Thoughts…..

Once upon a time I read the book Fascinating Womanhood.

Have you heard of it?

I come from a background where there was really no talk of the woman’s role, what her attitudes should be, etc. It was just pretty much a survival sort of existence where my mom had to step into roles she wasn’t necessarily equipped for.

So when I got married I really wanted to be that wonderful, good wife that the Catholic books talked about. But there wasn’t a lot of practical application in the books I was reading and so I was left floundering a lot.

Then I stumbled upon Fascinating Womanhood by Helen Andelin! (That’s a picture of her.) I was thrilled!! I now had  something I could rely on for some good attitude-shifting and practical steps to take. Mrs. Andelin did a great job of sticking to traditional values throughout the book. If it had wreaked of modern methods I would not have read it.

It really helped me to tweak my thinking and not to be so self-centered.

Sure, maybe the book’s approach was a bit antiquated, …..but what’s wrong with that, I asked myself? It seems the world today doesn’t  have a grasp on families holding it together like it did in the old days.

When I read the negative reviews on Amazon I could see some of their points, but all-in-all, I think it is a good book for helping us to understand men, their roles, their reactions and why, and just learning to understand the masculine personality.

And if one does not like this book in particular, there are other great ones out there: Surrendered Wife, Created to Be His Helpmeet, How to Change Your Husband, The Wife Desired, etc. Take the good from them, leave the rest.

After all, we go to school and we study much to become grounded in our careers (if that is what we are seeking). We have to learn the ins and outs of our profession in a detailed degree.

Why shouldn’t we women want to learn how to get along better in our most important relationship, the husband and wife relationship? Our children are relying on this, our family’s survival as a happy family is depending on it!

That’s more important than any corporate position! We better roll up our sleeves and start making some positive changes!!

Anyway, I read the book and was delighted! Things changed at home…not that I was a bad wife…I wasn’t…but I wanted to be better and knew there was much room for improvement!

The application of what I had read lasted….for awhile. But then I found myself slipping back into my “stinkin’ thinkin” again.

Self-sacrifice, submission, thankfulness….it’s not easy and does not come naturally to us, especially on a day-to-day basis and rubbing shoulders so closely with those we live with.

You may ask yourself, what good is it, if I read the book, change for a little while and then go back to my old ways? It is only temporary!!

Well, so is bathing and eating! 🙂

We have to continue to feed our mind with these things daily.

Many people who hear and understand and agree with a principle do not know how to apply it to their lives because they do not use the necessary resources (books, CD’s, good information, etc.)

Tomorrow’s traffic jams will drown out what you hear today. Tomorrow’s problems that are encountered in every day life will beat away at much of the positive that is there today.

We are amused by those gifts that our mother gives the kids for Christmas. You know, the kind that light up or makes noise. They keep going and going and going and going! Why? Because it runs on batteries. And those batteries eventually will run down.

Between our ears in the location we identify as the brain or the mind there is a battery that does not run down…if you keep feeding it that is!

I believe it was St. Teresa of Avila that said it is very hard to get to heaven without reading 10 min. a day of spiritual reading. And you can see why. We lose our taste for spiritual things…we become dissipated and distracted by worldly things.

It is the same with our attitudes as women, wives and mothers. We need that daily prompt! We need to know how to react in certain situations… Why are the men in our life acting the way they do?….What temperament do I have?…What about my spouse?…etc.

So let’s keep changing, growing and loving! Remember the prayer:

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference!”

A side note – At this point in time I am not on Facebook or any other social media like that so I do appreciate you passing this site on to anyone you think may benefit from it. We will not know how much we touch others lives by just a passing word (or Link). 🙂

I especially appreciate the thoughtful comments you share here! It is so great to hear from you!

I pray for all of you and ask that Our Lady cover us with Her Mantle and help us to become the godly women we were meant to be. It is a terrific journey!