How do you raise a girl in a society that scorns the natural role of women?

Teachers will tell your young daughters that they can grow up to be anything they want to be, provided that they are willing to work hard. The list of examples they give will run the gamut from teachers and doctors to astronauts (Well, they could have been astronauts prior to the dissolution of NASA...) and even the President of the United States. The two things that will be noticeably absent from that list are "wife" and "mother." 


The two occupations that only a woman can fill will not be suggested to your daughters as worthwhile pursuits. In fact, your daughters will be taught that aspiring to be a wife and mother is the career equivalent to trying out for the Varsity Basketball team in the hopes that you might one day be good enough to sit on the bench and keep score.


Not only will your daughters be taught that being "just" a wife and mother is hardly a worthy goal, the problem is compounded by the fact that home economics classes are being removed from many public schools. The reasoning behind this brilliant move is that girls "need more challenging academics courses in order to prepare them for competition in the workplace." What is so fantastic about that is the fact that so many women are already out there competing in the workplace that no one is left at home to teach them how to sew on a button, balance a checkbook, or feed a family of four with a pound of hamburger.


The Bible reminds us in Titus Chapter 2 that we are responsible for teaching our daughters the role of a Christian wife and mother."3Older women likewise are to exhibit behavior fitting for those who are holy, not slandering, not slaves to excessive drinking, but teaching what is good. 4In this way they will train the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5to be self-controlled, pure, fulfilling their duties at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the message of God may not be discredited."  


So even though we face an uphill battle as we fight the good fight at home, we come armed. Remind your daughters that taking care of a home, especially one filled with children, is hardly less taxing than eight hours in a cubicle. And the rewards can be far greater. Just last week, after my husband went to work, my nearly three-year-old daughter climbed into bed with me. She pressed her cold feet against my stomach, cupped my face in her chubby fingers, and said, "Mommy, I wuv you much."


Remind your daughters that Godly wives are precious commodities. Proverbs 31:10 states: Who can find a wife of noble character? For her value is far more than rubies.


And lastly, remind your daughters that their value comes from who they are in Christ, not from anything they do or from any corporate ladder they should endeavor to climb.