Hard Things

In our culture today, there is so much pressure put on young people over what they plan to do with their lives. Everybody is expected to go to college, to make something for themselves, to do something great. I had a complete stranger say to me once "Go out there and change the world.", which was interesting because he was there checking my Grandma's air conditioning at the time. But you all know how it is. When we graduate life changes, and most people think that it's the time when we can finally do something big. It's time to go to college and time to work on getting that career, because that is making the most of our lives. So when I tell people I'm not going to college, and that I'm just staying at home, I usually get a silenced, stunned kind of nod. Some may think that I'm just lazy, and some think that I have no aspirations. After telling a woman once that I was going to stay at home she replied, "So you don't have any goals?" Did I say that? No. For some reason, hard work, ambition, and success, are thought to only be achieved through college or anything else that the world identifies as being BIG. I'm not here to say that college is wrong, wrong, wrong. It can be good for some people who are looking to get some specific job they love or whatever. But what about young women, like myself, who desire something different? Young women, who want to stay at home, and eventually get married and raise families of their own. What are they doing? Are they wasting their time and their lives doing menial house work and never have any dreams and goals? A friend told me one time that she had read the book "Do Hard Things", and it made her feel like she wasn't really doing anything big or important. And sometimes that's how stay-at-home daughters are made to feel by our culture. But you know what? We are doing "hard things". When we are staying at home we aren't being lazy. In fact, daughters who stay in their homes are doing one of the hardest things there is; putting others before themselves. When we choose to stay at home, we aren't choosing to take the easy road of rest and relaxation. We're choosing to devote ourselves to serving our families. Think about the "excellent wife" in Proverbs 31. "She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands."(Proverbs 31:13), "She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle."(Proverbs 31:19), "She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness."(Proverbs 31:27). Even though this passage is talking about a wife, as young women in the home we're preparing for marriage so I believe we can apply this to ourselves. Go and read Proverbs 31. Do you think that woman is being lazy? No, I don't think so. And you know what? I don't think she went to college, and she doesn't have a career, and she's not doing something that would be called extraordinary. She is simply doing the things that her family needs her to do, and things that will benefit her family. Working in the home is still a hard thing for me to do. I have always hated doing dishes, and rarely committed myself to helping around the house. But God has given me a new heart to want to serve and help my family, whether it's cleaning around the house or running errands for my mom, helping my dad with the garden or at the church, or whether it's helping and encouraging my younger brother. So, despite what some might think, staying at home is a hard thing. It's hard going against the culture and doing what many believe to be unimportant. And it's hard to commit yourself to serving others. But through God's grace we can "Do Hard Things". So, am I lazy? Maybe sometimes :) But God is working in me to make me an active servant. Do I have goals? Yes. I want to write stories, and maybe even a book! I want to serve my family, and most of all, I want to honor God with my life.

~Katlynn