Joyful and Fulfilled Daughters

Joyful and Fulfilled Daughters

by Laura C June 2, 2008


In the twenty-first century, it is very difficult to be a young woman. Militant feminism is normal, even expected and encouraged, and girls are confused about their role. For six millennia, daughters have stayed at home until marriage. This generation is the aberration. Unlike any other time in history, girls now face prolonged singleness—a bleak and worrisome gap between high school graduation and marriage. Most girls look to the culture around them for answers, and as a result, end up embracing the demands of a polluted and dying people. What would happen if girls were to ignore the demands of culture and listen only to God’s word? If they were to come back home, forsaking jobs, colleges, and independence, and purposefully lead productive lives in their father’s home until marriage? A precious and blessed revival of the dynamic family unit and of purposeful and fulfilled daughters would arise. For the Lord calls every young lady to delight in being a contented keeper at home.

“Oh honey, you need higher education; I don’t want you to be a dumb wit!

”The passengers on the ferry duly observed a loud and forward mother croon these great words of wisdom to her careless 11-year-old daughter. If a girl doesn’t go to college, is she a dumb wit? Does college somehow transform girls that would otherwise end up as nothing better than mindless housewives into independent and successful career women? The world says that a girl has failed if she does not have a college education, a job, and her independence by a certain age. But whom is she trying to please? Wise daughters will refuse to sacrifice themselves on the altar of pleasing men. They have a duty to the Lord alone. A girl has freedom to continue her education from the home, as she has access to so much that can broaden her horizons. What if God has gifted a girl with talents and special abilities? Shouldn’t these gifts, such as writing, music, and art, be developed for use? A daughter should most certainly develop her gifts, and they can be expanded brilliantly from home, to be used first and foremost in her family, and then in the church and the community. God gave her gifts that will best compliment the gifts of those in her family, thus increasing the vibrancy and power of the family unit. When a girl submits, stays at home, and helps further her father’s vision, she is fulfilled, passionate, purposeful, intellectually stimulated, emotional stable, and blessed by God. The Bible commands women to be submissive because they are naturally prone to independence. Why should a girl foster the same sin that brought Eve down? The world tries to force daughters into its mold, and tells them that to build the business of a stranger is a commendable thing, but to help build and further her father’s vision and goals is somehow a bad thing. This contradiction seems absurd! Why should a girl pour herself out for another man and make him successful, when a daughter can work with her father and make him successful? Freedom thrives under the tender protection of a father; daughters flourish in God-appointed spheres. A girl isn’t “bound” to the home, but it is her little world of influence and care. A woman flourishes in the home under the submission of a man, which, for a girl, is now under her father, and in the future, under her husband. It is a precious thing when a daughter under her father’s protection cherishes her dependence on her father, who tenderly guards and guides her. She has vision and purpose.

What will girls do if they stay home? How does this family unit work anyway? In Psalm 144:12, daughters are described in as pillars in the home. Pillars have both a supporting and a beautifying role in the structure of a building. Girls should delight in embracing their high calling as daughters who are joyfully and deliberately living in their father’s home. The Lord distinctively created the woman to fit the role of helpmeet to her husband/father and to be a keeper of the home. This is where she blossoms! The woman’s role is essential; it is not inferior. This time of waiting until marriage is not to be used to indulge in selfishness or just to sit around waiting. Dull moments never exist around the home, as a girl could be doing so much. Needs abound, and a daughter is indispensable in meeting the many necessities of her family and church. A daughter’s priority is to invest in her family, and then under her father’s direction to assist other families in her fellowship that may need extra help during a busy or hard time. Dynamic, submissive, godly young ladies are the secret weapon of the church. An unmarried girl is not a single; she is part of a dynamic unit, called her family. A family is not a set of individuals all looking out for themselves, but a vibrant organization where all work together under the headship of the father, and the father in submission under the headship of Christ. Each role in the family is unique and vitally important. The home should be a lively, stimulating place of hospitality, food, interaction, music, singing, and harmony. It should also be a peaceful place, where Christ is Lord of the home. The powerful family unit can bless and be a shining light to the church and the community. A daughter delights in giving of herself and treasures the relationships built within her family.

A daughter is content with waiting, yet during this time, she must fully prepare for marriage, and not shock the young man she is going to marry with a little girl that he would have to raise and teach. What better place and time to prepare for marriage than now, as an unmarried daughter in her father’s house? In times past, a girl would get married in her tender teen years. She would have prepared for wife and motherhood since a young child, and because she fully understood the role she would perform, the transition into marriage was a very easy and natural one. Unlike most teenagers of today, who are obsessed with themselves and their looks and are overcome with selfishness, these daughters had diligently trained since young childhood in the needed skills for the role of a wife and homemaker. She knew what was expected of her, and as a young married girl, would often ride off into the vast wilderness with her equally young and visionary husband, to start their life and family alone without any help. Everything she needed to know, such as knowledge about pregnancy, childbirth, childcare, medical care, and all that was necessary to expertly manage her little home, she had to have mastered by now. In view of that, a daughter should not sit around, but be fully invested in her family, in her relationship with God, and in her training for wife and motherhood. She should build her foundation now before the busyness of marriage crowds out any extra time. It is exceedingly important to note that if a girl is not content before marriage, she will not be content after marriage. So it is especially vital that a daughter learns to cultivate contentment in her heart now. If she wants to learn to follow her husband someday, it is essential that she learns to obey and submit to her father now. A daughter needs to look to her father for vision and direction as to what exactly he wants her doing now. As the future manager of her home, a girl can start now in being responsible for, among other things, helping manage the home, learning food preparation, planning the menu, shopping, keeping the home orderly, helping homeschooling siblings, figuring the finances, sewing, and knitting/crocheting. Her many God-given talents will help her nourish her children and husband physically and emotionally and help her bring life and peace to the home through her decorating, art, and music.

Young ladies should delight in being purposeful, feminine, and contented keepers at home under their father’s roof. The future is bright with hope for young women who cherish their role as helpmates and who will someday stand tall beside men of vision who together will raise the next generation of precious children for Christ. Home is the most exciting place in the world! There is liberty is Biblical principles, and families working together make sense. The high office of mother and womanhood is stimulating and engaging. Daughters can change history—not by going out and conquering the world, but by joyfully submitting to their fathers, and working to make their families a dynamic force for the glory and furtherance of God’s kingdom. And daughters will discover that as they follow God’s will for Biblical womanhood, they will be more joyful and fulfilled than they ever could have been if they had followed what the world demands of its young women.


We are so blessed that Laura wrote this and that she was willing to post it.