Hearts at Home

image borrowed from http://www.itakejoy.com
Click the image to see original post.

 

My most fruitful and meaningful ministry for this season of my life is my home.  My marriage is just shy of a decade old. Without a doubt it will be a work in progress until the day I die, but it is still so young and immature.  It is a pendulum of joy and trials knocking me down from my pedestal of pride to my knees in repentance.

My children are only seven, five and two.  It is my joy, yet my most demanding work to be a SAHM and homeschool them “bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). A LOT of sanctification happens here.

So when I felt the tug on my heart to begin this ministry, I knew it had to be focused on my heart being grounded in my home and the work God has for me there.

All Christian women,

Whether single, married, divorced, widowed,

With or without children,

SAHM’s or moms who work,

Mom’s with young children or moms with grown children,

Homeschoolers or not,

New believers or old believers,

ALL would say that deep down their most important work is done at home.  It is in our God-given nature.

In Genesis 2:18,

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

And again in Genesis 3:20,

“Adam named his wife Eve (whom we are all daughters of), because she would become the mother of all the living.”

We are made to be helpers and nurturers and we need to be encouraging one another in this calling.

In Disciplines of a Godly Woman, Barbara Hughes shares her observations on this calling specifically in motherhood.

Today’s mothers are pulled in many other directions–and typically away from at-home tasks considered too humble or too selfless for twenty-first-century women of status, sophistication, and power.  Today’s mothers are isolated and unsupported by popular culture in the work of mothering.

We must become convinced in our souls that nurturing is a supremely elevated role. And we need to proclaim that truth to the women around us, emphasizing that the role of mother is an incredible privilege. We older women carry a God-given responsibility to help younger women with families so that they do not become overwhelmed with the mothering task, for it is great .

“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.” (Titus 2:3-5)

As a young wife and mother I was, and still am, always seeking out an “Older” woman in my life.  And I realize I am called to be this to “younger” women as well.  A beloved and much wiser friend told me just a couple of weeks ago,  “As a Christian woman, we are in the perpetual middle ground of this command from Titus 2:3-5.”

We are always in need of a wiser godly woman who has walked this path before us.  Someone who can encourage us and teach us and sometimes just listen and cry with us because they have been there.  We will not just wake up and be older and wiser with gray hair and gentleness ready to pour forth infinite wisdom.  We are to be abiding in Christ and he will build us into this role over the course of our walk with him.

But, we also always have wisdom to pass on to someone younger.  Do not dismiss your role as the “older” woman just because you do not feel like you have it all together yet.  You will never feel that way.  But in your walk with God no matter how short, the Holy Spirit is your helper and is revealing God’s wisdom and truth.

In this community of Abiding Hearts at Home, we can encourage one another on all walks and in all seasons.

The older believer can encourage the new believer as they struggle with sin and repentance and the understanding of grace. The older believer can be encouraged by the zeal of the new believer for the things of God.

The Married can encourage the newly married as they begin a lifelong commitment to, let’s face it, another sinner just like us.

The homeschooling mom can encourage the moms with kids in school that our children DO NOT always listen to us. And vice versa, the mothers with kids in school can encourage the homeschooling moms to get out of the house and take some alone time every once and a while.  As mothers with school age children, we both share the same struggles and joys.

The married women can encourage the divorced and widowed by offering a helping hand or just being a good listener. And the divorced/widowed woman can encourage those who are married in the lessons they learned and the joys and trials they had in their marriages.

We are all still growing and we all need encouragement.

I encourage you today if you have an “older” woman in your life that has helped you along the way to contact them and bless them with a word of thanks.  This can encourage them even more in their roles.  I also encourage you to keep an eye open for the struggling young mother or wife close to you that is desperately seeking for advice and encouragement.  Do not hold back thinking you are not wise enough, just answer the call to love and when the time comes the Holy Spirit will be your guide.  Just keep abiding and trust that God is doing the work through you and in you.