Creating a Home

It always saddens me when I enter a home, and find a horrid mess.  

Clothes, toys, and stuff piled everywhere. Not a tidy or orderly square foot anywhere. 

Not a clean surface in sight.

A mere trail leading through to ...somewhere.  

My heart goes out to the husband who works hard all day and comes home to such a disaster,

knowing that his wife has not done her job, 

nor saw fit that he should enjoy the beauty and peace of an orderly home,

but preferred her agenda and comfort to his.

Imagine, if a husband went to work each day, but never did his job,

instead sat idly chuckling over facebook status', reading magazines, watching tv,

and making himself comfortable. 

 Likewise, when a wife and mother does not take care of her home,

she simply is not doing her job,

and her family pays for her laziness.

I feel great pity for the husband of such a home, and for the children. 

I will not beat around the bush, but will, as much as I hate conflict,

exhort women everywhere to maintain their home,

for the glory of God and the love of their family, 

as I believe the care of the home is of utmost importance 

and the lack thereof  reaching epidemic proportions. 

A great part of a woman's job is to see that the heart of her home is a peaceful sanctuary,

a source of contentment, acceptance, rejuvenation, nurturing, rest.

   What husband, if given a choice,

would rather come home to a beautiful clean home with the smell of dinner in the air, 

or a hovel where he must pick his way carefully past the heaps and piles

through the trail that leads to his room?  

Isn't it disrespectful to ask your husband to pay for a home for the family 

and then let it fall to ruins around your idle feet? 

We are to be good stewards of what God has given us. 

We, as women, are charged to be productive in the home. 

Yet, too many Christian women ignore these Biblical charges.

A slovenly wife can give her husband a bad reputation,

but a God fearing wife uplifts and ennobles that which she has, and he is praised for it.

  "She does him good and not evil all the days of her life." 

Do your best to make sure you honor your husband and children in this way.

Ask God to help you maintain a house that your husband is pleased to come home to.

Ask the Lord to show you how to make your home a safe haven that builds up your family- 

a place where creativity flows and communication is ongoing. 

Ask God to help you keep the house clean, the laundry done, the kitchen in order,

the pantry and refrigerator full, and the beds made. 

These are the most basic things that should not be overlooked.

Logically, they should be attended to daily. 

It is much more efficient to keep a house clean and orderly,

than to get it clean only to let it fall back to ruins and have heavy work to do again to clean it. 

Take dishes for example, washing a few three times a day is so much easier

than a whole giant pile at the end of the day when you are already tired.

How about laundry?  One or two loads a day does not take much of your time to care for,

but 17  loads once a week is enough to give anyone need for antidepressants. 

It is a biblical principle to do your work first, then seek the enjoyment and refreshment due you.

   Once you have done your daily housework, 

you've earned a cup of tea or cocoa and time to read your email or relax.

Keeping order in the home does not mean it has to be perfect,

but it should not be out of control. 

God is a God of order and beauty, therefore as his followers, our lives should reflect that.

An orderly home is a great joy and comfort. 

Keeping a home provides us with the daily work of our hands that satisfies and makes our sleep good.

  It also means we must die to selfish desires and  instead do that which should be done, 

both for ourselves and the example to our children.

As homemakers, we should be taking our role seriously, it is a daily job,

requiring daily work of our hands. 

If we are not building up our  homes, then we are tearing them down with our own hands, 

and the Proverbs calls that woman a fool.

Let us be about that which builds up, beautifies, edifies, strengthens, and enobles our homes.  

Our Lord has asked it of us, and our families will bless us for it.