Monday, July 20, 2009

A Cheerful and Willing Housekeeper

Library of Congress: Billy Graham's kitchen at his boyhood home, North Carolina.

 

While doing my daily housework today, I realized something. …. Whenever I am doing laundry, washing dishes, putting things away, etc, I often ask one of the children to help me. I might say, “Will you run downstairs and put these clothes away?” or “Sweep the floor for me, will you?” Then I head off to do some other bit of cleaning. You are probably thinking…. That’s okay….. Children should help around the house, right? Yes, but I have an important point here:

1. Housework should not be something we rush to have it over with.

2. Do you realize how little we really have to do in our homes, relatively speaking, compared to farm housewives of the 1800’s?

3. In order to be healthy and fit, we should do as much housework as we possibly can. Yes, give the children chores, but why ask them to help you with yours? What I mean by this is, it is getting to the point where whenever a child walks into a room, instead of saying “Hi sweetie!” I say, “Take out the trash” or “would you clear off the table?”

Here is what I did after my revelation:

I turned on a CD of classical music and started tidying up my kitchen. I washed down the counters, swept the floor, put away the clutter on the counters and just hummed along with the music. All the windows were open. I could feel a cool breeze while I worked. I carefully folded the clothes in the living room, neatly stacked them in piles and then walked all the way up and down stairs to put these away myself. Our remote phone was not on the hook. I started to call downstairs to Amy (14). I wanted her to bring it to me. Then I remembered the opportunity I had to stay fit, so I walked down there myself and got the phone.

It only took me about an hour to make the house look pleasant and inviting. I looked around and was content. I had worked hard. I had earned my rest. Sitting at the table with a cup of hot tea was a pleasant reward. In Scripture, we are told to work 6 days and then rest on the 7th day. Do you realize how much more we will enjoy that rest if we have actually worked hard to deserve it? Yet, some feel that housework is boring, or drudgery. How can that be? If you adjust your thinking, finding solitude and joy in making your house look lovely; wouldn’t you feel better about doing these daily tasks again and again? Each morning I wake up to my kitchen work. I am there to serve my wonderful family. I am going to do it cheerfully. I am going to find ways to make it pleasant for me. I light a scented candle (even in the middle of the day), I turn on some gospel or classical music and the mood is set. Keeping house is an art. We have to learn to enjoy it and stop trying to get out of it. The less we do around our precious homes, the more lazy and out of shape we will become. How is that a nice legacy to leave to our children?

If they see you enjoying your work, instead of delegating, they will ponder in their hearts how content and at peace you are at home. They will want that same peace when they are older. Where did I learn this from? The example of my own dear Mother.

Blessings,
Mrs. White

From the Archives

What Many of Us Crave - An Ordinary Life at Home.

Help for when you feel like - Neglecting the Housework.

Something We All Need  - Peace Be Upon This House.


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10 comments:

Dimple said...

A very good point.
Col 3:22 KJV "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;" --as wives we are certainly to serve in our homes "heartily, as to the Lord." This, just as certainly, is NOT the prevailing message in the world today.
Thank you.
God bless!

Unknown said...

Such a wonderful reminder! Thank you, Mrs. White...I needed this!

Tristan said...

I needed to read this today. I've been hearing the same words come out of my mouth to the children "Can you, will you, please go get/do...", and I was struggling with how much I should be asking of them. I'm going to talk this over with my husband and have him assign specific jobs to the children, knowing the rest is, in general, my work.

Tristan from the Crew

Anonymous said...

This was an *excellent* reminder, thank you! (o:

Blessings,
~Michele

Blessed Homemaking said...

Oh dear, I can relate to asking the children to do something whenever they walk into the room. Thanks for this thought!

busymomof10 said...

You don't know how much I love this post!!! I have kept it up for a couple days now, reading and rereading it and pondering the wealth of wisdom it contains! thanks for sharing from your heart and home!!!!

Lisa Grace said...

I love this insight; I've read it several times now, but it just makes me feel peaceful as it's something God has been whispering me as of late.

smore93 said...

wow. I fell into this "trap" when I was pregnant with my fourth child (four years ago) and had to rest a lot due to related issues. But that was a long time ago! Thank you for a gentle reminder of what chores ARE and ARE not!

gail said...

This is Beautiful!

Cathy said...

I love when people say that keeping house is an art. And I too, am often guilty of telling my kids to do something, without even greeting them! Thanks for the reminder.