With my past, my first inclination is to think about alcohol or drugs, but that isn't at all what the author is speaking about.
She uses this definition of sober: To do one's duty, be moderate, self-controlled, thoughtful, and to learn to make wise decisions and judgments.
She goes on to say that a sober wife is one who knows she is no longer free to do as she pleases but must act in the best interests of her husband. Her most basic responsibility is to make her husband's home run smoothly. Here's the line that got to my heart: "It is in your best interest to reward your husband."
There it is again - God's economy - whatever is good for my husband will ultimately be for my good, too. If this is true, then the opposite must also be true - whatever is bad for my husband will ultimately be bad for me, too.
I found myself needing to make a choice this week - would I do good to my husband, and ultimately myself, or would I pout and make him suffer (which is usually my first choice) for what I saw as his thoughtlessness, and ultimately hurt myself?
This is when I find it helpful to look at the big picture. My husband is not characterized by thoughtlessness - oh no, he is exactly the opposite. He is very thoughtful and kind. But my enemy would like to get me to dwell on his one thoughtless act and get me thinking that he is just a thoughtless oaf and deserves whatever punishment I feel like meting out.
That was when I remembered Martin Luther's explanation of the Old Testament commandment in Exodus 20:16 - "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." He wrote that we should "put the best construction on everything."
I expect others to give me the benefit of the doubt, but it's hard for me to do the same for others. Seeing this helps me to turn around much faster. I realize that cutting myself off from my husband emotionally, spiritually, or physically, even for a short period of time, isn't in my best interest and it certainly isn't in his best interest. Hopefully someday I'll avoid needing to turn around at all, since I won't even head down the wrong street so often.
"Oh Father, help me to be the wife You want me to be."
Finding Joy in the Journey, Phyllis
www.Phyllis-Sather.com
by Phyllis Sather, Avon, MN
"That they may teach the young women to be sober..." Titus 2:4
I'm currently doing a book study on marriage with a younger woman, but I'm certainly learning every bit as much as she is. The chapter we are on for this week is about being sober. With my past, my first inclination is to think about alcohol or drugs, but that isn't at all what the author is speaking about.
She uses this definition of sober: To do one's duty, be moderate, self-controlled, thoughtful, and to learn to make wise decisions and judgments.
She goes on to say that a sober wife is one who knows she is no longer free to do as she pleases but must act in the best interests of her husband. Her most basic responsibility is to make her husband's home run smoothly. Here's the line that got to my heart: "It is in your best interest to reward your husband."
There it is again - God's economy - whatever is good for my husband will ultimately be for my good, too. If this is true, then the opposite must also be true - whatever is bad for my husband will ultimately be bad for me, too.
I found myself needing to make a choice this week - would I do good to my husband, and ultimately myself, or would I pout and make him suffer (which is usually my first choice) for what I saw as his thoughtlessness, and ultimately hurt myself?
This is when I find it helpful to look at the big picture. My husband is not characterized by thoughtlessness - oh no, he is exactly the opposite. He is very thoughtful and kind. But my enemy would like to get me to dwell on his one thoughtless act and get me thinking that he is just a thoughtless oaf and deserves whatever punishment I feel like meting out.
That was when I remembered Martin Luther's explanation of the Old Testament commandment in Exodus 20:16 - "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." He wrote that we should "put the best construction on everything."
I expect others to give me the benefit of the doubt, but it's hard for me to do the same for others. Seeing this helps me to turn around much faster. I realize that cutting myself off from my husband emotionally, spiritually, or physically, even for a short period of time, isn't in my best interest and it certainly isn't in his best interest. Hopefully someday I'll avoid needing to turn around at all, since I won't even head down the wrong street so often.
"Oh Father, help me to be the wife You want me to be."
Finding Joy in the Journey, Phyllis
www.Phyllis-Sather.com
Is It Time for a New Reformation ?
Take one look around our world. A need for a new reformation is evident, both for our culture and for the church. We must return to the Bible as our absolute authority.
Whether it’s liberalism, evolutionism, Gnosticism, Mormonism, Islam, New Age, moral issues (e.g., abortion and gay marriage), or the age of the earth, these are all ultimately battles over the same issue.
