Our Priorities as Christian Women

I don't know about you, but my best thinking happens when I cook alone in the kitchen.  Quiet and alone with my thoughts, things tend to come together better and more easily.  Tonight, while in the kitchen together whipping up baked ziti for dinner, I started thinking.  There's a whole string of thoughts that have been on my mind for quite some time and I just wasn't sure how to make them fit into a blog post.  While stirring my sauce it hit me, some women just have their priorities wrong.

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Our modern day society tells us so many trivial things are important.  Big houses, multiple cars, name brand food and clothing to name a few.  Not even going into the desire for technology to be omnipresent.  Society is wrong, leading us like a cow to slaughter.  It's caused us to tame our husbands, neglect our children, and mock the ideas of homemaking.  Where has it gotten us?  We are training up a generation that is unintelligent, materialistic, and lazy.  We are forsaking the passing down of traditions, and our young women can't bake pies, much less care for a home.

I believe a huge reason this has happened, is because we have forgotten what our priorities are.  We've forgotten and lost sight of what is important.  Here is an example on how I feel many women view their priorities...

Children.

Husband.

Career.

Church.

Home.

This creates a very unbalanced life, a life in which nothing is where it should be.  Children are being shuffled around and put into so many activities they are constantly busy.  Husbands are neglected, disrespected, and snapped at.  Career is so important it overwhelms and overtakes time and energy that is limited.  Church becomes more of an idol and popularity contest than it is about serving the Lord and reaching out to those in need.  Lastly, our homes are thrust to the bottom of the pile.  An empty, stressed environment that is no longer sacred and inviting.  I believe having such priorities sets women up to be unfulfilled, sour, and unhappy.  So here is how I think our priorities should look...

God.  Jesus said that our greatest commandment above all others was to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind. (Matthew 22:35-38)  Our relationship with God is the foundation of our life.  He is our rock on which we build our lives.  We want to be like the wise man and build our lives on the rock, not in the sand where it will be washed away.  (Matthew 7:24-27)

Husband.  It is so important to always remember your husband as your best friend.  Constantly cultivating your marriage, helping him, respecting him is so important.  I also believe if you have children this makes a lasting impression on them.

Children.  Today's society almost always tries to put children as a priority over our husbands, but that is not how God meant it to be.  A strong marriage is one of the best things and examples you could ever give your child.

Home.  Today most people scoff even at the idea of homemaking, much less having it as a top priority in their lives.  The fact of the matter is making a house a home is more than just paint and furniture.  It's about children knowing where there mom is.  Knowing when they get home, she'll be there to listen to what happened at school.  Husbands will know when they come home from work food will be ready.  It's creating a haven, a safe, comfy place for everyone to rest in.  It's about making memories, and keeping the peace.

Church.  Church is low on this list of priorities which probably makes some women wonder if it's right.  I believe that it's in the right place though.  Church is a gathering together of believers to grow in Christ.  I think all to often church becomes an idol, and women can become too involved.

Whether we like to admit it or not, we all have priorities.  The way we live our lives, treat our families, and care for our homes all speak volumes into what we find important.  It's never to late to take a stand, and pull our lives back from the rat race they've become.  I chose to live simply, love fully, and have no regrets, how about you?

Top 5 Tips For A New Housewife

I've been a housewife and homemaker for about 3 years now.  Most people who read my blog know my plan wasn't to become a housewife, so I was a little lost at first.  I did a lot of things that were really unnecessary, and lacked on a lot of things that were more important!  I've recently revamped my daily routine once again, and I thought I may as well share what I've learned.  So, here we go, the top 5 tips for a new housewife...

1.  Ask your husband what is important to him.  This is such a simple thing, that is so important!  I would suggest and advise all keepers of the home to do this.  Our husbands are all different, they all have expectations on what clean is.  Often bloggers say doing x, y, or z is what will make us successful homemakers, when our husbands really care about a, b, and c being done!  What my husband wants and prefers done is the backbone of how I run things.  My husband personally cares about his work uniforms being clean, dinner to be done, our home to be picked up of clutter, and a generally clean home before the weekend.  My list is more detailed, like washing windows, checking baseboards, mopping, dusting, and all other fun stuffs like that.

2.  Get your cleaning done as early as you can.  This is something I struggle with.  I am not a morning person, so hopping out of bed and getting my chores done is not easy.  I need some time to wake up and be pleasant.  I spent a lot of my early marriage waiting until the latter part of the day to get my cleaning done.  This meant I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off before my husband was due to arrive home.  It made me flustered and more easily annoyed when my husband got home, and also meant some things were neglected due to lack of time.  My goal is to always get the house tidy as soon as I can, and then do a whole house check at the end of the day.

