Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Joy in Homemaking

The opportunities that we have as homemakers-in-training are abounding everywhere we look. 
Whether a daily task such as laundry folding, a weekly culinary duty such as baking bread, a bi-weekly errand to the grocery store or a seemingly "mundane" job (like scrubbing the household toilets), we have every opportunity imaginable to exercise and practice skills while we are yet "in training".

But there is more to being a homemaker, than the jobs which we can do. It has to do with our hearts. And it is our choice. Will we perform our homemaker duties with joy and delight in each task (which includes scrubbing the crummiest of toilets), or will we choose to frown upon these daily opportunities? Will we choose a servants heart or will we try to minimize the effect of being a blessing?

We can make a whole house sparkle from top to bottom but if our heart isn't full of love from Christ, then that perfect house means nothing. We can make a delicious supper for our family, or run an errand for Mom, but if our hearts are grumbling then our act that could have been a blessing, means nothing.



We can garden, can, clean, sew, take care of babies, run errands, meet every agricultural farm need, whip out loads of laundry in lightning speed, and make a mean pot of soup BUT if our heart is not thankful to the Lord for the blessing of being a homemaker in training, if we are not grateful and full of joy at our Proverbs 31 calling, then what a waste of the opportunity that the Lord gives us as women! 

The choice is yours - do you find joy in being a homemaker?

11 comments:

Brenda said...

Jenna - you are an inspiration!

blog said...

Amen, Jenna! The heart is vital, as is finding joy in our work. It is sometimes easy to get so caught up in what we are doing that we forget WHY we are doing it! Ultimately, we desire to glorify the Lord while doing His will and we must always remember that.

Excellent thoughts, dear sister! Thank you for sharing your heart. :)

Joy said...

Thank you, Jenna, for sharing this encouraging post today. It blessed me now as I read it, and challenged me in my calling as a daughter in my father's house, a homemaker in training, to do the "mundane" jobs (and yes, it is my chore at home to scrub the toilets =D), to do it with joy in my heart and thanksgiving in the responsibilities I've been given, as doing it unto the Lord. Not to do it as a necessity, with a frown and in a hurry, but with a smile, a song and a prayer of thanks and most of all with a servant's heart. How I need the grace of God to help me in this!

(by the way, I've been following your blog for a while and have been really blessed by your challenging and inspiring posts. I'll try to comment more often in the future too!)

In His love,
Joy @ joy-live4jesus.blogspot.com
(it will be lovely if you could stop by my little blog sometime. That will be really wonderful!)

Charis said...

so true Jenna! thank you for sharing! blessings as you run the race for Christ our King!

Martha Joy said...

Thank you for the inspiration, Miss Jenna! I know it can be so hard to WILLFULLY do something, but then once I think about it...will we want to when we are grown up and {Lord-willing} married and have children? Probably not. So, we need to develop a heart to serve others in our younger years!

Thanks again for the encouragement!
May the Lord bless you always, as you choose to follow Him!
Love you,
Martha Joy
Psalm 119:165

Jessica said...

Thank you for this encouraging post. It is good to be reminded that no matter what we do if it's not done in love then it's just "going through the motions," as the song says. May God's love be in us and the light of it spill over to warm all around.

Gina said...

Jenna,

Your blog is so neat! Your are a very inspiring homemaker!

Rachel said...

Thanks for the sweet reminder!

Erin said...

Thank you Jenna for posting this. Sometimes when we seem to be doing the same thing over and over again on a daily basis, we tend to lose sight of the true reasons we are doing them. We must remember the Proverbs 31 woman and how she never complained, but was joyful with her daily tasks.

blog said...

Hello Jenna!

Thank you for the sweet comment you left me on my blog! I am terribly sorry that the images are not appearing for you. From what you mentioned about the filter, it seems as though Photobucket may be the culprit; all of my images are uploaded through it. I hope that information helps!

Have a beautiful day tomorrow! :)

Bethany said...

Me and my sister are also homemakers-in-training. I love your blog, and am looking forward to reading more of it. My sister and I have a blog where we share our adventures in learning @ cleverbunnies.blogspot.com
-Bethany