On Being Domestic

As I was reviewing Titus 2:5 using BlueLetterBible.org - I discovered that several different words were used for the part that says (in the NIV), "to be busy at home." Other translations say:

"keepers at home" (KJV)
"working at home" (ESV)
"workers at home" (NASB)
"domestic" (RSV)

This post is not meant to spark a debate about whether or not a wife should work out of the home. Until recent years, I myself was quite naive to the fact that there are those that believe women are only to be at home, even before children enter the family. This scripture (Titus 2:5) would be one of the scriptures used to support the thought that a woman should not work outside the home. To be honest, I don't know what I think exactly but I do know what our experience has been.

I did work (as a teacher) from the time we were married until just about a year ago. Before we had kids, we didn't even question whether or not I should work - although maybe we should have. Even without kids in the picture, my job had a tendency to rule my time and left me with little energy for taking care of my house and my husband.

Before I continue, let me make it clear that I did LOVE my job and there are many days that I miss it a lot! I also believe that I was right where the Lord wanted me at that time. Even once my son was born, I continued working for almost two more years. I feel very certain that I left teaching at exactly the right time. The Lord has confirmed it over and over again for me.

Now that I've been at home full time for almost a year, I have so much more time and energy to put into managing our home. It has been a wonderful time for us and I am so thankful the Lord led us to making that decision.

Because I could never be this eloquent, here is what Nicole over at the Girl Talk blog had to say about the topic of working outside of the home and honoring your husband. Good stuff and I completely agree with what she wrote! I hope her post will be an encouragement to those that are working outside of the home now, whether or not you have children!

On a different note, the Girl Talk ladies also gave me additional inspiration for my post on being "domestic." (I'll just defer to the girl talkers from now on...I love that blog and the wisdom that comes from it!)

My biggest struggle now that I stay home is procrastination! I can honestly say that its gotten better over the past year, but somehow I still slip into the same thought pattern as Leah outlined in her post. I also tend to convince myself that I deserve a break and a little down time and the next thing I know - I've neglected the laundry, the dishes and my kids!

To help me have a realistic perspective on what needs to get accomplished during the week, I keep a weekly to-do list in a spiral notebook. Not a daily one, but a weekly. Because I know there will still be days when I sit down and get carried away reading a book or sewing - I can at least accomplish something by the end of the week! My to do list almost always has one or two items that carry over to the next week, but I try to tackle those first when that does happen. The weekly to do list really only includes those tasks that are not ordinarily "to-do's." For example, I try to do a load of laundry per day, but I don't write that on the list. The good news is that when I stay ahead - I can have an afternoon of sewing or blogging (did both today!) and easily make up for it the next day.

And that is all I have to offer on being domestic. Not much, huh? That is because being domestic is really a skill to be learned and one that I have much learning to do! Please share your thoughts on what being "domestic" looks like.