Well hello my friends!! It has been a long, peaceful summer. Before writing this post, I read my last one, so I could see exactly what it was I left you all with. My last post ( in case you didn't read it, or like me, don't remember!) was all about getting my "spiritual house" in order. While I have missed writing and decorating and doing all those "homey" things, I truly have been working on my spiritual house for the last several months.
We spent the summer visiting family, going camping, traveling with the hubs when he was out of town on business, and a multitude of other things. While all that was happening, however, I did a lot (I'm not kidding, A LOT!) of reading. I educated myself on the lives of many of the saints. I learned about church history. I did research on the current state of our economy and prayed about what God might be trying to do in our country. I started attending daily mass (as often as possible), saying the rosary more frequently, and I learned more about chaplets, novenas, and other special forms of prayer that Our Lady so graciously shared with us.
I'm not saying any of this to brag or say 'look at me, I'm so good, I did all these wonderful things'. No, I'm telling you all of this because I am FAR from perfect. I fall down, I make mistakes, I hurt the people I love most in my life with my sinfulness. And I HATE that! What does all this have to do with homemaking you may ask? I will tell you.
If we are to make a home that invites others in, that welcomes them, makes them feel at peace when they enter, we must first look at the home we have prepared for Jesus - our hearts. What does Jesus find when He approaches us? What resides in our hearts? Do we hold on to anger, fear, hurt, mistrust? Or do we spend time in prayer seeking out His forgiveness, wisdom and grace?
I think the greatest thing I learned this summer was this: while many of us think we are waiting on Jesus to do something in our lives, He is actually waiting on us! He's waiting for us to get His house (our hearts) ready for Him to enter. But our hearts are messy; full of things we ignore or put aside and don't want to deal with.
Think about it this way: if you invited a visitor over for Sunday brunch, you wouldn't leave your laundry lying around on the sofa, would you? Would you have stinky toilets, dirty floors and messy bedrooms? Or would you have your bathrooms shiny, the bedrooms tidied, the table ready, and candles lit? Of course you would! I think the mundane tasks of homemaking (laundry that NEVER ends, dishes that always need washing, siblings who sometimes need mediating) are present to remind us that the task of being a true Christian is not a one-time chore. You don't get baptized and then you're done, or do one work of service and then that's good enough. Jesus asks us over and over to live out our Christian faith in a constant and active way. It's not an easy task. He calls us to be bold and faithful. We sometimes have to remind ourselves over and over again, that He will give us the strength to do the difficult things He asks of us.
So, I hope you'll continue to join me as I strive not only to make my house a home, but also to cleanse my heart and make it a proper home for Jesus. As I do this, my prayer is that He will give to all of us (me, you and every other daughter of Eve) the wisdom, strength and grace to be the wives', mothers and homemakers that He is calling us to be. After all, our real home waits for us in a place much more beautiful than anything we could ever create!
Have a blessed day my friends!
Happy Homemaking!
