Jesus once chided his disciples for failing to look beyond the ordinary. “Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?” (Mark 8:18)

It’s a good reminder to me, this Christmas season. The preparation, the decorations, the Christmas meal, the gifts, the family, the company, the singing, the tree, the candles –all these things have an extra-ordinary meaning for those who have eyes to see. The visible points to the invisible. The natural points to the supernatural. It all points to the jaw-dropping wonder of the gospel of Jesus Christ and his glorious kingdom.

Albert Einstein once said,

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is a good as dead: his eyes are closed.”

Are your eyes closed, or are they open?  Take a moment to pause, and wonder, and stand rapt in awe at the meaning of it all.

Now, sit back and note this: Noel is the biggest secret in the Christian world. She’s amazing. (Sorry, John—or Johnny as she calls you in my favorite book penned by her,—she might be even more exciting to me than you. At least, she’s more practical for this woman trying to be a great mom!) The book that I love is what is on my mind as I approach Christmas. It’s called Treasuring God in our Traditions. It has caused me to look at everything I do—from unpacking the attic full of dusty boxes to mixing up another batch of Christmas Wreath Cookies to taking the much-too-long annual trek into the mountains to chop down a Christmas tree—with new meaning. I had no idea the POWER that was in these things.

The book starts with she and John sitting at the kitchen table during their first visit to her future husband’s family. “I lifted the fork for my initial taste of breakfast cake,” she writes. “‘Wait.” Johnny stopped me. ‘This is the way we eat it.’ He dunked his chunk of cake into a cup filled with milk. Then he raised it to his mouth and, with white drops rolling down his wrist, bit off a big soggy corner.” A while later, having mastered the art of the proper-Piper-breakfast-cake-eating-skills she asks “Ma Mohn” for the recipe. “”Recipe? You can watch and write it down.’ So, I watched and wrote: ‘Four handfuls of flour, a walnut-sized lump of butter…” Thus began the Piper family tradition of Ma Piper’s breakfast cake for birthdays and holidays.

The book stays that yummy (and includes recipes like that famous breakfast cake), but what I really learned is that God treasures the traditions of my family. He was the author of traditions as we orchestrated them for his people throughout the Old Testament. He still invites us to His Table every so often for the sacred tradition of communion. Why? Because traditions are the equivalent of super-powered-family-glue. The keep us together and identify us as “belonging.” As I write this, I’m in the process of talking three teenagers into a day of Christmas-tree adventure. Didn’t take much. For all the times they beg me to be out of something so they can be with friends or just “veg”, they were up for this long day of trudging through the forest in the cold to carry a heavy tree with the promise of a mug of hot cocoa waiting at home. They’re willing to climb into the attic and pull out Douglas the Singing Fur, the crumbling nativity set my mom bought the day I was born, and probably a dead mouse or two. It will be a day of hard work followed by my famous ham, green beans, and potatoes. As always, we’ll pick a Christmas classic to watch when we are exhausted. This year’s winning flick: Elf! This is our family glue. I’ve seen reports that family’s who have the simple “tradition” of eating together raise kids less likely to engage in sex, abuse drugs and alcohol and struggle academically. This stuff is important!

True confession: before Noel’s book, I grumbled a little about the dusty boxes. I pressed Bob to “just get a fake tree.” I didn’t understand why I had to mix up a batch of Christmas Wreath cookies once a week in December. (Wasn’t once enough?) What was I thinking? (Could someone remind me that at about 4:PM on Christmas Tree day when everyone else has commenced with the “tradition” of tuckering out while I finish? Ah, what would it be without that lull before the ham, green beans and potato feast?) Grab one Christmas gift for yourself this year: Noel Piper’s Treasuring God in Our Traditions, and start gluing your family together with new passion…and a freshly made batch of Ma Piper’s Breakfast Cake. After all, the recipe isn’t really made of flour and walnut-sized lumps of butter…it’s main ingredients are a good dose of family memories, a little bit of edible love, and a whopping dollop of family tradition!

© Dannah Gresh

“And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42)

So for all you moms whose days are filled with what the world classifies as meaningless and mundane… and for all of you who think you are doing “nothing” to further the Kingdom, take heart. In God’s economy, everything that’s done out of obedience to Christ – even if it’s a simple as giving someone a cup of cold water – is significant. A lifetime of humble service leaves a lasting legacy of love.

Enjoy the poem. And make sure to keep your eyes, ears, and heart open today, so you can joyfully say “yes” to the job God has for you.

A Special Job for Me

There is a special place in life,
That needs my humble skill,
A certain Job I’m meant to do,
Which no one else can fulfill.

The time will be demanding,
And the pay is not too good
And yet I wouldn’t change it
for a moment — even if I could.

There is a special place in life,
A Goal I must attain,
A dream that I must follow,
Because I won’t be back again.
There is a mark that I must leave,
However small it seems to be,
A legacy of love for those
Who follow after me.

There is a special place in life,
That only I may share,
A little path that bears my name,
Awaiting me somewhere.
There is a hand that I must hold,
A word that I must say,
A smile that I must give,
For there are tears to blow away.

There is a special place in life
That I was meant to fill,
A sunny spot where flowers grow,
Upon a windy hill.
There’s always a tomorrow and the best is yet to be,
And somewhere in this world,
I know there is a place for me!

-Unknown

© Mary A. Kassian

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Please include the following statement on any internet copy: © Mary A. Kassian, Girls Gone Wise. Visit Mary’s Website at: GirlsGoneWise.com

In the course of her study, Oakly discovered many contradicitons between women’s analyses of their “jobs” as housewives and their reported satisfacion with the role. In spite of their admission of the the repetitive monotonous nature of their tasks, and in spite of conceding that they didn’t really enjoy doing them, Oakly found that many women were still committed to the role of housewife. In fact, many defended the role and claimed to enjoy being a housewife, even though they didn’t really like the tasks associated with it. Oakley concluded that housewives had been socialized into accepting an otherwise unacceptable, oppressive job.

