By Heather, Contributing Writer

Last month, I told you about the first five reasons why I am a homemaker.  I explained that I believe most women do not choose to be homemakers anymore because they have never been taught the significance of the job! Homemaking, however, is in fact is one of the most significant jobs there is!  This month we will go over the next five reasons of why I have chosen to be a homemaker!  Whether you are a full time homemaker or not, I hope these reasons inspire you to think of homemaking in a new way!

Reason #6: As a homemaker I can turn our home from a place that we sleep into a sanctuary and haven for ministry

We all know the saying, “Home is where the heart is.”   Well if that is the case, then the state of a person’s heart is greatly affected by their home environment.  Home is the place where people go to recharge and prepare to go back out into the world.  If that place is not a place of peace but of chaos, it affects hearts.

What many wives and mothers don’t realize is that they are the most powerful determining factor of what kind of culture their home has.  As another familiar saying goes, “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”  This is so true!  Wives and mothers have the power in their home to establish either a culture of peace, rest and orderliness or a culture similar to that of an air traffic control center where everyone flies in and out and only stops briefly for gas and quick debriefings.

With a little love and creativity, I can make the home a place where people want to be!  I want my home to feel like a place of rest where everyone feels welcome.  In order to make this happen, I need to strive for my home to be a place of order and sanity and not chaos.  I want the environment of my home to reflect the joy and peace that our Savior gives our family to all who enter!  (Is my house always like this? NO!  But it is something I strive for.)

Reason #7: I can spend more time researching nutrition and preparing healthy meals for my family

I know that I am a terrible mulit-tasker and I also have very low energy!  So when I am crunched for time, preparing a healthy meal is the last thing on my mind.  When I was working, my husband and I ate worse than ever!  We were constantly getting take out or going through the drive through. However, it is very important to me that my family is healthy!

Now that I am home full time I can spend more time planning and preparing nutritious meals.  Plus, there is nothing that brings the family together and makes for special, long lasting memories like a home cooked meal!

Reason #8: I am saving my family money

While this may be the case with me right now, I know being a full time homemaker and not bringing in a second income is actually a financial sacrifice for some families.  However, right now the benefits outweigh the costs of me working.  We are saving money on gas that I would use to drive to and from work, all the take out that we were getting because I was too tired to cook, and not too mention the daycare that we would have to be paying for if I continued to work now that we have a baby.

Reason 9: I am more available to serve others outside of my home

While our primary ministry is to our families, God has also called us to serve those outside of the home.  Proverbs 31:20 says,

She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.

Showing hospitality to others is one of the best ways to reach out and be a blessing to people!  As homemakers we have so many resources that would enable us to easily offer hospitality to those in need.   l love that whether in my home or elsewhere, I am more readily available to help someone should the need arise.

Reason 10: I am impacting future generations

I hope by now you can see that by working as a full time homemaker, I am only benefiting my husband and children more!  However, one thing that might not have occurred to you is how this job affects the world.  By focusing my ministry on my husband I am helping him to be successful and make an impact on people in the world.  By pouring into my children I am preparing them to impact future generations for God’s kingdom!

I may never be written about in history books and most people will never hear my name, however my life will impact my husband’s, my children’s and any one else’s life who enters my home.  I have the opportunity to leave a legacy that will hopefully impact many future lives!  My sons will form opinions on what kind of woman to marry or not to marry by observing the way I live.  By working along side me, my daughters will discover what it means to be a woman.  My children will in turn teach their children by modeling for them what they have learned.  

Of course I can never expect to be a perfect example to them, however I can be faithful to point them to the only One who was the perfect example.  Who better to look to, than the One who is preparing our home in heaven?  

I have learned that homemaking is a life of service and self sacrifice.  Therefore Jesus, the ultimate self sacrificing servant, is my primary example of a homemaker.  It is my hope and prayer, that by cultivating my earthly home, I am helping to lead others to their eternal home.