I've been hired!

Jim says that as a believer in the new life that we have in Christ, we will never have another job, only another mission field. This is so freeing. Gone are the shackles of "... is this what I'm supposed to be doing?" or even feeling generally stuck in a job. In Christ, no position is more or less spiritual - only different avenues of serving and loving others - whether in a McDonald's flipping burgers or a swanky investment firm.

All that to say, we each have specific gifts, temperaments, and preferences. Personally, at the root of myself, I love to create, nurture, and maintain. That doesn't mean I'm good at it, but I keep returning to it. Practically, this has manifested itself in the education world: teaching children, loving them, and nurturing their endeavors in learning. I've always known, though, that I would one day want to focus this energy in my own home. My own domain. My own workspace. And I'm thrilled to say that, in this season at least, I'm able to be 100% at home.

I was thinking today about some different titles:

Stay-at-home-mom, Wife and Mother, Homemaker, Family Manager, Home Economist...

... and some funny ones:

Lady of Leisure, Domestic Goddess, or Professional Wiper of All Things.

After some thought, I think the term 'homemaker' is my choice. I know it's old-fashioned... and I promise I have no "all women should be Stepford wives and mothers at home" hill to die on. But the thought of making a home is so attractive to me. I'm not great at cooking or baking. I lack interior design skill. Cleaning is actually one of my favorite tasks, but I don't do it consistently.

But those are all surface ways to keep a home. I want to seek out the ways to help cultivate the family bonds that create stability and reassurance. Normalcy and balance. To make a home.

This is a much less tangible thing, I know. It's the vague, fuzzy feeling that you get when you smell your own house. You know what I mean - every family has their smell. Not necessarily stinky, just not your home. Even though my parents have moved twice since I left home, I can still capture the Craft family smell in their Florida home. And for those who have enjoyed a stable, loving, and caring home life, that smell can invoke peace and calm and even specific memories.

I can work on improving the surface maintenance of a home - not worried about that. And I enjoy it. It's the people in the house that I must daily (and then throughout the day) give over to our much more wise and capable God. Jim, James, and soon little Anna - that I can love them and serve them and encourage them... and discipline for the little ones.

And the other people in the house: the visitors, the stay-as-long-as-you-need-to-people... aaaand the don't-you-have-somewhere-else-to-go-people.

That's the hard part. That's the course that I will never fully master in my new field. Hospitality to the permanent and non-permanent people in our home. Jesus did it perfectly. I think I'll look to him.

I'm so excited about my new job and I have lots of ideas rolling around in my head. Physical house projects (kitchen, bathrooms, etc. remodel), the possibility of homeschooling, learning and mastering new and healthier recipes for my family, yard projects. It's my dream job and I'm ever so grateful to be hired.