In 2 Corinthians 11:3, the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, warns us about this ever-present danger: “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
Paul in essence is warning Christians that Satan will continue to use the same method on us as he did on Eve: Satan will try to seduce people away from a simple devotion to Christ and His Word.
To understand this better, we need to go back to Genesis 3:1: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say . . . ?’
From the beginning, the battle was over the authority of the Word of God. The first woman, Eve, followed by her husband, Adam, gave in to the temptation not to take God at His Word. Instead, he relied on his human reason to determine truth.
Because Adam was the head of the human race, his rebellion plunged the entire human race into sin. All his descendants inherited a sin nature that refused to take God at His Word and instead made human reason their supreme authority.
This battle against God’s Word has manifested itself in every era of history.
Paul faced skeptics on every side, who questioned the clear proclamation of God’s Word. In its early centuries, Christianity fought several challenges to the authority of the Scriptures, including Gnosticism, which taught that man was his own god. Modern issues like the age of dinosaurs or carbon dating are merely new manifestations of age-old attacks on God’s Word.
Human reason has replaced God’s Word, and compromise has crept into the church. A reformation is needed again to call the church to take God at His Word.
In the sixteenth century, the sale of indulgences by the church, for forgiveness of sin and release from the pains of Purgatory, marked a climax in the elevation of human thinking above God’s Word. The monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church, challenging indulgences. This act sparked a debate about the ultimate authority of the Bible above the church, and it essentially began the Reformation.
Others joined this reform movement. The Western world was dramatically changed, as Bibles and tracts were printed on the new presses and thus biblical truths were disseminated widely. In fact, until recent decades, much of the West was still heavily influenced by the Reformation and its call to take God at His Word.
The battle against God’s Word never ceased, however, as a series of men and events sought to undo the positive effects of the Reformation. Behind these attacks was an effort to make human reason supreme and steer people away from the authority of the Word of God. It was another manifestation of Genesis 3:1.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the attack against the Bible intensified. New speculation about the age of the earth and the evolution of life raised questions about the accuracy of the Bible. The core issues can be seen in the Scopes trial—said to be the most famous and culture-shaping trial in history (other than the trial of Jesus).
The Scopes trial of 1925 was not really about the teaching of evolution, as is commonly believed, but a deliberate ploy by the American Civil Liberties Union to put Christianity as a whole on trial. Even though the prosecution lawyer William Jennings Bryan was a great Christian statesman, he let the Christian faith down by not standing on God’s Word concerning the book of Genesis. For example, he was unable to give an answer about Cain’s wife, and he allowed the possibility that the earth is millions of years old.
The trial marked a symbolic turning point in Christendom and American society. The world’s media reported that Christians were not taking God at His Word (in Genesis), and also that they could not adequately defend it.
The failure of the church to stand on God’s Word has brought devastation to countless lives. Just one example is the once-prominent evangelist Charles Templeton. While in seminary, he was taught to believe in an evolutionary timetable, including millions of years, which eventually led him to reject God’s Word.
Compromise about biblical authority in Genesis 1–11 has made the church so weak that the Bible no longer impacts the culture as it once did. This has largely occurred because human reason was allowed to invade the church and push aside God’s Word.
A new reformation is needed. It’s time for a new generation of reformers to stand up and call the church back to trust in God’s Word where it is most under attack—the history of Genesis 1–11. Biblical creation ministries, such as the Creation Museum, have already issued the call to turn away from the opinions of fallible mankind and stand firmly on the entire Bible.
It’s time that believers made their voices heard, nailing Genesis 1–11 on church doors and secular buildings across the world! We need to take God at His Word and return to the “simplicity that is in Christ.” Then we can watch the power of God’s Word transform lives and influence the culture.
Ken Ham is the founder and president of Answers in Genesis-USA. He has authored or co-authored many books concerning the authority and accuracy of God’s Word and the effects of evolutionary thinking, including Genesis of a Legacy and The Lie: Evolution.
