The Governess is Homesick – :o)

April 30, 2010

Those of you that have been reading my blog for a while know that our daughter Olivia (19), is serving as a governess to a 13 year old girl whose mom died from cancer last summer (she was a friend of mine). Olivia lives about an hour away and comes home on the weekends. It’s been a bitter sweet thing for her to do this, on her part and ours. We miss her SO MUCH, but it is beautiful to watch God work in her and to see how she is using her compassion and skills to pour herself out for others.

I am so thankful that Olivia has embraced her calling, her duty as a homemaker. Although it is not her home, nor her child, she is filling the gap helping make a home for a girl who has no mother or grandmother. I am thankful that at 18 she could jump in with about a week’s notice and take on the household affairs for a dying mother. She not only does that but also schools this girl.

Doing this Olivia has had to learn how families are so different and she has had to adapt to how they do things; everything from  living on a farm, foods they eat and countless other things.  She is learning how to train, correct and encourage a girl while she grieves the loss of her mother.

My heart overflows with worry and excitement as I see God shape and mold Olivia. I know He is preparing her for something special! The mother in me wants to go make sure everything is OK, yet, I too am learning to let her be an adult – tough stuff!

I looked at her blog this morning and her latest post brought tears to my eyes:

-

I’ve been pondering lately what home is. What life is like with it and without. The effects on culture when home is dismantled. Why did God feel it necessary to place one of his strongest weapons, the woman, to guard such a place?

Yes, a bout of homesickness brought on this post.

Home is, as you know, much more than a place to sleep and occasionally eat. It is a place where people are built, shaped, fashioned. It is where like minded believers, eat, drink, talk and recharge.

A sincere Christian home, is the closest place to Heaven on earth.

It’s a glimpse of what heaven will look like. There is an invisible bond between people who live together. Being family, defending the honor the integrity of your brothers. It is a code by which we live.
A home isn’t just a house. It’s a haven. A shelter from the evil that surrounds us everywhere else. It’s where we care and love, where hope grows thick and dreams are conceived.
It’s being with people who know everything about you, that hold you accountable when they see you falling on old bad habits, who praise you when you do something hard. That counsel you, strengthen you, as you do them.
At home, my Mom is going to make sure I don’t listen to 8 hours of love songs. Why? Because she knows they bring me down. She knows that my mind is overly romantic and that listening to Frank Sinatra croon about moonlight is only going to make me want something I can’t have right now.
At home, my Dad is going to tell me the dish I made for supper was good. He’ll tell me how much he appreciates the extra effort it took to brine and tenderize the meat, instead of just throwing together hamburger helper. He’ll make sure my spirit isn’t getting lead astray, that honoring God, serving God, is still my focus.
At home, Emma, Lord love us all, is going to make sure I don’t get bossy or arrogant. Make sure I laugh, make sure I love and live.

At home I am given the opportunity to serve. To help someone besides myself to show Christ love to the least of these.

It may not be great,
it may be simple and plain
but here at home I find
I can go against the grain.
The world’s made for changing,
may this my focus remain,
to honor Him in all I do
through ease, through pain.



-

Moms, be diligent to train your children to be well skilled and to be able to jump in when there is a task to be done, both great and small!

But most of all,

make HOME a place they will miss one day!!

Blog Widget by LinkWithin

Topics: Parenting, Teaching Them Well | 5 Comments »

Comments (5)

 

  1. Jessica Pritchett says:
    April 30, 2010 at 11:09 am

    Oh, that is so sweet. I loved Olivia’s post when I read it the other night…

    I know my mom has made our house somewhere I miss when I am ever away. I hope I do that for my kids one day.

    Jessica

    Reply
  2. Leslie from VA says:
    April 30, 2010 at 12:08 pm

    ((hug))
    Bless her heart….
    Bless your heart, too, my friend.

    Reply
  3. robin says:
    May 1, 2010 at 5:53 am

    LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!!!!

    Robin

    Reply
  4. Sharon says:
    May 2, 2010 at 11:45 am

    Thank you for this. I needed this encouragement. What a blessing and I hope that one day my girls will have the same attitude. Thank you.:)

    Sharon:)

    Reply
  5. Melanie says:
    May 3, 2010 at 8:52 am

    Good stuff!

    Reply

Leave a Reply