Psalm 128:3, “Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house…” Titus 2:4-5, “That they may teach the younger women to be….keepers at home…” 1 Timothy 5:14, “…that the younger women…guide the house…”
Your home is the center of your world. All our domestic affections revolve around home. Home is our headwaters. Healthy headwaters send fruitfulness and blessing downstream, one generation after another. In the very center of the home is a woman who keeps, preserves, manages, and guides the home life. She has the power to make these headwaters sweet and beautiful, nourishing and refreshing.
Domesticity is a beautiful word and a beautiful calling, and it is the unique feminine domain. God is not afraid to delegate this notable work of bringing up future generations to women. The family and the home are His ideas, not ours. He tells us to bear fruit, to love our husbands and kids, to be discreet and chaste, to bring up kids and show hospitality, and then to teach the younger women to do the same thing with the next generation. This is reformational living, and it is a culture-building work.
Home can sometimes be Grand Central Station, but it is Mom’s steady presence and love and labor that guides and keeps it. She is in the very heart of the house, not out on the edges. This makes her the life and soul of the home, which is exactly what God designed her to be. Homemaking is an expansive, challenging calling that has a far bigger impact than any of us can really grasp. How many hundreds of descendents will you have? Homemaking is a sacrificial calling that bears fruit a hundred fold. It is a tremendous opportunity for good. To hold such an influential position in the hearts and lives of so many is a humble crown of blessing.
0
0
I appreciate the analogy of headwaters to the mother of the family in the home.The headwater’s of a river are usually in the mountains, surrounded by beautiful trees and vegetation.They bubble fourth with pure,, life- giving water. Right? So let us be; God helping us.
I am so thrilled to read this – thank you! God’s word is my standard, not the expectations of others (which at times I apply to myself). There, recalibrated.
I’ve had a couple of challenging days, letting the “little things” get to me. Thank you so much for this timely reminder! Convicted and inspired.
Thank you for the reminder
Very humbling, this remarkable calling we enjoy by Grace alone.
Thank you so much for this.
Oh, thank you! Though I read this on the 15th, it was when it was most needed. I felt utterly defeated today, because I was focused on my troubles instead of the One Who kindly ordained them for me. I felt like a failure because I looked at my children’s sins instead of praying for them, entrusting them into the hands of the One Who can turn them around and seeing what He can make them become.
Steady presence, soul of the home, expansive calling…. this is what I needed to hear again, and again.
Thank you.
Well said, Nancy.
I agree with Lisa H. that we need to hear this again and again.
Thank you
Beautiful! I love my calling of homemaker(wanted to be one since around age 5) and my heart is always SO thrilled when I read posts like this!
Blessings