Moms of girls: college bound or keeper of home? (Christian related)

[AvasMom]

***Ummm....oops! I meant to post this on the general board LOL! Is there any way that someone can move it? I'm sorry!! ***

 

 

My mom and her friend sort of have an unspoken disagreement on this topic. They are both Christians and they both homeschool daughters...my little sister is 14 and my mom's friends daughter is 11. As Christians, should we prepare our daughters to be keepers of the home? Or college bound? I just thought it would be interesting to gather some perspective from you guys. My daughters are only one and four....so I dont have to worry about this quite as much until they get a bit older.

 

My mom's friend says that her daughter will go to college, no questions asked, and she will not "allow" her to refuse to go to college. Not sure how that will work when her kid becomes an adult, but that's what she says.

 

My mom believes that the Bible instructs women to be keepers of the home and wants to train my sister more in those matters. Not that she does not want her to go to college, but she wants her to have the option and not feel like she is being pushed either way. My sister wants to get married as soon as she can and have some kids. So my mom is including child development and family living into her schooling this year.

 

What do you guys think? The Bible does instruct women to be keepers of the home. Here's what I think.....if you graduate high school and have no prospective husband, you should probably go on to college. I mean, what else are you going to do? If you decide to get married shortly out of school, you can go to college or work up until you decide to have kids. Once having kids, I think that if at all possible, a woman should become a keeper of the home. I know there are circumstances that do not allow this....but I believe that the Bible does intend for women to take care of their homes and families while the man earns the money for the family.

 

What do you guys think about it? Guide our daughters towards college....or towards being a keeper of the home?

 

I'm guiding my daughter toward college even though I am very sure she will be a SAHM when she has her own children. She is very gifted with small children and wants to be a preschool teacher. I think college is good for kids to begin with but her degree will also help her with teaching her own children so it's doubly beneficial.

[AvasMom]

Argh!!! I hate resurrected old threads! I never bother to look at the dates until I'm about 4 pages in. Ugh.

[butterflymommy]

I think I actually answered this thread the last time it was resurrected. I used to be of the "keeper of the home" mentality but after much consideration I realized I was doing my girls a disservice. I now am educating them as aggressively as possible with the goal of career in mind. My reasoning is that it's easier to drop out of the career path and become a SAHM than the reverse. At least this way they will have options. And an educated mother, if they do become SAHMs, is a good thing! I hate resurrected threads too but this is a topic near and dear to me.

[Joanne]

{read only the OP}

 

Although I am not a believer (anymore), I remember the last 5+ years of being Christian allowed me to study Proverbs 31, among other things. She was educated, had power, owned businesses, and had servants. She *managed* the home while also making income and being involved in the community.

 

I think it is a severe disservice to raise girls to exclusively be "keepers of the home."

 

Ooops. Sorry about the zombie feeding. I'll let my post stay, though.

[Tracy in Ky]

Since I don't know what God has planned for my daughter, I want her to go to college so that she will be prepared to take care of herself in case God does not have marriage planned for her :) She fully intends to stay home and take care of her children if she gets married.

[twinmami01]

Both. :) I am a SAHM of 4 dds and I have a college degree. I met dh in college and had dd#1 in between my junior and senior years. I see no reason why girls who intend to be SAHMs shouldn't also pursue academic studies, especially since those further studies provide valuable education and life lessons.

 

Also, should my husband ever fall ill or die or something, I like knowing that my income earning power is significantly greater given my college degree. It gives me a sense of security.

 

I plan on raising my dds the way I was raised--to become well-rounded, well-educated women who will be a wonderful asset to any future husband and children. :)

 

 

I agree. I think it's important to have a back up plan. I pursued my degree and while I choose to stay home, I know that I have that in the event I do have to pursue employment outside the home.

[Mommyof4ks]

I wanted my daughters to be prepared, as much as possible, for whatever God has in store for them. To me, this meant a firm spiritual training, a good grasp of the practicalities of life and an excellent education. I want my daughters prepared for a satisfying life even if God does not call them to marriage. I want them prepared as much as possible to earn a good living if something happens to their husband if they do marry. I want them prepared to be good helpmeets to their husbands, and I want them prepared to give my grandchildren an excellent education!

 

This is exactly what I want for my daughter. I was engaged just out of high school, and I knew my dh would be able to provide for us financially (he is really smart :D), but I also knew that if something happened to him or for whatever reason he was no longer able to work (the average age of disability is 35, so that is a lot of year left before retirement), then I needed more than a minimum wage job to care for our family, so I went to college. We agreed that I would stay home with our children, and then we learned about homeschooling and decided to add that to my list, but I also understand that things happen and my dream of this life may come crashing down at some point.

 

My dd will be able to run a home by the time she is an adult, but I still think college is important. I have many friends who met their husbands in college. ;)

[Rjmakmom]

I went to 1 year of college, then got married at 19 and had my first child. I was a sahm and the keeper of the home. Unfortunately, I wasn't wise in my choice of husband and 8 years and 3 kids later, he left. Then I became a single, working mom. I thank God that I had spent a year going to a trade school to be a medical assistant. I was able to make (just) enough to support myself and my 3 kids. Times were really hard and money scarce. If I had a college degree, it would have been a lot easier to find a job that paid enough to cover all the expenses. I have since remarried and am a sahm again but I promise you that I will encourage all 3 of my daughters to persue a college degree. It is vital that they can support themselves and any children since life rarely works out the way you plan it to.

[ereks mom]

Both. :) I am a SAHM of 4 dds and I have a college degree. I met dh in college and had dd#1 in between my junior and senior years. I see no reason why girls who intend to be SAHMs shouldn't also pursue academic studies, especially since those further studies provide valuable education and life lessons.

 

Also, should my husband ever fall ill or die or something, I like knowing that my income earning power is significantly greater given my college degree. It gives me a sense of security.

 

I plan on raising my dds the way I was raised--to become well-rounded, well-educated women who will be a wonderful asset to any future husband and children. :)

 

:iagree:

[Retired]

I suppose the issue is that women are commanded by God trained to be to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled (Titus 2). So I would assume, as a Christian, these women's study should be focused on that above anything a college would teach them.

 

As far as college being good for teaching "life lessons". It's a bit too late, the Bible says it sufficient for that, 2 timothy 3:16-17.

 

The "career plan" of a Christian women should be all that is listed in Titus 2. However, I doubt most colleges are set up for that.

 

I guess the question would be what the women want to do with their college education? If it is getting a job outside of the home, then the Bible already doesn't list that as an option, rather the opposite.

 

I'm sure a women can gain practical vocational skills that could possibly allow her to provide an income from home, however, you don't need a college degree for that.

 

The Bible's pretty clear on the role of women.

 

this is a first post for this person number 140 of this thread

 

post quoted above is responsible for resurrecting an old thread this sounds very troll like IMO