, that she was never going to get
married. The Lord began to deal with her--at the same time that a
young man was laying siege to her heart! She finally surrendered to
the Lord, and gave up her cherished dreams of the kind of missionary
career she had mapped out for herself. A few years later she was a
happy missionary wife and mother!

Most of the above is particularly directed to young women, but it may
apply to young men as well. In a limited number of cases it may be
necessary for men to remain single, particularly those who engage in
pioneer work of a sort that would be impossible for women. This
probably means giving up anything that could rightly be called a
"home." Even where two single men are together, "batching it" is
usually a sorry business; but when the call of the Lord comes, He will
give grace. In that respect it is much easier for women. Two
unmarried women can live together and make a home that seems like a
home; most men do not seem to have that gift!

The advantages and disadvantages of the single woman missionary, as
over and against those of the married woman (or vice versa) are often
debated. The single woman certainly has the advantage in being able to
give all her time and energy to the work, though the married woman can
give help to married women in a way that an unmarried woman cannot. It
is not a matter for anyone to decide arbitrarily. Remember that "each
man hath his own gift from God, one after this manner, and another
after that" (I Cor. 7:7). Whatever God has called us to do, we _can_
do. Each state has its own blessings. When one sees the "trouble in
the flesh" (I Cor. 7:28, K.J.V.) that bringing up children on the
mission field entails,[5] it is almost enough to make one feel that
the single state is the easier. It _is_ easier in some ways, of
course. Yet remaining single is not easy either. Every human heart
longs for someone to "belong to," and perhaps the hardest thing that
the single missionary has to face is that she can never, never say to
anyone, "I'm going to stay with you."

CHAPTER 8

_The Right to a Normal Home Life_

"After marriage a lady worker continues to be a missionary
in active service and her changed status will afford new
opportunities for service. She will need rightly to
apportion time to language study, home duties and her
calling as a missionary. This will require changes in
outlook and habits, but if the responsibilit