June Cleaver

When I first felt God speaking to my heart, telling me that I was to serve Him as a "keeper at home", I had opportunity to come across a fascinating word that has come to mean so much to me. I learned that the Greek word for KAH is "oikuros" and that the meaning of this word is far more profound than I was giving my calling credit for. You see, "oikuros" means to be the guard of one's home- to be the person who not only takes care of those inside through love, compassion, and good works, but also to be the person on the offensive against the people, things, and ideas that might threaten the loved ones and family living within these four walls. As much as homekeeping is part of being a "keeper at home", to me, there is also something far more profound to this calling than being "just" a housewife.

When a lot of people hear that somebody is a stay at home wife and/or mother, they seem to always have a flash in their mind of the television characters who were the epitome of the 1950s housewife- June Cleaver seems to be a favorite. While these characters certainly kept a pretty home, I really do think we are all selling "keepers at home" short when we think this is all that is done at home during the day. There are vast many things we must all do to guard our home, and really this is a task we must be at all of the time.

It seems each and every day I am shown more and more wisdom by my Heavenly Father in what I ought to be doing and watching out for each and every day. God has recently shown me that I must begin keeping a list in my prayer journal of things that I should be praying for both Sean and Peapod every day. I should be praying for their health, for Sean to guided by God in his leadership of our home, for Peapod to be saved in the future & learn to walk with God. I should be praying for any future children we might be blessed with, our children's future spouses, praying that God will continue to watch over our family & home as we go through our everyday activities, and MANY other things. I should also be thanking my Heavenly Father for all of the undeserved blessings He has granted us with, and should be praying without ceasing and in conversation with Him throughout my entire day.

In addition to being led about prayer, God has also shown me several other ways to be the proactive and the best "guard" for my home that I can be:

Rightly Dividing the Word- Knowing & understanding God's Word is not just the first thing to do in guarding my home, but the first thing I must do in order to serve my King in any shape or form.

Priorities- Being aware of my responsibilities and being sure to prioritize them according to God's Word and leading is a large part of guarding my home. There may be many activities outside of my home that could use the talents or gifts I have been given, but my first priority needs to be inside my home. If my family is falling apart, my services outside are not worth anything.

Education- Educating Peapod in God's Words, Godly womanhood, the way the world works, and everything else that is a "need to know" in life is an important responsibility as mother and guard of my home. This education should start young and be something that does not end, but rather is just a natural part of our homelife.

Health- If I do not take the initiative to take care of my family's health, we cannot serve God in the best way possible. Proper nutrition, daily exercise, spending time outdoors in the fresh air, and preventing illness are all little ways to take daily precautions against ill health.

Finances- Being sure that our finances are in order can guard my home from all sorts of problems. Am I being sure to only buy what we need? Am I making wise use of our money? Are we being sure to stay out of debt? Are we being good stewards and using what God has given us to help others? Do we really need this new item, to run the A/C today, to buy this particular item new instead of used, etc?

Watch what goes in the mind- Being sure to keep bad influences out of my home is another thing I have been working on. Nearly every day it seems that some catalog comes into our mailbox that should truly be classified as "soft porn". Such things should immediately go in the trash. Guarding against things that may not be "bad", but are just not profitable is another important thing. Sure, reading a "fluffy" fiction book may not be bad, but it does not grow my mind, is not something I really enjoy, and wastes time that could be put to better use elsewhere.

Being sure that I am a good example of Biblical womanhood is also crucial to this. Peapod should be exposed to Godly and good things each ad every day, and I must guard against opportunities for her to see me not doing this. Praying to God to continue grow and mold me into a woman who can best serve Him and doing my best to overcome temptation not too is of the utmost importance.

Encouragement- Being sure to encourage my husband and be his "#1 fan" is important for his well-being. There is so much in his workday that might cause him to feel a bit down, so I must be sure that this does not happen at home. Also, with the world's nasty thoughts about men, I must make a point that he knows all of his hard work and sacrifice are appreciated very much by us.

Outside Influences- Guarding against improper outside influences is another goal I must have in protecting my family. Are the friends I keep ones who edify me and would do the same for my other family members?

Being aware of my family's rights according to the government is another way I should guard against outside influences. After the hospital experience, we suddenly were all too aware that somebody could come to our front door and try to cause discord in our home. We took the opportunity to be fully aware of our legal rights in case this ever did happen.

First Aid- Knowing first aid is a wise move for anybody, but particularly for a mother. What an amazing ability little ones have for finding everything they can possibly put in their mouths! ;o) Stocking a first aid kit and keeping lists of *important* phone numbers handy are excellent, in addition to first aid training.

What does being a "keeper at home" mean to you? What skills, gifts, leadings, or realizations have grown you in the guarding of your home?

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