A Stayer At Home

Titus 2:5 reads “To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, … that the word of God be not blasphemed. The Hebrew word for “keeper” in this context is “oikouros”. “Oikos” carries the meaning “of home, dwelling, or family” while the word “ouros” means “guard”. Together the Hebrew meaning is “a stayer at home”.

My curiosity was pricked at the word “guard”. We must guard our home and the only way to do this is by being “a stayer at home”. Our dedication and priority must be the welfare of our family. A shepherd would not guard his sheep at a distance, nor a jailer guard his prisoners at a distance. If we are going to guard our home, we must be present and involved.

The virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 is a fine example of one who guarded her own home. The Hebrew context of “virtuous” means “a great force, might, power, strong and valiant”. Being a virtuous woman is not for the weak and faint at heart! These are all descriptions we would attribute to soldiers placed in the position of guarding his territory. The virtuous woman guarded her home from evil, hunger, cold, idleness, financial insecurity, selfishness, and ignorance.

The husband of a virtuous women trusts in her. She does her husband good and not evil (Proverbs 31:11-12). Our home should be a place our husband yearns to come home to. When he is away, he should be able to trust us and know that we are not doing evil by him. I have always heard the saying “behind every great man, is a great woman.” I believe these verses would support this thought. Verse 23 says he is known at the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. It leads one to believe that her tongue had given him honor and praise to be respected in the public.

So many times we want to share our husband’s faults with others. We are only accomplishing evil towards him when we do not exercise self-control. An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones (Proverbs 12:4). The book of Titus encourages us to love our husbands. We cannot love them if we are speaking evil of them. When we do good to our husbands we build our home (Proverbs 14:1). We are now ready to guard our home from the evil without!

In 1965, I was adopted, with my twin sister, into a wonderful Christian family! We lived in Muncie, Indiana until I was 8 years old. At that time we moved to Springfield, Tennessee. We were very active with the congregation there and, at the age of 12, I obeyed the gospel. Soon after, we moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee where my parents worked hard to provide tuition for us to attend Middle Tennessee Christian School. When I was fifteen my family attended a special service at a neighboring congregation. It was there that I met my future husband, Glen Dodd. (I also met his parents, grandparents, brothers, aunts, uncles, and cousins! I never had to worry about “meeting the family”.)

In 1988, I received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education and began fulfilling one of my life-long dreams of being a teacher. I had married Glen two years earlier and was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to become a mommy. In 1992 that desire was fulfilled through the adoption of our son, Anderson. What a delight and joy to look in those deep blue eyes and realize a love and contentment that can not be felt in any other realm of life. In 1994, God had a little surprise for us! Emma was born to us in August of that year. (A surprise because the doctors said I could never carry a child.) Although our desires were to have more children, we are very blessed and excited about the two we have.

We now live in Woodbury, Tennessee where Glen and I purchased an 80 acre farm 17 years ago. One of the greatest blessings has been to spend more quality time together as a family. We have cows, dogs, and a spoiled cat. We enjoy taking walks at the creek and exploring the pond. I recently made the choice to come home and be a full-time wife and mother. I now home educate our children and love the opportunities I have to direct my children’s paths and to spend more time getting to know them!

I serve as the 4 year old Bible class teacher and also enjoy sharing the responsibilities of teaching a Lady’s Bible Class. Four years ago a couple friends and myself began a Friday night Bible class to encourage one another. We currently average around 15 to 20 women at each gathering. I also serve on the planning committee for a Women’s Retreat each fall. We usually have 80 - 100 women enjoy this time of spiritual growth and fellowship.

Glen serves as a Wednesday night teacher to the Jr. High students and has recently been asked to serve as a Deacon for our congregation. I am presently trying my hand at writing some women’s Bible study curriculum. (This is a whole new arena for me! I never thought of myself as a writer, however, I have been encouraged to do so from some classes I have taught at church)