Unfading
     Beauty

Many of the readers of Unfading Beauty took the time from their impacted schedules to complete the “My Perceptions on Homemaking Survey.”  At its outset I prayed for the return of 1000 surveys.  When the data collection began earlier this month 1,966 surveys were returned.  Truly our gracious heavenly Father said “yes” to the prayer.  A special thank you to all who participated in the study!

            I wanted to provide a brief summary of the study in this edition of Unfading Beauty.  If you would care for the full summary simply e-mail me at drennis@masters.edu.

The Population

            The age range of the population was 15-90 with the median age falling into the 45-54 age range.  Seventy-five of the respondents were male and 1,891 were female.  Six different continents were represented.  1,948 of the respondents considered themselves Christians while 18 did not.

Survey Results and Implications

The enthusiastic response to the survey suggests that a need exists for the 21^st evangelical community to seriously consider the need for the implementation of the Titus 2:3-5 principle that challenges women to acquire the facts and life skills needed to successfully manage their home.  Likewise, it must acknowledge, identify, and correct the devastating effect that feminism continues to exact on its members.

 While not reported in this summary, the e-mails that accompanied the requests for the summary of the survey findings reflected a deep concern that the generation of younger women is frequently theologically sound but practically inept in the godly attitudes and skills required to manage a home that glorifies their heavenly Father.  Thus, the admonition offered in Titus 2:5 is coming to fruition—God’s Word is being discredited.

The mean scores of the 869 respondents between age 45 and 90 indicated that they possess the majority of the skills and much of the knowledge to establish a godly home.  However, the same respondents listed the very skills that they practice skillfully as deficient in the younger women.  Just as the younger women should embrace a teachable spirit towards acquiring the knowledge base and skills for successful home management, so the older women must heed the Titus 2:3-5 instruction to be willing to teach the younger women.  Only when the younger and older partner together to fulfill this biblical mandate will the Christian home be recovered.

            The survey contained 3 open-ended questions:

·                    Feminism has impacted the 21^st century culture in the following ways:

·                    Feminism has impacted the 21^st century evangelical community in the following ways:

·                  The homemaking skills many Christian women lack are:

The cumulative response (each respondent was able to list three reasons) to the statement,   “Feminism has impacted the 21^st century culture in the following ways” totaled 3,115. These responses revealed the following general effects:

Feminism has impacted the 21^st century culture in the following ways:

a. Moms/women working outside the home  

b. Demeaned the model of biblical womanhood

c. Breakdown of the family

d. Weakened/devalued men

e. Increased abortion  

The cumulative response (each respondent was able to list three reasons) to the statement

“Feminism has impacted the 21^st century evangelical community in the following ways” totaled 2,570.  These responses revealed the following general effects:

Feminism has impacted the 21^st century evangelical community in the following ways:

a. Women pastors/leaders

b. Lack of biblical submission

c. Women working outside the home

d. Lack of understanding of biblical gender roles

e. Weakened family/increased divorce rate

The cumulative response (each respondent was able to list three reasons) to the statement, “The homemaking skills many Christian women lack are” totaled 3,886.  These responses revealed the following general effects:

The homemaking skills many Christian women lack are:

a. Cooking                                                                              

b. Sewing                                           

c. Organization

d. Time Management

e. Hospitality

f. Cleaning

What Will Happen with the Survey Results?

This summary provides a global analysis of the survey data.  Continued in-depth analysis will allow the data to be used to its fullest potential.  I will report the results on Unfading Beauty as it becomes available.  Thanks again for your interest in the study!

Thanksgiving ushers in the holiday season.  Tantalizing aromas, gala events, and clandestine shopping trips consume much of our time from late November to January 1.  Easily caught up in the activities of the holiday season, it is easy to neglect the most important present to offer others—the gift of gratitude. 

Before the gift of gratitude is unwrapped, may I encourage you to spend some time responding to the “Gratitude Gauge”?  It is designed to help diagnose your attitude toward gratitude.   The “Gratitude Gauge Interpretation” will be posted in the next entry.

