STEWARDSHIP FOR TODAY’S WOMAN – THE CHURCHWOMAN

          I’m continuing to share something from the book, Stewardship for Today’s Woman written by Helen Kingsbury-Wallace. As a reminder, it was written in 1960.

          In my last blogs, I spent time discussing the chapter titles, The Career Woman, The Wife, The Mother, The Widow, and The Retired Woman. Today’s title is The Churchwoman.

          This chapter is focused on how “how women have a unique part in the church’s ministry of forgiving and reconciling, of listening in love, of being practical and doing necessary “little” things, and of cooperating with men in all parts of church work including policy-making on highest levels.”[1]

          I’m not sure I’m totally keen on the “cooperating with men” part, but the focus of the chapter is that the selectivity is the key word for the churchwoman’s stewardship of time. “a dozen opportunities for service clamor for a place in her day. But she has only twenty-four hours, eight of which should be spent in sleep. She must control her time if she is to be a faithful steward of it; she must choose between the most important service and that of less importance.”[2]

          This idea of selectivity really resounded with me. How do we determine whether we are to answer “yes” or “no”? How do we determine the difference between an obligation to serve God and a privilege to service God? Is there a difference.

          I’ve often commented that I struggle with saying the word “no.” Too often, I have stepped forward and offered myself before really thinking about whether someone else should do it, or could do it, or if I’m the best or only person available.

          I’m more inclined to say “yes”, sometimes even before the request is even made. I have worked on at least waiting until I’m asked and then responding not with an immediate yes or no, but to pray about it. If a couple of days later, I still think it’s a good idea and that I am the right person for the job, then I will say “yes.”

          We can apply that idea of selectivity not just to our stewardship of time, but all of our stewardship!

          But we have to keep in mind that being selective doesn’t mean being stingy!

          That is the end of this book, written in 1960 about women—a book that is way behind the times, but still has something to say to all of us.

         

Please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or susanranous@unyumc.org if you found this interesting.

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[1] Stewardship for Today’s Woman, Helen Kingsbury Wallace, page 81.

[2] Stewardship for Today’s Woman, Helen Kingsbury Wallace, page 81.

 

         STEWARDSHIP FOR TODAY’S WOMAN – THE RETIRED WOMAN

          I’m continuing to share something from the book, Stewardship for Today’s Woman written by Helen Kingsbury-Wallace. As a reminder, it was written in 1960.

          In my last blogs, I spent time discussing the chapter titles, The Career Woman, The Wife, The Mother and The Widow. Today’s chapter is titled The Retired Woman.

          This chapter is focused on how a woman is to retire, or, more precisely, how to have a “successful retirement.” I actually did find this chapter a little more useful than some of the prior ones—perfect, no; just more useful.

          The chapter starts with two women meeting at a class reunion. Both will be retiring from work shortly. One believes that she’ll have nothing to do but wait to die. The other is looking forward to retirement, to volunteering, reading, gardening, and enjoying retirement. Both of these perspectives can be true. The chapter spends the time giving tips to prepare for a successful retirement. The tips are focused in four “fields of preparation for retirement:”[1]

          Health – this section talks about staying healthy, eating right, exercising, things that people should do throughout life and into retirement

          Activities – this section talks about cultivating hobbies and interests throughout life so that, upon retirement, there are things that interest us, and could even result in a little extra income

          Financial Security – plan well in advance of retirement. What are anticipated expenses upon retirement. What level of income will you need to support yourself comfortably.

          Cultivation of a workable philosophy of life – “what more can a woman ask than unlimited resources of life, joy and peace.”[2]

          Each of these items is important, and I think that’s true no matter the stage of life. Our viewpoint toward everything will affect how we feel. Planning so that you have financial security, good health and things to do (or not do) will make our lives much better.

 

I will continue my review of this book in the next blog.

         

Please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or susanranous@unyumc.org if you found this interesting.

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[1] Stewardship for Today’s Woman, Helen Kingsbury Wallace, page 71.

[2] Stewardship for Today’s Woman, Helen Kingsbury Wallace, page 74.

 

                STEWARDSHIP FOR TODAY’S WOMAN – THE WIDOW

          I’m continuing to share something from the book, Stewardship for Today’s Woman written by Helen Kingsbury-Wallace. As a reminder, it was written in 1960.

          In my last two blogs, I spent time discussing the chapter titles, The Career Woman, The Wife and The Mother. Today’s chapter is titled The Widow.

          This was a chapter that was focused (keep in mind it’s 1960 and most wives were mothers and were not working outside the home) on a woman whose husband died, leaving her and her children alone and with no knowledge of what was going on.

          This truly frustrates me, because it can still be true. Too often, I’ve spoken with a couple where only one of the spouses cares for the “financial stuff.” In the book, it says the husband never discussed financial affairs and kept it from his wife. This woman is now faced with 3 children still at home, and no idea whether there is enough left for her to maintain the standard of living they’ve had, or whether she’ll need to move.

          This issue is even bigger than knowing what “was”. There is so much that both spouses should spend time discussing and planning:

·       What are the assts?

·       Whose name is on the house, on the bank accounts?

·       Are there beneficiaries on retirement and pension plans?

·       Are there insurance policies – Who is the beneficiary?

          So focus on the planning until death. I have led a few workshops in local churches titled “Peace of Mind”. It’s the name of a book/binder that I located on Amazon, that guides anyone through the planning that needs to be done. I have to say, having worked for attorneys as a paralegal for many years, I thought I had a good grasp on what needed to be done, but this planner has so much else that needs to be discussed and planned for: licenses, pets, passwords, vehicles, etc. I think the cost of purchasing one of these books is vital to helping a couple plan and know what’s going on. Of course, there are wills and trusts to also plan for.

