STEWARDSHIP
FOR TODAY’S WOMAN – THE CAREER WOMAN
I want to share something from a
book that was just recently given to me. The title is Stewardship for Today’s
Woman written by Helen Kingsbury-Wallace. For context of the book, I want
to note that it was written in 1960.
The background to the book is given
in the introduction to the book. It states “every generation of churchwomen has
to learn for itself the meaning of stewardship. The principles of stewardship have
not changed since New Testament days, but the conditions of life and the status
and position of women have changed greatly and are still changing.”[1]
The book states that stewardship
shouldn’t just be thought of in terms of giving money, “but it must come to be
thought of in terms of the dedication of life.” The book is divided into
different chapters based on different “walks” or “stages of life”. The chapters
are
The Career Woman
The Wife
The Mother
The Widow
The Retired Woman
The Churchwoman
The book starts with a discussion of
the career woman. It talks about a woman who works in a travel agency, takes a
bus to and from work, lives alone spends Saturdays running errands and cleaning
her apartment, and Sundays sleeping late, reading the newspaper. It talks of a
career woman as a lonely woman; with no real relationships. But she reads about
and then sponsors a young girl in another country, sending clothing, letters
and other items. She finds that she feels a connection to the girl. Then other
women in her office hear about her sponsorship and start including her in
conversations. She shares her story of sponsorship in a foreign country and
friends book trips through the travel agency she works at. Her employer rewards
her with a small raise.
Of course, this story takes an
entire chapter, but what I liked was the concept, not of a working “girl” of
the 1950s/1960s, but that when she found relationship with others, her life
became fuller.
I think it’s like that for us. When
we have relationships with others: friends, family, co-workers, churches,
neighbors, then our lives, and we ourselves, change. Being good stewards,
practicing good stewardship requires relationships. “A stewardship-shaped life is never built on
tasks alone. It grows in the quiet, ordinary moments when we choose to see
people the way God sees them: as entrusted souls, not interruptions; divine
assignments, not items on a list. Relational stewardship is the posture of a
believer who understands that God has placed people in our path not for
efficiency, but for love. It is the shift from doing to becoming, from managing
responsibilities to managing trust, from completing duties to reflecting the
heart of the Owner.”[2]
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.
