Joy, Thankfulness and Contentment

I have just finished reading To Train Up A Child for the second time (first time I didn’t really understand it). Anyways, I thought it was VERY interesting that the letter Michael Pearl wrote to his sons before they were even old enough to court/date addressed some things discussed in Chapter Two of CTTHHM. Some excerpts:

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The second thing to look for in a wife is cheerfulness. Now some might ignore this qualification altogether, but I can’t emphasize too forcefully the value and practicality of this quality. A girl who is unhappy and discontent before marriage will NOT suddenly change afterwards. Everyone has trials and adversities. The happy, cheerful girl has learned to deal with them and still enjoy life. No man can make a discontented woman happy. A woman who does not find joy from a wellspring within will not find it in the difficulties and trials of marriage and motherhood.

Courtship is a garden in spring --- everybody’s looks promising; but marriage is a garden in August, when the quality of the soil and seed and the care to guard against pestilence, blight, and weeds begins to manifest itself. The fruit of the womb can be spoiled before germination. ... A girl who gets her feelings hurt and cries in order to manipulate you will be a ball and chain after you are married. Cheerfulness shows up best when things are not exactly the way she likes them.

The next quality to look for is thankfulness. When a young girl is unthankful toward her family or her circumstances, a change of environment and relationships is not going to make her thankful. Thankfulness is not a response to one’s environment, rather, an expression of the heart. Avoid a moody, unthankful, unhappy girl. If she is not full of the joy of living before marriage, she surely will not be afterwards.
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I told my husband I was glad he did not read a letter like that before we met, otherwise we would never have married! And I am also thankful that God HAS changed me. I still need to work on the cheerfulness part. The thankfulness part comes a little easier. Especially when I read something like the letter I read and realize that if I had not married my man, I would prolly be divorced, not know the Lord, and be miserable.