It’s Not a Religion
Years ago, I was sitting in my new friend’s living room, after enjoying an afternoon of fellowship at her house. She picked up her 18-month-old daughter and began to change her diaper. I noticed that she was using cloth diapers, and I said, somewhat apologetically, “I used to use cloth diapers, but it’s just been so hard to get everything done with three children four and under.” My friend looked at me with a smile and said, “It’s not a religion, you know.”
Something about her words convicted me and encouraged me at the same time. There was freedom there.
I don’t have to feel guilty about not doing things a certain way, and I can give grace to others as they make different choices than I might make.
I love old fashioned things, and I love doing things that are as simple and as close to nature as possible. I love:
- Cloth diapers blowing in the breeze on the clothesline
- Sewing clothing and other household items
- Homemade soap
- Making candles
- Homemade bread made with freshly ground whole-wheat flour
- Giving birth to my babies at home with a midwife
- Cooking from scratch
- Farm fresh eggs and milk
- Making my own butter
- Gardening
- Making my own cleaning solutions
- Quilting
- Making gifts for others
- Handmade cards and stationery
- Cutting my family’s hair
- Growing and using herbs
- Making my own vanilla and other extracts
- Making herbal tinctures
- Canning and preserving food
I love all these things and more. They are things that I enjoy doing. But none of these things contribute to my salvation. Sometimes I have put so much emphasis on doing things a certain way that I think I attached a value to them that shouldn’t be there. I think these are good and profitable activities, but when we begin to feel guilty for something like buying bread from the store or using disposable diapers, then it’s clear that there is a misplaced value. When we look at someone we also have no idea where they are coming from and what challenges they have in their life. Also, something that didn’t fit in our lives at one point may work better later (maybe as the children get older or we have different life circumstances). Let’s give each other grace!
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”
~2 Thessalonians 3:18
Thanks for leaving a comment, Babychaser!
Thanks for sharing this. How true it is!!!
Musings of A Minister's Wife,
Your comment made me laugh! You're so right about "A girl's gotta eat!" It is very hard to "follow all the rules" all the time, especially on a tight budget. Sometimes when life is especially rough, we'll be eating something really unhealthy and I'll say, "What would Sally [Fallon] say about this?!" And my husband always reminds me that we don't have the time or the resources [money] to always eat what we would like.
Thanks so much for your comment!
Excellent point, whether from you or your friend. I have a friend that only eats "clean". I do what I can, but my goodness, I could never live up to her standard of clean. Just when I thought I was finally up to par, she upgraded on me, lol. I can only do what my grocery budget allows. A girl's gotta eat!
There is no such thing as uncleanfood ,we dowhat we can to look after and feed our family as well as we can,there are so many people eager to put the old guilt trip on us ,keep on keeping on .as you alone can.
Dear Josette,
It is so easy to get caught up in this kind of thinking and even letting ourselves feel guilty for not doing things a certain way. We moms can put so much pressure on ourselves to do certain things, and we compare ourselves to others. I know that isn't God's will for us.
Your thoughts about just doing your best and sharing what you do know at the WAP meetings are great. I have those thoughts about my blog sometimes. I'm not perfect and I'm still learning. There are so many things I don't know or don't do perfectly…I just offer what I can and hope it will help or encourage someone, as imperfect as it may be!
I also hope to be more like Mary…but so often I tend to be acting like Martha instead!
Thank so much for sharing your heart with me today, Josette. I was blessed as I read your words. 🙂
just surfing around your lovely blog and came across this post of yours.
I am a lot like you in some ways. I love all those things you listed and at one time I was making myself stressed out whe we did eat white bread or I bought a spray of windex instead of making my own concoction.
Recently a WAP (Weston price) group was formed at my church. When they heard I have been doing these things for years they wanted me to join. The thing is..I started to feel like a big hypocrite…and then I said to myself."DO you best and leave the rest to God."
So, I joined the group and offer what I know..but I am not perfect. I need to keep priorities straight.
I'd rather be like Mary than Martha and it's one of the many things I struggle with!