Being busy where we live

Titus 2:4  "...Older women...teach the younger women... to... be... busy in their homes...."  there is a lot of instruction intermingled in this chapter concerning married, parental and family life, but the sum of it all is ....Teach them to be busy in their homes....It has been said that woman is the womb of humanity...the cradle of humanity. Home making, no matter what else we do, is our greatest achievement. Truth, honesty, love, counsel, grace, instruction, doctrine, accountability and safety are some of the things most of us desire to find in our homes...We nurture and prune and preen and discipline. We laugh and cry and stay up nights talking, walking the floor, worrying, wiping brows. We hold babies as if there is nothing else on Earth to do. We cook one more meal because it is what our family needs. We change diapers and wash dishes and fold laundry not because we don't have anything better to do but because this is our family, our people , our home. This is where we live.

We can take one more, even when we are exhausted. Give one extra hug, when we've doled out plenty already and just when we think we are done, we find our arms reaching for that tear filled face and patching up another heart that will go on.

We make crumb cakes and guacamole and Mexican food that they request like it was take out. We hear prayers and fears and secrets and crushes. We hope and dream and teach and love and when the chips are down, we believe and we work and we fight for what is right or for our loved ones.

So what did the pastoral epistle mean? I think he was simply saying "Teach the young women that they are the cradles of humanity and that the action is where they live. To do their jobs well, whether they are cashiers or sales persons, Dr's, judges, chemists or zoo keepers. But....not to be concerned with other peoples business! To be concerned with their own is enough! Our professions/occupations are how we generate income. The way we make our living and exercise our skills, passions and knowledge, but our hearts and desires and hopes and dreams are cradled where we live...Be busy ....The apostle says...where you live...

Need personal attention? Cuddle up to a loved one. Tell her your hopes and dreams. Talk over your fears and secret ambitions. Make something yummy to eat for your friends or family. Do a task for a family member. Smile at someone. Compliment a person you do or do not know. Aknowledge good quality in someone care about. Create an atmosphere around you that welcomes peace and joy and love and laughter. That is warm and fun and sincere. Work toward a goal and when you achieve it, share it with the others so they too can rejoice with you. And likewise, do the same for the ones you love. Never failing to rejoice in the successes of others whose lives are in your sphere of influence or acquaintances, spurring each other on to love and good works.

Young ladies, don't be afraid to learn how to love, nurture or be venerable from the older women in your life. Take note of their strength and fortitude and model their behavior. See how like birds building a nest, they build up and do not tear down their homes. They build the sturdy structure, anchored securely in a tree, then line it with comfortable materials soft and insulating .

Always remember to: Be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. (James 1:19). Keeping your mind out of other peoples business. (Not busy bodies) (I Tim 5:13). Refraining from constantly running around to other peoples houses. Getting involved with other peoples business and desiring what you ought not, nor should even be dealing with. Free from tattling and spreading other peoples business, which you learned while scampering around and spending way too much time in idol conversations, (I Tim 5:13) which lead to many dangers including gossip, as well as subjects unbecoming and often inflammatory.

Ladies, it was a woman who birthed Jesus. Who cradled him and swaddled him. Who brought him up and taught him to walk and talk. It was to her womb that God entrusted his only begotten son. It is our wombs that have been entrusted to bring forth Godly offspring in the Earth.(Malachi 2:5) And it is where we live that Godliness is taught and modelled and fostered.

Ladies, let us practice what we know to be true and righteous and loving. That aids in the growing up of God's children, of our brothers and sisters our spouses and our own children. That offers shelter and peace from life's storms and is able to remain to the end. Let's cradle our spouses fragile egos as we nurture them onto maturity, confidence and strength. Might we never be caught up in the cares of this world when the hearts of our homes need our attention.
Too young to have a home of your own? Well, you know where you live. Learn to be consumed with your own business and there will be little time to be caught with your hand in anyone Else's. Open your arms, embrace those who share your values and are busy building up instead of tearing down and soon the place where you live will have enlarged it's borders to include others who are also busy with their own back yards...on that street where you live.

Forgetting which is behind, pressing forward always. Not minding what is happening on the left or right...Forging onward. Loving in spite of opposition. Caring in spite of hostility. Keeping the Holy Spirit's power fanned to flame in our atmosphere to save, restore, comfort and draw the weary, thirsty, weather beaten loved ones in our lives so that we are so busy being women of God that we are not found as idol talkers, tattlers, meddlers, grumblers or busybodies in other peoples homes.

It doesn't matter what is going on in anyone elses party, house or business. You are only responsible for you! So what matters is...What's going on where you live?   Live responsibly!