Being a homemaker is a hard job! Despite the spin the world puts on it, we do not lounge on the couch all day watching TV. We are not lazy burdens who do nothing while our husbands go out and work. Building a family involves both husband and wife working at their different and distinct responsibilities yet unified in purpose – that of forging a strong family unit. Our task as homemakers is to create a refuge from the world, a heaven on earth, where our family feels safe, secure and loved.
Homemaking is often described as an art. And it is.
art–noun
1. the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.
Our homes are of more than ordinary significance. They are of eternal significance and value!
“The most important of the Lord’s work
you and I will ever do will be
within the walls of our own homes”
(Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye in Holy Places, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974, p. 255)
As with any art there are many aspects and areas to think of when creating a home. Yes there is the cleaning, the laundry, the cooking, the budgeting. But there is also the decorating, the music, the spiritual teaching, the nurturing, the doctoring, and so much more.
There is much to do,
much to learn,
much to teach.
It can become overwhelming if we think of everything that needs to be done all at once.
And it can become overwhelming when we think of all the things that must be done more than once, over and over and over again. Just remember:
“There is no career more meaningful, no calling more divine, than being a person who truly makes a home in the sense of creating and maintaining an environment of human warmth, intellectual stimulation, and spiritual strength—someone who sees the wellsprings of personal meaning that lie beyond a first glance at a diaper, a frying pan, and a worn tennis shoe. Motherhood is above all a teaching task.” (Marie K. Hafen, “Celebrating Womanhood,” Ensign, Jun 1992, 50)
As we journey together on this venture of teaching our own children, especially our daughters, the art of making a home, I hope we will each come to learn on a more personal level than we know now what a truly blessed calling it is to be
Starting next week these homemaking posts will begin covering all those different aspects of homemaking and how to teach them to our children.
© 2007-2010 Chocolate on my Cranium, LLC all rights reserved
Beautiful post! I love the quote that says that motherhood is mostly a teaching task. I have not thought of it in that way before but how true.
I am LOVING all of your homemaking posts- please keep ’em coming 🙂
I sometimes cringe inside when people ask me “What is your job?” I hesitate to share with them that I am a Mother. First and formost I am a Homemaker. For me this is a wonderful blessing, but for so many it is looked down on as a cop out or a lazy way out.
I am looking forward to your series. I love everything there is to being a homemaker…sometimes I am not always satisfied with my efforts…but I love it just the same.
I can’t wait to read what comes next!
I struggle with being a home maker sometimes. And I’m still looking for a good balance in my family of boys. I want them to know how to do everything that is home making but I also what them to know that its a roll that will fall to their wife. I want them to know so they can help, but knowing that their most important job will be providing for their family enabling their wives to stay at home.
{Even though I struggle with home making, when asked on applications what my occupation is I put Domestic CEO 🙂 }
Thank You!!
I’m really enjoying this series. It reminds me that my role is not just a chore or a task, but has so much more depth and meaning to it. I forgot for a little bit while figuring out how to juggle only four boys. I’m still juggling things around, but I feel more confident and renewed in my purpose. Thanks!
Looking forward to hearing more,…
Love that more posts are coming! I was actually planning a few on this topic myself…
…but my R.S. magazines which I had so carefully studied and noted, are now locked in my storage unit on the other side of America. Uh-huh…
Guess those lovely posts will have to wait.
Love it! I haven’t gotten to the teaching point but I am working on creating a better environment for our home. I love the feeling I had today as the majority of my house is clean!!!
I love that definition. I’ve never considered myself an artist before…
I’ve always wondered about people resistant to being called a homemaker. Just the thought of what goes into making a home for my family is amazing. I’ve always seen it as a highly individualized art.
I’m a maker of a home … and if we consider that the home’s sacredness is second only to the temple, then my what an beautifully, incredible responsibility we have!
Thank you (several months after you posted this) for the encouragement!