“Let the wife make her husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave.” (Martin Luther)
Home-making as a vocation! For some of us it was a new thought. In the first of our April series, Jackie Dunne shared that the very word vocation means “calling.” Early on, most of us have been fed hearty helpings of the smorgasbord of opportunities out there for women in today’s world. Home-making would not be in the top ten on the menu. As a Home Economics major myself with eyes on the ever-evolving fashion industry, I had not seen the enduring value of making a home where new life is produced, nurtured, and prepared to make a difference in the world on behalf of the Kingdom of God.
Jackie challenged us regarding the why we serve in the home, making the point that it’s the Gospel that shapes the hidden heart of homemaking. Growing up on an Iowa farm, I had been given a strong sense of duty. After marrying the love of my life, I often regarded housework well done as duty—a means of being a good Christian wife. It was as if my relationship with my Maker was probationary. I hadn’t fully grasped the truth of the great exchange that took place at the cross Christ. “For our sake, God made Him (Christ) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him (Christ) we might become the righteousness of God.” (II Corinthians 5:21) In Christ, God now sees me as righteous, His beloved child. No amount of scrubbing, polishing or cooking would compel God to love me more. I’ve been freed to enjoy my God and delight in serving Him without being “guilted” into work. We were given this illustration:
God’s works are the ‘verbs’ saves, cleanses, heals, restores, etc.
Out of gratitude, my works to my neighbor are the ‘verbs’ encouraging, nurturing, helping, comforting, etc.
More new thinking: Far away from the Pinterest world or the Home and Garden TV show, Edith Schaeffer wrote that we are an art form. Made in our Creator’s image, we too, create—make choices, arrange, and display. “We produce an environment other people have to live in. We should be conscious of the fact that this environment which we produce by our very being can affect the people who live with us … our conversations, attitudes, behavior, response or lack of response, hardness or compassion, our love or selfishness, joy or dullness, our demonstrated trust and faith or our continual despondence, our concern for others or our self pity—all these make a difference to the people in our environment.”*
Whether we are part-time home-makers or privileged to be in the home full time, the point was made that home-making is a holy work, a matter of fulfilling the charge Jesus gave His followers to love your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27) And the question would be: Who is my neighbor?
Next week, April 11, mothers, grandmothers, and friends of children of all ages won’t want to miss Part II of our Hidden Heart of Homemaking series: “Loving Your Children Well.” Joan Kehr and Debbie Krumsieg will continue the conversation on what it is to love your nearest neighbors. Bring your friends.
Multi-Purpose Room, Building 207, 3rd floor @ the Willows, 213 S. Woods Mill Rd., Chesterfield, MO 63017. For information, call Karen Bacon 314-406-7073.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)
* The Hidden Art of Homemaking, Tyndale House, Carol Stream, IL, p. 208-209