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I’ve read many
personal testimonies of success with the principles of
Fascinating Womanhood and would now like to offer my own
story about my experiences with the teachings of the book for
single girls, The Fascinating Girl, which I studied 34
years ago.
In 1967 when I was
just 16, my parents moved their family of 9 from Alaska to
Australia, through a special immigration plan of the Australian
government. It was a difficult adjustment for me at that age. I
found the society extremely different than the one I had grown
up in. While we lived in Alaska our social life consisted of
the church functions and fellowships. Australian youth at that
time met each other on the beach, and their social life
included the common practice of drinking. I don’t want to say
that all Australians were like this; just that it was socially
acceptable behavior and not at all frowned on.
Today my parents
and brothers and sisters and their children and grandchildren
still live in Australia. I want to make it clear that I do love
the Australian people that I still know over there and also
enjoy that country very much. I did have a difficult time
finding my niche in life during those years. It seemed almost
impossible to find a man who wanted to get married, settle
down, have children and become a serious church member. I felt
very desperate and unhappy, and didn’t know where to turn.
By age 20 I had
tried everything to find someone to marry and was, as Helen
would say, “in the dark,” about how to attract the right
mate for life. I returned to America where I got involved again
in church. The year was 1971 and it just so happened that a
Fascinating Womanhood class was being taught on Monday
mornings at the church building in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. My
mother was Canadian and I was living with her sister at the
time. I was invited to go to the class and when the teacher saw
me she said, “We are glad to have you here, and would like to
tell you about another book, one for single girls that I think
you will enjoy.” l found the book in a local bookstore and
began to study it on my own. The chapter that fascinated me the
most was the one on Developing Character.
In all the years I
spent in schools and colleges, I had never been taught about
character. I recognized that this was the area I would have to
work at the most, in order to get married, guide a home and
raise a happy family. Character is the most neglected of all
the studies in our society today.
As I put each
character description into practice I found my worries about
finding a mate beginning to cease. Burying myself in the
character principles taught in FG caused me to completely
forget about looking for a husband. This experience has become
invaluable to me in discussing the problem of finding a mate
with desperate single girls. Just go about your business, build
your character, let your light shine and it will happen sooner
than you expect. Become absorbed in improving yourself and the
time will pass faster, and you will get closer to your goal of
finding a mate.
I’ve bought the
Fascinating Girl for many single girls over the years but I
always warn them to be prepared because everyone that reads
this book with the serious intention of marrying, usually gets
engaged within three months of reading it, if they put the
principles to practice. Naturally there will be those who make
fun of the book and call it manipulative, but the results speak
for themselves. The girls who mock and scorn good principles
are also the girls who are not yet married.
I was also
interested to learn from this study that girls have to create
interest in marriage for men. The prospect of having a home and
family can be just as compelling for a men, if only the picture
were drawn for them and made to be an advantage to their lives
as well. I had been desperately trying to find a partner for
life, but was going about it totally in the wrong way. I know
many young women who are perfect in every way, but they do not
know how to attract a good man. They fail to understand what it
takes to motivate men to marry. I always suggest a serious
study of this book to alleviate that predicament!
Our Wedding Day
August 1 1972
One of the
principles taught in this course was developing the spiritual
side by consistent Bible study and church attendance. I began
to attend church faithfully, and one day to my surprise the
young, handsome, single minister, 8 years old than me, asked me
to join him at a church dinner. I wasn’t at all sure that I
liked him, as we didn’t really “click”right away, and it
certainly wasn’t love at first sight. He later said he had
observed me out of the corner of his eye on many occasions and
began to ask me to come to various church events and accompany
him on hospital visits and visits to shut-ins.
I still find it
hard to believe but in six weeks he had made up his mind that I
would be his wife, and asked me to marry him. He told me of his
many plans and ambitions, and suggested that if I did not marry
him he would lose his enthusiasm for these things. Of course I
did ask him if he felt quite sure and wouldn’t he rather
continue on a friendship basis with me. I remember distinctly
that he said, “I’ve already got lots of friends! I want a
wife.”
I protested only
once more. I said that I was not prepared to be someone’s
wife, having only a suitcase with a few clothes, a Bible and a
diary, to my name. He told me, “If you will marry me I’ll
fill your closet full of beautiful dresses and provide
everything else you need.” Thirty-three years later I must
tell you, he has kept that promise. I’ve had to clean out
those closets many times! He bought me a sewing machine for our
wedding and has supplied me with the fabric I needed to sew
whatever was necessary for myself and the children, over the
years.
Our wedding took
place on August 1, 1972. I went to several FW classes
throughout my marriage and found so many things that applied to
different stages of my life. For example, as a newlywed there
were things that I didn’t have a problem with, but as
stresses came into our lives through jobs, moves and conflicts
with people, money problems, church conflicts, health problems
and other things, the principles of the book that I had
overlooked earlier began to be put into practice. This isn’t
a book just for young married women, but for every woman. Even
the widow and the unmarried can benefit from the time-tested
principles it advocates.
