Welcome to Day #3 of the 31 Days to Professional Homemaking series. To learn more about this series, click HERE. There you'll be able to follow along or catch up if you happen to miss anything. Also, please know that I am not an expert in marriage, motherhood, or homemaking. I'm just a woman {who happens to be a wife, mother, and homemaker}, trying to figure it all out, by the grace of God. This series is just as much for me as it is for anyone reading.
Before we get started, I'd like to offer you the following button, in case you want to share this series with your readers:
A few nights ago, I was in what is known as the man cave/music studio {where our computer is}, working diligently on this series. A few steps away, in the living room, my husband was watching a show on HGTV called Million-Dollar Rooms. From where I sat, as I typed away at the computer, I overheard each homeowner go on and on about why they love their room. One homeowner's "room" was a 15,000 square foot gymnasium, complete with full basketball court, second-floor walking track, golf simulator, and two-lane bowling alley. Another homeowner boasted that their floors cost "4 million" and how "it was worth every penny".
Now, I'm not going to lie. There was a time in my life, not too long ago, when this show would have sent pangs of jealousy running through me. But, as I listened to these homeowners talk about why they paid for luxurious rooms {and, by default, luxurious homes...} the responses where all similar to one another:
Entertainment and Showing Off
Admittedly, it made me sick to my stomach. Is "entertainment" the purpose of a home? Or is the purpose to create such a beautiful home that we invite people over all the time just to show it off?
I assure you that neither "entertainment" nor "showing off" is a biblical purpose for a home. But, have you ever stopped to think about what the true purpose of a home really is? Have you ever slowed down from the child-raising, the chores, and the cooking long enough to ponder the big-picture reason for it all?
Yesterday, we talked about creating a lifestyle of "Avodah" {simultaneous work, worship, and service} and doing everything we do for the glory of God. That's our ultimate purpose as homemakers. But, what about our home; the actual structure that we dwell beneath? What's its purpose?
HAVEN
In the 1828 Webster Dictionary, the word "haven" is defined as follows:
"A harbor; a port; a bay, recess or inlet of the sea, or the mouth of a river which affords good anchorage and a safe station for ships; any place in which ships can be sheltered by the land from the force of tempests and a violent sea."
It's a place where the ships can go for safety; temporarily escaping the dangers of the sea. What a beautiful picture of what our homes could be! A place for our husband and children to find refuge from the temptations and struggles of the world around us.
Keep in mind, though, that the only way that our home can be a haven is to be on guard for things that would seek to permeate our homes and destroy our family. What are you allowing into your home that could compromise its purpose as a haven for your family? {Television? Internet? Books? Magazines?}
SCHOOL
"These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
{Deuteronomy 6:6-9}
Now, I'm not going to list all the reasons why you "should" homeschool, in the sense that I would try to persuade you to teach your children math, science, history, and language arts. But, I will strongly encourage you to homeschool in the sense that you diligently teach them about Jesus.
If the idea of trying to formally teach your child anything makes you nervous, be encouraged. As you can see from the verses above, teaching your children about Jesus is simply talking about Him. At dinnertime, let your conversations be laced with who He is to you. When you and your child are walking around the mall or park, tell him/her what God has done in your life. When you discipline them or when they come to you with a broken heart, take them to scripture and show them what Jesus says.
HOSPITAL
In 1 Timothy 5, Paul talks about honoring widows. He states that a widow who has children and grandchildren should be cared for by her family. But, if she is alone, it is the church's responsibility to care for her. However, in order for a widow to be put on the "list" {of widows to be cared for}, she must meet certain criteria:
"A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work."
{1 Timothy 5:9-10}
Did you catch that? "...shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has assisted those in distress...". If a woman did not look to invest in the lives of others in her earlier years, she was not qualified to be cared for in her older years. Yikes!
Our homes should be a place where we nurture and care for others. {Even the word "hospitality" itself includes the word "hospital".} Sometimes it may mean to literally help someone to get over a physical illness, or may it just means feeding someone who is hungry. It might mean to literally clothe someone who "has not", or it may only require that we provide a listening ear to someone who feels lonely.
More important than any physical relief {illness or hunger}, we'll be able to help someone else heal from spiritual sickness or pain. That's what true hospitality and ministry is all about: showing our family, friends, and strangers the love of Jesus by tending to the heart of their need.
BED AND BREAKFAST
In Romans 12, Paul gives us a picture of what dedicated service to God looks like. He includes:
"...contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality."
