The State of the Union address was, as usual, an interesting and historical event full of political gymnastics and surprises. Like every American, I alternatively cheered and jeered. But as a homemaking woman who raises her own children by her side at all hours of the day, I felt forgotten, or at least ignored. There was bipartisan celebration for tax credits for working parents and maternity leaves and quality childcare, but no one remotely considered a tax break for stay-at-home mothers. There was urgency to allow tax monies to be diverted to schools chosen by parents, but no tax relief for homeschoolers to use their own monies for their own curriculums, outside classes, or lessons. There was cheers for women joining the ranks of the employed in droves, but no gratitude for homemakers who offer their own sacrifices to serve the country on the homefront. This isn’t to negate the very real importance of these political and moral endeavors, and of course we are all thankful for them, but homemakers are largely dismissed in every sense.
Yet there is a kind of shelter in being unseen. For there are no regulations on how we are to decorate our homes, no law that insists on presidential portraits hanging from our mantles. There is no one to point fingers at our burned casseroles or sneaky cobwebs. So we circumvent real ridicule and hardship and instead suffer—if it is indeed suffering— from lack of acceptance and approval. This is annoying at best, but can be hard on the wallet, too, when we miss out on the tangible perks of real financial benefits.
Those who reject homemaking as a valuable means of enriching a family, community, and nation simply have no clue of its importance or what really happens within the walls of a carefully curated lifestyle. They have no sense of gravitas in fostering the security of a child and no real understanding that nutrient dense meals simply cannot happen in a laboratory. And what if such acceptance and celebration of the homemaker were to arise with new fervor? Would it not even then be a counterfeit assurance that what we are about is of great consequence? As if gaining such tax credits would underscore what we knew all along: that homemaking is a holy and serious undertaking, and rightly understood, the good of our society rests upon the foundation of a family raising up noble and responsible people to further the good of our civilization.
For what are we doing, if not investing in something a bit more profound than simply wiping countertops and little noses all day? And how would we even begin to put a price on that? Our incomes, though always desiring of growth and stability and certainly we need them to sustain our living, are not our greatest sources of blessing and fulfillment. Our work at home is instead covered and defended by God’s Word and our own moral impulses; we know it is right to strengthen our marriages, nurture and teach our children, and create a retreat and refuge from the world at large. We all need a place to grow, learn, eat, and rest.
Perhaps we will never be admitted into the association of the socially acceptable and receive the accolades and financial aid awarded to its members. That is all right. We are blessed to have the ability to not only remain quiet in the land (Ps 35:20), but to study further how to be even more quieted in our hearts and minds, working with our hands and minding our own businesses (1 Thes 4:11). Our confidence, praise God, is in His faithfulness and strength, not in the size of the applause we seek.
Blessings,
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