Heart Reflections Live
Monday, September 14, 2009
Vintage Housewives and the Turning of Time
Do you ever feel like you were born in the wrong era? I do from time to time, but I also have complete confidence in the same God of The Bible, who said to Queen Esther, "...who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
In this day and age where sin is blatant, as well as rampant , and culture has become ugly and dumbed down with it, God needs people like us to bring a change where we are and to beautify the corners we live in.
This may sound trite to some, when millions of poor children are starving overseas- a fact NOT ignored in our home- but the point I'd like to make is this : THERE IS NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN, and if you enjoy studying history, you will see this and realize that things usually go in cycles- it did with the children of Israel in The Old testament, and still does today.
Here is an example of what I mean by cycles. This chart is taken from the book "Boomers, Xers and Other Strangers" by Dr Rick and Kathy Hicks and is recommended by Focus on the Family.
"History shows that the average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations passed through 10 stages:
-From bondage to spiritual faith
-From spiritual faith to great courage
-From great courage to liberty
-From liberty to abundance
-From abundance to selfishness
-From selfishness to complacency
-From complacency to apathy
-From apathy to moral decay
-From moral decay to dependence
-From dependence back to bondage.
Take a look at that list...Those who were not raised with traditional moral standards, and who question whether there are any absolute truths to live by (as we will see is true of the younger generations today), may not think we are as far along in the process as members of our older generations would. But if there is any truth to this theory, our future could be in jeopardy."
The world at large is showing in places that it LONGS for a change back to the "good-ole-days". I found an article on the internet about "Time Warp Housewives"- women so dismayed by our modern culture, that they CHOOSE to "live" in the past. Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1042702/Time-Warp-Wives-Meet-women-really-live-past.html
I found it an interesting read. I noticed a couple of interesting things. Firstly 2 out of 3 of the featured women were in a traditional marriage (positive statistics for these times). Also, sadly, None had children. One said that she didn't want to bring any into the world because of the violence etc. I don't deny we live in perilous times, but this is where our faith kicks in and holds us strong. Children are a gift from God, and we firmly believe that if we raise them right, God will use the next generation to change the world, as they serve Him.
Being a bit of a vintage Mama, myself, though not as extreme as the ladies in the linked article, I was amazed at how much vintage stuff and blogs came up on google- some were Christian, some not. The desire for simpler times seems to be universal. My hubby had the morning news program on the other week, and it was said that 50's bathing suits are coming back into vogue, as people are getting sick of showing so much skin, and want to be prettier.
Yes, it's the year 2009- not 1949- but I'm very happy to be raising our children with some of the best resources the past has to offer. The morals were better and more in line with our Judeo-Christian ethics, and the reading material and music was not dumbed down as much as it is today- What a sharp decline has taken place in our manners and general culture in the last 40 years. My husband, who was born in 1964 often says that in the Australian Censes that year, 84% of Australians claimed to be Christian, now sadly it's 6%!
Things are changing. Austalian News Show 60Minutes recently did a program on "Housewife Superstars", showing amazement over the number of 20 and 30 somethings, who choose to stay home and look after hubby and children, while he brings home the bacon. Change is in the air. Feminism is finally being seen in its true warped colours.
While serving Jesus remains my number 1 priority, I enjoy "Being vintage": doing things the old-fashioned way, so that our children know that the best things don't come from a drive-through, baking cakes and cookies, hanging out the laundry when it's fine, using cloth nappies and glass baby bottles, wearing dresses or skirts most of the time like my Grandmothers did, learning to crochet again, reading vintage books with our children,collecting and wearing vintage aprons, using our teapot and cups and saucers, eating off my Grandmothers china, listening to our hymns, classical and other oldtime music, watching old, old movies, and collecting vintage TV shows on DVD for clean family viewing( We have most of the" Little House on the Prairie" episodes and I'm thinking of hunting down some "Andy Griffith" "Donna Reed" and "Father Knows Best".) A much better investment than pay TV don't you think?
It's time for revival... We can't really go back to The Good Ole Days, God needs to change the hearts of men. Change is in the air... Let's pray...and see our nation turn.
