Today I’m going to share with you a post I wrote a few years ago on my blog Blessed Homemaking about the pressures on women to get jobs outside of the home. Many women were encouraged by this post, so I am hoping you will be too.
Do you ever get tired of being bombarded with the idea that you should go to work? Everywhere you turn there are ads about going back to school to further your education–this is especially targeted to women these days–all so you can have that wonderful career your life is not complete without. Maybe your relatives (or in-laws) wonder why you don’t help your husband out with a paycheck–poor guy is providing all on his own! Maybe your husband is trying to get you out the door, because, after all, you’re not really helping him unless you’re bringing in money of your own.
Maybe even you, yourself, have been tempted to think that things would just be easier if you found a job, oh just part time even…It would so much ease the burden of the finances! Maybe you feel guilty that the economy is so bad and your husband is struggling to make ends meet. Maybe you think you could help out…just a little.
Do not be deceived! If you are a homemaker, you have a full time job already. You most likely work more hours than your husband. Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty for taking care of your home, husband, and children. It is a big job to do.
Maybe you know the Scriptures that clearly state that the woman’s job is to be a keeper at home, but you think to yourself…”Well…I can have a job and be a keeper at home!” Well, if you are away from home, at a job, you cannot be keeping the home. You simply will not be there to keep it if you are at a job.
Note: This is not to condemn any woman who is working outside of the home against her own desires. It is to dissuade women who would willingly take on this responsibility that is not theirs, and to encourage other women who are bombarded with guilt for doing their God-appointed duty of keeping the home.
If you are having any of these thoughts or problems with others regarding your proper duty of being a wife, homemaker, and mother, I want to encourage you to go read a story called When Queens Ride By. It will show you how you can best help your husband and children, even in these hard times.
Also, read Taylor Caldwell’s essay about women’s liberation.
