Raising Homemakers

So, most of you know I don't have any little girls running around my house! Two precious little boys live here and I LOVE it. Who knows if or when God may bless me with a little girl but if He chooses to just give me boys, I'll be just as happy! But for those of you who do have sweet little girls, I have a great blog to share with you!




Here is a little excerpt about the site, written by the founder Sarah Mae:

RaisingHomemakers.com was born out of a desire to grow, learn, and be encouraged by women who were living out Titus 2 and who were managing their homes well for the glory of God.
This space is for you and me to journey together in learning how to teach and train our daughters in the homemaking arts to the glory of God…and to re-train ourselves! We are extremely blessed to have wise, older women willing to give their time to teach us what they’ve learned and to encourage us in the way. I am grateful some of them are writers here.
I hope Raising Homemakers will be of help to you…it is my prayer that we would all continue on in knowledge, skill, and love. Thank you for walking the narrow path.

And actually, you don't have to even have little girls! Because it's a great source of knowledge, wisdom and practical advice for any woman of any age!

I think that in so many ways homemaking is a lost art. It's one that I'm continuing to learn! They cover all kinds of topics like cooking (look at these pumpkin pancakes), hospitality, how to stock a pantry, saving money, sewing skills (mine are limited to buttons only!), training your daughters to be godly women and seeking God as a mother.

There are several writers who are not married with children but are single and pursuing homemaking. What a noble and God honoring idea! (and why is that not the norm?!)

I definitely think you should check it out!

And if you do, start here. This is a post by one of the writers of the blog. There is a precious video of her sweet 5 year old daughter making a simple meal! It is the sweetest thing!

I'm praying those sweet little boys I have will one day find a woman who has been nurtured and trained to honor God by serving her family in the home!!

Cleaning Schedule

I am laughing as I write this post because I currently want to pull my hair out. Seriously. My kids are driving me crazy.. and in the same thought I'm praying, "Please, Lord, give me gentle and kind words, patience, wisdom and understanding."

I've been meaning to share my 'cleaning' schedule. It helps me keep my housework semi-caught up. At least the "big" stuff. So here it is:

Mondays- Trash (our pick up day is Tuesday) and weekend pick up

*Even when you stay at home, Mondays are Mondays! The house is usually a wreck with stuff all over the place... especially if we were gone much of the weekend. Sounds crazy, right? But when we're in and out of the house a lot over the weekend, even if we're not there much, the house looks like a disaster Monday morning. We come in, change clothes, drop 'stuff' off, the boys play for a min while we get ready.. and nothing gets put away or picked up. So that's what I do Mondays.

Tuesday- Laundry/Change Sheets/De-clutter

*Tuesday is a minimal day too because we usually go to the library. So, I try to catch up on some laundry and change the sheets. I usually grocery shop on Mon or Tuesday too.. so I keep things lighter. I also try to pick one area of the house to declutter. And I mean something small, like the top of the fridge or the catch all bowl on the kitchen table.

Wednesday- Bathrooms

*This includes mirrors, sinks, tubs, shower stall, toilets (inside and out) and sweeping and mopping the bathroom floors. This also includes the sink, counter and mirror in our bedroom.

Thursday- Vacuum and Dust

*Yep, that's it.. I vacuum and dust... the bedrooms and the den. Exciting. Sometimes I vacuum really well.. like I get behind furniture, etc. And sometimes I just go over what I can see! If it's the Hubs week to be off on Friday I also try to get my Friday work done.

Friday - Sweep and Mop

*Sweep and mop the hall and kitchen. I hate mopping.

I try to sweep the floors everyday and of course I do the dishes everyday.. well most everyday. Sometimes the dinner dishes don't get done until the next day. I also do a load or two of laundry everyday.. but if you were to come over today you'd see two loads on the couch... it doesn't always get put up the same day! Here lately I've been on an organizing kick. And that is good.. because I am not organized. Today I organized the closet where I keep all of our craft and school things. So, I'm hoping to add some kind of organizational stuff to my week. I guess decluttering counts, right?

