Saturday, February 18, 2012

The Sacredness of Home

Lady in Pink
by Alfred Leopold Stevens,  1823-1906, Belgium and France
from allposters.




     Although I am not linking up to Pink Saturday, I wanted to share something pink here today. This is a wooden sign that came from the dollar store, which I painted pink with some craft paints.  It could be made from cardstock, too, and hung with wired ribbon in a pleasing spot in your home.  Lillibeth has written a pertinent post on pink here. You can click the "thank you" button on her blog to respond, since she does not have comments.


     Happiness at home is largely dependent upon the belief that the home and family is a sacred institution established by God in the beginning when he created human beings. That belief will elevate the importance of the home and its functions, so that the homemaker can regulate the atmosphere. It is her duty to guard the home (Titus 2, verses 2-5), and in doing so, she must keep out the things that run down the purpose of the home and the members of the family.  She must not allow sardonic, sarcastic and flippant remarks from those who would trivialize the home.  It is not funny to characterize the parents as ignorant old fogeys who are stuck in the dark ages, and it is not right to ridicule their efforts to homeschool their children. 

    The home is serious business, and homemakers are accountable to God for the way they conduct the matters of the house.  They should not brook mocking comments or complaints about housework.  They can either ignore the remarks or they can call people to task for them, whichever they think their nerves can handle.

     Home is a blessed place, also, and everyone should be grateful to be there. It is not just a stop-over while on the way to do "something else" or something better. Being happy at home is the "ultimate result of all ambition."(Samuel Johnson, author of the 19th century English Dictionary.)  

     Demoralization is a tool of the devil, used to distract people from whatever is good, pure and lovely (Philippians 4:8). It is part of cynicism and skepticism, which I have written about before, and as such, should not be an invited guest in the home.  Teach your children well: when they make flippant remarks that devaluate the importance of the home, the homemaker, the parents, the family or make fun of well-loved traditions and beautiful sentiments, bring it to their attention that their sarcasm is helping to tear down the foundations that are giving them the best start in life.

     Demoralization is an effort to discourage someone and make them feel worthless.  The enemies of freedom know that the easiest way to defeat a country is to first demoralize them. A demoralized person is not capable of assimilating facts or distinguishing between truth and lies, no matter how much evidence he has before him.  It is important therefore, to understand the deep dangers of such a tactic and not ignore it when it enters the home. It should be disciplined as though it were a naughty child.



     Home is a place that is not dictated by the world's celebrations and observations. You can make any day a special day by declaring it so. I agree with this lass here, who has a special holiday marked on her calender to celebrate something lovely. In my home, I make up whatever day I want it to be. Today there were some violets peeking up from the root of a tree, and, remembering Peter Marshall's statement in his sermon "Keepers of the Springs," about the "the wistful fragrance of violets, "  I declared today to be the Wistful Day of Violets and am contendedly looking at some of them in an orphan tea cup saucer with a violet pattern.


     Another blog that is a delight is  this one, where a girl after my own heart makes costumes and wears them to historic house museums to get a sense of what it must have felt like to live there and use the old telephone and the old rocking chair and look through the windows onto the gardens.  I've done things on a smaller scale in my own home, dressing up and serving tea to just my little ones and enjoying every minute of it.


   There are those who think that our machinery (washers, dryers, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners) make housework so fast and easy that we need not stay home all day. To that I would like to say that if you have so much free time at home due to all this wonderful machinery, it does not mean that you should go out to seek work outside the home, or get a job for wages.  It is marvelous to have the work done in half the time it was done before the convenience of machinery, but homemaking is more than house cleaning. It is the art of putting an atmosphere into the home. The things these two girls have done on the links I've included, put that kind of love and joy into home living.

    If there is so much time left over after all these machines apparently do your work for you, you can create useful things by sewing, or knitting, your you can show hospitality.  If you have so much free time, due to machinery doing your work for you, you can do a lot more things yourself instead of having other people do it:  cook from natural ingredients, sew your own curtains, grow your own garden and educate your own children,

     Some people get the idea that women should be home only to do housework, but that is not true. A real homemaker pays attention to more than just the housework that needs to be done. She pays attention to beauty and comfort, as well as attitudes.

     The quality of refinement should be cultivated in home life. This is simply a type of respect. Helen Andelin elaborated on it in one of her books for women, saying that a refined person is respectful of other people who may put a high value on manners or certain rituals that they feel are important. Refinement demands that we not make rude remarks about a homemaker's insistance on good manners, her enjoyment of taking tea, or even her choice of decor and colors.  Refined people will respect the home, even if they do not have the same likes and dislikes in choices of style.

      A refined person will not destroy another's enthusiasm or enjoyment of things like a cup of tea in a favorite old-fashioned tea cup, or dressing up for different occasions, or enjoying classical music.  It is tempting to join outsiders in derisive laughter aimed at people who like to wear hats and dresses or take walks in the country, but refinement calls us to refrain from such uncivilized mocking. The home is sometimes the point of ridicule, but those who are refined will not indulge in such attacks.

