Building A Home: Being a Homemaker

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Many of us can remember being asked. Maybe some of us even became one of the things we answered. The most blessed part of my life is that I became a wife and mother, which is the one occupation I always knew I wanted. One of the best parts about my job, is getting to do so many jobs under the auspice of “homemaker”. I am a partner, consultant, and helpmeet to my husband. I am a teacher, nurse, and playmate to my toddler. I am a maid and chef, a consultant and counselor.  No, this isn’t an easy, cushy job. It’s often messy, sticky, and exhausting. However, the job has an endless joy of rewards in laughter, snuggles, and learning (for everyone in the family). Each day presents a challenge to set the mood and be an example of God’s love.

Also like many of us, I grew up reading Proverbs 31, and wondering how anyone could ever measure up to such an ideal. Recently, I read this chapter in The Message paraphrase. One snippet that resounded with me was this: “First thing in the morning, she dresses for work, rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started. She senses the worth of her work, is in no hurry to call it quits for the day. She’s skilled in the crafts of home and hearth, diligent in homemaking.”

I have been blessed with similar examples of strong Godly women in my life, starting with my mother and grandmother. Now, we are part of an amazing church family. Because I am a “stay at home” mom, I have the opportunity to participate in the ladies’ Bible study on Tuesday mornings. I am encouraged by these women, especially on the days that I doubt my job effectiveness. The women in this group are truly the type of women the Apostle Paul describes in Titus 2:3-5: “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled” (ESV).