Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Passionate Homemaker

Lately everything I've heard is regarding passion. Two of my devotionals in the past few days have been about that very topic. It got me thinking, am I a passionate homemaker? I decided to look up the meaning of passion. The Webster's dictionary says that the meaning of passion is the suffering of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and his death. Another meaning is a strong feeling or emotion; strong liking or desire;Love.

So now I began to think how passionate am I when it comes to things in my life? After reading the definition of passion I realize that I have a LONG way to go before I'm as passionate about things as I am supposed to. I had become so absorbed with what the needs of my family were over my needs as a wife, mother and Christian. Before I can become a passionate homemaker I needed to improve my passion for Christ. I'm not saying I do not LOVE Christ with all my heart and soul, but there are areas of my life that I needed to hand over to him. I think many people are like that whether they want to admit it or not, especially us women who worry all the time. After doing that I've realized that I can have more passion for other areas of my life, my Husband, children and then homemaking. Taking the time to really get to know those around me will develop a greater passion for them and knowing what our home is made of. I started with my Husband, did I know ALL of his desires, dreams, interests, likes/dislikes after a number of conversations we discovered many areas of each other we had no idea of. It was great! But it will not stop there, dreams, interests and likes and dislikes change all the time.

Now for my children, when you are expecting you have all these expectation of how your children will grow up. Like having a little girl who loves to have her hair brushed and put up in cute little styles, then BAM your sweet little girl is a teenager who has changed right before your eyes. She doesn't want anything to do with you. But I made it a point each night to sit with her in her room and just talk with her. I learned so much through doing this. Now she looks forward to that time each night. With our middle daughter she loves to play with dolls, I sit with her and play with the dolls also. Our son loves to be read to, we finished 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and he loved every minute of it. Does this make for a long evening YES but it has made me passionate about being a Mother again. Many times I think your children hit that age of being able to do many things on their own we as Moms feel they don't need us any more. WRONG! They need us more now than before. I'm loving this time with them.

Now for my home. I had become so overwhelmed when it came to keeping house I had just let things go. I had lost the passion I had felt 3 years ago when I first came home after working full time outside the home. I thought of it as a chore. That's when the Lord laid it on my heart to just start slow. Work on one room a day. While I was doing that the children were working on their rooms. After about a week or so we had a clean and organized home. Now I had felt the passion return for being a keeper at home.

I didn't wake up one morning and expect to just feel the passion for these things. I needed to work and pray hard for these. With a lot of work I can say I'm almost there. I do not believe anyone will realize all the passion that Christ has for us until we are with him in glory! We need to keep working on these areas because life gets in the way too many times. Passion for these things end up hidden way down deep and need us to bring them back to the surface. We must fill our lives with Christ not just certain areas ALL areas. Make the time for yourself, for me the best time is early in the morning. I look forward to that time each and every day, just as much as all the other times I've listed.

4 comments:

Pastor Ron said...

How true. It's funny to think that there are SOOOOO many areas as moms that need us to be passionate. I know the Proverbs 31 woman is an ideal and never existed. However she exemplified Passion to the t! She not only made sure her families basic needs were taken care of she also made sure they looked the best they good. (Linen and fine purple) not only did she have a clean home but she decorated it well (woven tapestry)

One of my biggest struggles is thinking that it's enough to have a clean house and properly clothed children but I forget that I need to make sure that I don't forget to brush their hair..(Bug's can be a fright) Especially when it comes to people in ministry as well. I have to take special care when going to a church that everyone is dressed properly...no wrinkles..no stains...no messy hair. My initial response to that is that they shouldn't be judging me or my family in that way....however you hit the nail on the head..I just have not been able to verbalize it the way you have. If you are passionate about God and your relationship with him. It will reflect in the way you take care of and provide for your family. that may mean changing some priorities financially to get better clothes or nicer hair cut...no one really noticed how bad I botched hubby's hair the last time i did it...or at least they were kind enough to not say anything! those were some choices we had to make when we started this whole canidating process! the good news is that they only last for a month or two and then you go back to the normal way of life... Anyway that was a long comment. God really used this whole idea about a year ago in my life you just said it more eloquently than I did! Thanks for the insight!

Sandra said...

What a great post Jen :)

Michele @ Frugal Granola said...

Well said! :)
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Blessings,
Michele
www.frugalgranola.blogspot.com

candy said...

Hi Sweet Jen,
This was an excellent post! I think we all have areas that we need to get more passionate about. Thanks for the reminder! I think I need to get more passionate about taking care of myself. I need to lose some weight so I can be the best Christian, wife and mom that I can be. Im already pretty passionate about homemaking lol but there are lots more areas I need help with. Like you said, a little improvement each day and with God on our side, it is possible to make these changes.
Love , God bless and big hugs,
candy :)