Summer Evening, by Daniel Ridgeway Knight

"And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." Genesis 2:18

help meet=a helper suited to, worthy of, or corresponding to him.....it doesn't say slave, doormat, mouse, child...

"Many hands make light work." We need each other. We live longer, experience less illness, and lead more fulfilling lives with a marriage partner. Some think this places women in a derogatory position. I disagree. Healthy marriages function as a partnership, each taking up a particular responsibility, each helping the other.

Sadly, many women fight against this partnership--at one time I was counted among them. Now I've learned that allowing a man to lead does not mean submitting to his every whim. It simply works better to have a division of labor on a team. In baseball only one person at a time can be the pitcher, but the catcher and other players are just as important to the success of the team as the pitcher.

"Men and women joined together in marriage need to work together as a full partnership. However, a full and equal partnership between men and women does not imply the roles played by the two sexes are the same in God's grand design for His children. As the proclamation clearly states, men and women, though spiritually equal, are entrusted with different but equally significant roles." M. Russell Ballard, "The Sacred Responsibilities of Parenthood," Ensign, Mar. 2006, 29

God did not design the plan of happiness to make us miserable. Just as the name implies, He desires our happiness. Order is part of that happiness. After I got over my feminist indoctrination and embraced my role as wife, mother, and homemaker, I found great joy and fulfillment. It did not make me a lesser person to nurture my own children instead of a roomful of the children of strangers. Because I chose to chauffeur, nurse, doctor, wash, cook, clean, and so on for my family without a tangible paycheck, did not make it of less worth than if I had chosen to leave my children and do these things for strangers. These things were done for the ones I love most; my paycheck was of much more value than mere money. Following God's plan, I learned at a deeper level that His commandments produce happiness and  do not restrict in the least.