Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Feminine Appeal... sounds so nice huh? Or maybe it sounds bad to you. It is the name of the book I am reading right now. Actually, I've read it once before and I felt revolutionized by it. Once again as I delve into the words of Carolyn Mahaney I am invigorated with her words of wisdom. The books subtitle is: Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother and it is based off of Titus 2: 3-5.
"Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled."
She spends a chapter speaking about each of the characteristics that the older women are to teach the younger women. So far I have read up through "working at home" and due to my previous post about staying at home, I would like to share a bit of what she says.
"Homemaking is a vocation often filled with mundane tasks and repetitive chores, most of which are performed in obscurity. It demands a colossal amount of serving and sacrifice. Sometimes between scrubbing toilets or laundering dirty clothes, we can lose sight of the significance of our callings. We look around us and perceive everyone engaged in meaningful work. Everyone, that is, except us. And our vision for working at home begins to flag.
"What we need is a biblical perspective. For in God's economy, homemaking is a high and noble calling. Remember our ultimate mission in emulating the Titus 2 lifestyle? By "working at home" we can present the gospel as attractive to unbelievers. Our homes can actually be a showcase for the gospel!
"When onlookers see us thriving in our role as homemaker, and when they observe the exceptional quality of family life that our efforts produce, this can pique their curiosity. They may want to find out what our secret is!
"And our home can be a place of momentous ministry. They are strategic locations from which we can reach out and extend care to those who don't yet know Christ.
"Dawsome Trotman, founder of the group called Navigators, once said: "I believe with all my heart that one of the greatest soul saving stations in the world is the home." And I love what one person observed about Dr. Francis Schaeffers's wife Edith: "As many people were brought to the Lord through Mrs. Shaeffer's cinnamon buns as through Dr. Shaeffer''s sermons!"
"As we realize the exceptional fruit that working at home can bear, we will be inspired to fashion an abode that rivals this lovely description from Peter Marshal, former chaplain of the Senate: "I was privileged, in the spring, to visit in a home that was to me - and I am sure to the occupants - a little bit of Heaven. There was beauty there. There was a keen appreciation of the finer things of life, and an atmosphere in which it was impossible to keep from thinking of God. The room was bright and white and clean, as well as cozy. There were many windows. Flowers were blooming in pots and vases, adding their fragrance and beauty. Books lined one wall - good books - inspiring and instructive - good books - good friends. Three bird cages hung in the brightness and color of this beautiful sanctuary, and the songsters voiced their appreciation by singing as if their little throats would burst. Natures music, nature's beauty - nature's peace ... it seemed to me a kind of Paradise that had wandered down, an enchanted oasis - Home.
"What an extraordinary thought - that we can create a home where it is "impossible to keep from thinking about God."
"Our houses need not resemble a page from House Beautiful magazine. Regardless of their size and style or our financial status, our homes can exude warmth and provide refreshment for all who walk through their doors. They should be pleasant havens for our husbands and children, sanctuaries where we offer care and hospitality to other Christians, and gateways from which we extend the gospel to family, friends, and neighbors.
"So I have made this my prayer: "Lord, help me to build the kind of home where all who enter find it 'impossible to keep from thinking of God.'""
I hope you find this moving. I do. That is my prayer: LORD, help me to build the kind of home where all who enter find it 'impossible to keep from thinking of God'.
The chapter I am quoting from Carolyn Mahaney's book talks of how feminism has infiltrated our society, how serving at home is unto our husbands and the Lord, and how obviously not all women can be full-time homemakers. It is rich with wisdom and encouragement, as is the rest of her book. I say if you are a woman, looking for a good book, do not pass this one up. It is full of sound biblical instruction, and an encouragement to read.
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