          What is the income that remains after the death of one of the spouses? Social Security? Retirement? Earnings? Savings? Annuities?

          And, most importantly, identify now and not wait:

·       Who is the banker?

·       Who is the insurance person?

·       Who is the accountant?

·       Who is the lawyer?

Knowing who to call will help remove some of the stress that is happening.

          Sorrow is still going to be there; there’s still going to be a lot to do, but caring for as much as possible will make that time as good as it can be.

I will continue my review of this book in the next blog.

         

Please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or susanranous@unyumc.org if you found this interesting.

 

 

 

             STEWARDSHIP FOR TODAY’S WOMAN – THE MOTHER

            I’m continuing to share something from the book, Stewardship for Today’s Woman written by Helen Kingsbury-Wallace. As a reminder, it was written in 1960.

            In my last two blogs, I spent time discussing the chapter titles, The Career Woman and The Wife. Today’s chapter is titled The Mother.

             This was another one of those chapters that I was not looking forward to. As someone who was never able to have children, I assumed that this chapter would spend its time explaining that the purpose of all women is to be a mother and…I was right. It did, on the face of it spend its time explaining the importance of the mother in a child’s life and the importance of the child in the mother’s life.

            However, when I let the discomfort fade a little, I did pick up on a few other things.

1.    The book talks about how stewardship in a family changes when someone new (a child) joins the family. I like that concept, not just as it relates to a family when a child is born, but what if we look at it as stewardship changing when someone new joins a church or community?

2.    “Children are influenced by actions rather than by exhortation.”[1] Of course, this book is spending time explaining how children learn by seeing what their parents do, not just what they say. The walking the walk concept. I think people in our churches learn from what our leadership, lay and clergy, are doing.

3.    “As the child grows, so do the opportunities for teaching Christian stewardship. In all too short a time the child has left the charmed circle of the Christian home and is finding that school, friends and the outside world…”[2] I think our churches need to take this thought seriously. Children are learning at home, of course, but they are learning at church. Sunday School is important, but, for many of our churches, if there are children, and Sunday School exists, after a few years, the child grows and no longer is “learning” from us. What if we found ways to connect with children, whether it’s official Sunday school, or packets of information, or Bibles, or mentors, or prayer partners? There are many opportunities that our churches should consider.

I have served and worked with churches that are focused on getting more children/ youth into church but are not focused on providing anything for them. “We’ll worry about youth group later”. “We’ll start Sunday School when kids come and stay.” But if someone comes into your church and there’s nothing, why would they come back? Think about it!

            We need to focus on how, why, where and when children are learning. It’s not JUST left up to the parents; ALL of us need to participate!

I will continue my review of this book in next month’s blog.

           

Please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or susanranous@unyumc.org if you found this interesting.

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[1] Stewardship for Today’s Woman, by Helen Kingsbury Wallace (1960), pg. 46

[2] Stewardship for Today’s Woman, by Helen Kingsbury Wallace (1960), pg. 48

 

                 STEWARDSHIP FOR TODAY’S WOMAN – THE WIFE

            I’m continuing to share something from the book, Stewardship for Today’s Woman written by Helen Kingsbury-Wallace. As a reminder, it was written in 1960.

            In my last blog, I spent time discussing the first chapter titled The Career Woman. In this blog, I’m going to discuss the next chapter, The Wife.

            I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this chapter. Perhaps I was dreading the thought of the “proper” sequence of events: a single career woman becoming married and becoming “the wife” that every woman should. To be fair, it didn’t read quite like that. It does spent the majority of the chapter talking about how a married woman is a steward, of her husband, of her family, of her home, of her life and of her time. If she does “her job” properly, then her husband will grow and become happier. It does have one line (on page 36) “it is true that the right kind of wife has great influence over her husband, shares her possessions with him, merges her life with his. But it is also true that she is also an individual and has a separate life which, in order to maintain the integrity of her personality, she must keep inviolate.” [1] 

            Th chapter does spent time talking about the “tools” that the woman has, including her vacuum cleaner and freezer, and then devolves right into a discussion about not wasting precious leisure time because her tools help her housekeeping tasks become less time consuming. (sigh)

            The chapter spent a great deal of time helping the reader understand that become a good neighbor, a good churchgoer, Bible reader, Bible study leader. I believe that the author views this as the wife’s job as a steward.

            “A wife, a homemaker, can serve in her home and in her neighborhood. If she is alert and, in the best sense, aggressive, she can find a thousand opportunities.” “She can render the best service.” “She will use some of her newly-won leisure to think about the challenging opportunities presented by her particular resources and her community. She will “face up” to her stewardship responsibilities.”[2]

            All of these sentences appear at the end of the chapter on the same page.

            What I gleaned from this chapter, after I got over my focus on the housewife thoughts, was that we are all stewards of what we have been given. Utilizing the “assets” we have will enable us to steward those assets and ourselves to better the world, and to serve God. And I don’t think it has a whole lot do with whether we have a vacuum cleaner or an electronic dishwasher!

           

I will continue my review of this book in next month’s blog.

           

Please feel free to contact me at (315) 427-3668 or susanranous@unyumc.org if you found this interesting.

 

 

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[1] Stewardship for Today’s Woman, by Helen Kingsbury Wallace (Fleming H. Revell Company, 1960)

[2] Stewardship for Today’s Woman, by Helen Kingsbury Wallace (Fleming H. Revell Company, 1960)