Friday, March 23, 2007

My First Blog!

Remember that feeling when you were a child, and you were bursting from the inside out wanting to tell your mom or dad the present you got for them? It was all you could do to be quiet about it. Well for quite some time I have felt that way about what God has been teaching me about marriage, motherhood and homemaking. God's Word says repeatedly to ask Him and He has led me to principles from His Word that are priceless and have helped me in so many ways! I have so much information stored in my mind and heart, that it is literally hurting to keep it to myself anymore! At this point, the information in my mind feels disorganized and I thought by organizing my thoughts this way, I can also offer some hope and encouragement for the burned out homemaker.

I haven't nor will I ever arrive and get it all perfect, and that is where I need God's grace. For some of us it is easier to accept God's forgiveness than our own. But when it comes to homemaking, we must extend that same grace to ourselves. To clarify, when I talk about homemaking, I mean nurturing your relationships with your husband, children and others so they can feel the love of God. I believe this comes through making your home and your life warm and welcoming. But BEWARE: charm is deceptive (Prov. 31), and having a charming home doesn't mean that your life is happy and fulfilled. A good place to start is by prioritizing. The Bible commands us to make loving the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul and mind as our first priority. There you go - #1 on your to-do list :)

As a brief description of what my blog will be, I plan to give links to or even do my own Bible studies to help in your daily devotions. Check out oneplace.com where you can listen to wonderful godly teachings! I also plan to write articles about all aspects of homemaking - family activities, cleaning, organizing, cooking, gardening, etc. As I said, I have not arrived, so I will not only write about things I've learned that work for me, but I will write about things as I learn them! Unless it comes right out of Scripture, nothing I write about is the sole way. I also plan on having others contribute - so please post your helpful tips! The fact is, there is nothing new under the sun, so nothing I write about will be original, but hopefully things I write about will be encouraging to you, and who knows - although it might not be new to some, it might be new to you and just what you need to make something in your home run better!

Blessings!

Jen

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Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest,
For those that wander they know not where
Are full of trouble and full of care;
To stay at home is best.

Weary and homesick and distressed,
They wander east, they wander west,
And are baffled and beaten and blown about
By the winds of the wilderness of doubt;
To stay at home is best.

Then stay at home, my heart, and rest;
The bird is safest in its nest;
O'er all that flutter their wings and fly
A hawk is hovering in the sky;
To stay at home is best.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow