Womanhood – Page 2 – Home's Cool!

You can never go home.

Posted on September 12, 2013September 12, 2013 by Katharine

I posted two fun posts awhile back, here and here, but they always bothered me. I think maybe I allowed the posts to get off the point. Perhaps I even mistakenly pointed it in the wrong direction.

I wrote about motherhood, about whether we do anything or not, about pay, about respect, and tried to do so in a humorous way.

From this distance, though, I am beginning to think a tiny bit differently, and that tiny shift can make a big difference.

The whole topic is not about motherhood, as we joked. It is not about pay or even about volunteerism. I have just realized it is not even about work.

If I confused anyone, I am sorry. Pretty sure it was my fault.

So What’s It About?

It is about WHERE we work.

Those who loaf at a polished desk are counted in the work force if that polished desk is not at home.

Those who stay actively busy for 20 out of 24 hours, producing, advancing society, trying to improve life for everyone they touch, are not counted in the work force, if they do all this at home.

This is really, truly, about the destruction and devaluation of the home, and, guilty by association, the stay-at-home woman.

Go home. If you do, you will finally grasp what life is all about.

Homemaker = Moneymaker (extremecheapness.wordpress.com)

Good News from Congress?!

I’m pretty sure this really happened. Hmm. At least it’s fun reading, eh?

BREAKING: Congress Passes Bill Banning Late-Term Abortions After 20 Weeks (deaconjohnspace.wordpress.com)
Confusion in Texas after crowd hijacks Senate session during abortion vote (bangordailynews.com)
House passes late term abortion ban (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)

Believe it or not!, Inspiring, Who's the mom here?, Womanhood

Overheard: Mary Was a Mother . . .

Posted on May 13, 2013October 2, 2013 by Katharine

The preacher said:

Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Luke 2:34-35

So went the prophecy spoken over Jesus and Mary when he was presented at the temple as a new-born. A sword would pierce her soul.

We see the Cross differently than Mary did. We see the punishment for our sin, the Lamb of God, atonement, salvation, and eternal life. We look back at the Crucifixion. We gloss over the agony of the Cross because we cannot imagine such horror. Mary saw it as it was happening. She saw her child suffering.

But it was happening before Mary’s horrified eyes: Her child’s blood running down, His labored gasps for air, nails piercing his hands and feet. And there was nothing she could do to help her child.

She saw her child publicly disgraced as He hung naked on the Cross. Crucifixion was intended to be humiliating and painful as a deterrent to crime. All the pride Mary felt for her son was now turned to disgrace in the public eye.

She saw the death of her hopes and dreams. This was the son who was to care for her in old age. This was the son who had achieved so much fame. Her hopes and dreams were great but now they were crushed. Her son was dying. She felt like dying, too.

At the Cross, a sword pierced Mary’s soul. While Jesus purposely suffered to redeem us, Mary was there unwillingly, weeping over the injustice, watching her son die a cruel death. The sword was piercing the heart of a mother’s love.

Jesus was dying for her sins as well, but He also knew what she was suffering. Therefore, as her son, He provided for her future on earth, as well as in Heaven, while He hung on the Cross.

When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. John 19:26-27

The cost of our salvation includes shame, suffering, and sacrifice. Willingly, Jesus walked into such a death for us, with a love greater than a mother’s.

Home School, Inspiring, Who's the mom here?, Womanhood

Remembering a Missing Friend

Posted on May 10, 2013December 5, 2013 by Katharine

Remember this?

A dear friend of mine died during elective surgery, 12 years ago.

English: Flower arrangement for funeral Dansk:... — Flower arrangement for funeral (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A home-educating mom, she left behind two young children and their faithful dad. Last time I saw them, the kids were doing fine. Actually, they were not so young anymore, then, one in high school and the other in college. They showed many signs of good parenting. It made me glad for the memory of their mother, my friend.

She had always been so heart-felt. She and I could talk about any serious subject and seemingly always understand each other before we had completed a sentence. When a subject was especially deep or important to her, she would become misty-eyed as she spoke. That happens to me, too, and often did when we conversed. We both understood that about each other.

