Published June 28, 2017 at No Longer Quivering. Written by Suzanne Titkemeyer.

I’ve had a hard time keeping my mouth shut lately in regards to the total and complete hypocrisy of one of the wealthier Quiverful/Evangelical female cultural enforcers.

She has recently been martyrbating over the fact that many of us resist her theology, mistakenly claiming that anyone not lining up with her claims hates her.

I don’t know about everyone else that opposes her, but I don’t hate her. I feel sorry for her mostly, occasionally amused by her words and claims, but my primary emotion towards her is the deepest of pities. An emotion you might feel towards someone unable to see, or walk, or suffering needlessly. Someone so unstable you know their life is a misery, even with money.

She’s missed so much. In her book she exhibits she’s never experienced some of the best things about faith, grace, mercy, lovingkindness. She’s looking through a glass darkly, but it’s gone on so long that she’s blinded to anything but judgment and fear. She’s missed out on a satisfying marriage, happy fulfilled motherhood and being loved deeply by others. She flails around, from legalistic idea to idea, changing her theology to suit herself and her life. The clearest example of this is her recent kitchen remodel.

I just finished a kitchen remodel myself so in the past three or four months I’ve been immersed in researching the complexities of remodeling the kitchen. My kitchen is small, I’ve never been into material things, but I wanted to upgrade it and remodel because we’re renting it out while we’re living in Costa Rica. I haven’t touched it as far as upgrading in over ten years, from the time when my asthma went insane.

First time she attempted a remodel on her kitchen she said not very nice things about those that install granite countertops, making value judgements about those who would spend the money to have granite installed. Good old Corian was good enough for her.

Recently, during my own kitchen remodel, this lady also remodeled her kitchen. Good for her, I’m happy for her. But, she did a serious flip-flop and has been promoting false ideas about that remodel by claiming that granite countertops and sinks are somehow ‘Godly’ because granite is a natural stone.

After endless research this just makes me laugh! Granite countertops are natural stone, but they undergo a seriously unnatural transformation into those countertops. The granite sinks are not entirely natural stone, but an amalgam of granite pieces and unnatural plastics.

She said this:

One thing I do notice is that products made by God (wood floors, granite counter-tops and sinks, and stone tiles) are far more beautiful and stronger than anything man can make!

Granite is beautiful, that is for sure, even if I’m hearing from a few interior designers I know that it’s becoming less desirable and dated in some places. It’s not the most durable, it can be burned, scored, scorched or it can break.

This is one of those things that makes me laugh because I think it’s perfectly fine to have personal preferences. What’s not fine is to wrap it in claims that it is ‘God’s Will’, like this cultural enforcer does. As women spent more time in the kitchen that men in most relationship (there are exception, like my father who did all the cooking) it just makes sense to decorate or set it up in a way pleasing to the person that uses the actual room the most.

Everyone just needs to be honest about their motives, come on out and admit they wanted a new kitchen. There’s nothing wrong with wanting nice things and to have a kitchen you want to spend time in. Just admit it.

I did not go with granite. Our house is going as a rental. If it was me remodeling the kitchen for my happiness I would have gone with a recycled glass and seashell countertop, so beautiful! But I’m afraid to leave that countertop for a renter because, like granite, it has its fragility and quirks of use. I went with a higher grade laminate with a copper sink and faucet, copper backsplash and copper fittings with white painted walls and appliances.

If we come back to the States to live in that house again I’ll remove the laminate for the recycled glass and seashell and mount all the copper panels on the walls. I like nice things too, I just don’t think my opinions are also God’s opinions.