Little Keepers

The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed (Titus 2:3-5).

I recently changed my e-mail address because of all the spam my old one was getting. My new address reflects my "keeper at home" status. When I alerted family and friends to the change, I got a reply from a nine-year-old girl who attends my church. She wrote, "Nice address. I'm a keeper at home, too." She sure is. Her mother is teaching her to bake, clean, and crochet, among many other things. She recently gave me a scarf she crocheted for my three-month-old son. I remember when I first met her six years ago. One of her first jobs then was to hang up the socks on a clothes rack when her mom did laundry. She did it very well.

I have three Little Keepers growing up in my house. (Well, one is not so little any more; she is two inches taller than me!) They are learning to do all sorts of things--cooking, cleaning, knitting, sewing, baking, gardening, etc. But what else am I teaching them?

At just 40 years old, I don't really consider myself to be well "aged," but I am older than my daughters. So the Scripture above talks first to me. There are characteristics that need to be in my life if I am to have any lasting spiritual influence on them. Some things are easy and obvious--or are they? I may not be "given to much wine," but are there other things just as foolish and harmful that I am given to? What really is a "false accuser," any way? What "good things" should I be teaching? Am I teaching things that aren't "good"?

And then there is that list of things I'm supposed to teach my Little Keepers. How do I teach my three-year-old to "love her husband" when she obviously doesn't have one? Can my seven-year-old really learn to "be sober"? Then there are the delicate topics of "discreet," "chaste," and "keepers at home" that have more recently sparked such fiery discussions with my 14-year-old. Keeping my "behaviour as becometh holiness" in such discussions has been quite a learning experience for me!

Lord willing, I hope to write a series of blogs on this passage of Scripture. I want to share what God has been teaching me, and how that has been working out in my life.

Pearl