Author Jennie Chancey of Birmingham, AL shared the story during a national radio interview (Listen Here,http://www.visionforum.com/Press/PHW/) promoting her new book Passionate Housewives Desperate for God (Vision Forum, Oct. 30, 2007), which she co-authored with Stacy McDonald of Peoria, IL. "It s ironic today that our culture can praise a homemaker to the heavens as long as it's a dad," Chancey observed.

Today, couples with the wife bringing home most or all of the bacon have become increasingly more common, especially among the nation's twenty- and thirty-somethings. Among college-educated women with infant children in the U.S., 63 percent worked in the labor force in 2002 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). Three out of four households today have two working parents and most working adults find it challenging to take care of both their family and work obligations. Some 70 percent of married mothers work outside the home and are challenged to balance work and family early on in the parenting journey (Families and Work Institute). There were 5.3 million stay-at-home moms in 2003, while 39 percent of these mothers were under age 35 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005).

Passionate Housewives Desperate for God was not written to condemn working women, Chancey and McDonald state. However, the book was written to dispel harmful myths about modern housewives. "They picture this new, awful stereotype that is being pushed in modern television programming. Women who are at home fulltime are secretly bored, angry and frustrated, and they take it out on their children in private, and they take it out on their husbands by being adulteresses. And, this is really supposed to be the secret life of the American housewife," Chancey continued.

The book advances the biblical model for womanhood as outlined in such passages as Titus 2 and Proverbs 31. The Proverbs 31 woman--one of the clearest descriptions of God's design for woman--is not a mindless drone, but an industrious steward who looks well to the ways of her family and helps her husband manage a thriving household economy.

McDonald spoke to the heart of the two-year collaboration which she and Chancey wrote from their homes while raising 18 children between them. "We wanted women to see that it's not some kind of female purgatory but a blessing to bring up our children. We are bringing up the next generation for the glory of God."

Most recently, Passionate Housewives has found an ally in Mrs. Paige Patterson, whose husband is well-known in Southern Baptist circles having twice served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Dr. Patterson is currently serving as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. This fall, Dr. and Mrs. Patterson launched a new academic program at Southwestern to reinforce biblical gender roles, including a controversial course on homemaking available only to women.

Mrs. Patterson wrote in her endorsement: "The biblical paradigm for womanhood is marked by clear, though often hidden, distinctives. Especially are these noted in the Proverbs 31 description of the 'woman of strength.' PASSIONATE HOUSEWIVES DESPERATE FOR GOD provides the bookends for the life of this remarkable woman--on the one hand, she is passionate, enthusiastic about everything to which she puts her hand, even the most mundane tasks in her home; on the other hand, she is totally committed to what God wants her to be and to do without being swayed by culture or peers. She makes no apology about devoting her foremost energies and greatest creativity to her own family and household, and in so doing she is confident of offering her best and most precious gift to the Lord! Give us passionate women who are desperate for God, and we will change the world!"

In looking to the future, the Passionate Housewives authors also send a strong message to the next generation. "We really need to encourage young women. The ages 12 and 13 are a big time in a young girls life. This is a time like no other in your life. Look to godly women in your church, your mom and your grandmother, and ask questions. You need to cultivate those relationships because they are priceless. You can't function in the next phase of your life if you haven't trained properly and built the foundation right now."

McDonald is the author of Raising Maidens of Virtue: A Study of Feminine Loveliness for Mothers and Daughters. She and her husband, Pastor James McDonald operate Family Reformation Ministries (www.familyreformation.org).

Chancey is founder of Ladies Against Feminism (www.ladiesagainstfeminism.com). She and her husband Matthew parent and homeschool their brood of eight children.

For information about Passionate Housewives Desperate for God and its authors, visit www.passionatehousewives.blogspot and www.visionforum.com. Passionate Housewives Desperate for God is available for purchase in bookstores and online.