This seriousness in her shows in her children. Oh, they laugh. In fact, their beautiful smiles erupt at any chance, and they see the humor in life’s oddities, all the time.

They are not silly, though. They are something more like blossoming or fruitful. They have combined the gentle rain their dad always supplied into their lives with the sunlight their mother always added. They have become strong, tall trees and have dedicated their lives to doing right. It makes me glad for the memory of their mother, my friend.

Somewhere out there exists a video of her delivering an impromptu speech about her strong convictions on homeschooling. She is near tears as she speaks for the record, as I was every time I viewed it. She pleaded with parents to take their children seriously.

This distillation of her heartbeat riveted me to my seat on every viewing. She was younger than I was, then, far younger than I am now, yet her bold insistence on protecting and preparing children imparted strength to my backbone. Only a hardhearted person could walk away from the truth she expressed without pondering, at least, if there might not somehow be more…

She makes me want more, every time I remember her. More grace. More energy. More conviction. More boldness. More follow-through. More prayer. More tears when I talk.

More blossoms and fruit on my trees.

More sun and rain on my trees.

More.

Homemaking, Photos, Womanhood

Weekly Photo Challenge: Pattern

Posted on May 10, 2013May 10, 2013 by Katharine

This is the table arrangement for a wedding I helped cater not so very long ago.

The task, here, was to seat 30 for the rehearsal dinner, in a rather smaller dining area, while the bride’s helpers prepared the larger dining area for the reception the following day.

I was totally pleased with how it turned out. The wedding colors were brown and yellow and I love how the walls cooperated with this plan. The centerpieces are simple tissue paper flowers, homemade, but exuberant and joyful. The entire theme of the wedding was whimsical and fun, so these fit in with all the rest of the laughter.

In fact, the entire setting seemed to fit the pattern for this wedding: relaxed, inexpensive, whimsical, inviting, joyful, and at the same time, calm. The symmetry I think helped to anchor all that explosion of yellow.

We began with little idea of how it would work, although we had measured the room, and figured the dynamics several times.

I think it worked.

A Glimpse into the Pit of Hell?

Note: No photos here, for obvious reasons. But they abound and they are sick.

“It’s 4:30 AM and I can’t sleep. I sit appalled and pierced after viewing the Fox special “See No Evil” last evening. Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s actions of a lifetime were laid open for the world to see. Americans were allowed to gaze at the horror and atrocities this man committed over the past thirty years. And I am sickened at the depth of this depravity.

“I will never forget the pictures of that baby—those babies—brutally murdered, then stored in a freezer by this doctor and those working in his clinic of evil.” Read more here.

We don’t watch TV, but I found info clear back in February of 2011, about these atrocities on yahoo, of all places. Read more here.

Disasters

Missing Persons

And Can it BE?

When will we have had enough? (It begins with us, sisters. It begins with you.)

Food, Herbs, Womanhood

Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture – I’ve Been Baking!

Posted on April 26, 2013April 29, 2013 by Katharine

Lavender sugar cookies. The house smells divine.

But I’ve loaded almost all those wonderful cookies into zipper bags to donate to a charity. (I saved a small set for a son whose wife is on vacation . . . )

You see, I have joined in with a group of blogger ladies from all over our fair state to make a bake sale happen. The purpose is raising money to help feed the hungry. I love this idea. I, from the working class, make ritzy cookies and wealthy people from a wealthier culture pay too much for them. Then the money goes to buy sensible food for those in another culture who are struggling to find even a bite to eat. It just seems to jive.

So, here is the photo!

And here is the recipe:

1 lb butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1 c. powdered sugar
Blend above, well.
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
Blend in well.
4 1/2 c. flour
2 Tbsp. pulverized, food-grade lavender blossoms
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
Sift above and mix in, well.
Drop by teaspooon onto ungreased baking sheets. Flatten with glass dipped into sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Mmm!

So What’s It About?

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Remember this?