Sunday, August 17, 2014

If All You Do...


                             


There are such a lot of opinions about what women should be, or what they should be doing or not doing, that I wanted to drop by here and leave a brief message about it.  The  news media barrages us with the worries of the world, making it hard to really relax and be happy with the life and the duties that God has given us. We think we must occupy our minds with problems or that it is our duty to worry about the whole world.

                                  
If all you do is make a cup of tea in a pretty cup and sit by the window with the sun coming in across your chair, you are doing something important and constructive. You are resting for a few minutes and thinking about your goals and dreams for your home and family.  You are doing enough, and you will find, with all there is to so, there is barely time for that.


One of the commands of the New Testament is that Christians should rejoice and be happy. These days we are made to think we are somehow hard and unfeeling if we attempt to get away from the pressures of the world and retreat to our homes to homeschool our children, paint pictures, sew, and take tea, be happy. 


 I love these old paintings depicting contentment, also a Biblical teaching. Even though the artists lived during a time of "wars and rumors of wars" they managed to concentrate on their mission, their work. While all the stress of their times is past and forgotten, these artists left something lovely and worthwhile. As the Bible says, people's works live long after they die.
       
When the cares of the world make you feel defeated, there are a few simple things you can do.  Remember that Titus  2 and I Timothy 5:14 give Christian ladies permission to focus on the home and family. It does not say they must scurry around solving the social problems of the world, but in being a homemaker, a woman does solve a lot of things. For one, she is not contributing to the chaos in the world. She is putting her house in order, teaching her children and being a good wife.  There will be less complaining and fewer troubled children for society to deal with.
                             

                                  
So, if all you do today is dress up for church, attend worship, and later have a simple meal at home, it is enough. Leave a memory of something good and lovely, and do something worthwhile in your home. Substitute a good thing for a worry.  Use stress as a trigger for getting busy making something better at home or improving yourself.

                               
                                                             Dressed to Go Shopping 


If all you do during the week is dress in a beautiful way that inspires you, and if all you do is clean house and stand back and look at it with pleasure; if all you do is think on things that are lovely, you are pleasing to Christ and it is enough.  

Ladies sometimes worry that they are not doing enough ministry or charity, but if all they do is serve their own families and try to live lives of good example, it is a good thing and is very effectively evangelistic and charitable. 

One of the best ways to reduce anxiety is to make your home a lovely place to be and to serve tea to lift the moods of your loved ones (or yourself)be creative, have the teaching of kindness on your tongue.

Do not stretch your time and energies beyond your limits, because it can cause anxiety.  So if all you do today so try to enjoy prettiness, serve your own family and be thankful for the food set before you, it is enough.

20 comments:

Susan said...

Thank you for this wonderful piece of encouragement. I needed this today.

living from glory to glory said...

Dear Lydia, This is a true Biblical way to look and perceive how to be content in our homes! I agree with you whole heartedly!
For our homes need to be places of comfort and joy and that is where happiness can grow and produce peace loving lives.
Loved this so much! I will come back and read it again in a few days!
Blessings, Roxy

Lydia said...

Thanks Susan and Roxy,

The pressures and demands of everything outside the home can really make you less effective in creating your own home life if you let all the turmoil distract you. Just do the best you can for your own husband and your house and strive to be happy.

Gail said...

I was alone in the house today, and so after church, I decided to give the washing machine a sabbath rest, and I read the paper, took care of a few necessary chores in the home and worked on some cooking projects I had been thinking about (I find cooking to be therapeutic!). My son-in-law has come down with a summer cold, so I made some chicken soup for him and my daughter (who is expecting a baby). A friend from church stopped by with a dish I had left at a meeting, and I invited her in for a visit and a bowl of soup. Then I looked through the some old recipes and took a few out that I would like to make in the next couple of weeks. I even laid down and rested for an hour! After that, I made some chicken salad, some fresh salsa, and a homemade pizza. My husband came home from his job to a delightful supper, and I rounded out the evening with a phone visit with a friend from my hometown. Now I am on here writing to you, and for once, can say kept the Sabbath in right manner today. Would you believe I was feeling a subliminal, nagging sense of failure that perhaps I had wasted time today? My mother would laugh at me if she were here now. Thank you for the timely reminder, which was so well put.

