Christian Education Of Women Series

Janette George played the role of Corrie Ten Boom in the movie

The Hiding Place. She wrote an interesting book called Travel Tips

For The Reluctant Traveler. In it she tells of her 35th birthday.

That was the year she finally accepted the fact that she would never

play Peter Pan. But she expected a lot in life, and especially as she

woke that Sunday morning of her birthday. She laid in bed waiting

for the first telephone call to greet her with good wishes. But when

none came she reasoned that they were being thoughtful and waiting

until afternoon. She had expected something in the mail the day

before, but she just assumed the mail was late as usual. She got

ready for church and dressed in her very best dress because she had

a lot of friends at church, and she figured they might make

something special of her birthday. But her Sunday School class did

nothing to acknowledge her birthday. She thought that they

probably notified the pastor to say something from the pulpit, but

that did not happen either.

Persisting in her optimism she thought that they are probably

planning a special lunch, and so she lingered after the service

waiting for someone to invite her to this event. But no one said a

thing. She reasoned that her friends knew where she ate on

Sundays, and they would probably have a table reserved and would

be ready to surprise her. She went to her favorite eating place and

walked in prepared to register her surprise at the table full of

laughing friends, but there was no such table.

Most people would be facing reality by this time, but Janette

was an incurable optimist. As she ate alone she concluded that her

friends were probably waiting at her apartment to surprise her.

This, of course, proved to be mere fantasy like all her other

speculations, and she sat alone puzzled by the lack of response. She

knew the phone had to ring, for the man who wanted her to marry

him was out of town, but he would certainly call on her birthday.

Her mother was also a sure thing, but it never rang. Now listen to

her own words:

"By the middle of the afternoon, I accepted it. No one was going

to pop out of the closet with lighted candles on a walnut cake. No

one was going to arrive from out of town. My birthday meant

nothing to anybody! I cried a bit in moist self-pity, regretting every

card I have sent to others that year. I even wished I had back the

enameled earrings I had given my friend Margaret on her birthday.

Tearfully, I stammered a prayer thanking God for my health. (It is

one of the few things one can enjoy alone.)

"The I became angry. I wasn't going to go down without a

struggle. One person could still celebrate my birthday. Me! Still

crying, I marched into my bedroom and changed into the boldness

costume of youth I could find: a pair of shining pink stretch pants

and a silver-gray sweater. I put on makeup, jewelry, high heels, and

a blonde wing. Blondes may not have more fun, but they can

certainly look cuter in misery. I called out to myself in the mirror,

"Happy Birthday! You are still young and will have a wonderful

year. Happy Birthday, my friend!"

She then went into her living room and sat down and opened the

Sunday paper. What hit her was not the headlines, but the date.

She was still a week away from her birthday, and all her agony was

based on a miscalculation. Nobody remembered her birthday

because it was not her birthday. She had made a fool of herself, but

fortunately, she was the only one who knew it. This true story

illustrates a number of things:

The forgetfulness of the human mind.

The folly of false assumptions.

The fears we foist on ourselves.

The forsaken feelings we feel unnecessarily.

The one we want to focus on now is the fallibility of the female.

Paul has a high respect for women and the role they play in the

church. But he also recognizes that, like men, they make plenty of

mistakes and need to be taught all kinds of things that we sometimes

take for granted are just inherent in being a female. Not so says

Paul, for women are fallible and subject to error even in things as

basic as loving their husbands and children. They have to be

trained to do this well says Paul. This is necessary if they are going

to be good Christian wives and mothers.

Paul is saying that Christian education is to cover the most

practical aspects of life. Christian education is not making sure