Clearly, everyone should accept this statement. So I have. I completely accept that. But how exactly can I go about putting it into practice? Really. How does a disorganized housewife go about training for Godliness? Yep, discipline. So here are the disciplines that I've actually signed on for here: self-controlled, pure, busy at home, kind, and submissive to my husband. Let me break it down...
Self-controlled: This kind of encompasses a lot, depending on your situation. What it means for me specifically is that I need to productively channel my frustrations. Being a fighter is not helpful in the home. Proverbs says that someone without self control is like a city with broken-down walls. That really resonates with me now that I'm thinking about it. I actually started this blog two days ago, but really had to meditate on this self-control thing. When I lose my self-control, I can almost feel my figurative walls start to crumble. And generally when I lose my composure, it's because I'm angry with Logan. What happens then is that I open myself up to "attacks" from him. When I am in control of my speech and emotions, I can take whatever he can deal. I might not be making an immediate difference in the situation, but I'm still in control of myself, at the very least. But once I lose control, he can break me down in a second. And then I know my whole day's gone down the drain, because I'm on edge, he's on edge, and all that will be accomplished that day is a big pile of skubala.
Pure: The obvious meaning (at least for me) of this is to be sexually pure (where's my mind?). And I think that's an extremely important message. Sex is a wonderful and beautiful thing when taken in the context that God designed for it. And I could literally write entire blogs about that topic. But I think that's another blog for another time. It is important to stay pure in that way, but that's really not a problem for me at this point in time. I'm already on guard in that area. The type of purity that needs my focus for the purposes of this exercise is a bit deeper. It's to be pure in heart, thought, motive. I think this sums it up better than I can. Imagine that. This is really a key component too, and one that I probably wouldn't have thought to address, except that I started to break down my verse. It's all well and good to do all these things, but all our righteous deeds are like (*cough*) bloody tampons. (Yeah, the bible pretty much says that). The point is to have your heart in the right place and your eyes on Jesus while you're doing what you're doing. The point is to spend your life on Him. And so no matter how clean my house is, how happy my husband is, how good my cooking is, or how well-behaved my kids are, it's all bloody tampons if my motives aren't pure.
Busy at Home: Ahh, the Proverbs 31 wife. That saucy minx! She is the delight of her husband and the envy of every housewife. To have everything that together would put me on cloud flipping nine. That is what Paul's talking about! Well... that and a bit more. I think to have it all together like old P31 is a good part and a great start of it. But the other side is that if one is busy at home, one cannot be busy in other places where one should not be. To be busy at home means 1) to actually be at home and 2) to be active while you're there. It actually means that I'm doing better work if I'm not carting my kids all over God's green earth for 1001 extracurriculars. I'm doing better work if I'm not spending my time watching soaps. And I'm doing better work if I'm home reading my Bible, writing this blog (or that one), or hanging out with my husband instead of going out to shop or have a drink. That's not to say that extracurriculars, tv, or time with friends is bad - not at all! - but those kinds of things really cannot to be high on my priority list. Busy at home means busy at home. By God's providence, we really don't have a lot of money for that kind of thing, so the "home" part isn't that difficult for me; the "busy" part may prove to be more so.
Kind: So, my best friend asked me earlier this evening how homeschooling was going. And up until that point, my initial thought would have been something to the effect of "Logan is freaking impossible!!!!" But, interestingly, what came out of my mouth was to describe how difficult it would be to have to have school in your own house where your TV, all your toys and video games, and your fun-to-play with sister are all at arms reach. And not only this, but to have your own mom, whom you know how to irritate and push around, teaching you. I have no idea why those things came out, other than divine inspiration so that I'd have an anecdote to share here. But I think that's what kindness is about. Putting yourself in another person's shoes. Having compassion toward them, even when the issues they're dealing with cause you personal discomfort (or sheer rage). Normally, I am not so great at this. Oh, sure, I always have an excuse in my mind for why the guy in front of me is driving 12 miles an hour with his blinker on for the past mile. And I never get angry at that guy. But when my husband is playing XBox instead of talking to me, it's not quite so easy for me to be kind about it. I don't mean it would be okay to let my family walk all over me, but to recognize that maybe my husband's had a hard day at work and needs a chance to unwind for a little while really wouldn't be all that out of line.
Submissive: This is not a real easy pill to swallow for a forward-thinking woman. The fact that a husband plays an important role in this sometimes lessons the blow. Really, it's not all that difficult to submit to a man who loves you so much he'd die for you and wants to give you the very best of everything he has to offer. Yep, that's what God calls him to do. All I have to do is submit to him. Submission really doesn't bother me at all because it kind of takes the pressure off, in a way. It's like I can trust that he's in control, so I don't have to be. It's very reassuring to be in submission. Girl power! Or something like that. This is the one part of submission that I'm still really trying to work out though... Adorn myself with submission?? Be submissive like Sarah?!?! What does fear have to do with anything??? I'll let you know when I work that one out. And Peter says Paul's writing is difficult to understand. Sheesh...
So..... I know what I need to do. I just need to submit to the will of God and follow these simple steps. I would say that my biggest stumbling block to all of this is my own very thick skull. Clearly I know the answers and can break it down very (okay, not very) concisely. But it's very difficult to get anywhere when one is so terribly busy fighting with one's self. The good thing is that, even though I really can't do all this, Jesus can! I just need to keep digging those ditches in faith (yep, sticking with the Elisha reference), because I know that He is faithful (God, not Elisha... although he was too...) and He wants me to live life to the full. And when I think about it in that context, I realize that the whining and "I don't wanna's" actually are coming straight from the pits of Hell.
Heavy, right? God doesn't want me and my kids sitting amidst piles of junk arguing. But someone does want that. And he comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He's coming to steal my joy, to kill my orderliness, and to destroy my relationships. Why should I allow that? The fact is, there's no reason on earth that I should. Jesus has already crushed him, and I don't have to let him mess things up for me.
Someone remind me of that next time I put down my shovel.
1 comment:
Love it!
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