Passionate Homemaking

Part 1, Part 2….and lastly, Part 3

Keep­ing the family together is a pre­cious tool in point­ing chil­dren to God! They wit­ness first-​hand the mighty God that we serve through church, wor­ship, and the world around us!

Family Togetherness

The joy of family rela­tion­ships! I am so blessed to have good solid rela­tion­ships with my sib­lings and par­ents. I believe this came about as a result of the empha­sis my par­ents put on keep­ing us together as much as pos­si­ble. Not only did this assist in build­ing rela­tion­ships within the house­hold, but it taught us to walk with the wise. We were not left to our own devises, but encour­aged to join in on fel­low­ship­ping with those older than our­selves, thus point­ing us to God. It was always pri­or­i­tized to do things together, or in smaller groups. If my brother was invited to a party, I was to tag along. There were excep­tions to this as we got older, but the over­all goal was to pri­or­i­tize family.

Serving Together

We would serve on the wor­ship team in groups, all together, or two or more of us. We took mis­sion trips together. My dad or mom took each one of us when were between 13-16 years of age to a for­eign coun­try to serve together. This was an awe­some stretch­ing expe­ri­ence! Through these means we were chal­lenged to see the need for the gospel among the peo­ples of the world. Our hearts and minds were stretched to think and learn to love those beyond our­selves. I went with my Dad to Domini­can Repub­lic at 15, my Dad and older brother back to Domini­can Repub­lic at 16, Cam­bo­dia with my sister at 19, and Russia with my hus­band, mom, and two sis­ters shortly after we were mar­ried. That first trip planted a seed which grew to a pas­sion for world missions!

Road Trips

We took many family road trips together (two around the United States), which not only built rela­tion­ships but we were able to see the glory of God’s cre­ation around us. We wit­nessed the his­tory of our nation, and the won­der­ful prov­i­dence of God in those sto­ries and land­marks. Friday night was always family night, where we loved taking walks together (along the Colom­bia River waterfront- a favorite!), watch­ing a movie, or just hang­ing out and talk­ing (all piled up on parents’ bed!).

Neighborhood Friendships

We didn’t have alot of time walk­ing in rela­tion­ships that would not edify or build up our souls. Neigh­bor kids were kept at bay, not elim­i­nated, but main­tained under cer­tain bound­aries. We still wanted to be salt and light, but under the watch­ful eye of dis­cern­ment and dis­cre­tion of our par­ents. We were not to go into their house, unless we had per­mis­sion from our par­ents. This was to guard us against any unnec­es­sary worldly influ­ences. They were always wel­comed into our home. We didn’t do sleep­overs for the same reason. This is what my par­ents choose to do, not to say that any other means are wrong or sinful, but by God’s grace, they made the best deci­sion they could to keep us pointed to God and not to the world.

Family Together in Church

From the time I was very young, I remem­ber we would always sit together in the ser­vice. This was the train­ing ground where the Word was sown into our hearts from a young age. We were chal­lenged to be quiet and mature as we sat with the adults. We were often looked down upon, but my par­ents did not let go of this pri­or­ity. I believe they felt strongly of the impor­tance of us hear­ing the full truth of the gospel, and not a watered down ver­sion in Sunday school. If we were serv­ing in Sunday school, we would all do it together! I believe it is so impor­tant for chil­dren to see their par­ents wor­ship in the ser­vice. This has impacted me sig­nif­i­cantly. I have always admired the whole-​hearted pas­sion that my par­ents have expressed in wor­ship and this love for God and to wor­ship in His pres­ence has passed down to the watch­ful eyes around them.

When I turned 12, we started an age-​integrated church with sev­eral other like-​minded fam­i­lies, where the Word of God was preached in a manner that little ears could under­stand. We were all together to hear the teach­ing of the Word, to wor­ship in God’s pres­ence and to walk with the wise!

I thank my par­ents from the bottom of my heart for the faith­ful efforts, dif­fi­cult deci­sions and unceas­ing pray that they offered up on our behalf that we might walk in a manner well-​pleasing to the Lord. They are to be praised!

Can you tell I love coming from a large family? Life would not have been half as fun if my par­ents had stopped at three chil­dren, like they orig­i­nally intended! Not every­thing that my par­ents did will work for every family, nor will every one have the same con­vic­tions as my par­ents, nor did they per­fectly ful­fill all of the above and pre­vi­ously men­tioned ideas, but the impor­tant thing is that you be pur­pose­ful and seek the Lord in what­ever you choose to do, depend­ing upon his grace and strength!