The attribute of God most needful for our sanctification in our daily lives, as an antidote to the confusion and clamour of the world, is that of His Holiness dem­onstrated by His orderliness. In the Psalms and Ecclesiastes, we can see that the restlessness and striving of mankind is answered by God's gracious revela­tion of His divine order and purpose in creation and in His dealings with His creatures. Thus we need to create a haven in our homes where that attribute of our Father is reflected. Without a place of refuge, rest and peace, the members of our families have no respite from daily striving. If we read 1 Kings 19:3-9, we can see God's remedy for exhaustion and world weariness. Sleep, food and drink are essential if we are to labour profitably.

The desert may not seem a good anal­ogy for our homes but it is its separa­tion from the world and its stark purity that is the main attraction for the refuge seeker. Neither is the desert necessar­ily ugly; think where travellers and pil­grims go to seek respite from the rat race. The desert is not a place where people go for worldly pleasure but to 'find themselves', or to get back to basics in an echoing of the desire to be purified and get 'right with God'. For the unbe­liever it can be an endless and fruitless quest unless their eyes and ears are opened.

Our homes can be like the desert as a place of respite and refreshment es­pecially for our family. Notice how God kindly ministers to Elijah. Not only does God provide the food and drink but He also presents it ready to be partaken of. What a great lesson in ministry! It is a temptation to think that the only worth­while ministries are those in the public eye, that those of us busy at home are not fully using our gifts and abilities. Are we just 'marking time' until we are free to pursue 'real' Kingdom work? Surely the home is a place where our work has eternal consequences. Training covenant children, caring for the world weary, nur­turing the weak in the faith, practising hospitality etc, are all commanded by our Father. To do these tasks in the way that would please Christ is no small or unim­portant matter.

One very overlooked area of family ministry is caring for the one who is sick, not necessarily dramatically or chemi­cally ill but has the 'flu or tummy bug'. In this impatient age we tend to expect the common ills to be instantly overcome with a few pills. We also have little sym­pathy for the sufferer and perhaps ex­pect them to 'soldier on'. Often I've seen sick folk in the work place, at school or at Church when clearly they should have been at home in bed. This is not only for their sake but also for those around them, to prevent the spread of infection.

Has life become so ruthless and routines so punishing that children have no time to be in the haven of their home when ill? Equally important is the need for time to convalesce after even a minor illness. Sadly there is a very thoroughly en­trenched idea that to take too much no­tice of illness, especially in children, is to encourage malingering and weakness. Like the Spartans of old, we want our children to be tough as the world is tough, lest the children can't compete 'out there'.

Edith Schaeffer points out in her book 'What is a Family?' the great possibili­ties for tremendous blessing when God allows sickness to visit the family. In response to complaints about the waste of time sickness causes, she graciously illustrates how sickness provides oppor­tunities to do good to the 'least of Je­sus' brethren' and to remind family mem­bers that home is a haven. For children to grow up with memories of selfless, loving tending and care whilst they were ill (or in any circumstances), helps es­tablish the tone of the households of the next generation.

There are so many opportunities to do this great and consequential work. Particularly as mothers we can be like the Proverbial wise woman and 'build our house' or we can be like the foolish one and tear it down, This winter when the inevitable flues, coughs and colds make life miserable for the sufferers, it would raise our eyes to Heaven to remember that we too can 'wash feet'.

We saw that our homes can be havens from the "rat race", particularly for the weak and the infirm, whether that condition is tem­porary or chronic and that this provides an opportunity for ministry by members of the family. It is a basic Biblical under­standing that we are to see suffering as one of the blessings of the Christian life, since in that way we identify with our Saviour.

This is one aspect of home life as ministry. Our homes can also be havens of joy and beauty, such that the world can not easily compete with or imitate. In some ways we need to simplify our home life and in other areas we can in­stil more richness and depth. We need to preserve and practice the things our family can retain and cherish as family memories and traditions. If we ape the world in the way we live, our family re­laxation, mealtimes and celebrations, then our children will have no distinctive pattern on which to model their house­holds. Thus the next generation is more easily conformed to the world.

One of the temptations that parents face is that of allowing too much worldli­ness into the home. Children can be very determined to have their choice of cloth­ing, music, TV and video viewing, wall posters, magazines and other literature, entertainment and friends. The advertis­ing industry has managed to pit even seven and eight-year-olds against their parents. If we do not set the standards in our homes, then someone else will, usu­ally to profit themselves. There is money to be made out of the so-called "genera­tion gap", marketers have, for many years, realised to their gain that any foolishness or rubbish can be foisted onto undiscerning young people and children, especially if a fad can be created. It is their business to create differences of opinion and strife between parents and children. Parents are often guilt-manipu­lated into allowing the squandering of money on these things by not wanting their children to be the odd ones out (good old peer pressure Romans 12:2) or by the fear that the children might be deprived or damaged by being denied the latest in worldly trends. Wholesomeness is de­picted as being restrictive, even repres­sive and certainly as being unnatural.

However, it is not enough to simply say "no" to these things. We must replace them with something higher, more noble and edifying. We can create in our homes a standard of excellence which our chil­dren will want to emulate. We must teach our children to aspire to Godliness in everything, showing them the contrast between striving for real beauty, knowl­edge and character rather than chasing base, trashy and fleeting popular fads. If we want our families to appreciate good music for example, let's play it in our homes and teach our children to listen and understand at a deeper level than is broadcast on popular radio. The same applies to literature: we must supply an antidote for the rubbish mostly produced for children today. Children often find it hard to read classical literature, it requires a certain amount of discipline to plough through lengthy prose, especially if the reader is accustomed to "television" style children's books (the type where the action starts on page one and continues till the end, is usually under-girded by anti-authoritarian themes and uninterrupted by descriptive passages which are "bor­ing"). What a great opportunity to intro­duce a family tradition by reading great literature to the whole family. Even the youngest children will learn to appreciate wonderful books like Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress", Tolstoy's "War and Peace", Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" and many more. There is also a great wealth of po­etry, the enjoyment of which adds greatly to the richness of our lives. Have you ever read a play together? When friends come to visit instead of the usual video, pas­sively watching others enjoy drama, why not do it ourselves, actively taking the roles and bringing great works to life? You would be surprised at what fun and hilarity arises out of such activities, at the same time even the serious works of playwrights such as Shakespeare or Shaw become accessible to the younger chil­dren.

Art is another area that can be en­joyed for the enrichment of family life and the improvement of character. Art, as it reflects God's creativity points to that which is beautiful and edifying. Art, as it reflects perversion and rebellion in soci­ety, is ugly and destructive, thus we ought to teach our children careful discern­ment. It is necessary to know something of the history of art to be able to teach our families to properly appreciate this medium. We have found the greatest profit from trips to the art gallery is made if we acquaint ourselves with the works on display before going to view them. In that way the works are greeted as "old friends". We have done this by making an art book, collecting postcard prints and researching the artists and back­grounds. Projects of this nature gener­ate a great deal of interesting discus­sion, to the benefit of all.

The arts are very powerful media which can influence the character for good or ill. We have both the responsi­bility and the opportunity to establish homes that reflect God's creativity and his goodness to us and all that He has made (Psalm 145:17), using these things to help minister to our families. If we establish such a home where family members are free to express their own creativity within the bounds of Godliness, it fosters security and strength both in the individual and the family unit. This will ultimately have a flow-on effect in society. This leads us into the topic for the next issue: our families as salt and light in the community.