Time is Fleeting

Look back just a few years ago, and can you see a few changes in your life?  I know I can.  Some of them are drastic.  Several years ago, however, I never would have expected the changes.  The rest of today's post is at Christian Homemaking.  Please join us there.

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Stay at Home Mothers of the Past

Christian families have changed their viewpoint quite a bit over the past several years.  Instead of embracing women as being keepers at home, we often hear excuses about how it is too hard to do this.

Only about forty years ago, it was normal for mothers to stay home. People didn't have nearly the expectation of lifestyle that many do today. They didn't have computers or cell phones, etc.  Families had one landline, and they had to be very careful to call long distance only during the "cheap" times.  Families had much smaller, less luxurious houses.  Some families lived in an apartment or trailer until they had been married for several years and had a few children before they finally were able to buy their first house. Families bought clothes from secondhand, cheap places.  It was a luxury to go to Walmart and buy something new, like for a birthday or Christmas.  Families were very frugal in many ways.  Instead of women going to work to bring in money, they sacrificed financially for a husband to go to school to get a degree if it was necessary.

We need to rethink our priorities.  Our priorities should not be to have more money or more "stuff".  The priority should always be for women to be the keepers of their homes and for men to be the providers, like the Bible says.

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The Last Homemaker in the World

Sometimes we women can get very discouraged in our role of homemaker.  We expect and want praise and recognition for the job we do at home.  It used to be that the homemaker's role was highly revered and respected, but for many, this is no longer the case.  To the Church's shame, it is largely not even being taught to young girls, but they are instead encouraged to "aspire" to some worldly profession outside of the home.  We housewives are seen as abnormal, not even to the unsaved, Godless world, but many times to those in the Church.

If this is your reality, are you letting it bring you down?

My question to you today is, What if you were the last homemaker in the world?

What if all the other women had left their children to be looked after by someone else? What if all other parents shifted their parental duties off to strangers?  What if no one else taught their dear children at home, raising them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?  What if all other women had jobs outside of the home?

What if you were the only one left who stayed at home and made sure your husband had a haven of rest when he came home?  Who took care of the home with love, who trained up your children at home in the fear and wisdom of God? What if you were the only one left who taught her own children at home?

Would you still do it?  Would you still stand?

This is the courage and conviction we need to have now, as if we are the last ones standing.  The battle is so great.  We must stand strong for our families and for the Lord.  Many women are persuaded to leave their posts at home.  Many women look on to friends or family who do not see the importance, value, and mandate for women to be keepers at home, and they have let the Enemy deceive them into thinking it's not so important after all.  Or they have been lulled to sleep by the wicked one, thinking it doesn't really matter.

But it does.  As for now, you are not the last homemaker in the world.  We do have some fellow sisters in Christ who are standing.  Let us lift up each other's arms for the battle and encourage each other to stand fast in this important, God-given work we have to do.

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The Culture Hates What the Bible Says About Women

Scott Brown has written a list of the top eleven things the culture hates about what the Bible says about women.  The list starts off with...

Women should be keepers at home.

Women should submit and obey their husbands following the example of Sarah and regard their husbands as "lord."

Women should dress modestly.

Women should be fruitful and multiply.

You can read the full list here.

This list is the main reason why this blog exists.  Christian women who want to follow the Bible in our modern times are fighting against the culture and often even what is popular in the church.  We hope to encourage you here to not worry about what everyone else around you is doing, but to devote your life in service to the Lord in following His Word.  If we are His children, one day we will meet Him face to face, and it will all be worth it!

Edited to add: This list is not meant to be instructive--it is exactly what it says it is--a list of the top eleven things the culture hates about what the Bible says about women.  That is why there are no explanations given in this post.  Every thing listed here can be backed up by Scripture, and if you are unsure what each thing means, most of these topics have been posted about on this site.  You are also free to contact me if you still have questions.  Husbands have their own duties that are given to protect women, as laid forth in Scripture, but that is not what this post is about.  While our feminist society has no problems with a man loving his wife sacrificially, it does have a great problem with the things listed here, which is the reason for this list.

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True Beauty for the Christian Woman

Note:  This post has been updated from its original contents.  I found out the source that "quoted" George Lawson changed some of his wording, so I have found the original source of this quote and updated the quote here.

"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised." Proverbs 31:30

Why is not beauty mentioned in the character of the virtuous woman? Is not beauty a bright ornament to her virtue? But there is no mention made of it in this description, because it is a mean quality in comparison of those which are here enumerated. It is but a flower that fades in a day; and the love produced by it is but a transient passion.

When beauty is not sweetened by virtue, the woman who possesses it is but like a sow with a golden jewel in its snout, as Solomon tells us. At the best, beauty cannot secure that love which it raises, for when it becomes familiar to the lover, it palls upon his sight; and sometimes tempts him to curse that enchanting influence which blinded his eyes to more solid qualifications.

But a woman that fears the Lord, whether she has or has not beauty--shall be praised; for true piety is the beauty of the soul, and excels that which lies in complexion and features as much as Heaven is higher than the earth, or eternity longer than time.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the most essential part of the virtuous woman's character. It is this which sanctifies every other part of it, and makes her all glorious within. Its praise is not of men but of God; yet the pleasant effects of it; which spread themselves into every part of her behaviour, cannot but excite the admiration of all beholders.

