...Some question that girls who have only lived at home will really be prepared for the “real world.” A real woman should already be living in the real world, whether orphaned, abandoned, widowed, or part of a loving family. Those of us blessed with happy families and comfortable homes shouldn’t use them as a buffer zone from the concerns of the real world, any more than as an excuse to be lazy and incompetent. It would be great if every girl knew how to manage a schedule, plan meetings, buy groceries, pay the bills, defend her faith to antagonists, balance the check-book, take a plane, start a business, give a presentation, change a tire, buy a house, make clothes, deal with emergencies, butcher a chicken, write a book, and learn any new thing as she needs to know it. Living in the real world is actually a great way to learn these real-world skills. Families do these kinds of things all the time, and girls who are very involved in their families’ affairs should get a lot of experience navigating the world the way real people do — even more than those who pay an exorbitant sum of money to learn so-called real-world skills in the artificial, insulated environment of a college campus…
…Work — even paid work — is not something a biblical woman resorts to just when times get tough. Let’s go back to our Proverbs 31 woman. By all measures today, her situation was perfect — successful husband (v23), disposable income (v16) — even maidservants! (v15). Yet what do we see her doing from the darkness of the early morning through the night? Laboring. Producing. Earning. Increasing. Even in her comfortable circumstances, she embraced the privilege of productive work, the holy dignity in labor that the Lord first demonstrated Himself. Of all her virtues (generosity, kindness, wisdom, etc.), this chapter spotlights one virtue more than any other: her industry…
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From what I have observed, a daughter who remains with her family until her own marriage is far better prepared to deal with life's trials, challenges, blows, joys, because she has LIVED this during her home years. Those who run off to college and the career world for however many years enter an insulated and unreal world. To be sure, they learn things.... few of which will benefit them or their families and communities in the event of some "turn for the worse" in their later life. How many young married couples return to their parents' home to be cared for and supported when "the bottom falls out" of their career, stock market investments, health, "the economy"? No, the one who receives solid experience in the day to day "dance" of live in an active home is the one best prepared for whatever may come at her down the road. The "college and career" path does little beyond preparing its persuers to find a temporary place as an interchangeable cog in a huge machine. Little of real worth is learned for dealing with life's real issues, which seem to come independent of one's chosen "career" path.
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