Rediscovering Homemaking: Homemaking is a Career

Trisha, Contributing Writer

I have a lot of ideas. Many of them are probably harebrained, I admit.

I believe, for instance, that personal resolutions should be written on a person’s birthday and not on New Year’s Eve. (At the very least, this would level out the number of people at the gym in January.) I believe that music lessons should be mandated as part of a child’s school curriculum. (Music, in my opinion, is as important as math.) I believe weddings should be planned in a week. (Funerals are, after all, and most of the same elements exist.)

Finally, and most important to this discussion, I believe that purposeful homemaking is the role of every woman and should be studied and practiced as diligently as any other passion.

Let’s eliminate some immediate assumptions.

I am not a homemaker as the result of failing at a real career. I have spent several years as a successful editor for a leading media corporation. I love what I do in my office, and I love what I do in my kitchen. I believe that women whose real career is purposeful homemaking should not hang their heads in shame.

The assumption that homemaking is for the weak is perpetuated by those who are weaker.

I am not a homemaker because society mandates that I should (or should not!) be one. I am a homemaker because Proverbs 14:1 says that “The wisest of women builds her house” (ESV). I do not believe that God assigned the responsibility of homemaking to the woman because He perceived her to be incapable of doing anything else. I believe God assigned the task to the woman because He believed she could be entrusted to do the job well. The only commands God gives us are the ones we are capable of obeying.

I am not a homemaker so I can show off for my friends. There is nothing in Scripture about whether or not homemade laundry detergent is best. The Bible is silent on the benefits of baking soda. (Though, admittedly, I am not!) The Bible does not glorify those homemakers whose centerpieces belong on Pinterest.

Nowhere in God’s Word are we told to keep up with the Joneses. My role, as outlined in Proverbs 31, is to strive for excellence. If that goal is achieved using the manmade tools of homemade soap or baking soda or Pinterest, so be it, but my aim must be to please God and not (wo)man.

I am not a homemaker because I have a nice house. My house is modest. By many standards, my house is small. As World War II concluded, soldiers returned to the city where I live and built houses with their GI bills. As a result, my neighborhood consists almost entirely of tiny homes built between 1940 and 1960. And though my predecessors easily fit a dozen children into their bungalow without complaining, I find it challenging to carve out space for my spice rack.

Last night, I was talking to a group of girlfriends and we agreed that the reason we do not practice hospitality like we should is because we are self-conscious about the size and quality of our homes. Shame on us. We are not homemakers because we have nice houses. We are homemakers because it is a high calling.

In conclusion, it is important to understand that there is only One perfect home maker. Likewise, there is only one perfect home. Until the day we are united with God in heaven, we must strive to be purposeful homemakers for our good and His glory.

That’s an idea that isn’t harebrained at all.
 

Trisha is a wife, mom, writer, editor, teacher, reader, and former water polo queen. And she loves her home.

She and her husband, Luke, published their first book, Trust Hope Pray:Encouragement for the Task of Waiting, while waiting nearly 30 months to meet their first child via adoption. When she isn’t feeding her bonus baby or teaching her toddler to count, she can be found updating her blog at www.househoncho.com.
 

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