Giving Your Home a Spiritual/Biblical Cleaning

Ideally I like to do a Spring and Fall cleaning around my home.  A time to dig deep into the corners and recesses of my home and tidy them up.   It doesn't always happen but that is the goal.  A time twice a year to open up windows, remove and wash the jams and screens.  I empty cupboards of pots and pans, dishes and pantry items and thoroughly scrub out any accumulated grim or crumbs.   In the Fall I usually take this time to freshen my linens by washing extra blankets and bedding so that they are ready to put on beds when the nights turn crisp.
 
As important as it is to be good stewards of our homes and belongings by seeing to their physical upkeep, it is equally important to give diligence to its Spiritual upkeep. 

Many years ago I found a blog post on cleaning house.  I felt it was a very important reminder and so I took the time to write it in the back of my Bible.  Unfortunately I did not make note of the author or blog where I found it and can no longer remember.  If anyone recognizes this please let me know so that I can give proper credit.  
 
Cleaning House

Every few months go through the house and examine it according to these Scriptures:
 

• Psalm 101:3
• 2 Corinthians 7:1
• Proverbs 3:33
• Philippians 4:8
• Deuteronomy 7:26
• 1 John 5:21
• Psalm 101:2
• Psalm 119:37

Clean out those things that are not pleasing to the Lord.  It is very easy for worldly distractions to creep into our home.  Look at:

 
* Books and magazines
* Art, personal pictures
* Videos and DVD's
* Music
* Toys
* Anything immodest or crude in speech, manner or suggestion
* Immodest clothing
* Miscellaneous things that the Lord might reveal to you.

(I would also add that you should examine your online and social media activities.  Are they pleasing to the Lord?)

Replace items with things that would inspire and draw you, your family and others to God.
Strive to make your home a safe place that honors the Lord by carefully discerning and guarding the things you allow into it.

 
** The Right Questions to Ask **

The following questions are ones that I wrote down from a women's Bible study I attended and I think they go beautifully with the context of Biblical Housekeeping.
 
1.  Will this strengthen my faith and help me love Jesus more?
2.  Will this advance me in warfare against sin?
3.  Will it help me be more resolved to pray?
4.  Will it embolden my faith and help me to share the gospel with others?
5.  Does this bring glory to God?

I hope this will be an encouragement to you as you think about doing your Fall cleaning.  God bless you as you work in your homes, may all you do there bring glory to the Lord and your family closer to Him.

First Snow of the Season - traditions

In our family we have a tradition to celebrate the first snowfall of the winter season and yesterday we had the first snow of the season - we bring our red and blue snowman cookie jar out from the cupboard storage and fill it with freshly baked cookies. 

Usually our first batch of cookies are Grandma Sue's soft sugar cookies (recipe to follow), but first a bit about the snow or lack thereof!  I thought we were going to have this big "snow event" and to be sure some areas did get snow.  Many of our friends got over a foot of snow but down here in the south (45 miles) we got just a trace.  Poor Andrew, the only one who was really looking forward to getting snow this early, walked down the stairs this morning with a disgusted look on his face, pointed out the window and said, "This!  This is NOT snow!"  Haha!

Now onto our favorite sugar cookie recipe! 

Soft Sugar Cookies

1 C. butter
1 C. shortening   (I use 2 cups of butter flavored Crisco)
1 C. sugar
1 C. powdered sugar
2 eggs
4 C. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. pure vanilla
1 tsp. cream of tartar

Cream butter, shortening, sugar and eggs.  Add vanilla, baking soda and cream of tartar and mix well.  Add in the flour by cupfulls, mixing well between each one.  Roll into balls and then roll in sugar.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.  You want them to look not quite done but not too soft.  Cool on rack for two minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.  If you want the cookies to stay softer store them in a tupperware or rubber container - they will get a little harder being stored in a cookie jar.

Enjoy!  If you make these for your family, let me know how you like the recipe.

Blessings,
Theresa

Making Your Home a Haven, Week 2 - Music

 

It's week two of the Making Your Home a Haven challenge.  Hosted by Courtney at Women Living Well. 

 

Have you been lighting your candle?  We have - the boys are taking turns each morning lighting the candle and praying for peace in our home before we begin family worship time.  We've read Romans 12:9-21 a few times over the last week. 

 

My Holiday Spice Yankee Candle is just about  burned through and before weeks end I'll need to get another.  ☺  I'm not sure if I'll get the same scent or look for a new one. 

