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Does Homemaking Really Matter?
I’ve been a homemaker for about 25 years now. It’s always been my heart’s desire, so it’s really a dream come true for me.
Has it been easy? No. Have there been challenges and difficulties along the way? Of course.
There have been times when homemaking was so difficult that I felt like I just couldn’t make it.
These were times when I was suffering with severe morning sickness and taking care of toddlers at the same time.
And the years when I was struggling with Lyme disease and adrenal fatigue. And the times when we were dealing with unemployment.
I have friends who have dealt with marital struggles and other issues while trying to manage a home at the same time.
Homemaking through physical and financial difficulties is hard. I’m not going to pretend like it’s always easy, because it’s not.
But the question is, is it worth it? Does homemaking really matter anyway?
We Must Have a Vision to Keep Going
In order to keep going through the tough times, you must have a vision. You must know why you’re doing something in order to stay faithful during the hard days.
What a grand and auspicious work a woman is called to; how significant and far-reaching is the scope of her vision. When she understands the breadth of her calling, generations will have their faith ignited, and those who seek truth will find it within the walls of her home. ~Sally Clarkson
I find this very motivating. To think that future generations are affected by what I’m doing in my home today helps me to keep an eternal perspective and try to be faithful.
It’s All About Relationships
Many years ago, someone shared with me that the Christian life can be distilled down to two simple truths: love God, and love people.
Everything we do in our day should be aiming toward the fulfillment of those two objectives.
It may seem like something as simple as cooking a meal, cleaning the toilet, or wiping a runny nose has no eternal significance—but if we’re doing everything as if we’re doing it for Jesus, even these small acts of service can have profound meaning.
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. ~Colossians 3:23-24, ESV
When we take the time to make our family’s favorite meal, put away a pile of clean laundry, and make sure there is a sense of peace and order in our home, this is nurturing relationships in our family.
It’s telling the people who live here that they are important and that we love them.
It’s also a way to show love and build relationships with those outside our family, as we extend hospitality to others.
Homemaking is an Expression of Love
Homemaking is an expression of love. ~Kathryn Porter
Ponder that truth for a moment. Can homemaking really be an expression of love? Of course it is! The act of making a home is an act of loving service.
All of those seemingly mundane tasks that go into making a home are profoundly meaningful when done as an act of love for your family.
Home—the Happiest Place on Earth
Your work does matter to those who enjoy its fruits. Note the marketing appeal of advertising that uses the family kitchen and a mother’s loving care and delightful interaction with her children. Household management provides a pattern of rituals for everyday life…It is not hard to enhance the mundane so that the ordinary becomes extraordinary and creativity pays dividends. Home should be the happiest place on earth. ~Dorothy Kelley Patterson
This is the inspiration I need to carry on and finish strong as a wife, mother, and homemaker.
My goal is to show forth the love of Jesus to those who live in our home and to anyone who would enter as a guest.
My desire is that our home would truly be the happiest place on earth! And homemaking plays a huge part in this.
So what really matters? Well, housework, among other things. It is not the only thing that matters, but it does matter. It matters that people have somewhere to come home to and that there be beds and meals and space and order available there.
Whether we do a lot of housework or a little of it, whether we keep house only for ourselves or for other people as well, housework forms part of the basic patterning of our lives, a pattern that we might identify as a kind of ‘litany of everyday life.’ ~Margaret Kim Peterson
So, yes, homemaking matters very much. It matters to those who live in your home, and also to those who visit your home. Even if you’re only keeping house for yourself, it still matters.
Don’t lose sight of the importance of your ministry as a homemaker. Your work matters!
Other Posts in This Series
Thank you for sharing. I love these wonderful quotes for homemaking. I am truly inspired as a stay at home mom with twin boys and a preschooler.
I love homemaking (and homeschooling)! I see the home as the perfect place for training and transferring your personal history to your kids. It’s in the context of a shared life that the moments that matter happen. Can’t substitute anything for just plain old T-I-M-E!
I agree!
I have found your website via Pinterest in a day in which housework and all the family were very heavy to my heart (not to mention the joints). And since I was asking the Lord to help me about this heaviness, I have to suppose that my coming here is not a coincidence. Thank you, Joy, and merry Christmas!
So glad you stopped by, Umberta! I hope you had a lovely Christmas!
Thanks quote from Sally Clarkson is so inspiring! Thank you for sharing, Joy!
Sally never fails to inspire me! Thanks for stopping by, Jamie!
ok, so ive been a banker for the past four years but my family has suffered from my lack of no time and trying to make ends meet, my daughter especially has suffered my absence, with that i have made up my mind to drop it all and be a good wife and loving mother to my children.
your post was really encouraging.
thank you.
I’m so glad it was encouraging!
I see homemaking as 'making your home' safe, secure, warm and healthy. It is a precious gift and honor for you to be able to stay home and make your home a place of peace. We have been married 42 years and I have been a home maker for at least half of those years then I went to work and now I am back into my home. I love it. it is peace.
I agree, it is a precious gift! So thankful for it!
I am not a wife or mother, but as the sister to ten other siblings I understand the value of homemaking. Not only is it important for the family, but in the event of hospitality as well.
Thank you for sharing your heart on this!
~Haley
Thank you, Haley!