If Momma Ain't Happy...

"The wisest of women builds her house,
    but folly with her own hands tears it down." Proverbs 14:1

"It is better to live in a corner of the housetop
    than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife." Proverbs 21:9

"It is better to live in a corner of the housetop
    than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife." Proverbs 25:24

Yes, the second verse above is in Proverbs twice. Not once. Twice. As for the first verse, the point comes across pretty plainly the first time. How do we wisely build our house? How do we stop being quarrelsome? The Sunday School answer is "by the grace of God." What does that look like in every day life? How can we practically "build" our house rather than "tear" it to the ground? Here are five applications to help us live out these truths:

1. Believe the old saying, "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." It's so true! If we want our family to be happy, then we need to be happy, ladies. We have a huge influence on the climate in our homes. We must use it for good! Choose joy not strife! (And ladies, it's very likely that our "ain't happy" is based on our own pride. We must repent to God and our family when we are angry for no good reason. We must ask forgiveness when we take that anger out on our husband and children, too. They need to hear us say we are wrong sometimes.)

2. Choose your battles with your children wisely. For example, if we want our kids to help us with daily chores, then we mustn't complain or get angry when they don't do it our way. That's wasted anger if you ask me. Save anger for big things like disobedience and destruction of property or brother's face (Ha!), and even then we must be slow to get angry and be quick to forgive.

3. Choose your battles with your husband wisely as well. Let's be honest: we are critical of our men. We can find the smallest things they do annoying, and we can nag them until we are blue in the face. We can hold those things over their heads for years. That's not good. We must remember our husbands are not children, so we must not treat them that way. They aren't perfect either. We must respect them even if they are in the wrong. Why? Well, for one reason, I don't want my husband to long for a corner of a rooftop. I'm sure you don't either. 

4. Pray. When we don't know what to do, we need to pray. When we lose our tempers, we need to pray. When we are tired beyond belief, we need to pray. We must not neglect going to God for help consistently throughout the day. It's not just for "quiet time." What is "quiet time" anyway? I know there's no quiet time at my house! 

5. Build your house on the Word of God. We must make studying the Bible part of our routine. We must dust off the cobwebs and open that gem of a book up. How can we expect to make it through life without His strength? How can we expect to avoid folly without His wisdom? How can we expect our family climate to change for the better if our own climate is so far from God? We can't. It won't. We must read it even when things are crazy busy, especially when things are crazy busy. We must read it more than Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and the like. (I've put an awesome Bible app on my phone so that it's more convenient for me to read it anywhere and everywhere. It's the You Version Bible app, and it's free!)

Finally, I challenge you to test your influence. Choose joy today to see how it affects those who are most important to you. I think you will be pleasantly surprised to see that if Momma's happy, everybody's happy!