Reality or Fantasy?

I recall seeing a commercial years ago that really irked me.  It was for some kind of orange juice, I'm thinking probably Minute Maid.  It started off with a nice traditional picture of a family; the mom was in the kitchen cooking breakfast with a smile on her face, the kids were at the table.  Mom smiled and said "good morning" as she squeezed fresh orange juice to go with breakfast.  As I watched it, I smiled and thought how nice it was, and how similar it really is to our life, until....the voiceover person said, "YEAH RIGHT", and suddenly the scene changed to what their perspective of "reality" was.  Mass chaos, kids running in and out of the kitchen calling, "Mom, where's my backpack?!?" and grabbing their lunchboxes.  Mom grumpy and frazzled, no one really stopping for breakfast other than to grab a bar or such off of the disorganized kitchen table.  Really?  Is that what our "reality" has become?

Don't worry; if you don't fresh squeeze your orange juice, I'm not looking down on you.  We squeeze ours because we prefer it, but that's not the point here.  I think people balk at me because I am such a traditionalist.  But the thing is, "traditional" is the old way, the way that God designed families to be before people decided that they knew of better ways and changed them. Jeremiah 6:16 says, "Thus says the LORD: 'Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.'"  There is nothing wrong with wanting to walk in the old ways, in fact there is something very right about it.  Right, but definitely not always easy.

I stand my ground and follow the Lord by staying here at home, while others look on and wonder what I do all day (although now that I'm homeschooling and have a baby, people tend to figure it out!)  I persevere in being a homemaker, even when my husband is out of work and we are broke, because the Lord has made it clear that this is what He wants me to do...while others watch and wonder why in the world I don't get a job and bring some money in.  I keep my kids home from school and teach them myself, while others look on and wonder, "will the kids be socialized enough?", "are they learning anything?" "she must have a lot of patience" (HA that is the funniest one yet--I am not known for patience!).  I look to Jesus and keep my eyes fixed on Him and what He has called me to, as so many other women around me get college degrees and careers, and my flesh wants me to feel "inferior".

I just think it is sad that women staying home and caring for their families and households has become the exception rather than the norm.  A happy family with the mom in the kitchen cooking breakfast in the morning is no longer viewed as typical, but rather as "yeah right".  Women are so capable of pouring so much love and care into their husbands and children, so much more than many are actually pouring into them.  I am not pointing fingers or accusing anyone of anything.  I am simply encouraging you, my dear sisters in Christ....pour into your families.  Die to self, lay down your life for others...go the extra mile and make a nice breakfast.  Put a smile on your face in the morning and greet your family with love.  When your husband walks in the door after a long day at work (I know you've been working too, but put that aside and focus on him), give him a kiss, get him some food, tell him to go put up his feet and rest.  We only have so many years on this earth.  Make them count.  Pour into your family.  That picture of a family at the beginning of that commercial does NOT have to be a fantasy.  YOU can make it reality in your own home.

God bless you!