Revive Our Hearts

This is a bit of an unusual post, but I just wanted to recommend a great site for any woman doing housework. :-) Okay, so it's not just for women doing housework, but it helps me pass the time. Crystal recommended it to me. It is http://www.reviveourhearts.com/ . You can listen to their radio progams from either today or the past. Right now, I'm listening to the Counter-cultural Woman series. I saw it recommended on Misty's site, and it's really good. I've been listening while I fold laundry, clean the living room, etc. It's really good for keeping my mind busy on productive things while I work. I can't say I agree with EVERYTHING she says, but there have been VERY few things that I do not agree with. Overall, I'd say she presents a very biblical view of things. I've got a lot of help out of the radio programs so far. You should definitely try listening to some of the programs. They are about 20 minute segments. A lot of them are a series of programs, so I like listening to one after another. They seem to stream really fast too, so there's not a lot of cutting up while you wait for the program to load. Hears a quotation from one of the programs. Just some food for thought:

-Did you know that Jesus is domestic? You say, "That sounds kind of strange. What would make you think that?" Listen to this verse in John chapter 14. Jesus said, "Do not let you hearts be troubled... In my Father's house are many mansions... I am going there," to do what? "to prepare a place for you." (John 14:1-2).
What is Jesus doing right now? He's homemaking. So as women, when we are homemakers, we are creating here on this earth a physical, visible, tangible reflection of an eternal, invisible reality.
Jesus said, "Don't let your hearts be troubled." You see, when you're making a home, you're creating a place where your family's hearts don't have to be troubled. In this world, their hearts will be troubled. This world is a messy, chaotic place, but you want to create an environment in your home- physically and also in the spirit of your home- that your husband wants to come home to and that he doesn't have to trip over 17 things in the path to get there.
There are moments, if you have children, there are going to be times when your house is not all put together. It's not all orderly, but the question is, do you have generally an envionment that is orderly, that reflects and orderly heart that's not chaotic, that is haven? If you do, then you are showing your children and your husband and your friends and your guests something that they cannot see now, and that is what God is preparing, what Christ is prepaing for us in hHeaven- a place.
You're saying, "I want you to get a glimpse of what you can experience in eternity- the heart of our Father who's going to prepare a wedding feast for us there. As I prepare food for you now, I'm giving you a taste of Heaven, and as I provide clothing for you now, whether it's homemade or store bought, but as I'm taking care of you clothing needs as my family, I'm giving you a glimpse of Heaven, where we will be clothed in fine, white linen and how you can be clothed spiritually in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You see, through our homemaking, we give those that we love a picture of Christ, a picture of Heaven, a taste of our real home.-

I thought that was a really good lesson to think on. If you are a momma or a wife or just a woman that frequently welcomes others into your home, you can make your home a place that reflects Heaven and what God is doing for us there. It is such an important job. I don't think you have to be a perfect housekeeper to do this, but I do think it's important to make your home as pleasant a place to be as possible. I can remember when I had a hard day at school being so happy to get home. Our home was a pleasant place, a place without harsh judgments, yelling, or coldness. Yes, we had our bickerings like every other family, but overall, it was a peaceful place to be. Our parents were warm and loving to us and to each other, and I always felt secure at home. Mom and Dad never, to my knowlege, went to bed angry at each other. We never had to be afraid that one of them might get mad and not come back. They did not yell at each other and seldom ever yelled at us, although they might have had to raise their voices now and then to get our attention. Home was a place where we could talk about anything we needed to talk about and have an ever-listening ear. Yes, it was a place with boundaries, but those boundaries were never oppressive. Even as a child, I was able to recognize that my parents had my best interests at heart in their boundaries. One important thing that I think my mom did for us was to respect our dad. The longer I live, the more families I see in which the mom did not respect the dad, and the kids learn to either think their dad is worthless or resent their mom. Even when she did not agree with him, my mom always respected our dad and let him be the leader in the family. She was always welcome to voice her opinion, but if he made a decision that went against that opinion, she always respected his decision. She also helped us to look forward to the time when our dad got home from work everyday. She always had us worked up and excited for when "daddy comes home." She never ever failed to greet him with a smile and a kiss. It didn't matter what transpired that day or the day before, when he got home, he got a smile and a kiss. It did not matter if they'd had a disagreement or whatever, she was always happy, and even excited, to see him and made it clear that she still loved him and respected him no matter what. That unconditional love and respect rubbed off on us, and as a result, we were always happy to see him and never had rebellion problems with him because we respected him no matter what.
Just think about what that teaches children about their Heavenly Father. That teaches them to love Him and respect Him and obey Him even if they don't understand why. That teaches them to look forward to the day that He comes back, not be afraid of or dreading that day. It teaches them about a loving and warm and happy home that they can look forward to someday- a home where all will be peaceful and safe. We as women have been given the important job of cultivating that Heavenly environment in our homes, both in the physical environment and in the spirit of our homes. We've been given the job of ordering our homes in such a way that our children and husband will want to be there, and we've been given the job of respecting our husbands in order to teach our children and others looking on how to respect God. When a husband loves his wife as Christ loves the church and a wife respects her husband as the church is to respect Christ, everyone gets a picture of Heaven. I don't know about you, but this really motivates me and encourages me. Sometimes it's easy to feel as if what you do is not that important, but you never know... it might just show Jesus to somebody.