Good Grief, Christians, GROW UP!!

2 Peter 20, 21 ( KJV)~Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in the old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.


Why, oh, WHY dont' more christians read, and GET these verses?

About 2 years ago, I discovered an online forum composed largely of christian homeschooling Moms. Since I am a christian homeschooling Mom, I was thrilled to find this forum, and to be able to go there with and get advice on various questions and concerns. I visited the foum quite a bit and read a lot of the messages, though I didn't post very often.

Then, I messed up. I had the NERVE ( please note the sarcasm here :)) to say that while God has called me to be a full time home maker and homeschooling Mom and I am thrilled with that calling, perhaps He has not called EVERY Mom to that same thing. This statement caused a bit of a firestorm on the board, and I see this morning that the entire thread has been removed. Whatever!

Let me be clear here. I think EVERY mother's priorities should be God, Family, Church Family, then Job or Activities, or whatever God has called her to~in that order. I just happen to believe that it IS posible for a woman to have her priorites in that order and STILL work outside her home. I"m sure it's hard, but it IS possible! I , personally, don't think that *I* could do it, but I know that if God calls a woman to a job outside her home, HE is much more than capable of equipping her to do that job along with all the other things He has called her to do.

Sadly, the "tone" on the board I used to visit was one of "Mom's who work outside their home can't possibly be the Moms they should be" and "Mom's with outside jobs can't possibly be in the center of God's will". There were only a couple of instances in which things like this were actually said, but the whole tone of the board supports this view.

I'm sorry, but these people need cut some spiritual teeth, and do some growing up!!

Yes, Titus 2 tells women to be "keepers of the home"~but why insist that one can't work ouside the home and still keep her home as a haven for her family? Why sell God short and say that He can't enable a Mom to do this? Yes, it's HARD, but who are we to say that God can't give a Mom the strength to do it?

Since this discussion began online 2 or 3 days ago, I have read and re-read Proverbs 31 many times. I believe the Proverbs 31 woman worked outside her home. The King James says that she "considereth a field and buyeth it"~ well, she can't very well consider a field if she doesn't go see it!! It also says that she "bringeth her food from afar" and that she "sells girdles in the marketplace" so she must be going somewhere to get her food, and she must be going to the marketplace, and spending time there selling her wares.

The comment was made on the discussion board that buying and selling fields, making and selling girdles and gathering food were all things that this woman could do at home. I just don't see that. How can she "consider a field" at home? How can she sell in the marketplace if she's at home? That just doesn't make sense.

I"m just going to be blunt, since I'm here on my own blog, and say that what happened is this~a few ladies who feel that the call God has placed on THEIR lives MUST be the same call that He has placed on EVERY mother's life have fallen into condemning working mothers.

I am not a working mother, at least in the sense that I don't work outside my home. A good many of my friends are NOT working mothers. But some of them are, and you know what? They have handled their need to work skillfully, and with much prayer, and God IS enabling them to work and still be great Moms! Some of them are even working Moms who homeschool! Both my sisters are working mothers~one because she is a single Mom and has no choice, and the other because her dh insists that she work, so she also has no choice. They are NOT out of the will of God, and they ARE great Moms.

I choose to be a stay at home Mom. I WISH that all Moms could be stay at home Moms. But atht is NOT God's calling for EVERY woman, and I hope and pray that I never fall into the lifestyle of condemning other christians because they make choices that are different from my own. I wish that every christian could see that God doesn't lead every one of His children down the same path.

Believing that everyone is supposed to do everything YOUR way is a sign of spiritual toddler-hood. It's time for a lot of Christians to put down their bottle of milk, take a few bites of some meat, and start growing up!

Vicki