Welcome to Day #4 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:
When a house is built, the first thing that needs to be done is sometimes clearing the property in order that the main goal - a built house - may be achieved. A plot of land with nothing but trees has no room for a house. So, we clear them away to make way for the structure we intend to build.
This series is a lot like building a house. When we're done, I pray that you are able to stand confident in the roles that God has given to you and that you can be an example to other "home builders".
So far, we've done our own tree-clearing by getting rid of the excess and focusing on the main goal: glorifying God. We've talked about the need for us, as homemakers, to become more intentional when it comes to completing the important job we are called to do {a.k.a. seeking to be a good steward of all that we've been given}.
Then, we cleared away some more trees by focusing on Who we work for; knowing that all of our work is worship when done for the Lord. Finally, we finished up our tree-clearing mission by defining some of the biblical purposes of home and I pray that you were able to see your home in a different light; to see it's great potential to be used for the kingdom of God.
We're shifting gears just a bit now and starting the next phase of our "home building" project: pouring the foundation. Whereas the first three post have been big-picture views of our home and our role within it, these next three posts are going to begin to bring that view into focus even more. It's still going to be a larger picture of homemaking, but it will set the foundation for later on in this series when we begin to address some practical ways to achieve professional homemaking.
The first thing we need to do before building our house, though, is to pick out a floor plan: something that our home will be modeled after. Now, if we were building a literal house, we'd likely hire an architect or at least, look in a book of house plans. Luckily, as homemakers, we have access to the Master Architect. He has his own book of plans - the Bible - and in it, we will find our blueprint.
So, today, I'd like to take a look at what the Bible has to say about our homemaking job:
BUILD THE HOME
"The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish tears it down with her own hands."
{Proverbs 14:1}
How does one tear a house down?
How about being a nagging wife? Consistently disrespecting your husband?
What about ignoring your kids? Not teaching them the truth of God's word?
So, how do we build our house? Well, first of all we must rely on the Master Architect:
"Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it;..."
{Psalm 127:1a}
Then we must do our part to be the kind of wife, mother and homemaker that God would have us to be. Building up our husbands and our children.
WATCH OVER THE HOME
"She looks well to the ways of her household..."
{Proverbs 31:27a}
Do you know what goes on in your home? I mean, what really goes on?
For example, do you know what your kid's watch on TV? Sure, you may know the name of the show, but do you know what kind of messages it might be sending your children? A homemaker needs to know what influences are entering her home.
Or, how about this: when was the last time you went around your house to do an "inspection" to see what little odd jobs need to be taken care of? A homemaker should know what needs to be fixed and {if you're brave enough} roll up your sleeves and try to fix it on your own. After all, who says a biblical homemaker can't use a power tool every once in a while?
Here's one more for you {and this one definitely hits home for me}: do you consistently run out of things? Shampoo, flour, toilet paper? A homemaker should keep tabs on the resources that her home needs to function. I realize that accidents happen and certain seasons of life make this more challenging than others, but in general, we {with my raised hand} shouldn't be running out of supplies or ingredients.
MANAGE THE HOME
"Therefore, I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach;"
{1 Timothy 5:14}
Older women are to teach younger women...
"to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored."
{Titus 2:4b-5}
Do you see a theme in these two verses? Loving your husband, loving your children, and keeping the home are your biblical responsibilities. Very serious responsibilities. As you can see if the first verse {1 Timothy}, fulfilling your God-given roles serves as a defense against the enemy. Who is the enemy? Satan.
In the second passage {Titus}, it goes even further by saying that to NOT fulfill these roles is to dishonor the word of God. The KJV translation reads, "that the word of God be not blasphemed". Dishonoring and blaspheming God's word by not loving my husband, not loving my children, and not keeping my home? Yikes!
AN EXAMPLE
We've all heard of the proverbs 31 woman and many of us have mixed feelings about her. Some of us love her, while others feel intimated or overwhelmed by all that she is. No matter how you feel about this woman, she is in the Bible to give us an example of a biblical homemaker.
Let's take a look at some of her duties and descriptions:
- Woman:
- She dresses in fine linen and purple; her household is dressed in scarlet.
- Strength and dignity are her clothing.
- She is not afraid of the snow because her household is taken care of.
- Smiles at the future.
- Opens her mouth in wisdom.
- Teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
- Wife:
- In this category, she's called "excellent".
- She's worth far more than jewels.
- The heart of her husband trusts her and he lacks nothing.
- She does him good all the days of her life.
- Her husband in known in the gates, when he sits among the elders.
- Her husband praises her: "Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all."
- Mother:
- Her children rise up and bless her.
- Worker:
- Looks for wool and flax {her raw materials}.
- Later, we see that she works with a distaff and spindle: tools used in spinning fibers into thread.
- With delight {not begrudgingly}, she works with her hands.
- She is like merchant ships; she brings her food from afar.
- Rises in the early morning ours {while still night} to give food to her household and maidens.
- Girds herself with strength; makes her arms strong.
- Her lamp doesn't go out at night.
- She gives to the poor and needy.
- She looks well to the ways of her household.
- Does not eat the bread of idleness.
- Business Woman:
- Considers a field and buys it.
- From her earnings, she plants a vineyard.
- She makes linen garments and sells them.
- Supplies belts to tradesmen.
Then, verses 30 and 31 wrap up this famous passage with these words,
"Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her the product of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates."
You see, as much as we talk about the Proverbs 31 woman, we tend to miss out on the entire point of the passage. We focus on what she does: she's an excellent wife, a blessed mother, a diligent worker, a smart business woman... But, we fail to miss the REASON she was this way: her heart.
This was a woman who feared the Lord. In these passages we get a glimpse of what
Avodah {simultaneous work, worship, and service} looks like. This woman loved God and loved people. That's what drove her to live out such a full life.
This my friends, is our blueprint: to build our homes, to watch over our homes, and to manage our homes. And, because God knows that some of us learn by "seeing" someone live it out, he's given us the Proverbs 31 woman to model ourselves after. But, of course, we all need to remember that we cannot do this alone:
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