A Modern, Old-Fashioned Woman

The other day I discovered myself doing something that seemed both progressive and old-fashioned at the same time. It caused me to take a step back and look at who I had become since all those imaginations in high school and college. I was sitting in the recliner nursing Elisha with Thomas sitting in the chair next to me. I was showing him how to break beans for dinner. Lilianna was napping on the couch and all was well with the world.


It struck me that all those years ago (14 since graduation) I had seen myself in an entirely different manner. I was going to be an obstetrician. I had a passion for babies and birth. I still have that passion just channeled differently. God knew His plan for me. Thankfully, I didn't muck it up. Shortly that future faded from memory only to be replaced by imaginations of self-employment in public relations and business admin. Those imaginations, too, flitted out of my mind when I met Thad.


I was brought back to my first heart's desire: being a wife and mother. Not on the order of modern wives who spend their days finding convenience at any cost, spending too much money, pawning their children off on strangers, and treating their husbands like unruly pets. I wanted to be a wife of the Bible, a wife on the order of my mother and grandmother. A woman who thinks that children should be included in all we do, not shut away and amused with electronics.

I find myself doing those small things that my mother and grandmother did. I set Lily on the counter while I cook, talking with her, answering her questions, explaining what I'm doing. If I'm going to tackle a project I find a way for them to be involved not a way for them to not be underfoot. I can't recall a time when Mom or Granny told a child they couldn't help. I can't recall a time when either treated her husband with malice or contempt. (Sass, maybe, but only in jest.)

I want so much to be that woman who reflects the simple things in life. I also want to be a woman that takes advantage of technology to the fullest. I home school my children but I get so many of my materials from the Internet. I try to stay connected with family but I do it electronically.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that all those things that Mom and Granny did that I once thought foolish, all those things they tried to teach me but I ignored, all those things that I said I would never be, well, those are the valuable things in life. I wish I had listened. So now I spend my time watching carefully the things my mom does and the way she acts with my children, constantly taking mental notes. All in the hopes that I can continue to become a modern, old-fashioned woman.