Life After High School

When I graduated in the spring of ’07 most people knew of my desire to be a wife and mother at such a time as the Lord should choose to bring me a husband. The biggest questions I was asked was, “What was I going to do between now and then?” Hmmm. Good question. Most of my peers (actually, all of the ones I know) headed off to college, for various reasons. All of my female peers went to college and most went for what my father calls the ‘MRS’ degree (i.e. to find a husband). The majority of women are headed off to college to have a good time, often find a husband, and/or get a bunch of letters attached to their names (such as BS, PhD, AAS, etc.) . Many young women head to college because they don’t know what to do with their lives and since everybody else is going, they might as well go too. Now, lest you think me overly judgmental, there are some who go for education, but, we’ll address that in a little bit.
Now as we dive into this I’ll give you one of my father’s favourite Doug Phillips quotes, “Does a fish know it’s wet?” Well, not necessarily. A fish can certainly tell when it’s dry because it cannot breathe anymore, but other than that, wetness is all it has ever known and the only way they know they’re wet is when they’re dry. I know what you’re thinking, “Okay, great, thanks, that helps a lot” :) It truly does and let me show you how:
We live in a corrupt, pagan culture which hates God and rebels against Him in all that they do; dress, music style, forms of education, disregard for the blessings of children, divorce, murder, adultery, dishonouring parents, homosexuality, etc. Unfortunately we also see the church mimicking this rebellion in similar ways (dress, music standards, forms of educations, disregard for the blessing of children, etc) although, we do it in a more ‘holy’ manner, a nice ‘Christian step’ above the world. Now, to bring this full circle, how do we treat our single years after we’ve graduated? Do we follow the trend, spend around four years at college and go get a job in some corporate business? As part of my answer let me share a bit of my testimony.

My desire from the time I was young until now has pretty much always been to impact the world for Christ; the only difference is how I used to desire to execute that plan and how I now desire to do so. At one time, I was going to be president of the United States and I was going to turn us around. I was sick of the sin and wickedness and by golly I was going to change all of that! That was when I was eight. Around the time I was ten I wanted to be a missionary in China and die as a martyr (which, if it be God’s will, is an honourable call). Around the time I was fourteen I was going to attend Patrick Henry College and become a lawyer to use my argumentations to turn the legal system around and get us back on track, or at least give it my best shot. Again, noble ideas, but not the preferred method of execution. Around the time I turned fifteen God used my father to change my direction 180 degrees. As my parents were searching the word and seeking God’s direction on my future the Lord led my father to 1 Cor. 7:32&34, “. . . He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord-how he may please the Lord. There is a difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world-how she may please her husband.” As my father sought to translate that into daily living what he realized was that the unmarried years are set aside as time to ‘care for the things of the Lord-how I may please the Lord.’ Also, through both his searching and the work God was doing in my own heart we became conscious of a biblical principle that our culture has lost- a daughter remaining under her father’s authority and protection until God brings her a husband and that authority is transferred. This brought about some changes, to say the least because you have to understand the above principles in light of the role of woman as designed by God.

In order to understand the role a woman has and how that applies in each season in her life we must look back at the original creation account. In the beginning God created the universe and all therein and then created man to be His representative (image) and care for this wondrous creation. Adam immediately set to work naming the animals and found in the process of exercising dominion that there was not a helper suitable to him. God in His wisdom also knew this and knew that is ‘is not good for man to be alone’. So He created woman to work by Adam’s side and be his fellow dominion taker, his helper, complimentary to him and his needs. So, the question is, based on the origins of our first mother’s creation, based on the role we are designed for, and in light of 1 Corinthians 7:32-34, what are we to do during the unmarried years?

. . . You’ll find out in a week! :)

Been Awhile. . .

Hello Everyone,
Sorry it's been so long. I've started work on another post, but our family is in the midst of a difficult trial right now so it's going to be a bit :}
However, as a heads up, I am going to take the next couple posts to talk about being daughters in our fathers' homes. I am going to address the service oppurtunities and the importance of preparing for the future role of wife and mother. It should be lots of fun!
Well, until next time.