It along with mothering and being a godly wife - and the three go hand-in-hand in my opinion - is what I am most passionate about.
As I stated last week here, I am not perfect, nor am I a perfect mommy, wife or a perfect homemaker. However, I am so very passionate about what I consider to be my Divine assignment. Making my home a safe, soft spot for my family is a holy assignment from God. Check out Titus 2 and Proverbs 31 to read His assignment to us women/mommies yourself. I do not want to start a debate or stir up controversy, but I struggle to see the Divine assignment that I have been called to in any different light. I honor God every time I cook a nutritious meal for my family, every time I sweep away crumbs after a meal, when I fold my husband's t-shirts, and put away my children's tiny socks, each time I scrub the toilet and decorate a corner of our home, I am glorifying God.
God has really burdened me lately to share my passion, my Divine assignment, with other women. I hope to do that more here on my blog, and in real life. I hope to share some of what has made homemaking work for me. It is a lost art for sure, and I look forward to encouraging other women and bringing to light the JOY that can be found in this assignment from God!
I didn't set out to be a homemaker. I had big dreams after I finished my degree in elementary education. My plans were to teach a few years, and then I wanted to go back to school for my masters in teaching. After experiencing college and classes that I truly loved, I longed for more academia. I found a place where I thrived. While there is nothing wrong with that per say, God slowly started working on and softening my heart, and I grew less and less content with working outside the home - trying to juggle two worlds. When I became pregnant with Cadi, I longed for a different journey. Jim and I prayed together and committed this area of our life to God, and I started reading everything I could get my hands on about being a godly wife, mommy, and homemaker. I poured over Titus 2 and Proverbs 31. I know many women have read those same verses and have come to different conclusions. But for myself, I could not ignore my Divine assignment. For the first time in my life I saw being a wife, homemaker and mommying for what it truly is - a ministry. A ministry that both my husband and I see as my priority ministry while my children are young and in our home. Not everyone can see it that way, not everyone will agree, but for me, for our family - this is where God has us.
Everyday is not peachy or rosy. But when I prayerfully give God over my days they truly become glorious and beautiful, and I am able to look past the dirty diapers, the exhausting moments, the piles of laundry and see what is truly there. It is precious, and it is fleeting. I know one day soon I am going to wake up to a quiet home, with no squabbling, but no giggling either, with no crumbs on my floor, but no chubby baby in a highchair, with no alphabet cards strewn across the floor, but no sweet little girl to teach anymore. I don't want to miss my Divine assignment, my glorious calling. I don't want you to miss it either, dear friend. I want to encourage you tired, frazzled mommies to persevere, to see the glorious in the mundane. I want you to embrace this glorious, Divine assignment of being a godly wife, mommy, and homemaker. At the end of the day, I know I will not have missed out on any days spent in an executive office away from my children, or surprisingly now I realize I am not missing out in ministering to other people's children - there may be days for that in the future, if God sees fit. Right now, this moment, my ministry is right here, with a little boy and a little girl who I so desire to share the love of Christ with, my ministry is right here with a husband getting ready for the pastorate, my ministry is right here making my home lovely and welcoming. I feel privileged to have been given such a Divine assignment. I do not take it lightly, and I do not wish these fleeting moments away. I am cherishing them. Every single one - the difficult and the sunny.
"Whatever parents may do for their children, they should at least make their childhood sunny and tender. Their young lives are so delicate that harshness may mar their beauty for ever, and so sensitive that every influence that falls upon them leaves its trace, which grows into the character either as a grace or a blemish. A happy childhood stores away sunshine in the chambers of the heart which brightens the life to its close. An unhappy childhood may so fill the life's fountains with bitterness as to sadden all the after years." J.R. Miller "Homemaking"
Looking forward to storing away sunshine in the chambers of two little hearts.
Addis Ababa Time