Saturday, July 14, 2012

A Humble Parlour as a School of Theology

The Parlour Table at Mrs. White's Home in Vermont.

It has been said that Mothers of old time spent their leisure hours reading the Bible to their children.  These Mothers also lived a moral and virtuous life. The greatest witness of true character and holiness, are the eyes of the immediate family.

When Mother's hobby and devotion revolves entirely around the home, she has the freedom and the privilege of training her children in godliness. 

(Do we realize that this is why mothers are being pulled away from the hearth?)

I remember when my children were little. The main part of their education was Scripture. We did not  focus on memorizing some verses. We did not do short devotions or read little devotional books.   We, the children from the age of solid readers (5 and up) and I, read the entire Bible over and over again, year after year after year.

We also had some help. . .

If the children didn't know the meaning of a word, We looked to the 1800's Webster's Dictionary. This is an enormous, hardcover book that cost me well over $60.  It has thousands of pages.  The children greatly respected this treasured resource.   

If a phrase or passage confused me or the children, we looked to Matthew Henry's Commentary.  Or we used the Strong's Concordance.   Later, we also added John MacArthur's study Bible to help answer our questions.

But the daily, hour by hour, readings took place using the trusty old KJV Bible.  The children sharpened their minds with those "antiquated" words.  They sharpened their reading skills and committed to memory (from repetitive reading) many precious truths.

As most of my children have grown up, I have heard and seen how they have faced "giants" of confusing doctrine. I have seen them stand their ground against un-biblical religions and people trying to convince them of another way.  And each time, these children have prevailed and stood strong, as the strongest roots of an ancient oak tree.  .  . Unbending and sure of their Faith.  While these children still struggle with their sin nature (as we all will until we reach the heavenly gates), nothing can sway them away from the lessons learned in the old parlour.  Why? Because they learned sacred, ancient truths, that have stood the test of time.

The other day, I was sitting at the parlour table.  I had my books and Bible laid out before me. One of my teenagers came by and wanted to read with me.  We looked through Scripture and looked to our "helpers" to understand passages. And we delighted in spending valuable, fleeting time, on that which was eternal. 

Our home may be old, with ripped up linoleum and cracks in the walls.  The furnishings may be torn and "dated."  We may have plain, inexpensive foods to share.  We may have a poor income.  But the time spent in my humble parlour, in my school of theology, is the greatest place this Mother could ever be.

Blessings
Mrs. White


From the Archives -


What Many of Us Crave - An Ordinary Life at Home.

What To Do When - There Isn't Much.

Joyful Homemaking with - Kitchen Sermons.

 

- To find out more about this blog, or Mrs. White, please visit our About page. -

 





Mrs. White's special book for homemakers:"Introduction to Home Economics:  Gentle Instruction to Find Joy in Christian Homemaking." Paperback, 200 pages. 












30 comments:

Tracey said...

How right you are about truths from the Bible. God gives us truths we can live by and trust always. I love that you shared this always with your children, and having that strong foundation, they will always have the armour to protect themselves.

Anonymous said...

Amen and Amen!!!

Elle said...

I think I need a parlour. Or at least an area set aside for study.

I don't have any kids to read with...but maybe my grandkids will be around some day.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for this wonderful blog and in particular this post! I was originally drawn to your blog because of the beautiful pictures and homekeeping message, now I am compelled! This post has really touched my heart today and was exactly what I needed to hear...thank you!

Lorna said...

I look forward to your posts appearing in my emiail :) Thank you for this one.. it was so encouraging to me today. Blessings, Lorna

Deanna said...

Dear Mrs. White, A very sincere and heartfelt post. I believe you are correct about women being pulled away. What you have given your children will far out go the world.

If the world can educate our children than they can be an educated heathen/pagan and exercise plenty of strife and rebellion.

There are cracks in the walls of our old house, the money is tight and there are challenges galore, but I lean on the Lord to get me through some tough things that are on going.

Embracing the scriptures gives us hope. I will be working at doing my own Bible Study by reading at Home out loud so I can actually hear the words being said. I pray that I be faithful in reading the Bible!

God bless,
d

lorie said...

