Not long ago we received an e-mail with a testimonial from a family who had just started using ChorePacks, a chore system detailed in our Managers of Their Chores book. We used that e-mail as the basis for a blog post on Titus2.com. Here is that blog post.
From a recent e-mail: “I wanted to send this sweet picture of our oldest, Audrey, wearing her ChorePack the first week and getting ready to unload the dishwasher. She RAVED about how she loved the chore pack because it reminded her of everything she needed to do in the morning instead of her forgetting things that needed to get done. We’ve loved the system so far! Thank you for creating it.”
“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men” (Proverbs 22:29).
While we had several positive blog comments about ChorePacks from other ChorePack users, we had one negative comment. We chose not to approve that comment on the blog, because there was so much we wanted to say in response to it, and that required a greater investment of time. Here is the blog comment:
“That poor little girl. She’s happy because she’s pleasing mommy like all children do. She should be out playing with friends, playing dress up or let’s pretend, MAYBE a few small chores here and there–but CHOREPACKS? You people are going to kill that child’s spirit before she’s 7. God forbid she wants to be anything other than Holly Homemaker–do they have chore packs for future lawyers? Or Astronauts? I hope that she grows up to realize that she’s worth more than just an unpaid scullery maid/nanny.”
The world devalues the woman who chooses to forgo a lucrative career to stay home and raise her children. People often hold the same derogatory attitude that is portrayed in this blog comment. Their thinking is that the woman who wants to be home with her children is, as this blog commenter described, nothing more than an “unpaid scullery maid/nanny,” indicating she has no value. Untrue! The raising up of a precious life in Christ is of far more value than the highest paid executive’s take home pay!
However Scripture holds up another standard. “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Titus 2:4-5).
Holly Homemaker: I really liked that title! I delight in being Holly Homemaker, and it brings me joy when my daughters say they want to be wives and mothers. I don’t view myself as an unpaid scullery maid/nanny even if others do.
In reality, I don’t think I am the only one who values being home with my children and chooses that over a career. Here is a recent e-mail I received.
“I am writing to update you as I had asked for prayer several months ago regarding selling my chiropractic practice to become a full-time ‘keeper at home’.
“Guess what, a wonderful young doctor bought my practice! I am now at home full-time and no longer employed outside the home. I am thrilled! And, I’m very, very thankful to God for allowing this and orchestrating the details as only He could have done. Now that I am home, I realize how much I have to learn! But I am excited about being home and being more engaged and available as a wife and mother.”
This is an educated, professional woman choosing to give up her career for something she sees as more important than that career–being home with her children. She doesn’t sound to me like she would consider herself an unpaid scullery maid/nanny. However, I think she would happily don the title of Holly Homemaker. I regularly hear from women who are giving up all that their higher education earned them in a career as a doctor or lawyer to become a Holly Homemaker. They are esteeming the riches of full-time investment in their children’s lives to be greater than the accolades and financial rewards of their professional career.
With the unprecedented growth of broken homes, we Holly Homemakers have the opportunity to offer our children the security and nurturing that even secular psychologists say is important. We avoid the time pressures that working moms face of trying to accomplish everything at home plus be at work for eight hours or more each day. We are our own bosses, and we set our own schedules.
I know there are many working women who are doing so because they have no other choice. They long to be able to be home with their children. They pray that the Lord will provide a way for them to do so. If circumstances allowed, they would instantly become a Holly Homemaker filled with joy in doing so.
For those of you who are Holly Homemakers, we want to affirm the decision you have made to invest your life in the lives of your children. We hope you will take joy in that role and not let the world devalue in your heart what you are choosing to do. For those who would like to be a Holly Homemaker but can’t at this time, we pray that the Lord will soon open those doors for you. We have heard many wonderful stories of Him answering those kinds of prayers. Next month we will continue this discussion.