O To Be A PROFESSIONAL Homemaker!

This is so interesting. I'm not even sure what to say about it! I stumbled on this article about how Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary will be providing homemaking courses this fall. The "homemaking concentration" to a Bachelor of Science degree plan will offer courses on such things as the home, children, sewing, and cooking.

Obviously, this kind of decision has created some controversy. Here is what the course description had to say about it:

"The College at Southwestern endeavors to prepare women to model the characteristics of the godly woman as outlined in Scripture," a description of the program reads. "This is accomplished through instruction in homemaking skills, developing insights into home and family while continuing to equip women to understand and engage the culture of today."

OK, first thoughts. I think it's good that they realize there is merit in these skills. I am glad to see that kind of shift in thinking. My first thought was, "Wow. This is needed!" However, I also see the point of those who have said, "Is there really a need for courses in this?" Some have argued that you can find out all the information you need from books and the internet.

Or I was kind of thinking I could learn them from older Christian women...it's just a thought.

But the truth is, we live in a very different world. There are women like myself who find themselves wanting to be good homemakers, but lacking in skills. I am a product of the generation I was raised in. From Kindergarten on I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. It was never suggested to me that I should learn to do the things my mom did all day (who was a homemaker until I was around 9 years old). Oh, I didn't leave the house completely clueless (my mom taught me a lot), but neither do I feel I was actively "prepared" to be a homemaker.

And I can't get the movie Mona Lisa Smile out of my head. My favorite quote from the movie comes from Julia Stiles' character when she is speaking to Julia Roberts' character about her decision to not go to law school.

Joan Brandwyn: Do you think I'll wake up one morning and regret not being a lawyer?

Katherine Watson: Yes, I'm afraid that you will.

Joan Brandwyn: Not as much as I regret not having a family, not being there to raise them. I know exactly what I'm doing and it doesn't make me any less smart.

You stand in class and tell us to look beyond the image, but you don't. To you a housewife is someone who sold her soul for a center hall colonial. She has no depth, no intellect, no interests. You're the one who said I could do anything I wanted. This is what I want.

Yes, reading about all this just took me right back to that movie (which was set in 1953.) It seems strange to me that in this day and age a college would be offering such courses. Are they needed? Sadly, yes. It makes me all the more determined to teach my daughters homemaking skills AND a love of using those skills for the Lord.

Also, I need to remember that although I consider myself to be one of the "younger women" that are spoken of in Titus chapter 2, to some I am really one of the "older women." There are plenty of older women who can teach me a thing or two! But to my daughters, the girls in our youth group, and young married women or brand new mothers, I actually fall into the other category. Am I doing all I can to teach them the things spoken of in those verses? I think it's needed today more than ever.

Making a Home

We visited a home last night that was so lovely the entire youth group was in awe. No worries about their behavior...after months of devotionals in the youth suite at church (Read: less asthetically pleasing) they were grateful for the beautiful new setting.

Our girls were really pleased too. Especially with the bathrooms. Little Bit: "Mommy! There are magazines in here!" :) Now, my house will probably never look like this one did. First of all, because, although it was beautiful, it's not my style. Secondly, because 90% of what I saw was breakable. I am pleased to say that nothing was broken during our visit.

The lady who lives in that home has obviously spent hours and hours thinking about her house and working on it. It's a wonderful place to invite guests to.

And then there's our home.

Sweetheart asked when we were going to have the youth group over to our house again. Daddy mentioned that we needed wallpaper in the front hallway first. (OK READERS I KNOW I SAID I WOULD DO THAT A FEW MONTHS AGO, BUT I DIDN'T, OK? :) So, that needs to be a priority. Also, I tore the front room up making a homeschool classroom out of it only to find out that the shelves I need from IKEA are out of stock. So that room is jumbled mess with all manner of books and papers and notebooks stacked on the floor. Then, we unbunked Sweetheart's bunkbeds this weekend and gave one of them to Little Bit (a big girl bed!). So now their rooms are a mess also because we quickly pushed things aside to make way for the moving of the beds. I won't even talk to you about the living room.

I so often spend my time thinking about MY home as being for MY family. I forget we need to be ready to use our homes for service to the Lord. So now I will work today with a new goal in mind. We have a couple at our church who we have been meaning to have over for Bible study. They are good enough friends that they would understand if our house were a mess. But really, wouldn't it be nice for them to go home feeling grateful for the lovely home they got to visit and study the Bible in? I know the way we treat people when they come over is more important than how the home looks, but...

To those who think homemaking is not all that important, I would disagree. Have you been in a home lately that was really and truly "made?" (Not just "cleaned up" for company.) I want that kind of home. I think my generation is so casual about everything else in our lives, and that casual feeling has played out in the way we keep our homes, too. I'm not sure a lot of women my age know how to make a home. It's more than just keeping things clean. It's tons of little touches throughout the house that make things so lovely. I've seen a glimpse of it, now how to accomplish it?

I need some ideas...

I Want to Worship (but I'm weary)

This morning as I rolled over in bed and began going over the up coming day in my mind, a thought occured to me. It was Sunday morning, and we were going to be going to church. (That wasn't the thought.) My mind immediately went to the worship service. Sigh. I wish I were more excited about that part of the morning. The truth is, I am a little tired of the worship service.

