2 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:
2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
On to verse 5. To be discreet. What does that mean? Again, with the online dictionary. I am so predictable...
1. Marked by prudence, modesty or self-restraint. (I like this one)
2. Unobtrusively perceptive and sympathetic
3. Heedful of potential consequences
Personally, I think of it as having discretion, or being mindful of others when you say or do something. I don't think this has to be PC (politically correct) or speak of tolerance, per se, however. These terms, PC and tolerance, are so overused and misused. We can love our brothers in Christ and our neighbors without agreeing on every aspect of life-that is tolerating them, right? I feel that politics is so corrupt in our country that I have no desire to be "correct" to them.
Chaste. I immediately think of sexually, as in a virgin or priest. Looking this up, I found an obsolete definition...unmarried. That's kind of sad, huh? It also refers to free from obscenity, as in a chaste conversation. I may be guilty of having to physically cover my mouth when something drops on my foot or I stub my toe-sometimes I make it in time, sometimes I don't.
And my favorite-keepers at home. This is a full-time job with all the overtime you want. I could spend 8-10 hours a day just in the kitchen. Cooking and cleaning up after myself. Recently I spent about 6 hours just making hamburgers and French fries, yes, really, making the buns and cooking everything and the cleaning up. I spent another 3 hours canning potatoes to add to our winter pantry-only 6 quarts. No wonder working women like Fatz to go! Then you add to that laundry. Thank the Lord for washing machines (and mobile washers :)). Although I prefer to use my clothes line for budget sake, I do have a dryer for rainy days and Mondays. (Who is singing it? Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.) Then there are the animals to feed, water, milk, gather eggs, butcher, trim nails, hooves, check eyes, ears, talk to, etc. We have the very important garden to water, weed, fertilize, plant, pull, harvest, can, preserve. I am leaning towards a no mow-yard with lots of herbs, edibles, berries and bushes, because who has time for mowing and weed eating. And with our free range hippy-type animals (goats, rabbits and chickens) they love the taller grass and weeds and seeds and things. It's too hot, so let's come back inside. Bedroom. Luckily we have the bed made everyday first thing, right? Yes! Even hubby makes it without being told if he is the last one out of it on the weekends. Still, dusting, waxing, tidying, vacuuming, mopping, rugs, curtains, ceiling fans, furnace filters, bathrooms with tubs, toilets and mirrors, cabinets, shower curtains and rugs, and we have doors and windows (inside and out-wish I had those tilt in windows!) There's porches, decks, patios, garages and the barns, coops, mangers, stalls, etc. I am tired already! Now it's time for our errands. Make our menus and stretch our grocery dollars, trip to the post office to mail birthday, sympathy, Mother's Day cards, letters and packages, keeping inventory and buying supplies for cleaning and home maintenance, all the while making to sure to get the best deal for the best products one can afford. If you coupon (which I rarely use because cooking from scratch just doesn't lend towards it), that itself takes several hours a week to coordinate. It seems to me that a woman works outside of the home to get out of all this work. She can afford to buy the convenient things, but how is that satisfying to the soul? Maybe to some, I suppose. Although, there are days I read the job post ads. As Taylor says, shake it off...
Be good. Enough said.
Obedient to your husband so that the Word of God is not blasphemed. Why do women, feminists in particular, balk at this so much? Do we not realize how much pressure this takes off of our shoulders. Yes, there are stupid men out there who are bullies, but really, is your husband? Mine is not. I would love for him to make more decisions around here. And actually, as we get older, he is and I am LOVING it. If there is something that I really think is wrong or better, I will speak up and Hubby will evaluate. And if he decides one way or the other it is all on him. If he succeeds, I do my best to praise his efforts. If he fails, I do my best to console and encourage. But really, most of the time I am sooo glad it wasn't me. This is something that I am working on too-letting him decide more of the small things to build his confidence in the bigger things. If he wishes me to decide, then I will try to consider all aspects of the question and go from there. So much pressure! Seriously, it's hard enough trying to figure out what to fix for supper everyday let alone trying to rule the roost in other ways!
To not blaspheme the Word, we need to know the Word. To know the Word, we need to read the Word. That is a good place to start!
So now that we are at the end, we are perfect little wives, right? Just like Eve... :\
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