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Abide in Love ~ Abound in Thanksgiving ~ Work in Joy...
Live Fully ~ Suffer Rightly ~ Trust Deeply ~ Bless Truly!

LISTEN & LEARN:

"Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long."
~ Psalms 25:4,5

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LESSONS FOR A LEARNER

Sunday, July 27, 2014

A HOMEMAKER IS:

I'm unsettled.

I'm unsettled regarding the stigma of a "Homemaker" or "Just a Stay-at-home-Mom."

Thankfully, I dwell in circles where this calling is affirmed and encouraged and my husband isn't the only one saying his homemaking wife "works harder than I do.":)

Maybe it's my pride.  Maybe it's my stubbornness.  Maybe it's my innate desire for justice and for all to believe what's true.  But I don't want to settle for just being content in my heart with knowing that being a homemaker is more than the stigma of having little value or at least being underappreciated even if its value would be verbally praised.

I want to have a voice.  When someone asks me, "What do you do?"  I want to respond with something thought-provoking, something that makes others (even fellow SAHMs) pause and ponder the honor and significance of being a homemaker.  Something that catches so that this generation can break the mold and when the vocation (from the root of "the calling") of "homemaker" is mentioned it invokes a sense of awe instead of invoking a sense of awkwardness.

I listened to a John Piper Mother's Day sermon on Proverbs 1:7-9 that brought me to tears as it resonated with my heart's desire to invest deeply into my children.  It challenged and inspired me as I feel where I fall short in my wrestling between getting caught in my own agenda and having my heart set on things above.

And I feel the weight and get weighed down emotionally, physically, and now that I think of it spiritually as well (not keeping God's perspective) by the mundane, the interruptions, the resistance, the lack of evidence that I'm making a difference in the life of these littles (ages 6,4, & 19 months).  Hmmmm...to have the faith and hope and anticipation of looking forward and seeing/knowing what they will need to be impactors for the kingdom down the road without being discouraged by the reality that there will be areas I fail them in and DEAR LORD, may it NOT be failing them in ways in which they will be hindered in walking WITH YOU and Serving FOR YOUR GLORY!  Oh, the wisdom that will take!  May my heart be like the young man Solomon desiring wisdom...for me, LORD, wisdom in parenting, shepherding these sheep you have entrusted to me and not be distracted by my desire for order, praise, perfection, or any other idol.

So back to the reality of "Homemaker." "Homemaker" has a "simple" connotation for the "simple-minded."  When in reality a "Home-maker" is:

A Love-maker (first and "should be" foremost:))
A Peace-maker (a unique challenge with lots of sinners living in close quarters day in and day out)
A Food-maker (3 to sometimes 6 times a day!  Time to figure out what to eat, get it ready, and clean it                                  up again!?!)
A Mend-maker (from broken zipper to broken heart, from bruised knee to bruised confidence)
A Bed-maker (and all the other laundry that comes with the sheets)
A Clean-maker (or at least straightening it up somewhat regularly!)
A Decision-maker (all the small instantaneous "Mom, can I's...?" to the medium "Where should we play which sport? to the important "How do I best, most genuinely instruct you in the ways of the LORD!?!"
A Comfort-maker (from comforting the crying baby, the whining toddler, or upset teenager to making the guests feel comfortable, showing genuine Christian hospitality and not just entertaining with a matching themed ambiance.)
A Decorator (all those little things that make a house a home)

And all that just in the home...

Not to mention the chauffeuring, the cheerleading, the appointments, the shopping...all the activities of the executive homemaker that make up the "out of office" hours!

(**And this is not by any means intended to cause division amidst my sisters-in-Christ who choose to have a monetary job.  This is just my processing my personal feelings of the societal stigma of being a homemaker.)