Junior high Home Ec class. I remember it like it was yesterday. Actually, yesterday is a bit of a blur. I remember it like it was…um…maybe earlier this morning sometime. Mrs. Schneider was talking to our class full of girls. She said, “We are not
housewives. We are
homemakers. We’re not married to a house.” I most likely gave one of my friends a “look”, tried not to laugh, and went back to wondering if I had enough hairspray on my bangs to keep them sticking up all day (it was the 80′s, afterall). But even if I didn’t completely understand what she meant, I remembered it.
Homemaker. I’m still not exactly sure what
my teacher meant when she bestowed that future title upon us all those years ago, but when I became a wife and mother (and was slightly less concerned about the height of my bangs), I wore the name proudly. I thought since I stayed at home with my kids, did all the grocery shopping, meal making, laundry washing, child bathing, and house cleaning, that I was officially a homemaker. Actually, it sounds kinda like I was the “chief cook and bottle (or baby) washer,” but that doesn’t have quite the same ring as “homemaker.” And, of course, all of those tasks I do are important and need done, but if that’s
all this “job” is about, then I’m missing the mark.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’ve always known and believed that my role in our home was a high calling. I love my family and enjoy serving them wholeheartedly. And I have a full appreciation for the fact that what I do runs counter to society’s opinion of me as a woman. I don’t think it really matters whether I call myself a homemaker, housewife, keeper of the home, or one of the countless other options. Two things are certain: I am called to serve God in my home, and the rest of the world just won’t “get it”.
Yet, until very recently, I haven’t fully “gotten it” either. I’m a practical, functional sort of person, and I’ve been content to live in the function of housekeeper, while ignorantly neglecting to practice the art form of making a home. But God, in His rich mercy, has once again challenged my thinking on something I thought I knew and understood. He has used a book, written decades ago, to take something I believe and shake it up, stir it around, and break it out of the box I had placed it in. This book, “The Hidden Art of Homemaking” by Edith Schaeffer, has changed my thinking, changed my home, changed my heart.
A couple of years ago, I quickly read a library copy of “Hidden Art” and was affected by it. This time, I bought it, went through it with a red pencil, and plan to read it again (and again, and again, and again….). Mrs. Schaeffer begins her book with this point:
“…man was created in the image of a Creator. Man was created that he might create. It is not a waste of man’s time to be creative. It is not a waste to pursue artistic or scientific pursuits in creativity, because this is what man was made to be able to do.”
She goes on to give instruction, ideas, and encouragement for elevating nearly every area of our homes-and our lives-to an art, rather than a duty. Beauty is important. So is music, literature, colorful and interesting food, and a fun and relaxing atmosphere. Being a homemaker is more than staying at home or cleaning the house. It means I am making a home. Did you catch that? A “homemaker” is a home maker. I am to be creating a place of warmth and safety for my family. Through creativity, I can make a little oasis where my husband can relax after a long day at work and where my kids can enjoy growing and learning. And all that washing the dishes and dusting the furniture? That’s part of the picture, too. Those tasks provide the backdrop for the art of living that makes up the home.
But Edith Schaeffer takes it up another notch:
“I am sure that there is no place in the world where your message [of the gospel] would not be enhanced by your making the place (whether tiny or large, a hut or a palace) orderly, artistic and beautiful with some form of creativity, some form of ‘art’.”
The home I am making should be a picture of the gospel to my family. It should be a picture of the gospel to the world. I should be displaying the beauty of gospel through the beauty displayed in my home. That should be the ultimate goal of “gospel homemaking”. And my view of gospel homemaking should change the way I function in my home. I’ve already made small steps in the art of homemaking, but I have a long way to go. I still tend to get stuck in the rut of being functional and task oriented. It’s much more natural for me to clean the kitchen than to decorate it. But my family is noticing a difference. My efforts, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, are brightening our lives.
I’m not sure exactly how the art of gospel homemaking will transform my home, but I know that it will transform my home. It already has! This isn’t the last of this discussion (although I promise it is the longest!). I’ve only just scratched the surface. I’ll continue to share what I’m learning and how I’m growing. And I’m anxious to see God will continue to change my heart, my home, and this blog for His glory!
This post is linked to Life as Mom.
Photo credit: hastingsgraham
