Can you imagine
living in a world where it is still
acceptable to stay home with your
children, serve your husband, and dare I
say it - keep your home? Where marriage,
home and motherhood are held in high
esteem and the women caring for their
families are blessed by and for their
efforts?
Picture the scene of past eras wherein a
young woman usually left the workforce
after marriage to serve her husband and
keep her home and await the arrival of
her children. She was not looked down on
at all, rather the role of
wife/mother/homemaker was elevated into
something to aspire to. For it is an
honourable calling.
We all know
that the disdain we stay at home wives
and mothers feel today from the world
(and even some churches) is contrary to
the scriptural role, and we know that it
wasn't always so. And as more and more
women are pressured into having less
children and putting their babies into
day centres, a lot of women are feeling
cheated and discontented. If the truth
was told, I truly believe that most of
the women in the workforce today would
prefer to be at home having more babies
and loving their life!
Why isn't it
like this today?
Firstly, I
believe a lot of women have bought the
lie of feminism. We have been buffeted
about and overloaded with so much of
their rhetoric that we have slowly come
to accept a great deal of what they say.
Bowing under the pressure of the world,
we have become discontented with our
God-given role as wife/mother and keeper
of our home.
Secondly, I
believe women have generally been so
highly educated that they are afraid
that they will waste it by staying home.
I think nothing could be further from
the truth. All education is profitable
for a woman- especially if she plans to
homeschool her children. This is slowly
gaining popularity in Australia, though
nowhere near as much as in the States.
But the point I am making is that as
mothers, we are teachers. Our knowledge
will only serve to benefit our family.
And make us more interesting to our
husbands.
Thirdly, I think in general we have set
our sights on worldly things- the
biggest home, cars, furnishings,
designer clothing and expensive holidays
etc. We have been sucked into the
worship of the ravenous god of
materialism and commercialism. Homemade
is no longer good enough, homecooked is
often a rarity, homekeeping is a rushed
chore and a burden- yet even so, home
still is the sweetest place to be and
always beckons us back.
Are working
mothers really getting value for their
money? No! By the time we add up the
work clothes, gas and fares for getting
to and from work, the bought lunches,
the more expensive packaged foods for
faster meals, and last but in no way,
least- the childcare centre, we have
very little money available for
spending. Are we starting to feel a
little bit disillusioned? I would guess:
yes a tad!
Now I am not
naive: I know about mortgages, or
renting, I know how hard it is to keep
food on the table and clothes on the
family's back- but what I know too is
that a lot of extraneous spending could
be curtailed and it would be far more
profitable to stay at home. I know this,
because as have previously shared- I did
it for a while. It is more profitable
not to work outside the home. And
infinitely more satisfying for the whole
family.
Frugality,
budgeting, and cutting one's cloth
according to income are not dirty words:
they are words of life- family life.
With a bit of planning and foresight, I
believe a lot of women would be able to
stay home and not suffer for it. The
tools are planning, budgeting,
frugality, wisdom and desire. I believe
it is possible still today to manage on
one man's wage- if we learn to be
content with what we have or to downsize
to make staying home with the children
feasible. It is a heart issue.
So back to
imagination: can you imagine rising and
getting your husband off to work, having
made him a leisurely breakfast and a cut
lunch, guiding your children through
bathing, dressing and breakfast in a
calm manner, filling them with the best
of breakfasts, then homeschooling or
sending them to school with a nutritious
packed lunch? No frantic last-minute
hunt for lost notebooks or library
books-or hearing your child read whilst
you are hurriedly applying your makeup
for work? Or worse still, from the other
side of the bathroom door? No, you have
had plenty of time last night to do
these things and to be organised for the
early morning rush. You are looking well
to the ways of your own household.
As soon as the children are at school or
setting about their lessons at home, you
start to work your way through your
chores, making beds and doing laundry
whilst the crockpot bubbles away with
some soup for lunch and the meat
defrosts for the evening meal. You know
exactly what you are having: you made
your menu and shopping list and you are
in control! Doesn't it feel good?
Tonight when
your husband gets home from work, you
will be there to greet him with the
children working steadily at their
homework and the table set and dinner's
delicious aroma wafting through the
house to welcome him home. And if Dad
works late shift, the children will at
least get to see him at breakfast
instead of being dragged out of their
bed at some early hour to go to daycare.
Imagine if this
was a reality in your life- would you
want it? Thousands of women are turning
their back on materialism, small
families and feministic ideals and are
turning back to God's Word for their
lives and families. They are coping and
they are gaining strength as a force
that is pro-life, pro-family and
pro-marriage. Their children are reaping
the benefits of having a full-time
mother who fills their world with
soundness in a world she knows is
anything but.
What is the
future for the stay-at home mother? I
believe job satisfaction: the knowledge
that because she has applied herself to
live her life according to godly
principles and used wisdom, frugality
and ingenuity in order to do it. Her
marriage is stronger, her children
happier and her home easier to manage.
She knows that she is really free at
last to be all God created her to be- a
loving wife, mother and keeper of her
home. And she rejoices at the days to
come. Her husband is well looked after
and well loved, as are her children.
She doesn't
worry what the world thinks about her
life choices- she is following God's
plan for her life. And her life is good-
for all God's ways are good. Imagine if
all married women vetoed the work force,
applied themselves to living frugally
and returned home as stay at home wives
and mothers…I imagine a lot of people
would be happy with that.
©
Glenys Robyn Hicks |