LAST YEAR our daughter and son- in-law were student
missionaries in Korea. We were proud that they went. We missed them
for a whole year, especially on holidays; but we knew they would
soon come home. How sad it would be to miss them eternally! I
hope we have taught them how to have heaven in their home here
and to prepare for their heavenly home.
What does it take to have a happy Christian home?
First, Christ must be in our homes. He must be the center of our activities and interests.
Second, we must have love.
And, third, we must work at having happy homes. We can't just hope to have them. It takes work.
In the book Happiness Wall to Wall, George Vandeman informs us: "The break-up of a marriage doesn't happen all at once. It begins with the first neglect of the little attentions that make happiness for a companion. It begins the day you are too tired to be kind, too busy to be thoughtful, or too occupied with your own problems to be interested in those of your mate." —Page 32.
Having a Christian home means being a Christian in the home.
Someone has said that "any man who is a real Christian in the eyes of his family is a real Christian." What we are at home is what we really are!
The book Happiness Homemade suggests something else that will make our homes brighter, happier places to be: "We need more sunshiny parents and more sunshiny Christians. . . . Too often the kindly, encouraging word, the cheery smile, are withheld from our children and from the repressed and discouraged." —Page 19
Are you a sunshiny parent or Christian?
Here are some suggestions for making a sunny home!
1. Be happy that you are a woman. A woman has a tremendous power of influence in the home and in the world. I think God had a beautiful plan in mind when He created the woman. I think He was partial to us. He really gave us the best role in life. He created us to be happy, to be gentle, to love and care. Each day, thank God that He made you a woman.
2. Accept God's plan for your life as a woman. God also had a divine plan, a blueprint, for the family. He planned for woman to be man's helper, or assistant. Our roles are equal in importance, but not in responsibility. Woman's special assignment was to be in the home. This doesn't mean that a woman is a servant. It means that she is the queen.
3. Be thankful if you have a husband. Be a good wife and a good lover don't be his mother.
4. Be grateful if you can stay at home. Learn the art of homemaking. Learn to make good bread, to be a good cook and prepare nutritious meals, to be a good housekeeper. A clean house says, "Welcome home" to your husband and children.
Cultivate hobbies that are helpful. Learn to sew, to knit, or crochet.
Remember the ideal woman in Proverbs 31 was a busy and industrious woman.
5. Take time for God. If He is the center of our homes, then we must give Him some time. Study. Pray.
6. Take time for yourself. If you are rested, you will be more patient with the children and your husband. Remember, you are a queen! This doesn't mean that you should take a four-hour nap every day. But it does mean some time each day for yourself.
7. Take time for your husband. He needs someone to listen to him. Did you know that the first reason men leave their wives for other women is because they find someone who will listen to them someone who "understands"?
I know of a minister's home that was broken because the minister found a 14-year-old girl who listened to him and made him feel that she understood him. How could a 14-year-old girl understand a grown man? She couldn't. But she listened to him.
8. Take time for your children. Let each of them know how special he or she is to you. Look for their special talents and help them to develop them. Encourage them. Love them.
9. Keep yourself attractive. Be feminine. Keep clean and well-groomed.
10. Be an inspiration to your husband and children. We never inspire anyone by fussing, nagging, or criticizing.
If you get up each morning grouchy or complaining, your husband and children will be grouchy. But if you, the wife and mother, are happy, the family will be happy. Try singing when you get up each morning.
11. Make yourself a necessity to your husband. Help him to realize how much he needs you not by pointing it out to him, but by supporting him in his ideals, praying for him, comforting him, and needing him. Let him know how much you admire and appreciate him. Never allow another woman to outshine you as your husband's wife. Be glad that you are his wife and he is your husband.
We've listed a few suggestions designed to help you in making your home a heaven on earth. But remember, your total commitment and your dedication to God will give you the grace to be the queen in the home, to be a part of the family of God.