Whether it’s liberalism, evolutionism, Gnosticism, Mormonism, Islam, New Age, moral issues (e.g., abortion and gay marriage), or the age of the earth, these are all ultimately battles over the same issue.
In 2 Corinthians 11:3, the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, warns us about this ever-present danger: “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
Paul in essence is warning Christians that Satan will continue to use the same method on us as he did on Eve: Satan will try to seduce people away from a simple devotion to Christ and His Word.
To understand this better, we need to go back to Genesis 3:1: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say . . . ?’
From the beginning, the battle was over the authority of the Word of God. The first woman, Eve, followed by her husband, Adam, gave in to the temptation not to take God at His Word. Instead, he relied on his human reason to determine truth.
Because Adam was the head of the human race, his rebellion plunged the entire human race into sin. All his descendants inherited a sin nature that refused to take God at His Word and instead made human reason their supreme authority.
This battle against God’s Word has manifested itself in every era of history.
Paul faced skeptics on every side, who questioned the clear proclamation of God’s Word. In its early centuries, Christianity fought several challenges to the authority of the Scriptures, including Gnosticism, which taught that man was his own god. Modern issues like the age of dinosaurs or carbon dating are merely new manifestations of age-old attacks on God’s Word.
Human reason has replaced God’s Word, and compromise has crept into the church. A reformation is needed again to call the church to take God at His Word.
In the sixteenth century, the sale of indulgences by the church, for forgiveness of sin and release from the pains of Purgatory, marked a climax in the elevation of human thinking above God’s Word. The monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church, challenging indulgences. This act sparked a debate about the ultimate authority of the Bible above the church, and it essentially began the Reformation.
Others joined this reform movement. The Western world was dramatically changed, as Bibles and tracts were printed on the new presses and thus biblical truths were disseminated widely. In fact, until recent decades, much of the West was still heavily influenced by the Reformation and its call to take God at His Word.
The battle against God’s Word never ceased, however, as a series of men and events sought to undo the positive effects of the Reformation. Behind these attacks was an effort to make human reason supreme and steer people away from the authority of the Word of God. It was another manifestation of Genesis 3:1.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the attack against the Bible intensified. New speculation about the age of the earth and the evolution of life raised questions about the accuracy of the Bible. The core issues can be seen in the Scopes trial—said to be the most famous and culture-shaping trial in history (other than the trial of Jesus).
The Scopes trial of 1925 was not really about the teaching of evolution, as is commonly believed, but a deliberate ploy by the American Civil Liberties Union to put Christianity as a whole on trial. Even though the prosecution lawyer William Jennings Bryan was a great Christian statesman, he let the Christian faith down by not standing on God’s Word concerning the book of Genesis. For example, he was unable to give an answer about Cain’s wife, and he allowed the possibility that the earth is millions of years old.
The trial marked a symbolic turning point in Christendom and American society. The world’s media reported that Christians were not taking God at His Word (in Genesis), and also that they could not adequately defend it.
The failure of the church to stand on God’s Word has brought devastation to countless lives. Just one example is the once-prominent evangelist Charles Templeton. While in seminary, he was taught to believe in an evolutionary timetable, including millions of years, which eventually led him to reject God’s Word.
Compromise about biblical authority in Genesis 1–11 has made the church so weak that the Bible no longer impacts the culture as it once did. This has largely occurred because human reason was allowed to invade the church and push aside God’s Word.
A new reformation is needed. It’s time for a new generation of reformers to stand up and call the church back to trust in God’s Word where it is most under attack—the history of Genesis 1–11. Biblical creation ministries, such as the Creation Museum, have already issued the call to turn away from the opinions of fallible mankind and stand firmly on the entire Bible.
It’s time that believers made their voices heard, nailing Genesis 1–11 on church doors and secular buildings across the world! We need to take God at His Word and return to the “simplicity that is in Christ.” Then we can watch the power of God’s Word transform lives and influence the culture.
Ken Ham is the founder and president of Answers in Genesis-USA. He has authored or co-authored many books concerning the authority and accuracy of God’s Word and the effects of evolutionary thinking, including Genesis of a Legacy and The Lie: Evolution.
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