It was a teachable moment several years ago with my little future homemakers. What words of wisdom did I say to their little hearts as we worked side by side? You might find my council to them a bit strange. “Ladies need to get their hands dirty.” It’s come up a few times over the years since then and yes, I still feel the same way, and want my daughters to embrace that thought as well. Ladies DO need to get their hands dirty. Just what do I mean by this? Let’s unpack that a little.
We live in an age where we do not appreciate nor encourage femininity. We have “take your daughters to work day”, and generally encourage our little girls to think like their brothers about their lives. The high calling of motherhood is certainly rarely encouraged. But, on the flip side, it seems that in our haste to embrace femininity in our homes, we turn to some Victorian view of women where they sit in their frilly dress, sipping lemonade all day. True ladies would be afraid of spiders, faint easily and certainly wouldn’t get dirty. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am all for the feminine niceties and enjoy seeing my girls dressing up like princesses. We want our girls to practice etiquette, manners and the accomplishments of the gentler sex. But, when I look at the Proverbs 31 woman…ladies get their hands dirty. This woman strengtheneth her arms and is an industrial woman. She is not afraid to dig into hard labor and true grit.
There is a story of the godly wife of the well-known Jonathan Edwards. Sarah was such a beautiful helpmeet for this man. He would get so caught up in his studies. One time he realized that there was work he had not tended to in the field, only to discover Sarah had gone ahead and seen to it’s completion. This woman was not afraid to get her hands dirty, and yet she put a feminine ribbon in her hair before she came to the meal table.
So mothers in teaching our future homemakers…let them get a little dirty. Let them get in the flour dough up to their elbows, let them dig heartily into the garden. Let them not be afraid to get on their hands and knees to scrub those grimy floors. And let them see…this is also a part of true femininity.

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