WAKE FOREST, N.C. – The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and Crossway Publishing will re-release the updated version of the 1990 booklet, “Where’s Mom? The High Calling of Wife and Mother in Biblical Perspective,” by Dorothy K. Patterson, June 16.

Dorothy, the wife of Paige Patterson – president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, is celebrated for her books on theological issues of womanhood such as "BeAttitudes for Women," Handbook for Minister's Wives and The Family, and The Woman's Study Bible.

The release of her book, according to Patterson, comes during the time when the family is under “unprecedented attack” by popular culture.

"God's first institution, the cornerstone, arching metaphor under which He reveals Himself is under assault," Patterson said. That is evidenced, she said, by the statistics on family problems and breakups in ministers' homes being roughly parallel to the rest of the country.

Much of the re-released booklet will trace the biblical roots of the importance of homemaking and motherhood. Through the nurturing truth of God's Word, she encourages women to give the best of themselves to their husbands and children, thereby glorifying God.

"In the quest to be all you are meant to be, you must not forget what you are meant to be," Patterson writes. "The question has never been whether or not a woman wants the best for her husband and children and even for herself. Rather, the real question is this: Is being someone's wife and another's mother really worth the investment of a life?"

Patterson argues that, contrary to popular beliefs, being a wife and mother brings self-esteem. There is nothing in the Scripture that implies women are inferior to men, she said.

"Any attitude or action suggesting a woman's insignificance, inferiority or lack of personhood originated in the Fall," Patterson writes in reference to the Garden of Eden. "The stigma of inferiority is no more appropriate for the wife than it would be for Christ."

Patterson argued that the assaults of the world may be counteracted only be recovering a devotion to the biblical principles for family and marriage.

The booklet, available for purchase at the Southern Baptist Convention’s Kingdom Family Rally, will come with a Bible study to promote deeper reflection and biblical guidance for women to understand their roles as wives and mothers.

By Pauline J.