Piety and Usefulness (by Tammy)

In chapter five of In My Father's House, the daughters of the puritan Philip Henry are described as women of piety and usefulness. I have been pondering that phrase today. Piety, according to the dictionary, means devoted to religious affairs and usefulness is defined as of aid, profitable, or beneficial. What a wonderful description of the womanhood we aspire to! How can we become pious and useful women?

I have seen examples of this kind of woman today. I am presently staying with my parents in Minnesota, helping my mother care for my father who is battling cancer. As soon as my parents finished their morning devotions and their prayer time, during which they pray for their six children and their spouses, their twenty-three grand-
children and their twelve great-grandchildren, my mother jumped up and began cooking. A woman from their church is nearing the end of her fight with cancer, and my mom whipped up a pot of soup, and apple cake and sub sandwiches which she managed to get over there before lunch. ~piety and usefulness.

When I called home to New York to talk to my girls, Hannah was busy giving a knitting lesson to one of our Mennonite friends. She is a farmers wife and can do everything domestic, but never learned to knit. Her husband has his heart set on having a home-knit hat made
by his wife. So, Hannah offered to teach her. ~piety and usefulness.

I got a phone call from one of my sisters who reported that she had called my girls for help with a recipe. Because they have applied themselves to gaining the knowledge and the skills involved in the preparation of food, she knew they could help her. ~piety and usefulness.

It seems to me, that to gain usefulness we need to apply ourselves to learning whatever we can whenever we can. I discovered an area just today where I need more knowledge in order to be useful of aid. First, someone brought over some venison (deer meat) for my father. They heard that he liked it, and shared some of their fresh ground meat, since it is deer hunting season here. My mom hasn't cooked venison for years and my Dad is anxious to eat it. I wish I knew how to cook it up so it would be tasty and pleasing to him. So, in my attempt to be useful and to be pious, I hope to serve my God by serving my father. I plan to call around to some of the ladies from the local church and ask them for their favorite venison recipes. Hopefully I can whip something up for dinner tomorrow night. Once I have gathered the recipes and done the cooking, I can make venison again if the need ever arises.

In our efforts to grow in piety, we must also recognize that we serve God not just when we attend services, read our Bibles and spend time in prayer. All of our service to others is service to our Maker. Page forty-six of In My Fathers House reads, "We are in the habit of giving a too narrow interpretation to divine service, as when we say, Divine Service will be performed at _____ church, at ____ o'clock. Is not divine service performed in every house in the parish where the housewife does her duty in the kitchen where she cooks or looks after cookery; in the nursery, where she nurses or directs how it should be done; in the room which she sweeps as for Gods laws? You have perhaps read the beautiful legend of Francesca. Tradition says that she was a noble lady of Rome, who, amid the splendors of court life and the pageantry of a lofty station, preserved the simplicity of that consecration which loves to sit at the feet of the Lord. Every day at certain periods she retired to her oratory, there to engage in exercises of devotion; but if called away, as she often was, she went cheerfully, saying that a wife and mother, when called upon must quit her God at the altar, and find Him in her household affairs". What is true for
wives is true for devoted daughters and sisters as well.

And thirdly, along with Francesca, once we have the skills and the desire to help others, we need to be available. This is one of the main reasons I am opposed to our daughters holding jobs outside of the home. Can we bring meals to the sick only on our days off? Can we fit in knitting lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays after seven? When our widowed neighbor had an emergency and needed help last week,
would we want her to have gotten an answering machine when she called? Much of our service to others hinges on our being available when we are needed.

Apply yourself to learning, know that we serve God when we serve others, and be available to help. I pray that you all will strive to be worthy of the description given to the women of Philip Henry's home. ~women of piety and usefulness.