Little Women

Posted by Jennifer Steward | 0 comments

Right now I am in the middle of directing the play Little Women with a group of great kids from our church. This is our third play and this group of amatuer actors call themselves The Ambassador’s Theater Company. They really are pretty good – if I do say so myself! Our purpose is to shine the light of Christ through our interactions with each other during practices, as well as our performances. We sort of take a different approach with our young people, and it’s quite refreshing. Instead of having a youth group where we entertain the youth doing Christ-centered activities, we engage these young people in activities that center around ministry, service, and purpose – one such activity is putting on plays for the community. We decided to do Little Women because it is such a wonderful family story.

As we have worked our way through the script, we have come to love the story and characters even more. We have six daughters, two of whom are married and gone from home. The remaining four are all taking part in the play and guess who is playing grumpy old Aunt March? Yours Truly! Meg is the oldest and loves the domestic life. Josephine is the literary one with a feisty personality. Amy has an artistic flare and loves the finer things in life. And finally, we see Beth as the musical one with a sweet and kind spirit. I realized the other day that I have a houseful of “little women,” and like the March girls, mine each have their unique and wonderful personalities. How blessed I am by these girls! There is one part where Marmee is brushing Meg’s hair and talking about life and she says the most wonderful thing to her daughters,

“I want my daughters to be beautiful, accomplished, and good; to be admired, loved, and respected; to have a happy youth, to be well and wisely married, and to lead useful, pleasant lives, with as little care and sorrow to try them as God sees fit to send. To be loved and chosen by a good man is the best and sweetest thing which can happen to a woman, and I sincerely hope my girls may know this beautiful experience. It is natural to think of it, Meg, right to hope and wait for it, and wise to prepare for it, so that when the happy time comes, you may feel ready for the duties and worthy of the joy. My dear girls, I am ambitious for you, but not to have you make a dash in the world – marry rich men merely because they are rich, or have splendid houses, which are not homes because love is wanting. Money is a needful and precious thing – and, when well used, a noble thing – but I never want you to think it is the first or only prize to strive for. I’d rather see you poor men’s wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queens on thrones, without self-respect and peace.”

I have had the awesome opportunity to educate my children at home – a privilege I never want to take for granted. I have been able to spend so much time with my children building relationships and sharing experiences with them. I am blessed by the things which I have been able to teach them, all the wonderful books we’ve read together, and memories we’ve shared.

I remember back to when all my children were under age 12 and how I looked forward to each stage of their lives and what the Lord would have in store for each of them. As I look back, I realize now that “those” were the best and easiest times. Things really changed once my children starting into their teen years. Oh, not in a negative way – different in that they were “coming into their own” and our role as parents began to change from ruling over them to coming alongside them. This was obviously new territory for us and I could write a whole book on this topic, but for now I’d just like to encourage you, dear friends, to do as Galatians 6:9 instructs:

“Do not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time you will reap a harvest if you do not give up.”

It is so worth sticking to your guns and not giving up on homeschooling when your children reach high school. So often we parents begin to feel insecure about the future and we fear that we will not be able to teach upper level content, we want to accomodate our children’s desires for sports or things that school can provide and so on. We MUST not look to ourselves but to the Lord. Just as Moses said “Pick someone else to tell the people, I am not eloquent of speech,” we tend to look to our limited abilities and give in to fear. Friends, the Lord is still available to you just as He was when you began your child raising, homeschool journey! You CAN trust Him. One of the most important things your maturing children need is YOU. I have a speaking topic I titled “I’d Take a Toddler to a Teenager Any Day,” because there are so many more demands wrapped into launching your young person, than ever before. BUT, with God’s grace you can be “up for the job” and it’s so worth it.

When I think of the conversation Marmee had with her daughters it reminds me of the many talks I’ve had with my children. Children will form their worldview and their priorities by those who have the greatest influence over them. You can help them “work out their salvation with fear and trembling,” you can help them sort out what they think about boy/ girl relationships, purity, etc. by teaching them and instructing them as “you walk along the road.” And it takes more than one conversation, they need constant support -from you!