Blessed Homemaking said...

A great, encouraging post, Lydia. There is so much bad news, and we often feel pulled in so many directions, but we just need to focus on what is most important. Loved this post.

Lydia said...

If all you do is get your kitchen clean today, it is an accomplishment. What is going on in your life is real news.

anonymous said...

Sometimes life gets discouraging and news of wars, mayhem and greed seem to be pounded into us from every angle. It grates on you and grinds away on your nerves.
Reading your posts are like refreshing, cool, sweet water in a parched and dry land.
I have enjoyed your posts Lydia. They are so peaceful and encouraging.
Mrs. J

Housewife59 said...

This is so beautifully simple. I read it like a sweet, uplifting poem. 'If All You Do...' It sounds like Rudyard Kipling's poem 'If', but this reminder hits home with its essential truth. I will remember this in my daily life 'If All You Do...' Thank you.

ChristyH said...

Thank you for the encouragement. We have had more extended family members feel that being a wife and mom just isn't enough. sigh I am glad I am the only "child" they have so that those thoughts won't get passed on. I won't allow their thought to steal my happiness. I love your blog.

Andrea R said...

What a wonderful post! God created us, blessed us with families, and therefore desires to see us live for Him. It's easy to believe that unless we are a missionary in Uganda, we aren't making an impact...but that is false. God did not call us to the far-away mission fields. He called us to the mission of home, being a wife, keeping a peaceful home, and raising godly children and being thankful for His provision therein.

Stephanie said...

My dear Lydia, thank you for this thoughtful and beautiful post - your words were a refreshment to my soul :)

May you have a blessed week! Hugs

Lydia said...

Stephanie, the graphics on your blog are so inspiring and pretty. Do you make them yourself?

Lydia said...

Emmarinda

I cannot remember our mothers and grandmothers being tied in knits over the news. If they were worried they just got busy with something. We cannot fix the world but we can fix our homes.

Katrinka said...

Occasionally I think about what this country would be like if all the wives and mothers would simply stay home and care for their homes and raise their own children. Some people think that's not enough contribution, but if that would happen this world would be a different place.

Grandmothers would be available to their grandchildren and to counsel the parents of their grandchildren, and there would be eyes in every home on the block. Crime would go down, children would grow up to be better citizens and better employees, people would be healthier because there would be less consumption of junk food. When I've pondered this in the past, the benefits are endless.

Homemaker's Heart said...

A beautiful reminder to guard against listening to the world telling us to fill our time and then some. To sit with tea and re-group. To find yourself in quiet moments. To be able to meet our husband and the end of the day with a smile. Thank you for your encouragement.
~Dee

Kimberly said...

Thank you so much. I have been struggling with exactly these issues - thinking I'm not doing enough, need to be busier in the world and if I'm tired and want to relax I'm slacking. So thank you so very much.

Anonymous said...

Thank you again for your timely encouragement, it lifted my heart today.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this wonderful encouragement

Linda said...

Absolutely wonderful post! Greetings from Montreal, Canada.

Songsparrowgarden said...

More beautiful words Lydia!! I read this as I was having a nice cup of tea. I've already taken care of my pets and was thinking I need to iron, go pickup my sewing machine from repair, and I would like to sew today. Before deciding what is next I read your article. . and you're so right. I'm not bothering anyone, my pets are happy and cared for, The only chaos is on my work table, strewn with hangers for the ironing and fabrics for my quilt. Its a simple but good life - - and its enough. Thank you Lydia for more perspective on simple pleasures and what is enough.