These are all things I have aspired to from the time I was in my teens. And being a wife and mother, a keeper of the home, teaching children, etc were very fulfilling. I never had any pull to do anything different because those are the most important roles in society. Children without a mother at home are severely lacking in nurture, security, emotional well-being, etc. And that translates into insecure and unstable adults.
My children were taught to respect the home and belongings, as those were things their father (my husband) worked very hard for. We did our best to have things picked up and meals at regular times, etc ....clean clothes folded and put away, etc.
And yet, my experience has been that women are property, to be subservient, not alongside ....to be silent (not just in church), to be alone in protecting the children, to expect that if a man wants to throw his clothes on the bedroom or bathroom floor, that was fine, that because she is female, she must answer to every man and be submissive to every man.
So when I see the imbalance ...when I see men who take joy in lording over women, and bashing them, rather than encouraging them ...it sickens me. I know there are a few men out there who aren't like that. But I do mean .....FEW. It's very rare to find a man who truly loves and values his wife, and would protect her with his life.
Women are not less than, nor are they below a man. A wife is not less than her husband. She was given as a helpmeet because God saw that it wasn't good for man to be alone. She was taken from his rib. She stands alongside him ....not below him. She was taken from his rib, where he can protect her, shield her, value her. And she is confident in his love ...and her desire is to help, to support, to honor, to meet his needs ...but not to be used and taken for granted.