 

 

Over the last few months I've purchased a few new cd's and I've been playing those throughout the day.  In years past (and still) I've enjoyed listening to George Winston but I recently found Paul Cardall and downloaded a selection of his music as well as some Fernado Ortega from Amazon and onto my cloud storage.  I can play it through an app from either my computer or my iPhone which is nice because because its mobile and I can listen to it whenever and wherever I want.  :)

 

 I also have two cd's that I purchased from the Revive Our Hearts ministry with Nancy Leigh DeMoss that I love!  The first is a cd collection of Hymns.  The cd title is Be Still.  The second is Hidden in My Heart:  A Lullaby Journey Through Scripture.   Don't let the lullaby part fool you.  These are beautiful Scriptural truths set to music that are soothing to any age.

 

This summer I watched a talk by Michelle Duggar.  She opened by having everyone sing (a capella) a beautiful hymn titled A Christian Hymn.  I am not sure where this hymn originated but over the summer I've taken it as my own and have sung it to the Lord and a prayer for my family and home.

 

 

A Christian Home

(sung to Be Still My Soul)

 

O give us homes built firm upon the Savior,

Where Christ is head and counselour and guide;

Where every child is taught His love and favor

And give his heart to Christ, the crucified:

How sweet to know that , tho' his footsteps waver,

His faithful Lord is walking by his side!

 

O give us homes with godly fathers, mothers,

Who always place their home and trust in Him;

Whose tender patience turmoil never bothers,

Whose calm and courage trouble cannot dim;

A home where each finds joy in serving others,

And love still shines tho' days be dark and grim.

 

O give us homes where Christ is Lord and Master,

The Bible read, the precious hymns still sung;

Where prayer comes first in peace or in disaster,

And praise is natural speech to every tongue;

Where mountains move before a faith that's vaster,

And Christ sufficient is for old and young.

 

O Lord, our God, our homes are Thine forever!

We trust to Thee their problems, toil and care;

Their bonds of love no enemy can sever

If Thou art always Lord and Master there:

Be Thou the center of our least endeavor

Be Thou our guest, our hearts and homes to share.

 

 

Isn't it lovely?!  May God bless you this week as you work towards building a haven for your family.

 

Making Your Home a Haven - Week 1 was the #1 read post at the So Much at Home Link up!  How fun and welcome to all the new readers who came through the link-up.  I hope you'll stop by again, leave a comment so I can return the visit.  Please click below to visit and read the posts submitted to this week's link-up. 

  

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Marriage Monday, Titus 2sdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Coffee and Conversation, So Much at Home, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Hearts for Home Thursdays, Growing in Grace Link-up,  Front Porch Friday Blog Hop, Simple Meals Friday, Making Your Home a Haven,  Thank you to each of the lovely ladies listed above for hosting.

 

Sweet Potato Salad

Christopher and I made up this Sweet Potato Salad this afternoon.  It is my favorite holiday salad to bring and is a crowd pleaser with everyone; that is unless you tell them before they eat it that it has sweet potatoes.  :o)  

 

Below you see the main ingredients (sweet potato, pineapple, apple and raisins).

 

And mixed with the dressing and a few pecans crumbled on top.

 

 

Sweet Potato Salad

3 cups peeled and shredded sweet potato 

1 cup pineapple tidbits (fresh is best)

1 medium sweet apple, diced

1/4 cup raisins

Pecans (to top the completed salad)

** I don't really measure when making this salad but throw everything in and make it look even.  :o)  Three cups of sweet potatoes is not quite 2 normal sized sweet potatoes so I shred and use all of the sweet potatoe.  I added a bit more pineapple and raisns this time too.

 

Dressing:

1-2 Tbsp. raw unfiltered honey

1-2 Tbsp. lemon juice (I use only 1)

1/2 cup Veganaise

lemon zest

Top salad with chopped pecans.

 

** I had to let my honey soften up before mixing the dressing as it starts to solidify more this time of the year.  Mix the dressing in a separate bowl and when it is throughly mixed pour over salad and stir.  

This salad is great fresh but works well made the night before (I add the raisins and pecans before serving).  

 

I did enjoy a bowl right away.  Mmmm.  :o)

 

Tentative Schedule

This moring I sent off a long e-mail to my best friend.  I needed to talk through my schedule and since she now lives in North Dakota and we can't have coffee and a chat, I did it virtually.  I thought I would share our TENTATIVE schedule here on the blog.  We'll take the first week or two and see how things go and adjust as needed.  I am guessing on times and really just put them there to see how long our day will play out.  Usually we fall into a routine and follow the schedule in order of subject rather than time.
 
