A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Laundry Room

This weekend is stake conference for our stake. For those of you who don’t know what that is, you can click here for a brief idea.

I have posted before about what our particular Stake President has asked us to do. And I have been trying to do it. I am not perfect, but I am making an effort.

And something odd has been happening.

These things may seem simple to many of you. But I am not a natural homemaker. I would rather be doing something else and usually find something to keep me preoccupied. Not a trait that I am proud of, but it is true. Any one who stops by regularly can testify to our customary mess. I used to have someone come and help me, but we are trying to be more economical and self-sufficient, which means a lot goes undone.

Anyway, I have been waking each morning to ask to know the most important thing to do for the day. Sometimes, I barely am awake and I am probably muttering incoherent sentences more than anything. But something must penetrate the ceiling…

Since I have began doing this I have been making breakfast for my children regularly. Usually I just let them grab a breakfast bar or a bowl of cereal. But, lately? I have been making them breakfast. Even if it is just oatmeal, toast and milk. And even more odd, most of the time, they have all been sitting down together to eat it. They seem to feel more loved because of it.

The next thing that just began happening was me making dinners regularly. As a family, we had gotten into a terrible habit of getting take out more nights than not. Our health was suffering. But when I began doing what our Stake President asked, an idea came to my head of how to work out a menu that works for my family. We have been doing it ever since, and dinners are no longer a chore. AND, again, we are sitting as a family to eat more. I have begun to enjoy the satisfaction of feeding my family’s tummies. There is something about seeing them all around the table, eating food that their daddy provided and I cooked, that makes me smile. It makes me feel content and secure.

The last thing I have noticed is that I don’t loathe housework like I used to. That doesn’t mean at all that I am actually getting it all done. But I don’t hate it. It doesn’t plague me like an unwelcomed ghost. I don’t cringe and feel sick when I look at my endless piles of laundry. And if I don’t get to it, I don’t kick myself. Laundry will pile, dishes will stack, floors will become sticky and I can keep perspective. I am more content getting the kids to do their jobs than just doing it myself so it gets done right. We have begun working as a family on Saturday mornings to do deep cleaning (which doesn’t always work out happily) And my home feels more like my home.

It is as if the Lord just made this burden light.

So, like I said, these may be little small things to many of you. But for me they are major. They mark a change in my attitude. I think that my family really needed me to step up to the plate here and because I am taking it to the Lord, it is getting easier. It’s not perfect, just better. I have a long ways to go. My goal is to have my home ready for company on more days than not. So that when someone comes to the door unannounced, I don’t have to block them from coming inside or apologize for my mess.

So my challenge to you is to give this a shot. See what happens in your life. Maybe it will be simple like mine. Maybe it will be major. But the blessings will definitely be there.