Home Is My Haven

As a Christian homemaker, I truly believe that my home should be a haven for my family--including me!

I absolutely love my backyard! Of course, there is always weeding... and more flowers to be planted.

And I'm working on redecorating our 1960s home. Sometimes I get discouraged and leave a project for weeks.

I confess there are days when I don't keep up with homemaking: dishes, laundry, and cleaning, as I should. I admit that I have a mountain of mending that I never seem to get to!

Currently my focus is on reestablishing my weekly homemaking routine. And my biggest helper is FlyLady.

Here's a gal who inspires me as a homemaker. (I really like her advice on her morning routine and planning her day.)

And another.

I still believe that the most important thing is to seek the Lord daily in my quest to be a better homemaker and make my home a haven. I just tell Jesus when I feel overwhelmed, and then claim a Scripture verse to help me to the next level! I print it or write it out on a brightly coloured sheet of paper and tape it above my kitchen sink, or another place I will see it often. (Another favourite spot is on the fridge next to the stove, so I can read it over as I'm stirring our dinner!) Whenever I see it, I read it, aloud or silently. Before long, I have it memorized.

If you're a homemaker, I would encourage you to do this with Scripture. It's also great to bookmark or subscribe to a few of these homemaker blogs, as well as FlyLady, to help you stay encouraged, focused, and disciplined as a mom and homemaker.

Oh, by the way, the Scripture above my sink right now is I Peter 2:22-23.
For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

Sometimes as homemakers and moms we feel that we give and give and give... and sometimes we're exhausted or just plain tired of "giving out." Though retribution should not be our focus, at times, we can't help thinking about it, especially on those trying days when it seems everything is going wrong! But God does give us encouragement along the way, and we need to choose to watch for those little things, and focus on them, not on the things we dislike. Attitude is key!

Lord, please live Your life through me; I commit myself to You, my Righteous Judge. I choose to trust Your judgment in my life. I will discipline myself now to plan my day and then just do the next thing. I can do anything for fifteen minutes!