8:00 - Family worship (we sing a hymn or two), read from the Bible - usually the Proverb for the day but some months we work through a book in the New Testament and read 1 chapter a day, then we read a chapter from Wisdom and the Millers but we've finished that book and I've got to order the next book. Actually it isn't the next in order but it is about missionaries and I thought it would be a good go along with our My Father's World Exploring Countires and Cultures study for the year. 

  8:30 - Handwriting/Copywork: The kids will finish up the alphabet handwriting practice per the teacher manual and then they work on copying the Bible. I've allotted 15 minutes for this but we only write for 5 minutes. We started copying the Bible a year and a half ago. We started with Ephesians 5 since that is what our church was memorizing together at the time. Then they chose different Psalms to copy. They each have a notebook that they use and I set the timer for 5 minutes and they write until the timer goes off and then finish the sentence they were on. I check their work - because this is handwriting/copywork time they are to do their best handwriting. Sometimes they must erase and write a word or two over. It is a very short lesson and Jon and Chris get a few verses copied. Andrew usually takes a bit longer although he is not required to. He chooses to continue working while I do Spelling with Chris.

8:45 - Spelling: with Chris. Christopher does Spelling Power

9:00 - Spelling: with Andrew - I am going to try Spelling Power with Andrew this year. We tried it last year but he had a hard time with it and I instead chose to teach him spelling with the Charlotte Mason style of teaching.  It seemed to work better for him because he HATES to get a word wrong and would end up in tears over Spelling power. If you want to know more about how I taught him last year, let me know. I would definitely choose that CM style of teaching for the first 3 grades. Christopher will begin working on his geography packet or take the dogs out for a potty break.

9:15 - Geography: I have allotted 45 minutes for this subject because I cannot remember how long it took when we did ECC before. We'll do our scheduled lessons and the boys will work on their geography packets. If there is extra time then I have found a few fun online games for the first couple of weeks that help them to place the states. If I see that we can finish this up in 30 minutes then i'll adjust our schedule as needed.
Jonathan has his own History curriculum that he is working through independently this year.

10:00 - break/snack:

10:15 - Math: Jonathan is trying Teaching Textbooks this year. I am looking forward to seeing how this works for him. Christopher is still using Math U See and Andrew is doing review. I got an ABeka math book that has colorful worksheets and he'll work on completing as many as he can in during math time.  When I am confident he's ready to advance we'll order his next Math U See student text.

10:45 - Reading: Andrew will have reading time with me each day for 15 minutes. I ordered some books about an Amish boy named Benjie from Pathway Publishing. We sit on the couch and he reads aloud to me.

11:00 - Spanish: I opted to try the Pimsleur Spanish program versus Rosetta Stone. We have 1 lesson a week and it is a listening lesson. They teach conversationally and so we listen to the same 30 minute lesson a minimum of 3 times per week but I'm aiming for 4 days a week with Friday's off. Andrew is required to listen but may quietly play or draw.

11:30 - Science: Jonathan is doing Apologia Chemistry, Christopher is doing Physical Science and Andrew is following the science plans in the Teacher Manual - although I MIGHT switch him to Apologia elementary because I LOVE their science so much!

12:00 - English/Literature: Everyone is working from Rod and Staff for grammar- the older boys read the lesson and do the work on their own and I correct it. Jonathan is reading two Shakespeare selections this year and Christopher will be reading one. Andrew and I read his Rod and Staff lesson together and then he does the work while I start lunch.

12:30 - Lunch

1:00 - Book Basket: I tacked book basket on to the end of our day because they can read while I clean up the kitchen and frankly I didn't have any place else to fit it it!

1:15 - Music/Art: I am hoping to do more arts and crafts with Andrew. We really slacked last year in this area and he hated school. He loves to be engaged and busy so I know he will enjoy it. We wont do it everyday but on the days we don't he will then have quiet time in his room for a bit.

Afternoon:

• music- Everyone has piano practice and the older two also have guitar practice. When it isn't their turn for practice on the piano they'll do guitar.
•  Reading: Jonathan and Christopher have time set aside each afternoon to read. We just slowly work through books. Some literature ones that I think they should read and be familiar with, others are Christian books such as Corrie Ten Boom, Elena, Tortured for Christ, Created to Work, etc.
• Electives: The afternoon is also the time for them to work on their elective programs. Christopher is working on advancing in Civil Air Patrol and moving up in rank so he always has leadership reading and training to do in his book and online. Jonathan is doing a drafting course and also working on web design.

