This week, I turned down an invitation and I felt kind of guilty doing so.

The invitation was a really sweet gesture involving a couple of my children. I turned it down because I knew my pregnant self was tired, and our days have been full with Daddy time over the weekend.

And still, I felt guilty.

Why is that?

In our frenzied culture, I think we’ve forgotten that we haven’t been called to do all of the things as wives and mothers. We haven’t been called to leave our homes each day to go to work, or to hustle our children from place to place.

We are called to be keepers at home.

We are called to be gentle and meek.

We are called to love our families well while pointing them to our Messiah.

There is nothing wrong with turning down an invitation to stay at home with our families. In fact, Scripture teaches that staying home is a good and noble thing for women to do.

In our family Bible study, we are currently reading through 1 Timothy. The following instruction from Paul really struck me about young widows.

At the same time they also learn to be idle, as they go around from house to house; and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things not proper to mention.

1 Timothy 5:13

In context, Paul is instructing young widows to remarry, because serving a husband, bearing children, and keeping a home are good things which help us stay focused on important life activities.

Read: She Employs All of Her Living for Her Husband’s Good

Otherwise, these women would be overly tempted to leave their homes often, and even worse, become gossips and busybodies.

I think we can, and should, take this instruction to heart, even if we are not a young widow. In this day and age, we have been afforded so many conveniences which make leaving our homes very easy to do. And yet, pouring our lives into our families at home is what is best.

The same goes for social media. How often are we idle, going around from house to house while we sit on our couch? I’m raising my hand over here, too!

We shouldn’t be ashamed to turn down invitations, even good ones, if instead, we plan to serve our families well at home.

This is noble, and right, and good, if our hearts are pursuing the things of God.

I hope everyone has a lovely week at home serving their families.