I love hearing from my readers - comments always make my day!
I received a particularly lovely one last week in response to Part I of "14 Skills Teenage Girls Should Learn... But Rarely Do." What I loved most about it was that it was very thoughtful. My good friend Emma was the author, and she said this:
"Yes, there are SO many things to learn to be proficient in, and not only proficient but excellently proficient...
How much of how many things should we learn before it just becomes too much and takes our focus away from the real prize, which is glorifying Christ and being a servant like Him in our daily life, whether we know how to deal with everything that comes our way or not?"
Such a good question, Emma!
I replied in the comments section, but it disappeared, so I wanted to publish it in a blog post. I was able to find it in the Editor, but it won't show in public.
Here is my answer:
Dear Emma,
You asked a VERY good question. It is a very important question because we never want to do anything that will distract us from glorifying God.
The answer is, I think, is to glorify the Lord and be a servant to Him in our daily life, every day. (1 Corinthians 10:31.) I honestly don't think that "preparing for marriage" is the right target. One of the amazing aspects of biblical womanhood is that when we seek to glorify God by following His will every day, we end up 'accidentally' preparing well for any future that the Lord may have in store for us. For example, we know that the Lord's will for us is to:
1) Love one another as He loved us. (1 John 4:7-11.) This practically looks like selfless obedience to our parents and sacrifice of our desires for the good of others. When we practice this type of love every day in the homes we grow up in, with the families we live with, we accidentally prepare for all the relationships we will have in the future, marriage included.
2) Be good homemakers (Titus 2:5, Proverbs 31:13, ). This practically looks like things like keeping the house clean, doing all the household chores we are required to do, (meal clean-up, laundry, deep cleaning, yard work, organizing, scheduling, etc.) cooking the meals we are assigned, and being efficient, excellent, and cheerful/focused at our tasks. It is His will for us to learn how to build our home, and this can practically look like encouraging our siblings by being an example in righteousness. When we practice having our hearts at home and doing the tasks given to us by our parents in a God-glorifying manner, we accidentally prepare to manage and look well to our own homes by doing the will of God right now.
3) Speak what is good for necessary edification (Ephesians 4:29, Proverbs 31:26.) This practically looks like cutting out foolish talking and course jesting, which are not fitting, and substituting it with thanksgiving (Ephesians 5:4.) - thanksgiving continually to the Lord for His wonderful works to the children of men, and thanksgiving to our parents, siblings, and friends for the things that they do well. When we practice cutting out complaining and nagging and substitute it with thanks, we accidentally prepare for a great family life by doing the will of God.
4) Be fruitful and profitable in all that we do, making wise investments with ALL the assets we have (time, money, skills) to produce God-glorifying fruit (Proverbs 31:15, 16, 19, 20, 24, 31, Matthew 25:23) This can practically look like so many things, including but not limited to, the things mentioned above in the article. God gives us all talents and interests and provides ways for us to use them in our lives to glorify Him, bless others, and be profitable. For THIS reason I advocate learning skills such as videography & gardening & calligraphy & etc.... (or other practical skills of interest, it looks different for each person) not just because it can overlap into a great blessing if the Lord ever does provides a future family for you, but because it is the Lord's will right NOW.
To quote Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin in a great article they wrote about this topic three years ago,
"It means the same training that would prepare a woman to be an amazing wife and mother would also prepare her to be an amazing single woman, an amazing widow, and an amazing empty-nester."
If you would like to read that article, here is the link: https://botkinsisters.com/article/should-i-keep-preparing-for-marriage-or-is-it-time-to-start-preparing-for-a-single-life
So in answer to your question about how much we should study before it becomes too much and takes our focus off the real goal - glorifying God - the answer is nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
~ Katarina
~ To The Utmost Glory Of God ~
P.S. Just a heads-up, I may be switching my comments application within the next week or so to keep comments from disappearing in the future. This may possibly delete all the comments I already have. If you have any comments of yours you'd like to save, go ahead and copy & paste it elsewhere! :D And thank you for commenting! :D