outcast
08-04-2007, 06:58 PM
I wanted to share with everyone how much the Lord has used daily chores around the house to help me heal this summer. As a typical SA survivor, I had left the cult in such a state that I no longer knew how to live and carry on day to day tasks. I was raised to be a good housekeeper, so my inability to take care of my domestic duties was a source of great depression for me.
Last summer, I was doing good just to stay alive and subsist. My focus was on finding a new job, new church and basically a new world. I slowly began trying to get my house in order - but I wasn't really able to focus on that yet.
This summer I noticed that I felt like it was imperative for me to establish a domestic routine concerning my chores. As I did so, I felt God was reminding me of how much He focused in the scriptures about being faithful with little things. I realized that God was using these household routines to teach me character traits I needed in order to continue to heal and become a normal person.
I also found it interesting when I realized that we rarely hear this sort of thing preached from the pulpit. You know, that God will use your being a good housewife to teach you deeper spiritual truths. Rather (and especially in SA churches), we instead are often told that we should be serving God's house more than we worry about our home. I think that is so sad and crippling.
Concurrently, the focus in churches is also often on being in the ministry in some way rather than being a good wife, mother and worker. I think most churches will be surprised when they find out in the end that Jesus was serious about the least of these being more important to Him than those who are constantly in the spiritual spotlight.
As a former minister myself, I don't really give a rip if I ever go back to that sort of lifestyle. My home and my teaching job provide me with many opportunities to minister and please God. And, I like the lack of stress that comes with being out of the spotlight. Sometimes I just feel as though the modern church has it all wrong...
Last summer, I was doing good just to stay alive and subsist. My focus was on finding a new job, new church and basically a new world. I slowly began trying to get my house in order - but I wasn't really able to focus on that yet.
This summer I noticed that I felt like it was imperative for me to establish a domestic routine concerning my chores. As I did so, I felt God was reminding me of how much He focused in the scriptures about being faithful with little things. I realized that God was using these household routines to teach me character traits I needed in order to continue to heal and become a normal person.
I also found it interesting when I realized that we rarely hear this sort of thing preached from the pulpit. You know, that God will use your being a good housewife to teach you deeper spiritual truths. Rather (and especially in SA churches), we instead are often told that we should be serving God's house more than we worry about our home. I think that is so sad and crippling.
Concurrently, the focus in churches is also often on being in the ministry in some way rather than being a good wife, mother and worker. I think most churches will be surprised when they find out in the end that Jesus was serious about the least of these being more important to Him than those who are constantly in the spiritual spotlight.
As a former minister myself, I don't really give a rip if I ever go back to that sort of lifestyle. My home and my teaching job provide me with many opportunities to minister and please God. And, I like the lack of stress that comes with being out of the spotlight. Sometimes I just feel as though the modern church has it all wrong...