Homemaking: The Job that Few Recognize, but One of Many that God Honors

By Whitney Dotson
Homemaker
 Illustration by Whitney Dotson

She's called "homemaker" for a reason...she isn't someone who keeps the basics of house upkeep. She isn't a maid; she doesn't just attend to the logistics. She keeps a HOME and all of the aesthetic, comfort-giving, sanctuary-like properties involved. This is one reason I think that so many Americans are unhappy. They focus on the prestige, the money-making, the status. For their obsession to be "equal" with men (they are in value, but not the same), women have pressured and have been pressured into a worldly system that says they have no value outside the world's perception.

In truth, many women are afraid to admit that they love home for the simple fact that they are belittled for it. All women are intended to be helpers. Helpers aren't "the scene" themselves, but the pillars of support for the structure. Our human pride revolts at this, but when this vision is understood in increasing sanctification, it is beautified. When I was a girl, I loved being home, but did not realize the value of it as I do today-increasingly. I used to watch my mama dart like a bee from one end of the house to the other, nourishing us physically, emotionally, spiritually. I always admired it, but never applied the commission to myself specifically. But now, thanks to God, there is nothing I love more. I am so content--dare I say, giddy?-over my divinely-intended role. I find myself pouring over cookbooks, homeschooling books in my free-time. It is SUCH an ART that so many people are unaware of.

Mamas, don't be ashamed to teach your daughters this. Papas, I urge you to commend the value of your wives and daughters, and to instill it in your sons. We are a society that only sees production and success in income and exterior. We need revival, and it begins in the home. Turn a deaf ear to the world and seek true joy.