Nora is going to be 4 years old in just a couple of weeks. It seems so bizarre to me to even write those words. I see her growing and learning every day and I am still amazed that my baby is turning 4.
When I found out that our first child was going to be a girl, I couldn't wait to teach her! I couldn't wait to impress upon her the greatness of God, teach her scripture, home school her and invest time in shepherding her in the tasks of a home.
Homemaking is a lost art.
Being a homemaker in this generation is almost looked down upon. I hear people say to me, "Oh so you just stay at home?" And although offensive in some aspects, I count it mostly as ignorance. People can't understand what they aren't taught.
I don't just stay at home. I choose to stay here. I long to be here. This is a place where my children can find safety, and peace and my husband can find solitude. It's an escape from the world that is so cruel and distant. This place is our sanctuary so of course I find complete joy and pride in "just staying home."
I have been talking alot lately about 'Raising a Homemaker."
What I mean by this statement is quite simple.
Although Nora is not quite 4 and Mabel is not quite here, their father and I are dedicated to teaching them the joy of being in a home and how precious their role can be. I believe that homemaking is a true calling from the Lord and just like everything else in life, not everyone is made for this role. It is challenging and takes alot of discipline and dedication. I am still learning everyday and feel like I fall short most of the time. But I am confident that by being persistent and through prayer, I will succeed at teaching my daughters how important the role of a wife and mother in the home truly is. Just by being here, I am showing them that I am dedicated to this calling on my life and how important it is to my heart. I don't have to get it perfect everyday. All I have to do is depend on the Lord and be present.
Daniel and I will not discourage our daughters against their goals in the future. If they want to go to college to pursue a career, we will support them in that decision. However, we are not parenting them as children in that direction. This is not based out of ignorance or some uneducated thinking. In fact, it's quite the opposite. We live in a generation that has bombarded women with responsibilities that quite honestly, aren't ours to shoulder.
If anyone knows me at all, they understand that I am the furthest thing from the typical submissive wife. I long desperately for God to mold me everyday into a Biblical woman that He would be pleased with but again, I feel like I often fall short. I am aggressive rather than passive and believe that women have a power about them that no one else can possess. If I wasn't a Christian woman, I would probably be part of a great feminist movement. But it simply doesn't line up with the Word. God doesn't call us to be creatures who cower under our husband's rule or who stay at home and say nothing to the outside world. He does call us to be meek yet the woman of Proverbs 31 is a woman of great strength and stature! The Lord calls us for a specific purpose. And by fulfilling that purpose, I believe that our lives will be greatly blessed!
So, just as we will teach Braden to work hard with his hands to provide for his family, we will teach Nora and Mabel how to prepare and keep a home.
Tasks such as doing laundry, folding and ironing clothes, washing dishes, sweeping floors, dusting, making beds and all other everyday chores are, in my opinion, the least of what a homemaker truly does.
Planning and organizing healthy meals, grocery shopping on a budget, preparing & serving meals, showing hospitality, sewing, craft work, teaching, Biblical studies and keeping a garden are some of the great tasks that homemaking involves. I believe my daughters will find great joy in many, if not all of these tasks.
So how do you decide if you want to raise your daughter to be home-focused?
It has probably already been laid on your heart. You will look at her and you will have a desire to teach her how truly wonderful it is to serve those who she loves the most. And not 'serve' in a beaten-down-kind of way. Serve in a beautiful, Godly way. You will want, more than anything in the world, to teach her what the Lord says about being a woman and how valuable her role is to the world that we live in!
How do you begin teaching your daughter how to be a 'homemaker?'
In our home, it has been simple. We prayed early on while Nora was growing in my womb that the Lord would give her desires for Him. Even in our everyday tasks, I see that she is eager to learn and help--and I let her!
Laundry, cooking, dusting, sweeping, etc.
She is 4, so of course it is still more play for her than anything, but ultimately she is learning what it is that I do every day to keep our home running smoothly.
She enjoys helping and learning and I enjoy teaching her!
Just this morning as I was folding laundry, I said to Nora, "I dropped a sock baby...do you wanna pick it up...?" She replied, "Sure, mommy. It's my pleasure."This is not a typical response but it is what sparked my post for today. Quite honestly, sometimes I question whether I'm doing enough to teach her throughout the days. I feel like I just go through the motions of picking up, shaping up, & cleaning up and wonder at the end of it all if I left time for her to learn from me. This morning confirmed that she is, in fact, seeing me do things that bring me joy and she is learning how to do them with that same attitude.
It's more rewarding than I could ever explain!
Do you have questions about how we are choosing to raise our girls?
Please feel free to ask!
Another great website that was recently launched is the Raising Homemakers blog. My friend Tiffany contributes to their posts and many women share great stories and examples of what it means to truly raise our girls to be home-focused. Check it out!
Have a great weekend! ♥
1 comment:
I think it's great that you're teaching her all of those skills. I plan on teaching all of our children, whether they're all girls or Rosslyn is the only one, those same skills. But at the same time, we'll be instilling in them that they can do whatever they want and they don't have to be put in a certain box. If Rosslyn wants to be a physicist, I'm going to make sure she gives it all she's got. Or if she wants to be a homemaker, I'm going to make sure she does that with 100%. I know being a homemaker is an extremely difficult job because I do it everyday too, but the way I look at being a parent is I want my children to do better than I am and to excel and exceed past everything I've done in my life.
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