first day of housewifery.

Tal woke up at 4:30 this morning to go to work to make money to pay our bills, to be a good husband, and I slept in until 9.  This was the first morning that I woke up alone since our wedding 2 weeks ago.  We've had a long luxurious vacation and today was not so much "back to reality" but "starting reality."  I really didn't know what today would be like at all. 

Being female and somewhat hormonal I immediately started to feel lost.  "What do I do with all this time?  You've wanted to be a housewife for so long, now it's here, and you miss your old house?"  So I googled "what should a good housewife do all day?" and surprisingly it showed me several blogs by Christian wives and mothers who were all trying to be good housewives themselves.  It was incredibly inspiring to realize that I wasn't alone, and that so many others are thriving in this vocation.  My lost feelings from the morning were replaced with excitement for becoming the "keeper of our home."

There was a great 6 (or 7) part article, written by 7 different wives/mothers on Titus 2:3-5 (one of the articles can be found here, with a list of the other articles and links at the bottom of the post http://www.oursimplecountrylife.com/) (you may want to turn the volume down on your computer if you check out that link though, because there is a repeating mp3 being played that gets a little... testing :S)  I was particularly inspired by the second part of the passage, "...train the young women to love their husbands and children, ⁵to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled." (Titus 2:4-5 ESV).  Of course I'm most inspired by those words that are so opposite from myself "self-controlled" "pure" "submissive," but it's good to be inspired by what you aren't and what you are striving towards.

Our culture teaches us almost the opposite of this verse, "train the young women to love themselves first, then consider their husbands and children (but they shouldn't consider marriage until they really know themselves and that love for themselves is strong), to know what they want, and be driven towards it, to do anything to get themselves where they want to go, working anywhere to get what they want, setting aside virtuous ways to get there way, and not letting anyone telling them what to do."  I'd say that was pretty accurate to what women my age are taught nowadays through media, school, and just life in general... and it's shocking to see that God's way is so opposite.

I hope and know I will find, deep satisfaction in following God, and learning to be more self-controlled, kind, pure, and submissive to my husband.  I know that the greatest joy in life is found in giving up yourself for others... it's the choosing selflessness over selfishness that's the hard part :P

Peace.