{Romans 12:13}
What I want you to notice about this verse is the first part: "contributing to the needs of the saints".
Who are the saints? Christians. We are the saints. So, this verse is telling us to contribute to the needs of one another. And sometimes that need is a place to stay.
This reminds me that our homes can function like a non-profit version of a "bed and breakfast". After all, a bed and breakfast is simply a home whose owners earn a profit from hosting overnight guests on a consistent basis. Some guests stay one night, while others stay seven nights.
Have you ever hosted an evangelist or missionary for several nights in a row? Has there ever been a time where a family needed a place to stay for a little while because they were in the middle of a life transition that left them temporarily homeless?
Better question: would you open you home in either of those circumstances?
EMBASSY
"Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers, to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul."
{1 Peter 2:11}
When you first meet someone, it's likely that they'll ask you: "where are you from?" Now, if you and I were to engage in a real-life conversation, you'd have a general idea of where I'm from because my accent, I've been told, is very southern {a.k.a. "country"}. The way I speak always clues people into the fact that I live somewhere in the southern half of the United States.
Now, here in the south, my accent is nothing abnormal. Southern accents are heard all the time. But, if I were to head up north to visit some of you, I would sound a little... different. Your friends and family would know "she's not from around here...". Right?
Well, we know that the answer to the "where are you from" questions is generally our hometown or home country. But, as Christians, we have no earthly home. We're aliens and strangers in a foreign land.
Have you ever heard the phrase "ambassadors for Christ"? Do you know what that means? It's something that I knew in my head, but didn't really sink in until a couple of days ago. You see, an ambassador is someone who lives in another country with the purpose of representing their home country. Their headquarters is called an embassy.
Because the Bible tells us that we're aliens and strangers, we know that we have been put on earth for the purpose of representing our home: heaven. Our home is our own embassy. It's where our family is "headquartered".
How do you and your family represent Christ on earth? How does your home help you do that?
CHURCH
"For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them."
{Matthew 18:20}
Did you know that your home is supposed to function like a "mini" church? In a family you {ideally} have a husband, who is the head/leader {pastor/shepherd of his home}, a wife who is the help meet, and children who are being nurtured and discipled by his or her parents. Husband/father, as pastor/shepherd, teaches and guides his family with the truth of the gospel, much like the pastor/shepherd of a church. And, much like that pastor/shepherd of the church, the husband/father will give an answer to God for how he lead his family.
But, what does that have to do with the home itself?
Everything.
Your home should be a place where songs of praise are sung to our heavenly Father. Where prayers are lifted. Where truth is taught. Where Christ is an honored guest. That, my friends, is what I call "having church", and your home can be the backdrop.
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Thanks for sticking with me through this longer-than-intended post. I pray that it encouraged you in some way because, I don't know about you, but knowing that the purpose of my home is so much more than to provide shelter from rain and a place to lay your head at night definitely helps put me in the right frame of mind. Suddenly, the cleaning, organizing, and cooking doesn't seem so menial after all. It actually feels more like the kingdom work that it is when I remember all the ways that my home is used to help me live an "Avodah" life and bring glory to God.
Today's Challenge:
Each day, I'll give you challenge: one small thing you can do to apply each day's topic to your life and your home.
Have you ever thought that you home had so much potential? A haven, school, hospital, bed and breakfast, embassy, and church. Pretty cool stuff, huh?
Here's your challenge for today:
1. Take a piece of paper and write down each potential purpose. Then, underneath each purpose, brainstorm some practical ways you can help your home to reach that potential. How can you make your home more of a haven? More of a bed and breakfast?
2. Chose one thing and do it. Simple as that. Reevaluate your television habits so that your home becomes more of a haven. Make plans to invite the new neighbors over for dinner {technically, they're strangers if you don't know them yet...}. Look for ways to teach the truths of scripture to your children in a creative way.
Have you ever thought that you home had so much potential? A haven, school, hospital, bed and breakfast, embassy, and church. Pretty cool stuff, huh?
Here's your challenge for today:
1. Take a piece of paper and write down each potential purpose. Then, underneath each purpose, brainstorm some practical ways you can help your home to reach that potential. How can you make your home more of a haven? More of a bed and breakfast?
2. Chose one thing and do it. Simple as that. Reevaluate your television habits so that your home becomes more of a haven. Make plans to invite the new neighbors over for dinner {technically, they're strangers if you don't know them yet...}. Look for ways to teach the truths of scripture to your children in a creative way.
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