It has taken much thought to come up with a part 2!! I considered saying "Part 2 coming in a few years when I am married!" I felt like I had said all I could say.....
Most rn (romance novels) end up with a marriage or a clear idea that the couple are going to get married. The kind of rn I read are historical. I have probably only read one or two modern day romances. What I find interesting is how in the historical romance the ladies are preparing to be married. They are serving their families. Learning to be wives and mothers one day, not just sitting around waiting for it to happen and going into marriage knowing nothing.
During these teen years we need to be learning all we can to prepare for being wives and mothers.
Learning to cook healthy, delicious meals.
Learning how to manage the household chores:
laundry, dishes, everyday cleaning.
Learning how to can and preserve food.
Learning how to be frugal in spending our dad's (and mom's :) money.
Learning how to take care of little children.
All of these are things we need to know to manage a household smoothly.
We need to be practicing serving our brothers and dad now so that when we get married we will have a good understanding of how to serve our husband.
Titus 2 verse 3-5 :
.........and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
I think this verse sums up what we should be trying to accomplish.
1. self controlled~ restraint exercised over one's own impulses, emotions, or desires
2.pure~ unmixed with any other matter (2): free from dust, dirt, or taint
3.working at home (homemaker)~one who manages a household especially as a wife and mother
4.kind~of a sympathetic or helpful nature
5.submissive~to yield to governance or authority
All of these are traits that can be practiced out right now.
I am reading a book, Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of a Goldy Wife and Mother by
Carolyn
MahaneyIn this book Mrs. Mahaney goes in-depth to explain each of the virtues listed in Titus 2 3-5.
So as we are reading these wonderfully romantic books, lets enjoy them but also use them as a tool for learning how to prepare for marriage. Look at what the girls are doing in the books.
How are they helping their families? What are traits you admire? What are their faults?
~ Homemaking-being a full-time wife and mother-is not a destructive drought of uselessness but an overflowing oasis of opportunity; it is not a dreary cell to contain one's talents and skills but a brilliant catalyst to channel creativity and energies into meaningful work.~
Dorothy Patterson