Gratitude Gauge

Place the number that best reflects your response to the statement in the space provided. 

Use the following scale:

5 = regularly                                                   2 = seldom

4 = usually                                                      1 = very seldom

3 = sometimes                                                0 = never

1.                             I quickly acknowledge that expressing gratitude is a biblical instruction.

2.                             I recognize that a complaining spirit is symptomatic of the fact that I lack a grateful heart.

3.                             I understand that cultivating a grateful heart is a life-long process.

4.                             I believe that the condition of my spiritual heart determines my spiritual health.

5.                            I am increasing in my knowledge of the Word.

6.                            I thank my heavenly Father for my spiritual blessings.

7.                            I thank my heavenly Father for my material blessings.

8.                            I thank my heavenly Father for my joyful experiences.

9.                            I thank my heavenly Father for my difficult experiences.

10.                        I offer thanks to others when they extend kindness to me.

11.                        I seek to speak encouraging words to others.

12.                        I quickly acknowledge that sincere gratitude enriches my life.

13.                        I am seeking seek to serve others.

14.                        I maintain contact with missionaries and seek to share some of their burdens.

15.                        I understand that giving thanks is generated from my will.

16.                        I am aware that being thankful is generated from my emotions.

17.                        I "pause for praise" throughout the day.

18.                        Others affirm my grateful spirit.

19.                        I acknowledge that how I respond to the biblical instruction about expressing gratitude affects my spiritual health.

20.                        I am like the one leper described in Luke 17:15-16 who returned to thank the Lord for healing him.

            Gratitude Gauge Total

Unwrapping the Gift of Gratitude

The English word gratitude is derived from the same word that gives us grace.  Do you know that gratitude and grace are Siamese twins?  Since Christians daily experience the grace of God, and if they look for ways to acknowledge that it is at work in their lives and the lives of others, then they have many reasons to express gratitude.  However, many complain more frequently than they express gratitude—and they don't realize what devastating effects their complaining has on their spiritual lives.  Though they may temporarily feel better emotionally for transferring their negative thoughts to others, the spiritual toll that the emotional release renders is often devastating. 

The impact of a negative, complaining spirit is significant, as the following example illustrates. A part of my advising responsibilities includes the completion of a “Senior Contract” for each of my advisees anticipating graduation.  Since the task is time-consuming, I eagerly agreed to be a part of the piloting of an online version of the “Senior Contract.”  It was an incredible experience! I quickly e-mailed the programmer and expressed my gratitude for his work on the project.  His response brought tears to my eyes—“Thanks for your kind words.  I usually only hear from people if they have a complaint!”  I was again reminded that the best antidote for a complaining spirit is an attitude of gratitude, and that is something that must be cultivated daily.

The Gratitude Cycle

Did you know that true gratitude expands your ministry opportunities?  Consider the “Gratitude Cycle”:

·                  The more thankful we are, the more we are aware of our many blessings. 

·                  If we only offer praise and thanksgiving when things go our way, we develop tunnel vision. 

·                  If we are grateful for all that our heavenly Father brings into our life, then our horizons expand.

·                  When our horizons expand, our ability to sincerely offer praise, regardless of the circumstances, increases! 

I can speak with conviction about the validity of the “Gratitude Cycle.”  Many circumstances in my life (abandonment as an infant, orphaned by adoptive parents in my early twenties, being single, to name a few) initially appear as insurmountable obstacles. However, as I choose to believe that my Lord is a sun and shield; that He gives grace and glory; and that there is no good thing that He will withhold from me if I am walking uprightly (Psalm 84:11), I realize that all I need to do is take care of the walking uprightly part (that includes being grateful for all things), and He does the rest!  Looking in retrospect at the seemingly devastating circumstances, I can now see how my loving heavenly Father used each as a vehicle to shape my character and to enhance my ministry to others.