For most females, it starts very early. This God-created desire is seen in our imaginary games, heard in the sweet little lullabies we sing, and even revealed by the toys we choose when we are just wee little girls.
We play house,
we sing rock-a-bye-baby
and we love our baby dolls.
The thumbprint of God can be seen in the way women were designed to nurture. This hard wiring is revealed in how we interact with puppies, baby birds, kittens, and even little brothers and sisters. The root word of nurture is to nourish. The role of nourishing our children with loving, godly care leaves an impact on our children’s lives and on the lives of the generations to come.
You remember the adage, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” Yet, in recent years it has become out of vogue to hone homemaking and mothering skills and in style to become accomplished in areas that take a woman outside her home.
How do we prepare for this role of nurturer? Just as a great musician, artist or mathematician spends enormous time and effort developing their skills, so does a woman who desires to be a keeper of her home and a mother to her children. It is hard but rewarding work. There are so many opportunities to develop these skills during the years of transition from girlhood to womanhood. Author Margaret Elizabeth Sangster stated it this way. “There is much room for tillage in the home vineyard.” And that is why, this week, as you and your daughter are working through The Companion Guide to Beautiful Girlhood, look for everyday ways she can prepare herself for the great responsibilities that are in her future.
Praising God for the responsibility of children, grandchildren, husband, and home,
Bible Memory
Titus 2:3-5
“Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children,
5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”
Activities
Read Titus 2:3-5. Make a list of 5 things you want to work on. Then make a list of 5 things you would like to teach your daughter. Ask the Lord to give you creative ways to learn and to teach your daughter these skills!