Some thoughts on the 'delight of working at home'

I am a woman who is currently serving my husband by working outside the home in order to assist him as he completes his Seminary schooling. Yet, this 'work' outside the home is not my first calling or priority. Rather, it flows out of the role of being a help-mate to my beloved husband. As I strive to make my home a peaceful, joyful, and orderly place for my husband to reside in, he is able to fulfill the calling God has placed on his heart. And as I complete this first priority of homemaker and helper to my husband in our home, my work outside the home is a secondary blessing as well.

Not to say this way is always easy. In fact, it can be down right HARD to be working outside the home while having a responsibility to keep our home a haven for God's character to be reflected. There are days when I get home after a long work shift and the pile of laundry needs to be attended to, the dinner needs to get started, dishes need to be done, the floor is a mess, there are bills to be paid, company is coming, and the list goes on and on...and on. Thankfully, this is exactly the time and opportunity for me to be reminded of the passage in Psalm 28:7, "The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped." It is our Lord who has called us be homemakers, and therefore, He will supply all we need as we ask for His grace to provide the strength. Homemaking it is an occupation with a Biblical calling in its roots. The One who commanded this calling, is the One who will never leave or forsake you during the times of distress and discouragement. We must call upon His grace.

I appreciate this about Jonathan Edwards wife as noted by Carolyn Mahaney in 'Feminine Appeal', "Sarah created a world where her husband could fulfill his God-given duties without being concerned for the domestic tasks of the home. We should aspire to do likewise."

I close with this honorable and biblical statement by Dorothy Patterson:
"Homemaking--being a full-time wife and mother--is not a destructive drought of uselessness bu an overflowing oasis of opportunity; it is not a dreary cell to contain one's talents and skills but a brilliant catalyst to channel creativity and energies into meaningful work."

Pressing on into the delights of homemaking.