Book Review: Raising Maidens of VIrtue

The 2 second review: EVERY Christian mother of daughters NEEDS this book!!!

I've had it on my half.com wish list for a LONG time. But it never came through at a nice low price, and I'm cheap. Finally I went ahead & bought it new, and I'm SOO glad I did! It's designed to use with girls age 12 or older, and I agree, some of the content is certainly not things I want to discuss with my 6 yr olds. BUT I think even mothers of young daughters will benefit from getting it now, read it yourself, there are lots of good reminders even for us moms, and it also gave me some reminders of things to emphasize, or avoid in training my daughters now.

Raising Maidens of Virtue is designed as a Bible study for mothers & daughters to read together. The author recommends making this a special daily or weekly time, making a scrapbook/journal as you go. Each chapter focuses on a topic young Christian girls SHOULD be aware of, but many today are not. Purity (in thought, not just in deed), modesty, valuing sibling relationships over friendships, hospitality, serving others, to name a few. I believe there are 19 chapters in all (being logical, I left my book upstairs and am now trying to write the review downstairs while the baby nurses LOL). At the end of each chapter are discussion questions. The chapters and questions are mostly worded to be speaking to the daughters, though there are some questions that specify they are for the mothers.

In the introduction, the author "warns" that some chapters will make us feel guilty or uncomfortable, or perhaps defensive . . . "there's nothing wrong with that!" she urges us to not dismiss these sections to read them, pray about them, and follow the Holy Spirit's leading.

The teachings of this book are certainly more conservative than what society today, even Christian society, seems to think is needed or even desirable. And that, in my opinion, is why there is such a dire need for just such a book. Christians have bought into the world's views that we must look out for "number 1", dress seductively, and not be "just a housewife". This book reminds us, the God tells us to put others before ourselves, dress modestly, and, as women, to be our husbands' helpers and "keepers at home".