Keepers at Home {part 1}

So we’ve all been there…sitting in the doctor’s office filling out paperwork and it asks that inevitable question…Occupation?...You would rather leave it blank than write the word “homemaker” on the line.

Or maybe someone introduces them self to you and they ask you what you do…Why is it that you wish you could tell them that you do anything in the world besides stay at home with your children?

I think that one of the big reasons it is so hard to answer this question for some women is because our culture keeps telling us that we are as not as important as the other women  who bring home a paycheck. ..Just think about it…Why is it that a woman who works at a daycare taking care of someone else’s children looked at more highly than the woman who has chosen to sacrifice a career and a paycheck to be able and raise her own children?

I’ll be honest. I have struggled with these questions myself.  Even though I LOVE staying at home with my boys, I have been that woman in the doctor’s office hesitating to put it on paper.  But like any other struggle, God’s Word is quick to point me in the right direction and reassure me of my calling. Titus 2:1-5 says this:

¹ But you must speak what is consistent with sound teaching. ² Older men are to be self-controlled, worthy of respect, sensible, and sound in faith, love, and endurance. ³ In the same way, older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not addicted to much wine. [They are] to teach what is good, ⁴ so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be sensible, pure, good homemakers, and submissive to their husbands, so that God's message will not be slandered.

Our culture no longer looks to God's Word for answers to questions like: What is the man's role? What is the woman's role? But that doesn't mean that we as individuals should not.  Colossians 3:5 says this:

"Therefore, put to death whatever in you is worldly: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry."

I want to focus on the words "evil desire" and "greed".  Sure, we all want nice things.  For awhile now, I have wanted a souped up camera and a new dining room table set.  And I know that if I went out and found a full time job and sent my boys to daycare, I could have those things and Jordan could have a nice truck in no time at all. 

Don't get me wrong.  This is not a post about whether or not the stay at home mom is better than the mom with a career/job outside the home.

But maybe you should examine your heart and your circumstances.  Is God calling you to give up a career in order to be a homemaker? Has he given you the resources to do so? What are your reasons for working while your children are so young? Is it out of necessity? Or can you make the sacrifice but are unwilling?

For me personally, God has called me to this and He has made a way.  Yes, it is a sacrifice day in and day out. But I do not want to have to stand before the Lord one day and try to explain to him why driving a nice vehicle, having the nicest house on the block, and having my fingernails always manicured was more important to me than being a keeper at home and obeying His commands for me...I do not want to have to explain to him that dressing my children in the nicest clothes and buying them the best toys and even sending them to the best college was more important than obeying His will for me. I do not want to try and explain to Him why I didn't cherish my family above my worldly desires.

I am so thankful that I am a homemaker. I no longer shy away from telling people what it is that I do.  In fact, I will boldly scream it from the roof tops.  I love what I do and I no longer read scriptures about homemaking wishing that the Lord had given us women a different role.  I cannot imagine how it would feel to have to send my boys off to daycare everyday knowing that someone else was shaping their values and witnessing all their changes and growth…and knowing that they wouldn’t get near as excited or proud as I would.   I may not get paid monetarily, but I get paid in ways that money could never buy. My pay is hugs, kisses, smiles, laughter, first words, first steps...