day no. 16,309: coming and going

“Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave.” -- Martin Luther

Women were made to make home and men were made to provide it. This often involves him leaving its comforts in order to bring goods back to it. Taking responsibility for those at home means going out of it in order to come back.

Proverbs 24:27

Prepare thy work without,

and make it fit for thyself in the field;

and afterwards build thine house.

Man was made to get to work for the sake of building his house. Not merely the physical structure, but also the theological 2x6s upon which the household is built. 

Proverbs 27:8

As a bird that wandereth from her nest,

so is a man that wandereth from his place.

A man must come home as soon as he can. He shouldn't loiter outside any longer than is necessary to secure what is needed. He must not wander about outside his home. He must go out with intention and come back with provision.

Man was made to go and come back home.

Woman was made to make home and go about her business.

Titus 2:4-5

Admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

The man brings home what is needed to make home. His wife is responsible to take that paycheck and turn it into feasts, ambiance, atmosphere, bedding, clothes, books, culture, etc...

A woman was made to cultivate beauty and she begins by taking what her husband brings home and transforming it into a currency that spends for generations in the form of culture and traditions.

This is not a booby prize for college drop outs. This is not a job just anyone can do. This is not something anyone with a Y chromosome can just do by default if nothing else works out. This requires work, training, creativity, sweat, trial and error. There is a learning curve that requires humility, tenacity, grit, and gratitude.

Proverbs 31:27-28

She looketh well to the ways of her household,

and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Her children arise up, and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praiseth her.

The end result is a household, a harbor to which all long to return, a training ground from which some deploy, a trench from what to fire out, a hearth to where one can kick up their feet, a bed where they can lay their head, and a table from which the full can rise to go out and get to work. God made us all to come and go in different fashions and for different reasons, but as we pay more attention to our comings and goings, we will see our households flourish.

A husband must not wander much from home;

a wife must not meander much within it. 

Genesis 2:24-25

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed

*Happy Father's Day!