Home Girl

So, I thought long and hard about what I wanted the first article of the new year to be about (happy New Year, by the way! =), and I decided to write about something I've been thinking through a lot lately. This is a scheduled post, as I'm currently celebrating New Year's Day with my family, and it will be my first post trying something a little bit new: turning off comment moderation for posts more recent than the last two weeks. The distraction of moderating comments takes up a lot of my blog time, so I'm experimenting to see how a new tactic works out. Of course rude, inflammatory remarks will be deleted, but I'll trust you all to moderate yourselves until I can get back online. =)

I think we all come to that point at one time or another in our "stay-at-home" journey.

When we first decided to shift our focus, to turn our hearts towards home, we were enthusiastic and vibrant, purposeful and driven, meticulous and focused. We had a grasp on the bigger picture: a vision for the home as a hub of ministry and discipleship, as a training ground for life ahead, as a place where we can bless those nearest and dearest to us, and, in turn, turn that blessing outward, towards others in our church and in our community.

But maybe you're a little like me. You always start out on a new journey with delight and determination. But then something derails your passion.

The home is a hub of ministry and discipleship. Perhaps you haven't found your niche yet. Ministry in and from the home is something that you're still getting used to. Turning your focus outward instead of inward is a difficult journey in the individualistic society we live in. You're used to focusing on your own plans, and now you're working as part of a team. It's difficult to adjust for some of us.

The home is a training ground for life ahead.... which entails much humility as we are consistently taught and trained by Mom and Dad, as we're refined by the Lord, as our besetting sins are cast in the spotlight of every day life, and cannot be hidden from those who know us best; where we are sanctified in a way we never were before. And that's difficult.

It's a place where we can bless those nearest and dearest to us. Even when we're tired of them --when they snap at us or when they whine at us... even when it's easier to be "slow in anger" to people outside of your immediate family because you happen to like them more sometimes. After all, whose warts do you see on a day-to-day basis? And who sees your warts? That's tough, too.

We can also be a blessing to those in our church and community. Hospitality. Cooking. Cleaning. It may seem romantic when debutantes on 1950s TV shows don June Cleaver aprons and get to hacking, but perhaps cooking isn't your forte, cleanliness and organizational skills don't come easily to you. Social climates make you antsy and nervous. And, no --just because you've decided to embrace the high calling of a keeper at home doesn't mean that your heart thrills at the sight of dirty dishes, or you start singing -with perfect pitch -every time you have a mop and bucket nearby.

If you're just now coming home, and you still have that rosy, gung-ho perspective -you've never once looked up and said, "This is harder than it looks!" God bless you. My intent is not to discourage you.

But if you're a "home girl" already who, like me, sometimes needs a little bit of encouragement, may I offer some advice for all of the above, and more that you may be struggling with? (And yes, here comes the pep talk alert -but I'm talking to myself, too! =)

Turn your focus outward.

Because when we do anything with "me" as the primary focus, we're bound to be frustrated. When we realize that we didn't come home because it was easy or always fun, but because it's a place that is going to challenge and shape us into the women we've been called to be, we realize that sometimes, contentment is a battle! But when we fight it with dogged humility, when we fight it with Christ as our focus -we -or rather, he -will be victorious.

I don't know about you, but when I'm feeling discouraged, usually, my focus is on me, myself, and I, not on the Lord.

When you look up from that pile of dirty dishes and sigh for the day when Prince Charming will rescue you and take you to another home where you'll never have to wash another dish... where you'll never have to do another load of laundry... where you'll never have to respond to the cries of a screaming infant... where you'll never have to host a party of thirty on a tight budget...

Wait. Those scenarios sound ridiculous, don't they? Because, as wives and mothers, those every day challenges that we're dealing with right now will look minor compared to some of the struggles we'll face. But, blessedly, because of our training, it won't be our first rodeo.

And blessedly, because of our training, we've learned that the rodeo's worthwhile. Even if we get thrown off of the bull a couple of times.

(Look, I'm a Texan --you weren't going to read this blog without getting at least one cowboy metaphor)

What makes living at home worthwhile again, you may be asking yourself? All of the opportunities I listed above. And it's also what makes living at home sometimes difficult. But are we here because it's easy?

I hope not. I hope you're living at home for the same reason I am: because you believe that that's the position where you can glorify the King of Kings; because that's where you believe he's called you to be; because you are fully invested in that calling. Because Proverbs 31:10-31 is the kind of woman you want to be, and the kind of blessing you want to be to those around you. If that's the case, realize something: count the number of times in Proverbs that that woman is thinking about herself more than she is about others. True joy and productivity doesn't come from being self-oriented. It comes from being Christ-focused, and, as an extension of that, others-focused.

This doesn't mean you'll never feel discouraged or discontent. But what it does mean is that, when you feel those things, you have a point of reference for doing away with those feelings: your focus isn't on the ease of a passing moment, but on the reflection of your actions on eternity.

This year, don't resolve to be Joyfully Home --resolve to strive to be joyfully home. Because it doesn't always come easily. But in those moments of difficulty, know that none of us is perfect; we will continuously battle or flesh whether we're home girls, college girls, working moms, stay-at-home moms, missionaries to the Far East, or volunteers at a crisis pregnancy center downtown, wealthy as Midas or so poor as church mice. But whatever our circumstances, when the King is our focus --

Well, that's really the center of our joy, isn't it?

Be joyful because you know Him. Be joyful because you're living for Him. Be joyful, not because I said so --but because He gives you all the reason you need to live life abundantly.

And remember -as you strive to live joyfully at home -the key to loving and serving in that sphere:

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, anyparticipation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by beingof the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself bybecoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God hashighly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ~Philippians 2:1-11

In closing, have a joyful New Year! Thank you so much for reading Joyfully Home. May the title ring true in all of our lives as we continuously strive to be characterized by Christ's joy! May this year hold much fruit of our passion for the Lord, and may that passion impact our service to others.

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