I was reading somewhere recently where the writer was challenging Moms to be "Homemakers". For some reason, it got me thinking of a passage out of I Chronicles. I've loved this passage for years - all the way back to my days of being an RD and way before I was a Mom and maybe that is why it took me so long to connect the two.
I really don't like being called a Stay at Home Mom. I feel like my role is more than that. I am a Full-time Homemaker. Please do not refer to me as a "Housewife" as my position is more encompassing as that. I am a Full-time Homemaker.
In I Chronicles 28, King David is getting ready to die. He has been king for 40 years and for the last many years of his reign, he had been collecting everything to make a house for God: a home for God - a resting place. David says, "I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it.But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.’"
So God chose Solomon, David's son to be the next King and to build the Temple - the house of the Lord.
David tells his people the promise that God gave him regarding Solomon and charged his people to follow God always.
Then he looked to Solomon and says "acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 10 Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.”
David then proceeds to give extremely detailed directions for the temple.
Then says to Solomon "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished."
In the first verse of Chapter 29, David looks out to all of his people and says "My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the LORD God."
For each of us mother's we are called to make our house a home. A home for our husband's and children (and ourselves) to feel safe in, loved in, cared for - a place they want to come home to. We are to make our house a home for God - a place where not only is He welcomed into but also his presence requested.
Just as Solomon was encouraged to not be afraid - neither should we. We are all inexperienced at one point - just as Solomon and yet Solomon was know for loving God with his whole heart.
We have directions for how to make our house a home - scripture - it may not be as detailed as what David gave Solomon, but it is even more critical that we follow the details of scripture.
My house right now is not very homey. It is a mess. My son's birthday is today and he ran late for the bus (literally had to run so he wouldn't miss it) and forgot the cookies he wanted to take for his birthday treat as he and I were fussing this morning about his attitude. My kitchen is a mess from the above said cookies and Mount St. Laundry needs to climbed and dynamite taken to it.
May all of us Moms know that God has chosen each of us for this position of HomeMaker - whether we do this position fulltime or part time (from having to work outside the home). If God has chosen us then we must be the perfect person for this position in our home. We have a great task in front us - just as Solomon did. We must seek after God and not be afraid or discouraged. For our God is with us. He rightly deserves a home in our home.
When we make a Home for God IN our home.....our house is no longer a house to our family but a home.
{Writing this today for myself and any other moms who may need encouragement in their position of homemaking.}
Go Live BIG!
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