The home is a combination of the dwelling place and those who live in it. Such is it's importance and sacredness, that there will be forces applied to break it up. At every turn, it seems that there is mocking and ridicule of the home and what it stands for. Even 20 years ago, the behavior that is widely accepted in homes today, would have been wrong.
Also, allowing a house to deteriorate by not keeping it clean and orderly, was considered the height of impropriety, yet today, there are many who glory in their own sloth and ridicule the hard work that others do that maintains a beautiful house.
Your house can be lovely no matter where you live, if certain key elements are applied: hard work and an eye for loveliness. If you will think about the places you most enjoy visiting, whether it is shops or the homes of friends, you will not notice exactly how it is achieved. The owners have somehow captured the ingredients that it takes to make a home appealing. It is often a combination of homey things that have both useful and sentimental value. It is the way a house smells and the memories or ideas it inspires in your mind. It explains why someone can weep over a house in a small village that they grew up in, while the world looks on and wonders what in the world they can see in that run-down old place. I've seen grandmothers do a better job at making a home with an old place, than new home owners can with a large home filled with up-to-date conveniences and accessories.
The grand finale of cleaning and organizing is the vases of flowers and nice family posessions being put on display. Your home is the gallery of your beliefs and your life. The things in it will set a mood for the members of the family and keep them them reminded of the values in your life.
The only way to really get a homey feeling in the house, is for the homemaker to be dedicated to the home. Being gone all day just doesn't give her the time she needs to look at it, consider it, move things, or make good judgements about what should go or stay. The homemaker needs to have time to clean the house and do it without being rushed. It is during this time that she will discover things about her house that need changing. When she spends a lot of time at home, she can truly put the homey touches into it that make it a joy.
It is worth repeating from the last chapter, that the work of the home is worth your getting up and getting a bath or shower, getting dressed up, fixing your hair and applying some makeup and perfume. Many women used to wear a "house dress" every day, with a necklace, and did their hair up in a fine way. The shoes they wore may have clacked across the wood floors but they walked with dignity and the noise gave them a sound of importance. If we want to restore dignity to the home maker, we have to begin with our appearance. Our attitudes often accompany our mode of dress.
Look at this beautiful painting. You probably cannot understand how such beautiful houses and accompanying flower gardens can have owners that look like something the cat dragged in. If women will dress for their homes/houses and their families, they will find that it affects their attitudes for the better, enabling them to do their best at home. If you were going to work in an important business where customer relations depended upon your smile, your appearance and your attitude, would you not prepare yourself before going there? The home is even more important than anything else out there. Rather than being more casual, our homes deserve more respect and more attention. Not only will dressing with respect create a more professional attitude towards the work of the home, it will bring about dignity to the office of homemaker, wife, and mother.
Painting: Summer Cottage by Rowena, available at www.galleryone.com/andersonr_prints.htm
12 comments:
Thank you, thank you! I want to read this again and again, and in the days to come. Often I hear my father talk about how he doesn't understand how someone can want to stay in the home all the time, and my sister say she's bored at home. I don't belong to any groups, not that there is anything wrong with them, but with the four children, husband, and homemaking, especially cooking, I can't see any time for anything else! I thank God that He has made me female --cooking and making a home beautiful and cozy are my passions.
Here is my usual morning routine:
-Get up, read Bible and check calendar
-Start a load of laundry
-Get dressed (I wear beautiful dresses every day. You can see some pictures of some of them at:
http://myblessedhome.blogspot.com/2006/04/heres-what-my-current-dresses-look.html#article )then I put on deoderant and put my hair in pony tail
-Help kids with room chores, and change my 2yr old
-Set up kids with activites to do at the table while I brush and style my hair, put on a bit of eye shadow, blush, and lipstick, and spray on a bit of light perfume.
-Then I make breakfast...
I get up at around 7am, the kids get up at around 7:30, hubby is up either before me, or at around 8am, and we usually have breakfast by 8:30am, then I see my hubby off to work.
I'll try to remember to make a list of what I do on any given day. Today was unreal: fixed a drain that had been plugged for a long time, cleaned up the utility room, moved the sprinkler on the property, cleaned up a bedroom, washed the dishes, cooked, laundry, ironing, folding, put away, (what a feat: did all those in one day--unusual for me), moved the sprinkler, cleaned the kitchen, moved the sprinkler...can anyone tell I need a sprinkler system...
Dear Mrs. Sherman, your comment about the sprinkler made me laugh! And I needed one today. Thank you for all of the encouraging articles on LAF and on your blog.
Love this! LOVE it!
Dear Lady Lydia,
Thank you so much for your blog. It really helps me to stay on track. I grew up in a home with a mother who was a dear woman, but she worked outside the home and hated cooking and housework. I have a grown daughter who has absolutley no interest in homemaking. If it weren't for you and others on the internet, I would feel so alone.
Karen
Loved this post!
If you ever cared to share, I'd love to hear how a typical day goes for you....and what some of the things are that you do to make every day living special during your typical day.
Blessings,
~Mrs.B
I really enjoyed reading this! It was very inspiring!!! Right now I am discouraged because I am suffering from terrible morning sickness with my fifth pregnancy (all day long!)My home is already deteriorating, and it's even more unpleasant to be ill when one's surroundings are messy! Would you be willing to write an article about keeping a welcoming home while suffering from illness?
Thank You,
Kristie
What an inspiring article this is! Do you have any examples of the every day "house dress" you mention therein? Pretty hairsyles for different lengths of hair? Also, do have a certain routine or housekeeping schedule that you keep or do you decide from one day to the next what to do?
This is exactly what I needed to read today! What a motivation!!! I wish somebody had taught me this earlier in my independence. But now that I know, I am ready to go through my house and get it purdy. Thank you!!!!
Wonderful! I wish I could find your RSS so that I could add you to my feed list. I'd love to read you every time you post.
But I will be back for sure. If you have an RSS, please email me because I'd just really enjoy keeping up with this blog.
tsouza@centurytel.net
I don't think anyone is judging a particular person when they comment that the way of dress these days is depressing to see. It has nothing to do with whether or not they are "nice" people. Many of them have been duped into thinking that what they are wearing, though an eyesore, is fashionable. Trace the look of women's clothing in history, and you'll find that the styles are more and more degrading to women, especially the older women. They just don't seem as dignified as the fashions of the past.
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