3.  Pick up after yourself.  Oh boy do I hate this one!  It makes a difference though.  After the home is clean, any time you do something that makes a mess, don't wait to clean it up.  Go ahead and wash the dish, or pick up what you dropped, it just makes things easy for you later.  I also encourage this same thing if you have children or a husband.  I wish I would have had this mindset ingrained in me as I grew up so it wouldn't be such a chore now!  I do not expect my husband to do any housework at all, especially the days he works.  However, I do ask him to at least pick up after himself on the weekends.

4.  It's OK if you do things differently.  As a young, impressionable housewife I really thought I wasn't as good of a housewife if I didn't do what other housewives did.  I spent a lot of time on homemaking journals, and schedules that were really useless to me.  I am a free spirit, I don't do schedules.  I do however do lists, which is an entirely different beast.  Make your own rules to keeping house.  Find out what works for you and do it.

5.  Accept that you will never be done.  This is a hard, hard truth of being a housewife and homemaker.  Your job will never end, and you will never retire.  Just accept it.  You will always be needed to mend socks, wash dishes, and do laundry.  You will always be needed to make your house feel like home.  It seems so exhausting and overwhelming, but really, where else would you rather be?  Although you may always be buried under laundry, you'll also be making a house a home which is priceless.

What do you think?  If you are an experienced homemaker what are your tips to new homemakers?  Share in the comments below!

Share Your Secrets!

I am constantly striving to be the best I can be at homemaking.  This can range from anything and everything from meal planning, cooking, cleaning, organization, and all the bits in between!  I'm finding myself really struggling with feeling overwhelmed with all the things I have to do, and struggle to keep motivated in my daily tasks.  I know part of the reason I'm feeling this way is because we're in the throws of doing some renovations, and things are just messy...and there isn't an easy or quick fix until everything is finished.  Regardless it's got me thinking a lot about running a household.  I'd really love it if anyone who reads here would share a tip (or two!) on how they run their homes.  How do you manage laundry, meal planning, etc.? Please share in the comments below or on facebook!

Are You a Wise, or Foolish Woman?

Proverbs 14:1 “Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.”

This verse resonates deeply within me.  I always wonder if I’m tearing my house down, or if I’m building it up.  In today’s day and age, being a homemaker, is not something that is always highly regarded.  It is however such a vital, and important role.  I sometimes wonder if homemakers understand the influence and power they have within their home.  We are the ones that set the tone of the house; we instigate deep conversations, make warm comforting food, and a pleasant atmosphere.  We work so hard with our hands, sewing, baking, and scrubbing all to build up our homes.  We care for our husbands and children; we do everything we can to be their helpers and assistants, making their lives warm and full.  It’s so easy to get lost in our tasks.  Easy to get lost amongst laundry, cooking, cleaning, organizing, holidays and birthdays.  Too often we forget our priorities, forget that our homes are important, and should not be forgotten.  It’s not just brick and mortar these homes we live in, they are havens, memories, laughter and love.  I do not want to be a woman who is so foolish I pull my home apart.  I don’t want to be so consumed with other things that I forget one of my biggest and greatest ministries, my home.  Sometimes our distractions come as something that is, by itself a good thing.  For example, church activities.  If you are so consumed with volunteering, and participating in church activities that your home, and family are suffering, then you’re priorities aren’t right.  I’m not saying you should not volunteer, or participate, but I am saying if you are helping with church activities, but you are so stressed out, frazzled, and exhausted that you have a short fuse with family, and your housework is suffering then you need to reprioritize.  This could also come in the form of having employment outside of the home.  By no means do I think it’s wrong for a woman to work outside the home, but I do believe that in some circumstances, and in some seasons of life (especially involving young children) women are best suited to be at home to care for them.  It can be so hard to say no, but we need to remember that it is ok to say no.  It’s ok to be at home, making and building our homes.  It’s ok to not be actively involved in all the different activities that church, school, and work provide.  I often times feel guilty about being a homemaker.  This was not our original idea of what our life would look like after marriage.  I feel a bit weird that most other women work, but here I am, a 24 year old stay at home wife.  I talked to my husband about this, and he understood.  He works with a lot of other guys and he said he didn’t know of any them who had wives that stayed at home.  He said when explaining our situation to others he said that if I worked we’d have greater expense with car payments, gas and insurance.  He also said that he tells the guys that when he is away, I do all the cleaning, have food ready when he gets home, and (this was my favorite part!) he said that when he is at work, he doesn’t have to worry about anything at home.  His words really resonated with me, and I really realized that what I do matter.  I get tired of sweeping, laundry, and dishes, but I am building my home by doing so.  When I decorate for holidays, when I bake silly themed cookies or cakes, I am making memories.  My challenge to you is to look at your lives.  Be honest, are you a foolish woman, tearing her home down?  Are you being snarky with your husband and children?  Are you stressed, burdened, and exhausted because you are over committing?  If so, take responsibility, pray, talk with others if you need to and fix it.  Let’s all commit to being wise women who build our homes, let’s put those bricks back where they belong.