On Homemaking Beauty

A dear friend recently shared this with me, and I enjoyed it so much I wanted to share it with all the other homemakers out there who find joy in making masterpieces.  

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{Written for a friend who shared how her newly-cleaned bathroom was glisteningly inspirational and motivated her to do more housework.}

Friend,

Your Bathroom Blessing is inspiring . . . 

Beauty is always inspirational, whether it is expressed as a tidy, clean bathroom; a calm, orderly, inviting bedroom; an organized, welcoming, functional kitchen;  a Renoir painting;  the Nutcracker ballet;  a symphony;  or a child's first-grade art project.

I think that sometimes as homemakers, we're so "task-oriented" on our 1,587 things that Need To Be Done Yesterday or Today that we neglect the fact that when we clean and de-clutter and tidy and organize, we're creating areas of beauty.

We aren't just maids cleaning and scrubbing and organizing endlessly.

We're artists, like a carver of marble who chips away at the unessential and ugly to reveal the elegance and strength of the final art hidden within the marble . . .

When we do homemaking duties, we're chipping away at the nonessentials and ugliness of laziness, disorganization, procrastination, whining, past failures, depression, despondency, hopelessness, clutter, neglect, oversight, forgetfulness, bad habits ~~ to reveal the exquisiteness of carved marble in our homes ~ the deliberately carved exquisiteness of being able to find things when they're needed, of functioning in peace, of enjoying the beautiful assortment and abundance of things with which God has blessed us, being able to use our talents to bless others (cooking in a tidy and clean kitchen is blessing others), enabling and empowering others to be their best, and discovering and developing those virtues of discipline, self-control, honor, action, achievement, and consistency.

Let us then continue with our cleaning, scrubbing, organizing, cooking and those endless myriad of tasks that homemakers must manage daily . . . and in so doing, let us create beauty so we can experience beauty daily, in our homes, and ultimately, in our hearts.

You are beautiful, and what you do is beautiful and inspiring.

Blessings,

Karen Thomas

(C) 2011. Karen Thomas.  All Rights Reserved.

Magic of Thinking Simply

As I contemplate what to say this week, my thoughts are filled with ideas about making life easier.  Not more efficient, but simplier. 

• Don't make it too complicated. 
• Take it easy. 
• Less is more. 
• Remove what you don't want to make room for what you do. 

The list could go on of sayings and ideas about making our lives more enjoyable, simple.  After all who really loves the complicated mess that can become our days? the chaos and hetic pace we tend to think is normal?  Some have convinced themselves this busyness is a must to enjoy life, to be sucessful in whatever undertaking they find themselves doing, to get the most of life. 

Is all really necessary?  I hold that it is not.  Life is best enjoyed simply.  Take a moment, or better yet, a day. 

• Breathe deeply. 
• Take a walk. 
• Slow your pace a bit. 
• Enjoy the moments as they come.

Find that things more complicated, busy, full are not always better. 
Plan, prepare, live - but leave some margin for just being.

Resolving to Bless

With a new year, thoughts frequently turn to improving oneself or the way one lives life.  I propose in the midst of seeking to better ourselves, we also seek to better the life of someone around us.  What if I sought to help those around me?  Not focus so much on myself or my life, but on the lives of those around me?  Would life not be richer, more satisfying, if I gave of myself to others?  For as I give away, I am blessed in return.