I am a little behind this week on posting the chapter 9 review from our book study on The Mission of Motherhood: Touching Your Child’s Heart for Eternity, but I did want to share a few encouraging quotes from the chapter. May they inspire you today!
“Home – it’s such a beautiful word! It’s the center of our lives, the place that holds us with invisible strings of love within its walls…Home is a haven from a world that is swimming with challenges and difficulty. It is a school where one learns how precious life is intended to be. It provides the context of learning to know and love my Creator, the beauty of the world he made, and His Word, which guides me. And it is the envirorment where direction and purpose and values are passed from generation to generation, protecting and preserving all that is precious in life.”
This chapter was such an encouragement to me to look above and beyond the daily responsibilities of homemaking to restoring the heart and purpose of it all. Organizing and cleaning have their place, as a messy home is not necessarily a haven, but what is my motivation and ultimate goal?
We are called to “plan and shape a home environment that provides our families with both a safe resting place and a launching pad for everything they do in the world.” This is not an easy task! “It is a commitment of heart, mind, and soul to the task of subduing (making productive) a very specific part of the earth – the domain of the home. It involves teaching minds and nurturing hearts and shaping souls, in addition to getting the rugs vacuumed and dinner on the table!”
As a homemaker, I am specifically designed to and should be devoted to making my home a consist place that is welcoming, comfortable, and life giving. That is my goal! That the Spirit of Christ would flow through each room!
I love this reminder: “The ultimate key to providing a nurturing environment in my home is me! The physical surroundings can make a difference. In the end, though, what my children and husband need most from is is not a perfect home or perfect training or a perfectly spiritual role model or a wife without faults – but a mother and wife who is committed to doing whatever it takes to love them and make a home for them!”
My final probing question to myself: How can I make my home a welcoming, comfortable and life giving environment today? How can I maintain a positive attitude and heart that desires to serve my family?
Abide in the Word of God and move to action dear sisters! My home currently needs an updated housecleaning schedule, and that’s what I am doing to take the next step after getting my heart and mind in the right place.
What did you glean from this chapter?
Hi Lindsay!
This is sort of unrelated to your post, but I wanted to thank you for answering my questions about your homeschooling experience (I emailed you a few weeks ago). We will begin homeschooling in January, and I couldn’t be happier! Thanks for your input and encouragement…
Phebe
You know what I am thinking? I think as a country we spend WAY too much time preparing for pregnancy and childbirth and virtually NO time preparing for the actual responsibility of raising our precious children.
Some other random thoughts I have about this chapter:
The saying “If mama’s not happy, then no one’s happy” came to mind as I was reading this chapter. I have to admit I used to think that was an excuse for me to place responsibility on others and the way they interacted with me in order to keep the peace in our home, but that was foolish. There is truth to that saying, but the responsibility lies in my hands. I need to cultivate a loving, safe, consistent, nurturing environment in my home and WHEN I do that my family will be blessed.
I heard a pastor say recently in a childrearing sermon that he has NEVER heard a nanny or childcare worker say that they would choose for their own children to be put into a similar situation as a best possible way to be reared. That should tell us something, however vast numbers of children are being raised in childcare settings throughout this world. Don’t our children deserve “ideal” childhoods?
I am reminded that my tasks don’t even compare to the time spent with my kids. I am working on setting down some of my own objectives and letting my children guide parts of their day in order to build relationships.
I have to say that I am realizing how important it is to engage your children in organizing the home and we are realizing it can be done from a younger age than we might think.
-My 3 year old dusts, dumps trashes, and sweeps the floor with a little broom. She picks up toys, folds and “puts away” her clothes. (I use the term put away VERY lightly
-My 5 year old sprays down the dinner table, folds and puts away her clothes, sorts laundry on laundry day, sprays windows, takes out recycling AND LOVES to clean our powder bathroom
-My 17 mo. old can put his clothes in the dirty clothes, “helps” clean up, and is learning to throw things away in the garbage.
Of course my standards on these tasks have to be lowered but we have a much smoother household as I begin to involve them in the daily tasks of our life, Daddy appreciates having many of these tasks completed so that he has more time with his family, and we get to use these jobs as a way to illustrate what it means to serve one another. Joyfully.
So my goal is to remember that homemaking is an art, a process, and a privilege. My constant prayer is that I will not forget that.
I’m loving this book. It constantly encourages me to cherish my role as a mom.
Michael was pointing out a job listing on CL for someone to: come in the morning and get 3 kids ready for school. Come back and pick up the kids from school, make them dinner and be with them until Mom and Dad got home in the evening. He said, I can’t believe they are hiring someone for only $15 an hour to raise their kids! It made me realize how sad it is that this is the average American family at its best cared for. It was convicting to me that while I am physically home, I daily need to give my family and home the care it deserves. And it reminded me to be grateful to my husband for working hard so I can be at home.