Journal: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Volume: JBMW 19:1 (Spring 2014)
Article: A Review Of Aimee Byrd, "Housewife Theologian: How The Gospel Interrupts The Ordinary." Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2013. 240 pp. $12.99.
Author: Lauren Lambert

JBMW 19:1 (Spring 2014) p. 31

A Review Of Aimee Byrd, Housewife Theologian: How The Gospel Interrupts The Ordinary. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2013. 240 pp. $12.99.

Lauren Lambert

Pastor’s wife, mother to three
Louisville, Kentucky

This book is for women. It is for all women who want to know God, or better yet, want to be known by God. Striving to find meaning amidst the mundanity of everyday living, many of us feel swallowed up in mixed messages of purpose and significance, all the while merely wanting to contribute, to connect, to share joy and suffering. (11)

With these words Aimee Byrd begins her book Housewife Theologian and invites her readers to discover the meaning of true womanhood. Byrd wants to elevate the term “housewife” by understanding the value of a woman’s connection to the home and calling women to greater intentionality in understanding and living out their faith in Christ.

Intended as a group study (even including journaling questions), Byrd divides her book into twelve, topical chapters. The chapters cover a number of relevant topics such as the unique roles of women and wives, the nature of true beauty founded in Christ-centered humility, theology and the life of the mind, sexuality, hospitality, and involvement in the local church and community.

A Few Highlights

As a housewife myself I can personally attest that each of these topics are important, and Byrd has several incisive things to say about each of them. First, I have often felt the temptation to “check out” after a hard day. My job as a stay-at-home mom is do… and redo. I do the dishes in the morning, redo them in that afternoon, and redo them again at night. I make the beds on Monday morning and redo them the other six days of the week. I feed people at breakfast and redo the job several times throughout the day. You get the point. Do . . . redo. Every day, every week . . . the work is unremittingly repetitive.

At the end of a day filled with such relentless redundancy, after being constantly pulled in so many directions with so many tasks to accomplish, it is tempting to fade into the la-la land of Facebook, or drift into the mindlessness of a Netflix movie. In response to this temptation to check out and enjoy the ease of passive entertainment, Byrd encourages all of us to foster the life of the mind and commit ourselves to learn theology. Byrd says many do not see the importance of learning theology because they see it as a “specialized form of knowledge for a select few” (65). Byrd, however, reminds us that our “faith has content” (13). In order to love God more and grow in faith we must know Him.

Se...