We who homeschool our daughters have an exciting road ahead of us, because we are molding young women who will become the mothers of the future. They will need to be strong and to raise good people who will be much-needed in the slowly eroding society of America.

But what if our daughters don’t marry? If we prepare them only to care for a home, husband and children, what will they be left with if they never marry?

As the mother of two daughters, this question was on my mind long ago. My husband and I believe that mothers belong at home raising their children, and we’re very grateful that I’ve been able to do that ever since our eldest was born 21 years ago. As our girls grew, I taught them to cook, sew and take care of a home. Yet, because we knew there was no guarantee that they would eventually marry, we felt that was not enough. As a result, we have always encouraged them in their studies and other interests, knowing that God has special work for each of them to do on this earth, and if it’s not child-rearing, it’s some other important work that fits into His plan.

Just recently I read about another woman whose parents prepared their daughter to excel in whatever work God had waiting for her. At age 50 and never married, she has not had the opportunity to raise children. But no one can deny that her work is important, for she has the ear of the President of the United States.

Her name is Dr. Condoleezza Rice, and after four years as George W. Bush’s National Security Adviser, she has been nominated by him for Secretary of State. The work she has done during President Bush’s first term has led some in our country’s capitol to suggest her as a potential presidential candidate in 2008. If she won, she would be the first woman president in this country’s history, as well as the first black president.

Dr. Rice is a woman of very high intelligence and many accomplishments who attributes her success to her upbringing. The daughter of a Presbyterian minister, John Rice, and his wife Angelena, a music and science teacher, Condoleezza (it means “with sweetness” in Italian) displayed remarkable intelligence very early on in her life. At age four, she could read music; reading books soon followed. Her parents devoted themselves to giving her every cultural benefit, which was not always easy in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, where she grew up. Still, Condoleezza was exposed to music, art, dance, foreign language and “Great Books.” Her parents took her to a Louisiana university for testing, which confirmed their suspicion that she was gifted. Still, the local school would not allow her to start classes at age 5, so her mother homeschooled her for a year, designing a rigorous schedule to prevent her very intelligent daughter from becoming bored.        

Both parents spent many hours with their daughter. Angelena shared her love of music, and John shared his interest in current events and football. Both parents invested countless hours of time in raising and educating their daughter. They also shared their faith with her, as she was raised in the church and continues to rely on a strong Christian faith. Little did they know that their daughter’s faith and her love of sports, both fostered by them, would be the two main things she would have in common with her future boss, the president.

The Rices also taught their daughter that she could rise above racism, and in Birmingham in the 1960s there were, unfortunately, plenty of opportunities for that. Once, Angelena took her daughter shopping for a dress. When Condoleezza was ready to try on a few garments, a salesperson blocked their path to the dressing room, which was designated as “Whites Only.” But Mrs. Rice stood her ground, calmly but insistently, until the salesperson backed down. This was just one of many incidents of racism young Condoleezza experienced. She says her spirited defense of the Second Amendment is based on her memory of her father and their neighbors policing their street with shotguns after the Ku Klux Klan began bombing black neighborhoods.

According to an upcoming book about Dr. Rice*, her ability to come through that experience without becoming bitter is due to the way her parents handled it.        

“I am so grateful to my parents for helping me through that period,” she said of her childhood in Birmingham. “They explained to me carefully what was going on, and they did so without any bitterness. It was in the very air we breathed that education was the way out…..Among all my friends, the kids I grew up with, there was…no doubt in our minds that we would grow up and go to colleges—integrated colleges—just like other Americans.”

Thanks to her upbringing, her faith plays a crucial role in her life, and in how she deals with the stresses of her high-level job.

“I’m a really religious person,” she says, “and I don’t believe that I was put on this earth to be sour, so I’m eternally optimistic about things.”

The example of Dr. Rice is one that can encourage homeschooling mothers of daughters. We have the opportunity to give our girls a customized education that comprises academics, homemaking skills, athletics, music, culture and/or whatever other areas interest them, while leaving out negative experiences like sexual harassment, violence and racism which exist in public schools.
We can provide our girls with inspiring examples like Dr. Rice, while limiting the influence of cheap and easy pop culture idols like Britney Spears and Janet Jackson.

And like Dr. Rice’s parents, we can do so knowing that God will use our daughters for His work, whether they end up married or not.
 
 *Condi: The Condoleezza Rice Story by Antonia Felix
 
Barbara Frank is the mother of four homeschooled-from-birth children ages 11-20, a freelance writer/editor, and the author of “Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers”. To visit her Web site, “The Imperfect Homeschooler”, go to www.cardamompublishers.com.   
 
© 2005 Barbara Frank