Vision

Proverbs 29:18   Where there is no vision, the people perish…

When embarking upon a new endeavor, it is customary to have in mind some expected end, some objective with which to outline the road by which we shall arrive there. For example, if we desire to gain certification for a career, we shall have our route planned and thus begin pursuit upon it. Entertaining the notion of homemaking, however, may woo us with expected ends (realistic or not), but we may shortly be either troubled or agitated with the lack of plain paths to fulfill becoming the domestic artist we envision.

And from where do our homemaking visions arise, anyhow? I do wonder how many of us, if asked, would raise our hands in agreement that Qualified (by whom, I’m uncertain) Homemaking looks a bit like Little House on the Prairie, whether a home runs with very little provision as in the case of the Ingalls, or with plenty of resources, as with the Olsons. Either way, the idea of running our very own home today is enough to make us either shiver with excitement over the possibilities or shudder with revulsion to be thus “trapped.”

Every person has a vision of what a proper home ought to be. If that vision seems realistic or achievable, then perhaps a homemaker will work with enthusiasm. But if it seems daunting and we do not take courage into entering the harder aspects (and there will be harder aspects), not even bread will want to rise to meet our sour demeanor. So we must find something in our homemaking with which to be enthusiastic about, even if it seems small, simple, or stupid. Otherwise, all we are doing is setting the stage for inevitable drudgery and wasting away of every potential of something good and lovely. Better to find something to smile about in our homemaking efforts, even while struggling to make the orchestra of laundry-meals-children-crafting play harmoniously, than to taint the atmosphere with acidic disappointments because your efforts are not “measuring up” to some misguided notion of How It Must Be.

There is a difference, also, between a homemaker planning a spotless home worthy of growing 100 thousand Instagram followers, and a homemaker planning rooms based on how she desires the inhabitants to feel when in them. One abode may look untouched, and therefore sterile; the other is affected with spoilage, but cheerful, and profitable for fruitfulness. Out of the muck, the garden grows, as every real farmer knows. Proverbs 14:4   Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.

A happy homemaker will expect to fail (yes, expect), and understand her failings may actually become supports to undergird her larger efforts. For she will build upon those errors, and learn from her mistakes. She will remove the nails and use screws next time, buy a better knife, unknit the sweater, and learn to sort laundry better. She will graduate from using meals-in-a-box, and educate herself on areas such as handwork, finance, and the healing arts.

A homemaker who dreads her homekeeping is like a mother with no love for her baby. She is not only wasteful, but wastes away in temperament. She does no good for her husband, and he does not trust her. The law of kindness is far from her tongue as she is destroying her own house, and it is highly unlikely her children will rise to call her blessed. Perhaps you have been in such homes: empty, uncared for, misused, tainted with bitterness. Perhaps you even grew up in one. The homemaker has no vision of glory within it.

Where there is no vision–that is, no Biblical revelation from God within its borders to lead and to guide–the people within a home perish even as the physical building succumbs to rot. The vision of happy homemaking is not a perfectly ordered linen closet with dried lavender sprigs, though such is certainly attainable and lovely besides. A happy homemaker has her soul sights upon God, and it is happiness He bestows as she keeps the law of Christ within the holy hedge of her home.

….but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. (Pro 29:18)

As love is the fulfilling of the law (Rom 13:10, Matt 22:36-40), our happiness in our homemaking is directly tied to loving God and in loving our neighbor, not in how well our imaginations in decor come to fruition. Our neighbors are not only the people across the fence lines with whom to share tea and conversation (something you can do when you are actually at home), but they are especially the people with whom God has set our lonely selves, both to be a measure of sanctification for them and also to receive their sandpaper rubbings to remove the dross from our own natures. In this we rejoice at home, that God is love, and we reflect His love within it.

There is no plainer or profitable path for a proper home than the one that leads to and through Calvary. Simple, yes, but our pathetic and weak worldly visions of what homemaking could be are at times chains binding us to the Daily Grind of joylessness in homemaking and make what could be grander visions of possibilities so gimp.

Do you want to be a blessed homemaker? Then behold the cross first and often, and let Jesus guide you in your endeavors to create a happy home. He will give you the vision you need; He will give you eyes to see.

Blessings,