This past week has been very different for me. I've had to adjust to a different set of "daily circumstances" than I'm used to, and it has caused me to ponder some things a little more in-depth than I already do :) I seem to "need" a place to release those things... so here it goes! :)
I have been a "stay-at-home" wife and mother for nearly all of our marriage-- only during desperate situations have I had to work outside of our home. I've always been VERY THANKFUL for the opportunity to be able to stay at home... although we've sacrificed a LOT financially and "materially" to do it. It has always been WORTH the sacrifice to us. We and our children have done without a LOT of things most people take for granted or consider normal or even "necessity"... but it has been WORTH it :) I haven't lived without water or electricity, like some people do... but other than that, we've been pretty "slim" in our lifestyle, entertainment, and "gadgets"-- compared to most of "America's standards". But it has been a GOOD life :)
The reason I said that is to give a little background on "what" I've grown accustomed to... BEING HOME :) I *LIKE* it.... I *LOVE* it :D I'm HOME more than most, because I homeschool, and because we've always only had ONE vehicle (imagine that! ;) ). I usually only go "out" to the grocery two or three times a month (weekly, sometimes-- vehicle situation permitting), and we usually visit with our friends once a week (like most people "go to church")... but other than that, I'm usually HOME. THIS WEEK my circumstances CHANGED somewhat. I had to be gone ALL day, EVERY day. Which was fine, but exhausting!! Because EVERYTHING I normally do *throughout the day* to keep our home running smoothly, I had to do in a few hours every night during and after supper-- WHEW!!! And WHO feels like COOKING supper and CLEANING UP a supper MESS as soon as you walk through the door every evening?? After being GONE ALL DAY??? And THEN having to keep laundry going and other household duties completed TOO!! Everything I normally *ENJOY*, I dreaded and resented. It has felt AWFUL. NO WONDER households seem to fall apart when both parents work... or at least seem to live in constant CHAOS. It's impossible to give ALL of yourself and your VERY BEST to your family and home AND "outside responsibilities" at the same time... you can work "at it", but something -or everything- WILL SUFFER. It's just unavoidable. Not to mention short-temperedness, impatience, stressfulness, and emotionally and physically draining! Is THAT lifestyle the REAL WORLD?? WORKING and GIVING all that we are to something else other than YHWH and our families/homes?? Just to "survive"??? At the end of the day (the end of our LIVES) WHAT have we accomplished?? WHAT has mattered?? WHAT was our LIFE??
America is deceived into thinking we cannot (NOT!!!!) live any less than a "certain standard"... even if it means we send our infants to someone else-- or to the state-- to raise, until they're a couple of years old, to then enroll them in pre-"head-start"/ pre pre-school/ pre-kindergarten/ETC. ETC. ETC. to start them on the academic educational expected standard for careers that keep the cycle rolling... on and on... no more families, just robots working for the government being pacified with a few pricey "toys" and entertainment galore to keep us distracted from the REAL picture... is THAT the REAL WORLD?? Living in homes that keep us in debt until retirement age, buying gadgets of all sorts, and accumulating more and more stuff, and clothes, and whatever else our soul desires-- because we have NO TEMPERANCE or MODERATION... just feeding feeding feeding ourselves with whatever looks good or feels good-- for whatever short time it can hold our attention or affection before we become bored and then toss it away and seek the next new biggest thing???? Is THAT what we have become?? Trading the "*GOOD* Work" (my previous post/blog-- "Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Work I Go...") for empty, vain JOBS... that do NOT build and bond the family and community?? YHWH have mercy!!! America WAKE UP!!!! We are SO BLIND.... even if we don't have the money that others do, to BUY everything we want the way others do, we are still caught up in the discontentment of it and the striving for it and calculating our success by it-- or lack of success by the lack of it, and teaching our children to do the same. WHAT A SAD SHAPE WE ARE IN.
THIS ugly picture, dear friends, is NOT the REAL WORLD. It is the picture that America has fallen for, but it is not what is REAL-- or what was intended for humanity. Living and loving and functioning within this natural earth in a natural, logical way is what is REAL. LOOK AROUND. YHWH provided EVERYTHING the earth and animals needed, even life of other sorts-- plant life, etc.-- HE has provided for. Did He not provide for us, too?? OF COURSE HE DID!!! :D We just tend to overlook it after all these generations... it is plain and simple, if we let it be. ALL we need is clean air, clean water, clean food, adequate work, sunshine, adequate rest... family and friends, simple shelter from the weather-- that's about it!! How difficult or expensive is that?? It shouldn't be!!!!! But it is :( I pretty much have confirmed within myself what I already knew.... I DON'T LIKE the "world" we have created for ourselves, and I so long for YHWH's World to come-- *THE* REAL WORLD.
May we *slow down a bit*... take into account the time we are spending on what matters the MOST (YHWH, family, friends-- and the *work* HE has given us to take care of and to *keep and guard* those things). May we consider what changes could be made to enrich the quality of our lives embracing those things... and start seeking out ways to cause it to happen-- on whatever level we are willing or able. May we TRUST in YHWH and HIS way... and WALK IN IT <3
I don't normally like to write sad things, frustrating things, or gloom and doom-- there's "enough" (TOO MUCH) of that everywhere else you turn. I like to keep things *happy*, uplifting, and encouraging :) But I just HAD to vent... *Thanks For Listening*
On a better note... my week is completed, my circumstances have "returned to normal" (for me ;) ), and I am once again *enjoying* MY world! :D {THANK YOU, YHWH!!}