Home-ly Attitudes

As a young girl, I perched over Mom's shoulders as she carefully transformed an old outfit of hers into a fresh new skating outfit for me. Her sewing machine hummed along with ease and her careful cutting and pinning paid off as I quickly modeled it as a "perfect fit". As a young girl, I enjoyed listening to the drone of the vacuum cleaner as I drifted off to sleep at night and arose the next morning to a spotless house. As a young girl, I eagerly waited to scrape the bowls for that last bit of chocolate chip cookie dough or a chance to lick the frosting from the beaters. The mechanics of such homemaking skills never entered my mind. I never thought to take notes - homemaking was something moms did! Cleaning house? - moms did that, too. Too bad I didn't follow Mom around with a notebook and pen in hand. I wasn't exactly ready when I began my "Mothering Career". School hadn't prepared me for diaper bags, grocery lists and mop buckets! Over the last 23 plus years I've had to deal with some attitudes about housework and home management. These attitudes have not been pretty to say the least. In fact, let's just call them "Home-ly Attitudes" - bad attitudes about running a home! These attitudes can defeat our walk as Christian women and unfortunately affect our children's attitudes about work as well. Well, here goes (this is one of those 'closet' moments I mentioned in my welcome page):
"Okay, I'll clean the house, but I'm not going to enjoy it!!" And you're going to know it! Wham, goes the cabinet door (clean cabinet door that is!) Where's the vacuum cleaner?! Ooooh, this thing is soooo heavy. Can't anybody pick anything up around here? Wait a minute! Whoa! I've seen this attitude before -a few good verses just popped into my mind! Colossians 3:23, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Hmmmmmmm....I guess it doesn't say whatsoever I do that I like to do. Next, "God loveth a cheerful giver" are we not as moms givers? Giving our time, our energy, our love, our talents for the good of our families? "Do all things without murmurings and disputings", OUCH!! Why do we try so hard to teach our young ones to do unpleasant tasks cheerfully when we are often the ones who teach them to gripe?

While 'mothering' is a noble calling and carries wonderful merits on its own, housework doesn't seem to glow quite so brightly! There are days I'd like to sweep scrubbing shower stalls, cleaning toilets, washing endless loads of laundry and ironing right out of my job description. Okay, time for another attitude check. Am I exhibiting a servant's heart or just my own selfish human nature? Am I imitating Christ who said, "I am among you as he that serveth." I guess an attitude adjustment ought to be on my agenda today!

At one point early on in my endeavors as a homemaker, I had the attitude, "If I can't do it right, I won't do it at all!" Well, the Bible does say, 'Let all things be done decently and in order", but it doesn't say, "Let all things be done spotlessly and meticulously." We are to simply do what it takes to make our households run smoothly. To do this we should have a system of keeping up with our daily responsibilities. Now, individual housekeeping standards and styles will vary. The idea is to develop a set of realistic goals that makes me and my family comfortable. These goals may need an occasional adjustment based on present activities and circumstances. Things like homeschooling, illnesses, church events or even a recent move may cause us to reevaluate our existing goals. Check back this week as we look at a few ways to get organized and keep our house clean...even with kids!!

Lori