The past couple weeks of my life have not been the most productive. I have to confess that since our move, I have had a very difficult time adjusting to Ben working away from home and being there alone with Katie. Since I was a child, I have been afraid of being home alone and someone breaking in, and since having Katie, this fear has only escalated. Because of my fear, I have spent most of my time at my in-law's farm where Ben has his shop to avoid being home alone. This has made for some pretty unproductive days (piddling around with hardly anything to do), to my shame.
Where we live, the crime rate is practically nonexistant, and the likelihood of someone trying to break into our house is low. Aside from that, though, and more importantly, the Sovereign God of the universe is our protector, and no one can get through our door without His sovereign hand ordaining it. And, if He ordained for that to happen, it would be for our good and His glory, as Scripture says (see Romans 8).
My fear is sin, a lack of trust in the omniscient, omnipotent Lord. By God's grace, I have finally started overcoming this fear, and spent all day at home today (besides coming to the farm to do some things for Ben, and now since we are eating with the family) and was hardly afraid. Home is where I belong. I am called by God to be a keeper of my home (Titus 2), and failure to do so is dishonoring to God and my husband, who works so hard to provide not only a lovely home, but the ability for me to spend my days there with Katie instead of entering the workforce. What a blessing!
Since I spent all day at home (without internet to distract me), I was able to accomplish quite a bit. It sure is nice to sit down at the end of the day having done something worth while. And, the tasks I accomplished (folidng and putting away three loads of laundry, ironing and hanging Ben's dress shirts, fixing a hot lunch, baking cookies, cleaning the kitchen, bathrooms, and our bedroom, working out, and snuggling with my sweet baby girl), while mundane in the eyes of the world, were accomplished unto the glory of God, because this is where He has placed me in this beautiful season of life. And as a pleasant side, Katie napped really well in her crib and thoroughly enjoyed being able to crawl around and play with her toys for much of the day (my in-laws breed labs and have several in and out of the house all day, so crawling around here is not really an option). I think she enjoyed the day at home too. :)
I grew up in a neighborhood - a nice, old, semi-stately southern neighborhood. I was well acquainted with the neighbors, the closest of whom lived just about 40 feet away. Then I got married and moved up to my husband's land of Alaska. We have been living, for the past 18 months, in the downstairs of his parents' duplex-like house. We're 20 miles outside of town. There are neighbors somewhat nearby, but you can't see them from the house, and they're somewhat ... rednecky. : ) It was - and still is - a little terrifying for me to stay home completely alone! We're just finishing up building our home a mile up the road, and hope to move in soon. Now talk about terrifying ... our little house is in the middle of the woods, down a 1/2-mile driveway, at least 1/2 a mile from the nearest neighbor. At night - which is all but about 5 hours here, during the darkest months of the year - it is absolutely pitch black out there. I don't know what the crime rate is - I don't think it's very high way out here - but I don't think I'll ask, just in case. : )
ReplyDeleteThat will really take some adjustment to be able to stay there alone with our two baby boys!
Anyways, thanks for the encouraging post! I'll try to remember that when my husband has to work late one evening, the boys are in bed, and the dog is barking at ... who knows? :D
Thanks for the reminder that God is sovereign!
Dear Mary Jo,
ReplyDeleteI've really enjoyed reading your blog posts. It's very encouraging to read about the ways in which you seek to serve God and your family for His glory.
In His grace,
Jessica