Sometimes a newly
married woman will read FW and say, “I’m madly in love with
my husband, so none of these problems will ever happen to me.”
Then, later on, different circumstances occur that exert
pressure on areas in her relationship, things that she didn’t
expect and doesn’t know how to handle. We always start out on
the wedding day, thinking we can handle anything; after all, he
chose me and I chose him – what could go wrong? FW became a
valuable tool in my own marriage as we went through personal
trials such as job stress, job loss, relocation, raising
children and establishing standards to live by.
After the children
came along I found Helen’s book, “All About Raising
Children.” It was just what I needed. I used to wonder what
the secret was that our forefathers had in raising “great”
children, children with principles and values like nobility,
gumption, creativity and drive, people who would become the
leaders of their families and their communities. This book
described many of the character qualities needed to achieve
confident children who were capable of having successful
relationships in their own lives.
Our forefathers
probably would have laughed at us reading a book on how to
raise children, because they handed down their values to the
next generation, and the next, but it has been observed that
the parents of the recent decades did not hand down their
values to their children, and that is why so many of us were
lost and did not know how to find our way to successful lives.
This book capitulated all the things our parents and
grandparents, even great-grandparents embraced, before the
public schools took over most of the hours of the children’s
lives.
One thing that
intrigued me in this book was the section on education. As I
read the rest of the book that showed how children should know
something about classical art and literature, it stimulated my
interest in home teaching. I remembered as a girl several
families in out of the way places in Alaska who had educated
their children themselves by using correspondence courses. What
I remembered the most about these children was the loving bond
they shared with their parents; the closeness they had, even as
teenagers. There was not one bit of tension between the parents
and the children, unlike many regular attenders of public
schools.
The second thing I
noticed about these children was their love for life, and the
other thing I noticed was that they knew basic things in math,
science, reading, writing and so forth. They not only had
knowledge of things like history and health, they related to it
all in a personal way. I knew I wanted this for my children, so
I began to investigate the possibilities of home schooling. I
don’t know what specifically was in the book, “All About
Raising Children” that stirred my interest but I know that
the more I read about all the things you could teach children,
the more I as convinced that I could do it.
To make a long
story short, I began home schooling my children and almost
immediately began to see wonderful results. I felt like I was
peeking into the relationship that many of our pioneer fore
bearers might have had with their children. My home began to
take on a new look, as the handicrafts of the children were on
display. As they grew in appreciation of their home, they
respected it and cared for it. Once my daughter told me that
whenever she saw something out of place she would put it
aright. These were the unsolicited fruits of home teaching. I
used a variety of books and curriculums and made up my own
courses for the children, in compliance with their
personalities and their talents. Instead of being a trial to
me, raising children became a thrilling adventure.
I had such positive
results during home schooling that I couldn’t keep quiet
about it and began to write letters and send home school
literature to others, including Mrs. Andelin and her children.
Many of her own children began to home school and I understand
some of her grandchildren also. I am happy to know that I had a
part in this!
The greatest thing
that happened in all those years was the way the children’s
characters have developed. While other families were having
terrible trials and heartaches with their teenagers, ours were
enjoying a full life and pursuing their talents. Our children
all lived at home through their early 20s and we were in no
hurry for them to leave. We had no conflict with them in the
home, and enjoyed having them stay with us, as young adults.
Today, as a
grandmother, I can still look back to my first encounter with
The Fascinating Girl course and wonder what I would have
done without it. It helped me learn about setting goals and
achieving them. The chapter on Inner Happiness helped me
overcome discouragement and even warded off bouts of
depression. I see many women today who are on anti-depressants
and other pills and I think that a steady adherence to these
principles would help them more without the side effects and
the expense of pharmaceuticals.
What we need most
is a good set of values, so that when we get off balance we can
remember how to get back on the right path. I know my parents
taught me these values but I appreciated so much the fact that
the book had many of them outlined, listed, described and
explained. I’m now in the process of handing these values
down to my children and grandchildren, through letters, videos,
phone calls, emails, visits and example. Helen, you wrote that
book at the right time for me. I can’t express how glad I was
to have had it as a guide at that young age. It was more
valuable to me than my high school or college education. -
Lydia Sherman
Study Groups
We will continue to
encourage Study Groups, consisting of an Introduction followed
by a 12 week course of study. You do not need a permission to
organize and conduct a study group. You may order books and
teaching supplies from the FW office: The books are listed on
the website and the teaching materials consist of the Workbook
for Students @ $15.00, The Teacher’s Lesson Guide@ $10.00 and
the pink invitation to class @ 15 cents. For additional
teaching materials write to the FW office and request a
Teacher’s Order Form. Office address: Fascinating Womanhood,
PO Box 219, Pierce City, MO 65723
Office toll free
phone number: 1-888-890-1750. For ordering only.
Authorized
Teachers
We will not be authorizing Fascinating
Womanhood teachers at the present time. You may teach for a
church without a permission from the FW office, as long as you
have the approval of the minister.
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