The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.
High school graduation is looming; the vast unexplored years that lie ahead linger ominous. The pressure unexpressed is oppressive. All that she has known is about to come to an end; adult concerns and cares surface. Next comes the barrage of questions countless, the excited inability to think. Should she stay home and attend classes from the junior college? How about ministering to her community and church family? Why not pursue personal interests and skills? Or, college is always an option. “Why? What’s the point—you’re just going to be a mom, right? Which college? What major? How will that help you?” Sensibility has fled and the future stares back blankly. Right now the years seem endless, unstoppable. What is a girl to do?
These unique single years only come once in a lifetime. There is no family to cook for and clean up after, there are no lunches to make and dirty diapers to change, there are relatively no worries and the financial problems are someone else’s. What most girls are missing is a drive, a purpose for what to after the high school requirements have been met. Focusing on something, be it a rigorous academic education or pursuing specialized interests, a young woman need a vision of where she is headed and what her end goal is. It is not enough to dream of being a mom and someday becoming the ideal woman. It starts now. Taking an active interest in personal improvement is essential. Until there is an objective, no progress can be made in any direction—all roads will eventually lead somewhere, the key is to have a road map aligning the twists and turns to get to the intended destination. No matter what a girl does, it is important to realize that the decision is not strictly a personal choice, but rather a culture-fashioning commitment that will affect the generations to come.
Potential bursts in at every corner, a wealth of intentionality screaming. God has called every woman to have not a single vocation but rather to strive to be well versed in many areas, no matter how menial or extraordinary the tasks may seem. Avocational, the woman’s role in the home has long since been forgotten as an esteemed job—it is a full-time occupation. Knowing how to run a household, train and nurture children, minister and live in community, and be a competent helpmeet to her husband, all the while leading a God-centered life requires a dedicated woman, one who has deliberatively set out to counter and exceed the substandard expectations of the American worldview. However, without a solid heuristic foundation this is extremely hard to achieve. Anyone can attend classes that are comfortable and not challenging, but it is in finding a passion for learning and a reason to devote concentrated energy to gain knowledge and persevere through difficult situations that the mind is improved.
The time between high school and marriage can be spent learning all kinds of skills and devoted to pursuing a higher level of education. There is freedom to sit down and read a book for hours on end or study latin conjugations late into the night or write and re-write “brain-barf,” crafting words and phrases to most accurately convey particular ideas. Life presents challenges and they must be faced with stern reality, not enjoyed, sugar coated. As William Sprague commented about the role of education in a woman’s life,
While you profess to be a student, regard study as your main business; and make your amusement subordinate, and, so far as possible, subservient to it. Recollect that the period allotted to your education is comparatively short; and that every wasted hour of this golden season will tell fearfully on your future destiny.
Independence comes with this new phase of life and it is empowering, but at the same time the burden of such liberty is overwhelming. The world is her oyster; the stars are at her fingertips. Who is it that has the most profound impact on children? Who is the one who gives everything she can to further her children's lives? Who would rather die than see her children hurt and in pain? Her name is Mama. She should be capable and proficient, able to think well and accomplish any task given. Called to be widely learned and vastly educated, women ought to take the advantage of the single years given to them and use them to the fullest.
Why is female education so important? Since women are the culture shapers of the world—they are the ones teaching school, bandaging cuts and bruises, comforting heart, and inspiring minds—it is essential that they have a solid foundation and a generally cultivated intellect. Even if they never get a job or make a first-hand difference in the public workplace, the impact made by simply being a wife and mother is tremendous. After all, education is not for the purpose of leveling the playing field between the sexes. Men are the unfortunate creatures called to dedicate years of their lives solely to making money and providing for their families. Women on the other hand, have been blessed with the freedom to invest time and talents into their work, making it beautiful and enjoyable all the while.
This said, a certain deliberative attitude toward continual mind improvement is necessary, otherwise it would be easy to slip into an apathetic state of learning. Not only are women called to be educated, but also to consider how their actions affect those of fellow brothers, sisters, and most especially, children.
In an age that is so proud of the experimental history of science, the most epoch-making scientific feats have been performed in a space no larger that a parlor or a nursery. It does not seem to me in the least odd that so mysterious and momentous a business should have been surrounded by virtues of vigilance and loyalty.
Young women should continue their post-high school education in order to prepare themselves to raise the next generation, intentionally building on the foundation that they have already laid and working determinedly toward a goal, conscious of their influence on everyone around them. They have a very powerful position ahead of them. In modernity, and, I submit, in many ages past, women and their role at home as dictators is severely under-valued. Our culture says that if women are not out in the work force they are being suppressed and not able to realize their full potential. This, however, is a far cry from the truth. A woman is liberated in staying at home, not so she can be confined and restricted to only learning things from home, but so that she is able to pursue a countless number of hobbies, not hone in on one particular subject, perfecting all the minuscule details associated with it. This developing of secondary interests and talents creates a copious woman—a polymath of the domestic arts as well as a broad-minded individual.
Having this kind of education enables her to engage the people around her and instruct her kids to be fearfully equipped and empowered to wreak some damage on the culture for the kingdom of God. This results in culture-making mothers—the inherent, Biblical calling of all women. In order for a girl to use her time to the fullest, life in these post-high school years must be attacked with an intentional purpose and a forward-thinking, somewhat ambitious vision. All of which springs from a heart in line with God’s Word and a willingness to apply strenuous efforts and countless hours of brain power. As G.K. Chesterton so aptly said, a woman does not come into her own full potential until she has found rest and satisfaction in the realization of true femininity,
A bird who never makes a nest is not a complete bird; a woman who does not regard the home as more native even than the native land is not a complete woman.
