Women and Careers

Sunday night, some of my mom's family came to our concert and we had the pleasure of eating dinner with them afterwards. These are like those relatives that you hardly ever see and your parents have to explain how you are related to them because after half a dozen years, you've forgotten. Hopefully, I will be able to recognize Uncle Mike next time instead of walking right past him like he's just another one of those strange old men. In my defense, he did look kinda creepy.

At some point, Mom told me a little about Aunt Susan and her job. I didn't even know I had more than one Aunt Susan, but, hey, that makes it easier for me. If I can't remember an aunt, there's a good chance that if I call her Susan, I'll have it right. Anyway. Getting back on track... 

I have never liked the idea of a man and a woman with their own separate jobs, coming together in a marriage, continuing their careers, having one or two kids, and then sending those children off to school and daycare to have someone else care for and teach them. This is the "American dream". And it is wrong. I am not aiming to offend anyone by that, but if it did offend you, perhaps you need to look into the Bible and understand why this lifestyle is wrong. God, from the very beginning, intended for the man to work and be the provider for the family and head of the home. He created the woman to be a help meet for the man and a mother to their children.

The question I get most these days is, "Where are you going to college?" I hate that. For one thing, it assumes that I have to go to college. Why? So I can get a career and prove that women can do anything men can do? What happened to women being women? So the answer to the question is, "No". And this is what I get. "So what are you doing?" Excuse me? Do you have any idea how much work goes into preparing for marriage and motherhood? I guarantee you what I am doing is far more important and God-honoring than what most of the women in our culture are doing.

Before you get the wrong impression here, I am not saying that any woman who has a job is sinning. Sometimes, it is necessary for a woman to work. Sometimes, bad things happen and her family needs the extra income. And, sometimes, she has a love for something and can do it without neglecting her family. I actually used to entertain the idea of being a sign language interpreter at a hospital. I thought this would be a great thing to do in that tiny window between the wedding and the first child. The only reason I am not pursuing this is God has not opened those doors and led me that direction.

Back to Aunt Susan. Aunt Susan has a job as a teacher. This is something that she loves to do and that is perfectly alright. But Aunt Susan is also a mother and as long as she had small children in her home, she was right there with them. Her family is important to her and she made sure she was there to bring her children up properly and teach them to love the Lord. Now, her children are grown and most of them are married. Now, she has her job. She did things right.

Is it wrong for a woman to work outside of the home? Absolutely not. But if her job gets in the way of her primary purpose, she needs to do an about-face. Her husband and children should always be her priority- no exceptions. It is wrong for her to allow anything to take precedence over her family.

So, what are your priorities?