We will follow this schedule Monday through Thursday's with Fridays scheduled very lightly.  Usually my husband is home and I want the boys to be free to help their dad with our house construction, to run errands with him or as a family day.   On those weeks when my husband isn't home during our school hours, I have scheduled some different things to do.  We will have Math Game day, Journal Jar writing (they pick a prompt from our Juornal jar and then write), nature study, and maybe a special outing.

This and That

Good Friday morning!  It is a beautiful day here in MN.  The sun is out, the sky is clear and there is a soft breeze.  They say that hot and humid temps are coming for the later part of the weekend and into early next week but I'm not going to think about that.  *smile*

Today I am puttering around my home doing little jobs here and there.  I juiced this morning and then sliced ends and peeled carrots for the rest of the weekend.  It will make the tedious job of juicing go a little faster to already have this prep work done. 

I have two loads of towels to fold, beds to strip, launder and then hang on the clothesline and the living room needs a vacuuming and dusting.  Andrew and I will also be making a Lemon Poke cake that we'll have for dessert after supper tonight.

I also hope to have some quiet time to read this afternoon or maybe take a little nap.  :o)
Scott, Jonathan and Christopher are outside siding the house.  It is looking so nice!  I can't wait to have it fully finished and start landscaping.  That wont be until next year but it will give me something to look forward to through the winter.

Enjoy the weekend!

Confident Husbands

"Few things we can do in this world are so well worth doing as the making of a beautiful and happy home. (S)He who does this builds a sanctuary for God and opens a fountain of blessing for men. Far more than we know, do the strength and beauty of our lives depend upon the home in which we dwell. He who goes forth in the morning from a happy, loving, prayerful home, into the world’s strife, temptation, struggle, and duty, is strong – inspired for noble and victorious living."

 

-J.R. Miller, Secrets of Happy Home Life

 

 

This thought... "He who goes forth in the morning from a happy, loving, prayerful home, into the world’s strife, temptation, struggle, and duty, is strong – inspired for noble and victorious living."  challenges me.  Is my home one that my husband can confidently leave knowing that from within its walls things are well taken care of and that he has the full support and prayers of his wife?

 

 

The Secret of a Happy Home Life

"What are some of the secrets of happy home life? The answer might be given in one word – Christ. Christ at the marriage-altar; Christ on the bridal journey; Christ when the new home is set up; Christ when the baby is born; Christ when a child dies; Christ in the pinching times; Christ in the days of plenty; Christ in the nursery, in the kitchen, in the parlor; Christ in the toil and in the rest; Christ along all the years; Christ when the wedded pair walk toward the sunset gates; Christ in the sad hour when farewells are spoken, and one goes on before and the other stays, bearing the unshared grief. Christ is the secret of happy home life."  J.R. Miller, Secrets of Happy Home Life

Everyday Sacred ~ Home

 

Kitchen at the Old King Street Bakery, Frederick McCubbin

 

"Home is among the holiest of words. A true home is one of the most sacred of places. It is a sanctuary into which men flee from the world’s perils and alarms. It is a resting-place to which at close of day the weary retire to gather new strength for the battle and toils of tomorrow. It is the place where love learns its lessons, where life is schooled into discipline and strength, where character is molded."  J.R. Miller Secrets of a Happy Home Life

 

"A man’s heart plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps."

Proverbs 16:9

 

 

It's been a quiet Saturday at our home. One son is gone for the weekend for a volleyball tournament and lock in with his Civil Air Patrol squadron and the other two spent most of the day outside working in the neighbor's barn.  Since it was so quiet, I spent some time working in my new planner, which I love!

At the beginning of the year I started re-vamping my home management binder but I just wasn't happy with it.  I really wanted to streamline things as much as possible and the binder I was using was too large to be portable, so I started searching for a mid sized planner that could accomodate most of my home management pages as well.   I spent a couple of weeks looking at different planners like Franklin Covey and DayTimer and even some outrageously priced but gorgeous planners from Filofax but they just weren't right.  Then I remembered a gal I met at a homeschool meeting a few years ago that had this beautiful tapestry binder, with beautiful pages that were full of Scripture.  I commented on how pretty the binder was and she shared the name of the company but I could not remember where she had gotten it from.  One morning I spent some time searching online and finally found it!  After taking a few days to look at the products and read through the free e-book Planning to be a Blessing, I ordered my classic floral tapestry binder and Simplicity starter kit (and some other forms) from GraceWorks and seriously 3 days later it arrived!  It was like Christmas!!  Since then I have been customizing, organizing and tweaking the sections whenever I've had some free and quiet moments over the last week.

