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HOW WIVES CAN
ENRICH
THEIR MARRIAGES
by
Roderi ck C. Meredith
Wives have unique opportumttes to bring deep joy and lasting success to their
marriages. Here is how they can accomplish this challenging goal.
I
T IS
literally true that
many a man would at
least try to "climb the
hi ghest mountain, c ross
every ocean and ford every
stream" to find the right
wife and the right mother
for hi s children.
A joyous, stable marriage is
a
precious
thing.
It
does not
happen accidentally. It takes
the car ing, the sharing and the
dedicated work of two people
who deeply want a happy
home.
A fcw months ago, we outl ined
in these columns the
husband's
responsibíl ities in marriage. Now
it's time to describe the opportu–
nities and challenges in marriage
that are unique to the wife.
Being Responsive
Perhaps the most outstand ing
characteristic of a truly feminine
woman is that of being warm and
responsive. The first man, accord–
ing to Scri pture, was alone. He
was lonesome. He had no one to
talk to. He was incomplete.
Woman was created to share
man's life and !ove, to respond to
him, and encourage him.
1f a woman will lovingly and
consistently do this, any right–
minded man will lavish !ove and
apprectatton upon her in return.
For this is the kind of person
June/ July 1981 .
most men truly want to marry
and with whom they want to
share their lives.
"There
~e
people," said the
brillíant French essayist, Raoul
de Roussey de Sales, "who trans–
mit to others their particular
emotional atmosphere; who show
you how to !ove, to suffer, to be
happy, to laugh at the humorous
things in life."
This describes the truly femin–
ine woman. Her mind and heart
are entbusiastically shar ing in the
ideas and hopes of the man she
!oves. She is constantly aware of
him and is in the middle of his
hopes and dreams- not merely an
onlooker.
For her husband- and for al!
people for that matter- she cares:
things not only happen to her, she
happens to them.
But in all of this, she is not
leading and dominating- but re–
spondíng to others and especially
to her husband. She is sharing
and furthering their hopes, inter–
ests and joys. She is
NOT
compet–
ing for the center of the stage or
trying to "get."
Such a feminine woman
instinctively adapts her mood to
that of ber husband whenever
possible. She rejoices in his
triumphs, she weeps with him in
his sorrow. Yet, constantly she
bolsters him, balances him and
helps him in every possible way.
Both in her family and in the
larger society, she is not on ly
responding but serving. She is
constantly attempting to make
her home a cleaner, more beau–
tíful, more happy place. As part
of her husband and famíly, she
is attempting to do the same
thing in the lives of t hose
around her.
Woman Created t o SHARE
When women overlook the place
in life God designed for them and
begin to compete with males,
with other women and even with
themselves, they are losing their
reason for being! Noting this, one
leading psychiatrist asked many
older career women, "What was
the most grat ifying moment in
your life?"
Almost instínctively, they
would reply, "When 1 held my
first baby in my arms." Or,
"When my husband first pro–
posed to me." They never said,
' 'The day
1
got my first job."
Never, "The first time 1 swung a
big business deal."
Yet, by the thousands, women
have been
BRAI NWASHED
into
believing it is beneath their intel–
lectual station to be a housewífe
and mother! False ideas and theo–
ries about " freedom" and "equal–
ity" are being incessantly
pounded into thei r minds. A
young secretary today often con–
siders it more important to scrib–
ble on a shorthand pad than to
maintain a home, help and inspire
her husband, and train her chi l-
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