The flowers of poetry have been exhausted in dressing out beauty to the greatest advantage; but this one verse of Scripture is sufficient to give us just notions of its real value.  It is indeed a lovely qualification when it is joined with piety and humility--but without them it is a snare and a trap. In choosing a wife, fools will follow their fancy, and the wise will act according to reason and the Word of God.

~George Lawson, 1821

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Remembering Mother's Day

Many Mother's Days have passed for me, come and gone.  I have before lost a baby to miscarriage around Mother's Day, and sometimes it still brings me grief as I remember the loss of our little one.  But thankfully, I still get to be a mother to our children here and enjoy them.  There is something so amazing about being a mother and getting to be with your children every day and watch them grow up. There is time to instruct them and encourage them.  There is so much blessing in it, even if you are never thanked or appreciated, but I have noticed little children are very good at appreciating their mothers.

In years past, I have been given the most wonderful memories.  Where memories fail me, I thankfully have some sweet pictures of all the little children huddled around me on Mother's Day, hugging me and giving me gifts.  The gifts were almost always something they made with their own hands, with little notes that were such an encouragement to me.  These gifts were so special and the thought of them making them is something I will always treasure.  One year when the children were young, they decided to plant garden seeds into several mugs and little pots for me for Mother's Day.  I think there were peas and carrots, onions, garlic, and perhaps some flowers.  I have several pictures of us surrounded by these little containers of not plants, but dirt (smiles).  I don't think anything ever grew out of those mugs, but the thought was so sweet, along with all the effort they went to to make my Mother's Day special.

Wherever you are and whatever your situation, I hope you have a happy and blessed Mother's Day.  Even if no one remembers your motherhood on this day, just think how the Lord knows and is happy for His daughter to be raising up her children in His ways.  He even blesses a repentant heart for when we have made mistakes.  And for those of you not yet blessed with earthly children, remember you can be like a mother to others in some way--with that nurturing and loving spirit the Lord gives to women who love Him. 

This Mother's Day, I think I will spend some extra time in prayer over my motherhood, thanking the Lord for this gift and also asking for His trusted help this year to come of raising our children, for I know I cannot do it without Him.

"You are as much serving God in looking after your own children, and training them up in God's fear, and minding the house, and making your household a church for God, as you would be if you had been called to lead an army to battle for the Lord of hosts." 

-Charles Spurgeon

"O dear mothers, you have a very sacred trust reposed in you by God! He hath in effect said to you, “Take this child and nurse it for Me, and I will give thee thy wages.” You are called to equip the future man of God, that he may be thoroughly furnished unto every good work. If God spares you, you may live to hear that pretty boy speak to thousands, and you will have the sweet reflection in your heart that the quiet teachings of the nursery led the man to love his God and serve Him. Those who think that a woman detained at home by her little family is doing nothing, think the reverse of what is true. Scarcely can the godly mother quit her home for a place of worship; but dream not that she is lost to the work of the church; far from it, she is doing the best possible service for her Lord. Mothers, the godly training of your offspring is your first and most pressing duty."

~Spurgeon

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How Young Women are Protected

"If a woman does not have a husband to be her provider and protector, her father as the natural authority from her birth or her brother - as seen above [see Lev. 21:2-3] - ought to care for her.  A wedding ceremony is the time when a girl moves from being under the care of her father to being under her groom's care.

This is how God designed men and women to function in a family. Girls should not be trained to 'be independent on their own,' but to learn how to follow, to be the helper and encourager and comforter to the man God places in her life."

~Patricia Regar


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Ways Women Take on a Masculine Role

We need to be supportive of our husbands in their masculine role of being leaders, providers, and protectors.  We should be aware of the ways women take on masculine roles so that we do not do the same to our husbands.  It is easy to adopt a feminist mindset, as it has become so deeply ingrained in our society.  We may have certain feminist views that we are not even aware of.

Women take on masculine roles when they enter the workforce and compete with men for greater achievement, higher positions, and earning more money.  We learn all the way back in Genesis that it is the man's role to be a provider and not a woman's (Genesis 3:16, 19).  If a woman is working, a man will not feel as great a need, if any, to work by the sweat of his brow to provide for his family.

Women also take on masculine roles when they try to take over leadership in the home instead of trustingly looking to their husbands for guidance and a strong arm to lean on.  The leadership position was given to husbands by God Himself.  This doesn't mean that we have no opinions or wisdom, especially in our own sphere of the home, but often women neglect looking to their own husbands for guidance.  Even taking over the masculine chores around the house takes over something a husband can and should be doing, unless there is a real emergency where he is unable.

Some women think they are "helping" their husbands by doing these things.  But really, they are hindering their husbands, because the wives are taking on the husbands' role instead of focusing on their own duties.  When we take on masculine roles instead of letting our husbands do them, it harms the family.  It is detrimental to our husbands' feeling of being needed as the leader, protector, and provider for his family, which God created him to be.  It also causes us to be less feminine and creates more stress in our own lives.  We also neglect important functions in our own role as wife, mother, and homemaker.

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