Creating a Culture

  

   When I was a senior in high school I had a conversation with a lovely, Christian, sophomore girl about what she wanted to be when she grew up.  And this young lady said "I want to get married and have kids, but first I want to do something important. I want to help the world in some way."  Even at the age of eighteen I was completely shocked by this remark. Since when have we separated "helping the world" and "doing something important" from being a wife and mother?  There is no job more meaningful, important, or life-changing than the job of homemaking, but the world does not understand this.

      One important task of the homemaker is that she is creating and fostering a certain type of culture within the home--by culture I mean beliefs, customs, practices (traditions) and social behaviors. Culture forms us. We need these things in order to have deep and meaningful interaction with others.  The type of environment that her children will be raised in and her husband surrounded by, is determined and built by the homemaker. She teaches her children habits and traditions; she establishes within them a sense of right and wrong.  As a mother I shape my children's moral compass and I determine how they view the world.  From my interaction with my husband my daughters learn how to treat men and my sons learn, hopefully, how a wife should treat a husband. Our children hear how we talk to our own mothers and follow our example.  We teach them eating habits, manners, modesty, social skills, and so much more. By the way that we keep our house we show them what a home should look and feel like. A child watches a mom clean the bathroom (a task that he knows that he hates to do) and he sees her do it well and with a smile on her face.  Through her homemaking she has taught him how to do tasks, even when you do not want to, how to work hard, and how to do so with good grace. Our orderliness and cleanliness teaches those around us how to live orderly lives. When there is security and comfort within the home, the children raised in this environment will be more secure in their personal lives.

    Our comfortable home brings peace and joy to others.  Our hospitality and kindness makes others feel special. Our attentions are not divided between home and work.  Unlike men, who are very good at compartmentalizing, women have a really hard time keeping different areas of their lives separate.  If something at work was stressing us, that stress will carry over into our home and affect our family. We are less patient with everyone and less attentive to others when outside worries and cares are weighing down upon us. This task of homemaking is a full-time job and it requires all of our time and attention.  This is not a small thing that we can only give half of our mind to.  We have been entrusted with the care of immortal souls and this is not something that should be taken lightly. 

The woman is at the heart of the home. Let us pray that we women realize the reason for our existence: to love and be loved and through this love become instruments of peace in the world.

~Mother Theresa