The Christian Woman in the Christian Home...

Who Indeed?
By:Wilda Fancher


Who am I to write a book on the Christian woman in the Christian Home? I, who, on occasion, and in turn-rarely all on the same day, fortunately-pout with my husband, yell at my children, neglect our parents, let down a friend, burn the toast, spend too much on a new dress, skip church at night, turn green when I visit friends in new houses, feel I'm to busy to get involved with sad-type folks. These, among other un-Christian like things, I do. Same as you do.
But I'm not satisfied with myself as a Christian. Just like you're not satisfied with yourself.
That's why I am one to write this book-and why you're the one to read it. We're two who yearn for our families to look at us, but to see Christ. You could write the book as easily as I, but I'm the lucky {at this point, I'm not sure of my choice of a word here} one who got the contract.
So I'll write, you'll read, and each of us will be on our way toward being a better one-a Christian woman in our Christian home.


Beginning

The first thing to do is to scratch perfection. Yours, Your husband's. Your child's.
I am a Christian woman who must relate to her world and its problems. Like you, I have had many dreams. Some have come true, while others have not. It's adjusting to both kinds of dreams-the did-come-true ones and the didn't-come-true ones-that makes for happiness.
Recently I took the advice of some wise sage who said that the thing to do when you get to the end of your rope is to tie a knot in it and hang on. There I hung.
Screaming is not the answer. Nor is nagging. Nor is sweet talking or begging.
Every man has a hobby or something he really enjoys doing. You either learn to enjoy his hobby with him or do not fuss when he goes without you.
I must add, "Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." {Matthew 5:48}
And how shall this be? It shall be at the expense of much happy energy. What is so sad about doing whatever you're doing real well? A sense of accomplishment after a job well-done makes for a much better night's sleep than furtive unease about shoddy or neglected work.
Will perfection ever be? No. Then why try? Because it is in the trying that we aim high and find we need help. A sense of companionship with and encouragement from God is the most valuable aid to achievement a Christian has.
It is the will of God that the Christian woman seeks-for herself as she helps her husband do the will of God for him, the will of God for the house that is their home, for the children as she helps them know God so they will recognize His voice when He speaks to them and reveals His will for them.
"Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
Sounds so simple, doesn't it?
How terribly complex we make it.

Her God

Most any time I get a tomato out of the refrigerator I look it over carefully to see if it is good. If it is good, I use it.
That's what a Christian woman should do to her concept of God. Get it out, look it over carefully, and see if it is good. If it is, keep on using it. If it isn't, get a new concept.
Point One:God is the Creator. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Nothing I have read anywhere but the Bible or heard from any other source that has given me a better explanation than that.
Point Two:After everything was created and God saw that it was all good, how did everything get so messed up? Because Adam and Eve had been created with minds of their own and the ability to make their own choices. That's what caused it all to go sour. Eve made a bad choice and Adam followed after her.
Point Three:I'm sure God hoped Adam and Eve and any others who were created along with them would not make the bad choice, but he must have felt he had to give them the choice, for fellowship with nonthinking beings would be quite shallow.
Knowing the possibility of man's estranging himself from God, God planned for the means of removing estrangement and for restoring fellowship-the sacrifice of Jesus.
Point Four:After Jesus completed the plan for my redemption, the Holy Spirit was let loose to hover around Christians, to lead them, to comfort them, and to love them for God, as much as each Christian will allow.
There is a real sense of joy in recognizing the hand of God, His Holy Spirit, at work in my life. It makes praying a richer experience because I express more gratitude, and you know how your love grows toward someone when you're grateful.
Point five:I belong to God. My reason for existing is to seek His will and to do it.
For I am just like Eve-I make the bad choice, all to often. Still, God loves me, I am forgiven through my faith in Jesus Christ, and I keep trying to be in the center of God's will.
Point six:One of these days I will die. Everyone knows he will die sooner or later. Lots of folks come to a time when they are made to realize death may be sooner rather than later.
But one of these days I will die-I will go through an experience translating me from earth to heaven and into the eternal physical presence of God. An experience which accomplishes that can't be all bad.
Such is my concept of God. It makes me able to have a real gratitude for the past from which to learn and on which to build, to feel a sense of thrill and accomplishment in the present, and to hold a deeply calming hope for the future.