Oakley sought to prove statistically that the role of housewife – which involved housework and caring for children – was exploitive and oppressed women. Oakley argued that partriarchal men had forced women into this oppressed role and had kept them there by covertly convincing them that they were satisfied. Oakley concluded that women needed to be educated about how bitter and demeaning housework and caring for children really was, and to be convinced to reject this traditional woman’s role.

Oakley’s analysis, and the subsequent writings of other feminists, such as American Pat Mainardi (The Politics of Housework), caused a shift in woman’s attitudes toward the role of housewife. Instead of being valued for its contribution to the nurturing and well-being of family, housework was demeaned for for its “degradation” of women. Due to the influence of feminism over the last few decades, a woman who is “just a housewife” has been taught to hang her head in shame.

Pat Ennis is a professor and establishing chairperson of the Department of Home Economics-Family and Consumer Sciences, at The Master’s College in Santa Clarita, California, where she has served since 1987.  She is embarking on a new study of housework, addressing the topic from a Christian perspective.

Ennis is a speaker, co-author of Becoming a Woman Who Pleases God, Designing a Lifestyle that Pleases God, and Practicing Hospitality, the Joy of Serving Others, contributing author to Think Biblically, Recovering a Christian Worldview, and author of Precious in His Sight, the Fine Art of Becoming a Godly Woman. She says, “Since there is a lack of current research addressing this topic by Christians I am conducting a study to discern the perception of Christians about the life skills commonly associated with the management of the home.”

Would you like to be part of this study? You can complete her questionnaire online:

Online Housework Survey

Cheryl Mendelson’s “Home Comforts,” a book on household arts, enjoyed a warm reception from the reading public a few years ago. In it she writes that housekeeping creates “cleanliness, order, regularity, [and] beauty” in our lives. It is true that not everyone will find chores so glamourous, but, Mendelson argues that contrary to feminist thought, a broom is not a tool of patriarchal oppression.

What do you think… Is housework demeaning to women? Is it “directly opposed to the possibility of human self-actualization?”  Or is it something that is worthwhile for the “cleanliness, order, regularity, [and] beauty” it creates in our lives?

© Mary A. Kassian

Permissions: You are permitted to reproduce this material on your blog or website given that you do not alter the wording in any way and that you provide the appropriate credit and a link to this website. Any printed copy or exceptions to the above must be approved by Girls Gone Wise.

Please include the following statement on any internet copy: © Mary A. Kassian, Girls Gone Wise. Visit Mary’s Website at: GirlsGoneWise.com

Now you may not think that there’s anything particularly unusual about a yarn aisle in a department store. But I was stunned. The reason I was stunned was that the womanly art of knitting and crocheting fell by the wayside a long time ago – along with the idea that the best place for a young wife and mom was in the home.

When I was a little girl, my Oma (granny) had taken me to the yarn aisle to pick out beautiful skeins for my next crochetting project.  And although it was still possible to find yarn in craft stores, I hadn’t seen a shelf  - let alone a whole aisle full – in a department store for  what seemed like eons.

The feminist women-centered analysis (err… brainwashing) of the seventies and eighties had convinced women like me that womanly crafts like knitting and crochetting were trivial, if not borderline demeaning. We were taught that women should stop doing menial things for the home and devote our attention to things of serious importance – like developing a career and earning a lot of money.  I hadn’t picked up a crochet hook in decades.

I was so overwhelmed by my thoughts that that I stayed there in the yarn aisle for a while, pondering the cultural significance of it all. I ran my fingers over the skeins, feeling the thickness and texture of the strings.  I studied the sizes and types of hooks and needles. I thought back to sitting at Oma’s feet, having her guide my clumsy young hands in basic crochet stitches. I thought of the pretty doilies she taught me to crochet and the sense of pride and accomplishment when my mom displayed my work on the living room coffee table.

I thought about the relaxed womanly commraderie… a grandmother sitting for hours mentoring and training her young granddaughter in womanly arts. Things that she had learned from her grandmother. And she, from her grandmother before her. I thought about the whole concept of an older woman training a younger woman how to be a woman and how to pour herself into making a house a home. I thought about the admonition of Titus 2:3 for older women to teach younger women good and beautiful things.  The sense of nostalgia that swept over me at that moment was profound. We women have lost so much.

I think that many women are beginning to feel the vacuum. They’re yearning for womanly things. That’s why a whole aisle of yarn has, after a 25 year absence, suddenly re-appeared at my local department store.

Inspired, I bought a ball of crochet thread and some hooks. I pulled out some old patterns I had kept stored in a box in my basement, and sat on the couch refreshing my memory on how to crochet. The next time I stayed with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law in Houston, I bought some bright pink, blue, and green skeins and large plastic hooks to teach my young niece how to crochet. We sat on the floor for a couple of hours as I guided her inexperienced hands in how to hook chains and do single crochets. We laughed together and worked together. When she was finished, she decorated her bed frame with bright, pretty crochetted flowers. I don’t know who was more proud.

What took place that day was a whole lot more valuable than a day at the office. It makes me think that our foremothers were a lot wiser than we gave them credit for. It is us – and not them – that have been deceived by an elaborate yarn.

© Mary A. Kassian

Permissions: You are permitted to reproduce this material on your blog or website given that you do not alter the wording in any way and that you provide the appropriate credit and a link to this website. Any printed copy or exceptions to the above must be approved by Girls Gone Wise.

Please include the following statement on any internet copy: © Mary A. Kassian, Girls Gone Wise. Visit Mary’s Website at: GirlsGoneWise.com