     When you allow the home, marriage, the training of children, your tastes in home management and arrangement, and other aspects of home living to be insulted, you are allowing people to insult their Maker, who created the first home.

     When the home is regarded as sacred, certain words will not escape the lips of the family members, and outsiders will tread more carefully in regard to the home.  Those who dwell in it will be glad that it is protected from the stresses and strains of the wild, sleepless and noisy world.

     I have a new category called "Short Stern Lectures." To print this short stern lecture, go here.


17 comments:

Katrinka said...

I have always said that any political or economic plan that is supposed to stimulate this country cannot help but fail if it does not uplift the home and strengthen the home and those in it. The economy cannot ultimately save this country if it calls for individual families to go broke or if it drives the wife out of the home to work, just so we can keep spending more money to stimulate the economy.

I just recently read this quote by Abraham Lincoln and discovered my feelings are apparently not original! :) "The strength of a nation lies in the homes of its people."

Lydia said...

Katrinka, without strong families, you have a poor, decaying nation, and one that begins to depend on the government for its survival.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic post, Lydia, short, straight and to the point, present truths that need to be heard and shared...Brick by brick, precious sister in Christ.

Anonymous said...

"Demoralization is a tool of the devil." Well put! I like your short stern lectures.

Elizabeth said...

It's such a shame to hear children mock the home on all the so called'family' t.v. shows!It's very important to keep these kinds of influences away as well. Something as small as one smart-aleck remark from a kid to a parent on a DISNEY show (no less), can give children the idea that it's o.k. to devalue the home, and consider the parents as nitwits. I have banned pretty much all of these so called wholesome shows,as the enemy sneaks in so stealthly, and before we know it, the roots are strong.

Sheila said...

A hundred thanks to you for this post! I really needed its uplifting words this morning.

Lydia said...

It always seems so normal and harmless to a child, when there is laughter accompanying a rude remark aimed at a parent. To make anything acceptable, just make it comedy and soon it does not seem to bad.

Anonymous said...

I'd have to say today is February White day...we have snow up to our eyeballs, but I'm looking forward to those violets in a couple months.

Anonymous said...

I cannot thank you enough for this post. I am looking forward to other "lectures". Thank you again.

Anonymous said...

Dear Lydia,

Your post was so timely for me! You may not realize fully how valuable your blog but it truly, truly a godsend! I hope some how the good
Lord blesses you in your endeavor to
save America!

P.S. it there only way to correspond via snail mail and you still maintaining your privacy, like through another person?

Lydia said...

You can always email me ladylydiaspeaks@comcast.net and I can give you my address.

Rightthinker said...

Absolutely love and agree with this post!

I also appreciated the post at The Pleasant Times!

Everyone has already pretty much summed up my sentiments here..I do agree with the constant bashing of things such as "You can't live in Leave It To Beaver" or "Father Knows Best"! Well why not? It was a real portrayal of family life, as far as I've been made aware by history and lessons from those older than me.

The disdain for anything beautiful, hand crafted, home centered, feminine and God-designed is clear..and it's pervasive even among Christians.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for another wonderful post! I truly feel like I am not of this world with the ton of comments I get from working women.

Here, over 80% of mothers work as daycare is subsidized. I can't even go by my husband's last name! The dysfunctional family is now the norm and it takes courage and strength to go on as a traditional homemaker.

Lydia said...

February White Day sounds like a very good name for a special day.

I have one called "Going to do better" day--almost every day ;-)

Far Above Rubies said...

Excellent, Excellent, Excellent -- as always, my friend, by the Grace of God - you share such valid truths.

Please keep me in prayer as I attempt to write an eBook on the home.

God bless,

Jasmine

Anonymous said...

Dearest Lady Lydia,

I want to thank you so much for all the many encouragements you post for homemakers. Your exhortations to make home a haven for the husband and family changed this woman's viewpoint, and what a difference in not only the housekeeping but also the change in attitudes of the entire family regarding everyone's role in the keeping of the home did that make! Also, the advice for the homemaker to rest rather than work herself to the bone as if she were working in a factory--why did I not see that before? To my surprise (and I don't know why because my husband is a truly lovely, kind-hearted man), rather than see it as laziness my dear husband loves coming home to a rested wife, the children benefit, and I enjoy these wonderful people I love so dearly so much more! Please keep up this wonderful encouragement. Your wisdom is helping this family.

May the Lord return these blessings to you with interest!
LN

Anonymous said...

I enjoy all your posts, but the ones on the sacredness of the home are the ones I repeat to myself as I go about my day as a keeper at home. Thank you for emphasizing how important the home is, as well as our roles as homemakers.


in His peace,
Miriam