Mrs. White, What a beautiful post. The last paragraph brought tears to my eyes.

Lisa said...

Well said! What a joy it is to instill a love and knowledge of God's Word and His ways in our children. I've heard it said that homeschools are the monasteries of today; what a wonderful privilege we have.

Blessings,

Lisa @ HappyinDoleValley

Leah said...

We too have that huge green original Webster's Dictionary (reprinted about ten years ago) right in our living room and I often send my children to look up words in it because I know most of the words have a scripture attached to the definition and I want my children relating everything through scripture. You are a great example Mrs. White. I need to up my number of Bible chapters (always KJV) each morning if I am going to catch up with your rate! :D

Katrinka said...

I like in this photo that the dining room chairs don't match.

Mama Said No said...

What else can I say, Dear Mrs. White? Once again--you have rocked the blog! Excellent words of wisdom for us all as mothers and wives.

Melanie T. said...

Wonderful post, Mrs. White. I love your blog and I stop by it daily to see if you have a new post. If you don't, I still often will spend hours going through your old ones. What an encouragement to all of us out there who are striving to serve the Lord and our families in the "old fashioned" ways.

Kathy said...

oh I check your blog often, and I was sad to see that as of July, you are no longer blogging. Hope all is well with you and your family. Thank you for being an inspiration to us.

Shani said...

I, too, just spotted the "no longer blogging" announcement. I'm so saddened to read this, but trust that all is well and that you are focusing on your family completely.
May God bless you and yours, Mrs. White! xxx

Anonymous said...

Dear Mrs. White, Your words have been a spiritual encouragement to me for many months now. I hope that you know peace that surpasses all comprehension while the Lord sustains you during this time.

Linda said...

Mrs.White, I too hope all is well. You are very much missed!
Linda

Anonymous said...

I recently found your blog and have devoured most (if not all) of your archives! I do hope you return to blogging. There are so few homemaking blogs anymore. There used to be quite a few but through the years I have seen them morph into something different.

I hope you enjoy your break and decide to return soon! God Bless!

Anonymous said...

Dear Mrs. White, I hope you feel better soon!

Dayna said...

miss reading your blog. I hope you start feeling well again and very soon : )

Rhonda said...

hello Mrs White
I've missed your posts and so sorry you are not at your best. Hope you feel good very soon, come back blogging only if and when you are up to it and it fits into your day
God bless you.

Anonymous said...

I am missing your post.I hope you are feeling strong and well again.

Anonymous said...

I miss your wonderful blog posts! You are such an amazing encouragement. I do hope you get feeling better. I will be praying for you. May you get the rest you need to recover your health!

Anonymous said...

miss you and wish you a speedy recovery!

Anonymous said...

Mrs. White, I hope you are feeling better soon! After seeing the baby shower pictures I thought maybe you had a new little reason to be away from the computer.

Anonymous said...

I sooooo miss you and your blog, you have been such a blessing and
a wonderful teacher in my walk with
the Lord. I hope you are feeling better soon!
May God bless you!!!!!!!

Coni

Deanna said...

Mrs. White,
Lifted you up in prayer.
Miss reading new post by you.
Will visit the archives as well.
God bless and may this Autumn be refreshing.

You are missed.
Need refreshment!
d

Anonymous said...

Mrs. White,
I, too, have been so encouraged by your perspective during a particularly dry & discouraging season of my life. Thanks for taking the time and effort to share with us! May God bless you and your family.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this post. I have 5 under 8 and one on the way. We have regular homeschool curriculum but my biggest goal is to sit down every morning with our KJV Chronological Bible and read God's Word together. I anticipate how God will use this in my children's lives and I already see how He uses it in my life. I pray we will always have open fellowship about the things of God because of these seeds planted. May God find us faithful in our homes.

The Charm of Home said...

Awesome! The "humble parlour" would be our humble kitchen. The rips, cracks and everything. I stayed home early on but it was only recently I dusted off that Bible and there is NO replacement for the wisdom contained there! It is how to live and how to raise children. Wonderful post!

Linda said...

What a blessing you are and an inspiration to Godly mothers.