More than just laundry and diapers

Yesterday God kept my mind busy while I anxiously awaited Corbin's 3:30 urology appointment (It went well by the way). I found a thoughtful study on homemaking at The Simple Woman blog. The intended time line was over the course of weeks, but as I tend to do I scanned through it in one sitting.

By the grace of God, both boys played quietly on a blanket while I turned the study into a morning devotional. It was very thought provoking and I got a lot out of it. At first glance it looks quite sparse and without content. But that is because the real content is found through meditation and journaling on the few prompts of each post. I have found lately that the best studies are NOT the ones that tell you what to think, but that make you think.

I got so much out of my one sitting just perusing the study and journaling on a few of the questions that I think I'll go back and give some of the entries more thought.

One of the prompts was to define your homemaking vision. At first I threw this question aside, my reaction was the last thing I needed was to define my decorating scheme or do my meal planning. HA! How little I thought of home making. I felt urged by God to give this more thought, even though I felt it was a waste of time.

So I went back to her prompt:

Do you have a vision for your home?

I started with more mental pictures. My visualizations of what home meant to me. Then added words, like warm, cozy, inviting. As I kept typing, suddenly I had a very clear vision of my home that I never knew was there. It was just pouring out of me from this unknown place, but wherever that place was it knew what my vision for my home was.

Being home with my children is more than wiping running noses, running to doctor appointments, changing diapers, serving meals, folding laundry, or washing dishes. There is a greater purpose to my life here. I can create something here that is not based on the possessions I buy, the money my husband makes, or even the house we currently live in. Our home goes where I go. I have the amazing ability to make our home.

And knowing that my vision has nothing to do with what color the walls are or what we eat for dinner tonight is so freeing. Home is more than the walls of this house or the stuff we put in it.

Home for me is:

• Warm, inviting, and constantly in service to others.
• Clean, simple, but cozy.
• A place my husband daydreams about coming to after a long day at work.
• Where my children feel secure and loved.
• Where my children can feel God's love, mercy, and kindness.
• Peaceful place where harsh words are not spoken.
• Full of laughter.
• Little waste, where everything is used to it's fullest capacity.
• Not extravagant or filled with useless gadgets.
• Where my children would have a few cherished and well loved possessions.
• Where my children know that their treasure is in heaven, not on earth.
• Where the focus is our relationship with God and others, not on success, money, or possessions.

I still don't know where these words came from. I didn't know what I was going to write the second before I started, but as I went my visualizations turned to words, and this is what came out.

I'd be interested to know if anyone else out there is interested in homemaking and what their vision is. Homemaking has become such a negative word these days, but it has such a wonderful effect on our families if you can get past the baggage that word brings in our culture.