Many times these days you may find me barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen as I serve my family and prepare to bring another of God’s chosen into the world. Years ago you wouldn’t find me this way: I cooked out of my own necessity and didn’t care much if I got married or had children or not. And if God decided that I should marry and get pregnant, my attitude was “You will never find me in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant.” I mimicked the cliché that epitomized the oppression of women because for me liberation was shunning most appearances of taking on traditional women’s roles. In recent years, after really studying “to be keepers at home,” one command for women in Titus 2, I understand that being a keeper at home is much broader than cooking and cleaning; it’s a job of providing comfort and safety for your family and all who enter your home.
The phrase keeper at home comes from the root word meaning “a guard, be “ware.” The definitions that stem from that are “caring for the house, working at home: a) the (watch or) keeper of the house; b) keeping at home and taking care of household affairs; and c) a domestic.” So the questions become “What is it that women are called to watch or keep in the house?” “What are the household affairs that she is supposed to take care of?” “What is she to keep at home?” “What does it mean to be a domestic?”And “Why the use of house and home? Is there a difference?”
I think my stating that the job of a keeper at home means that women are providers of comfort and safety in the home gives us clues, but what does that definition really mean? You know I’ll flush all this out next time, Lord willing, but for now I want to hear from you. What is your view of domestic life? And now that you have biblical definitions of being a keeper at home, what are your thoughts about them? I’m looking forward to a lively discussion. Won’t you join in?
Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith
So often I get tied up in the physical work and duties of making the home safe and comfortable, I end up making it unsafe in other areas. Although there are several examples, I will share one: Speaking to my children in a sharp tone when I get impatient with them. This crushes their spirits and does not reveal CHRIST to them at all. If I continue in this unhealthy pattern, they will be afraid of being themselves around me, and they in turn will lack patience with me as I go through changes in my Christian walk. (I don’t want that).
In this season I have been focusing on making sure that my home is a place of safety so that my home can be an environment that everyone can be safe even when exposure comes. And it will continue to come because as we seek to walk in the light, all of our darkness will be exposed.