I am delighted to welcome you to “The Everyday Homemaker's” blog.It was officially launched following the “Art of Homemaking Conference” that was held on the Southwestern Baptist Seminary’s campus October 25-26 and co-sponsored by the publisher of The Christian Homemaker’s Handbook, Crossway.It is my prayer that this blog will inspire you to daily focus on making your house a home regardless of your marital status.
Will anyone attend a Conference focused specifically on Homemaking?
When the concept of a Homemaking Conference was suggested the director of our Conference Center at Southwestern predicted an attendance of 250-300 individuals given the narrow scope of the topic.Dorothy Patterson and I believed that women were desirous of training in God’s special instructions to women and prayed that He would stimulate an appetite in individuals to attend such an event.He said “yes” to the prayer and brought 1021 individuals (yes some men did attend) to the Conference.It was the largest adult conference ever held at Southwestern.Key note speakers Michelle Duggar, Elizabeth George, and Dorothy Patterson set a solid foundation for the home as outlined in Scripture.Breakout sessions were conducted by many of the chapter authors of The Christian Homemaker’s Handbook.As well, in excess of 200 individuals toured Horner Homemaking House, our "management model home" that accommodates the Homemaking Concentration classes at Southwestern.
You may view the video of Mrs. Patterson's session on the Proverbs 31 woman by clicking this link.
The Foundation
The first chapter of The Christian Homemaker’s Handbook reports the results of a survey I conducted to identify twenty-first century individuals’ knowledge of the facts regarding and their ability to successfully perform the life skills commonly associated with the management of the home.I wanted to learn:
·How has feminism impacted the twenty-first century culture
How has feminism impacted the twenty-first century evangelical community?
·What are the homemaking skills many Christian women lack?
The responses from almost 2300 individuals who responded to the survey clearly indicated that:
·Feminism has impacted both the twenty-first century culture and the evangelical community.Women who would be considered “older women” in their churches (35 and above) comprised 64.3% (1435) of the respondents.They overwhelmingly replied that they are confident in their homemaking skills.However, as they responded to the open-ended questions the women expressed concern for the lack of biblical character and practical skills possessed by the younger Christian women (15-34 in age; 792 respondents comprising 35.6% of the population) they encounter.As the results suggest, there is a break in the circuit.Somewhere in our evangelical cycle of women’s ministry, the entire Proverbs 31 and Titus 2:3-5 model is being ignored.The survey results pose a thought-provoking question—have the younger women become less teachable or have the older women failed to teach?
·The enthusiastic response to the survey and subsequent conference suggests that a need does exist for the twenty-first century evangelical community to seriously consider the need for the implementation of the Titus 2:3-5 principle that challenges women to acquire the facts and life skills needed to successfully manage their home.Likewise, it must acknowledge, identify, and correct the devastating effect that feminism continues to exact on its members.
·The e-mails that accompanied the requests for the summary of the survey findings reflected a deep concern that the generation of younger women is frequently theologically sound but practically inept in the godly attitudes and skills required to manage a home that glorifies their heavenly Father.Thus, the admonition offered in Titus 2:5 is coming to fruition—God’s Word is being discredited.
If you would like to add your perceptions to the study, you may access the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=5_2bZtXdA7wAavmfimfqrfRA_3d_3d
The Solution
The average scores of the 1435 survey respondents between age 35 and 90 indicated that they possess the majority of the skills and much of the knowledge to establish a godly home.However, the same respondents listed the very skills that they practice skillfully as deficient in the younger women.Just as the younger women should embrace a teachable spirit towards acquiring the knowledge base and skills for successful home management, so the older women must heed the Titus 2:3-5 instruction to be willing to teach the younger women.
The Titus 2:3-5 passage states that older women are to be examples of godliness (2:3); they are to teach what is good, and they are to train the younger women in specific skills so that God’s Word is not discredited (2:4-5).The resume of a qualified older woman portrays her as embracing a lifestyle that models the faith she professes.She is circumspect with her speech, self-controlled, and a teacher of things which please God.As a countercultural woman in her commitment to God’s special instructions to women, she is willing to thank her heavenly Father for her successes and ask forgiveness of Him and others for her failures.She desires to see growth toward Christ-likeness in younger women and is willing in invest her most valuable asset, her time, in them. [1] Only when the younger and older partner together to fulfill this biblical mandate will the Christian home be recovered.
The Next Step
The cumulative response (each respondent was able to list four skills) to the survey statement, “The homemaking skills many Christian women lack are” was 4447.These responses revealed the following deficiencies:
·Cooking
·Sewing
·Organization
·Time Management
·Hospitality
·Cleaning
It is my passion that “The Art of Homemaking” blog will assist in removing these and other deficiencies in the home.Perhaps you have some additional topics you would like to have addressed.If so please leave a comment for me.
I pray that you will visit often and each time leave with a renewed commitment to making your house a home regardless of your marital status (Proverbs 31:27)!
For Further Thought
·How do you perceive feminism has impacted the twenty-first century culture?
·How do you perceive feminism has impacted the twenty-first century evangelical community?
·How do you perceive feminism has impacted you?
Blessings on your day as you seek to make your house a home!
[1] See Pat Ennis and Lisa Tatlock, Becoming a Woman Who Pleases God: A Guide to Developing Your Biblical Potential (Chicago: Moody, 2003), 288-306 for further elaboration on the Titus 2 Principle