I don't have time to go into detail about ALL the different sections of my planner tonight, but I will make a note to do so in a future blog post.  For now, enjoy a few pictures and I would be interested to know if you have a planner/daybook and if so, how do you use it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Wordless Wednesday

Thoughtful Thursday

"While it's true that we live in this world, we are not to be of this world.  We are not to live as worldly women live.  We are not to be conformed to the ways of this world.  We are not to focus on what worldly women focus on, or pursue their paths.  As God's women and as women who desire to live godly lives, we are to focus on being "homemakers," "home lovers," and "workers at home."

Elizabeth George ~ A Woman's High Calling

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

~Romans 12:2

"To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."

~Titus 2:5

Wishing you a beautiful Thursday, my friends!

Thoughtful Thursday

 

 

"What you do in your house is worth as much

as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God.

We should accustom ourselves to think of our position

and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God,

not on account of the position and work,

but on account of the word and faith from

which the obedience and the work flow."

~Martin Luther

 

 

"She looketh well to the ways of her household and

eateth not the bread of idleness"

~Proverbs 31:27

Hospitality

Bear Rabbit by:  Virginio Livraghi 

From allposters.com

Do you struggle with hospitality?  I do or I thought I did, but what I really struggle with is pride.  I know a few ladies who are very hospitable and for whom hospitality seems so effortless but in my mind I have seen hospitality as this huge mountain of things that need to be prefect before I could entertain or minister to others in my home.

Things like:

• getting new carpet
• cleaning out the closet in the bathroom (we did get that one done!)
• the outside of the house looks like a forrest!  Maybe if/when we get it weeded 
• I don't know what to feed others
• we have indoor pets and people don't like to have so many animals around
• this or that family eats healthily what on earth would I feed them? 

You get the idea, there is never want for excuse which is why I found this article by Bambi, who blogs at In the Nursery of the Nation  very encouraging.  The article was featured at Vissionary Womanhood and I know you will be blessed by it, as was I.

Enjoy!  Hospitality and Homelife:  A forgotten Conduit for Ministry

Happy Saturday! :-)

Today is a day for catching up at home. I don't have any errands to run that I know of. I tried to make sure that I had everything I needed so that we could stay home today. We were quite busy this week with Scott still home through Wednesday afternoon, Andrew's birthday, piano and guitar lessons, Lego club, school and a shopping trip. My home needs a little tender loving care today and I have some baking that I want to do as well.

With all the busyness of this week it reminded me that I haven't been so diligent with our routine to prepare for the Lord's Day to be a day of worship and rest. Over the summer I came across a series of blog posts on how to prepare for the Lord's Day at the Doorposts blog. Since I needed a little refresher I thought I would share the links here. I have found it to be very helpful (when I follow our routine) and there is much more peace in our home on Sunday mornings.

Preparing for a Day of Rest, pt. 1

Preparing for a Day of Rest, pt. 2

Preparing for a Day of Rest, pt. 3

Preparing for a Day of Rest, pt. 4

Preparing for a Day of Rest, pt. 5


Here are few of the things that we do:

~ Fuel up the van. We drive an hour to church and it seems that we are always a little behind schedule no matter how prepared we are. Having the van ready to go saves us from a 10 minute stop to fuel up and then we also don't deal with the pleas of "buy me something" from our youngest.

~ Having our Bibles all ready to go and in the back hall by the door.

~ Our son has what we call a laptop. It's really just a clear plastic lego bin that opens up. Inside he keeps paper, pens, pencils, his DS and a few games. The hard plastic case provides a hard surface to draw on.

~ What's for lunch... because we drive an hour away and don't get out of service until 1pm we need to have a plan for lunch. We sometimes attend our life group potluck but on often times we need to get home. If I am in a rush and not prepared we stop at McDonald's. My husband does not like us to do this because it already costs us close to $22 dollars to drive to church and then another $20 or more to feed everyone. Every week that money adds up. If we do that every Sunday it is $80 dollars a month!!

~ I have the kids pick out their clothes on Saturday's except for our daughter. She is 17 and is very good about getting all of her things ready.

How does your family prepare for the Lord's Day? I would love to hear from you in the comment section. :-) I know from glancing at the posts above this morning I have some new ideas.

Have a wonderful weekend and Lord's Day. God bless you.