I made up this schedule to keep up on the important cleaning. Sometimes kids are sick... I am sick.. we are busy and it doesn't get done. And it's okay. My house is never perfect. I have kids, young kids and you know what? We live here! I have gotten into the trap where I worked myself to death to keep things looking perfect. And you know what? They never looked perfect! I would work and work on housework and at the end of the day, all I had was frustration! There was still laundry to be done, the boys had left their blocks in the den floor, I hadn't made it to the bedroom where my makeup was still strewn all over the counter, the Hubs had left his wet towel in the bathroom floor, that pile of mail and papers still waited on me by the computer... and it was 11pm and I was exhausted! So, now, I try to do the important things and do a few 'straighten ups' throughout the day and just let it be. I still catch myself going back to that frustration. But I have to remind myself what is important. My kids and hubby deserve a wife and mommy that is not frustrated.

Next, I'll share about the boys 'Chore Books' and our 5 minute clean ups!

*Disclaimer- Please don't think that this means my house will look tidy every time you come over. And please don't think this 'schedule' means that I have it all together. Oh me, that is far from the truth!

Thoughts from last week...

So, have I gathered my thoughts?? Not really! I honestly haven't had much time to gather my thoughts! But c'mon!!!! I am due in less than 4 weeks... can you blame me?? Seriously though, I would like to talk about this past week.

I mentioned earlier that I was so encouraged last week and I was. I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to meet people who are likeminded in their beliefs and are (to put it plainly) firmly planted in true biblical doctrine. It just blesses me so much! My heart and soul crave to be around people like that. (and btw, God has greatly blessed the Hubs and I with a new circle of friends who believe the same and desire to spur one another on in His Word)

The evangelist we had at church last week was Don Currin. We were blessed to also have his wife there with him. I was able to have many conversations with her after the services. She gave me great godly council, especially in the areas of mothering and being a wife/homemaker. The affirmation and encouragement that she gave me is something that I am so thankful for. Not that I ever had any doubt that what I do is God's will and I definitely do not need anyone else to give me any direction, except for God, but I know that God sends people into our lives to affirm His perfect will. The Hubs and I may not always rear our children the way that the rest of the world chooses. Even in the church I have had comments made to me about education being a 'good field for young women' to go into, after being told that I did not work outside of the home. (As if devoting all my time to educating and raising the children God has given me is not worthy enough.) So, even in the church (and when I say church I mean as in members of a particular congregation, not the church which is the Bride of Christ... I think we often confuse the two but they are VERY different things!! But that is another post!) remarks are made about a woman's desire to stay home. So, needless to say the godly council and encouragement that I got this past week was so very refreshing.

And whether or not I was working or non-working has nothing to do with the biblical foundation that her advice was given on. Her advice was applicable to any wife/mother who has a desire to follow God. During one of our conversations we talked about the lack of older/wiser women mentoring younger women. Like I said earlier, I enjoyed so much the time that I had to talk with her and wish that I had that godly council all the time. It is definitely scarce in our churches today. Older women are not living out the commands in Titus 2. And I have to ask the question, why? Is it because they are not grounded in God's Word enough to disciple and mentor younger women? I think that has a great deal to do with it. Is it because many women don't see being the heart of the home the most important thing? Is being a godly wife and mother not the greatest task given by God to a woman? I can look to the world to teach me how to be successful outside of the home.. how to make lots of money, dress fashionably, etc. But what about diciplining my children, being submissive to my husband's leadership, being a woman of prayer, making my home a place of peace and comfort for my family all according to God's Word? I guess, after being able to talk to Mrs. Currin this week, my eyes were opened to the lack of mentoring between older & younger women in the church. I was given one bit of advice from her concerning this subject though. She said, there are always women younger than you. I have the ability to 'mentor', in some way, the women in our church who are younger than me. I can do my part. And my prayer is that I can honor God and be an encouragement to someone by doing that.

More thoughts later...