Earlier this summer I posted about a little church we went to with my grandmother when I was growing up. It was just all so simple. I love our church. But after 36 years there, we have seen lots of changes. Things ain't the way they used to be! I just long to sit there by my family and hold a hymnal and sing. I want to see one faithful man leading singing up front. I want to hear an expository sermon preached straight out of the Bible. I want to hear prayers from men who have prepared their thoughts ahead of time.

But is that really it? Does the improvement of "my" worship experience depend on hymnals and song leaders and sermons? Are those things the answer?

But (sigh) I am tired of slides. And videos. And praise teams. And loud instruments. And VERY CONTEMPORARY UPBEAT songs. And very modern saaaaaaaaaaaaaaad feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeling songs. I am tired of sitting and standing. I am tired of worship being such an "experience." I feel wrung out when I leave.

I truly want to worship. I want to let God know how wonderful He is. I want to pray. I want to sing. I want to listen to God's word spoken and read. But I've been having trouble lately.

Here was my thought. (It's just a thought) If Jesus were to visit our "worship centers" during that hour, would He clear the room like He did the temple? What things would He throw out? What would stay?

Because I really just want to worship Him.

How Much New Life Can You Handle?

I used to be scared to pray, "Your will be done, Lord." I am ashamed to admit that, but it's true. I thought if I prayed that little prayer that God would take license to do ANYTHING to my life that He wanted. And maybe I wouldn't like the changes He made.

Like, what if He called us to be missionaries in some far-away place? What if He called me to adopt 15 troubled children? What if He....just any number of things. I was much more comfortable praying my "suggestion prayers." You know the kind? That's the kind of prayer where you pray about your life and spend your whole prayer time "suggesting" to God what things might be a nice answer to prayer. Basically, you have worked out the whole solution to your problems and you just really need God's stamp of approval and everything will be wonderful.

Can I just tell you that doing things God's way--the very little that I have done this in my life--is wonderful?

Our family has undergone major changes in the last 2-3 years. I would have never prayed for these things to happen. I never even thought these changes were possible! I cried and went back to work after the birth of my children, never even thinking that there was any other way. The year I stayed home, I watched our savings slipping through our fingers and thought, "It's all over. There is no way we will make it." I was exhausted from trying to make the changes I wanted in our life and trying to make them by myself. (Guess what? It wasn't working!)

I finally got the nerve to pray that prayer. I prayed for God to change our lives and to change us. I prayed for Him to show us how He wanted us to live. I was pretty sure we weren't there. What really convicted my husband and I was this thought: Other than where we spend our Sunday mornings, if you placed us next to an unsaved family, what would look different about our lives?

And God answered. He started with me and my heart. And then bigger changes started taking place. Finding out what God's will for our families is, and getting a taste of doing things His way has shown me how much peace there is in being inside the will of God. I never want to go back.

If I could spread this one message in my life I would be happy. I want people to know that God's plan for the family works. The order He established is wise. There is peace and joy in doing things God's way. I have heard all your excuses. (But you don't know MY husband. We are just too deep in debt. But I am not cut-out to just raise kids all day. Etc. Etc. Etc.) I know the excuses because I have spoken many of them.

I will say it again: God's plan for the family works. Have you prayed for God to show you how He wants your family to be? What is keeping you from praying that little prayer?

Raise Your Hand If You Think Too Much

I've been thinking a lot about the end result of our parenting. When our first daughter was born everything seemed like such a whirlwind. I went back to work after 3 months and I remember just stumbling around work that day trying to form a complete thought and wondering what it was I used to do there. All I had worried or thought about for 3 months was diapers, feedings, naps, cute outfits, my own weight loss, and enjoying every single moment of my daughter. Parenting very quickly took on a new weight.

I can't remember exactly when it happened. But at some point it occured to me that we didn't just have a baby...we had a child. To raise. All the way up. Seems kind of obvious? Well, it wasn't to me. Just as "being pregnant" turned into "(gasp) we are having a baby!", "we have a baby" turned into "we have to raise her!" I didn't just become a mommy--we became parents. And we had no plan.

Thankfully, God changed all that. I am light years away from where I started as a parent. I don't have it all figured out, but I certainly have more insight into this task than I used to.

I don't believe most people (Christian or otherwise) actually think through their parenting all the way. You just dive in with both feet and try to keep your head above water for 18 years. New decisions come up and you talk to some friends, decide which way you will go and continue on. Folks, even Christian parents operate this way. It should not be like this.

We have the Bible. We have prayer. We have older women to teach us. And we have a great responsibility. Not to just work out a compromise with our little one to get through the meal and on to the next thing----but to train them, to teach them, to disciple them. To hold our children to a higher standard so that when they are not in our arms or homes anymore, they will be able to stand firm. It isn't about "making it" through the day or a difficult stage, or the teenage years. It's about raising godly young men and women. That goal alone changes our daily decisions about how we handle things. Or it should.

I know I keep talking about this, over and over. Others say things much better than I do. Mrs. June had some good thoughts today over at A Wise Woman Builds Her Home. Also, Grafted Branch really made me think at Restoring the Years yesterday.

Do other people sit around and think about things like this? Do they put this much thought into the thing called parenting? I'm thankful for women like those mentioned above because it lets me know that I am not the only one who thinks about these things on a weekday night.