ing my husband to know my mind and to feel my eagerness for a chance to get out and do some thing. I gave up on that angle and, in stead, took the initiative. "Darling, there's a concert at the auditorium on Wednesday night that looks in teresting. Shall I get a sitter?" It worked . . . and when I want a night out badly enough, I know how to get it. Another adjustment that must be made is in household routines. You will learn early in the game that Parkinson's law, "Work ex pands to fill the time allotted for it," is never so true as in the house, where there is simply no point on the continuum of daily chores at which to say, "I'm finished." When do you find time to read, to think or to study? You will find it only at the price of discipline and or ganization. If you are going to keep well- informed about the world at large and your profession in particular, if you are to find time for personal study in the Scripture, you will have to decide at what level to call housekeeping "good enough" so that you have time to keep in touch. Reading can be crammed into quiet moments — while you are feeding the baby or during the baby's nap. The radio or TV can be used to maximize ironing or floor washing time, letting you engage with interesting ideas or learn new facts while you work. The blessing of the Bible study and music of the "Back to the Bible Broadcast" and similar programs has often been so deep that tears of joy have stung my eyes while I cleaned the house or did the dishes. A dedicated homemaker once
told me, "When my children were young, I disciplined myself not to read books so that I could get my work done." I have decided on just the opposite: I discipline my self to keep reading. It is impor tant, for the most active mind can become sterile and dry if it is not nourished with new ideas and does not grapple with real issues. In creasingly, as your family grows older, they will need to have you to be not only a loving and pray erful mother, but also one who is mentally alert and flexible. In an age when young people learn ear ly to respect intelligence above most other values, it behooves mothers to keep well-informed and mentally active. It will be important for you to avoid unscriptural attitudes toward your children. They are not to be seen as an inconvenient interrup tion of your career, but rather as the greatest of God's good gifts (see Ps. 27, 128). This, of course, will not mean that you will not often be wearied and often be exasperated with the continual de mands of little children upon your strength and wisdom. But you will find the challenge of putting your Christianity and your professional competencies into the crucible of twenty-four-hour-a-day life with little children more than enough to keep you on your toes—and on your knees. Before you quit work you would be wise to make some pretty firm decisions about when and under what conditions you will consider a return to work. The temptation will always be with you. The fact that you can turn your training and experience into money, get away from the strain of house and chil-
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