Above: New Country Roses from Royal Albert, also available at Lovely Whatevers.
Hello, Dear Ladies. Today I would like to invite you for a little lesson with points on ways to be happy at home. So, get out your finest cup and plate and pour your favorite flavor of tea. I find a nice cup helps improve the mood and encourages a sense of optimism and contentment. Do not hesitate to find a set with a design and color that makes you smile.
Above: Magnolia Hall Catalog
Then, please come and sit a spell in my living room and share some pleasantries.
Here are some ways to create motivation and happiness at home:
1. Avoid envy of other people's homes, their salaries, their careers, their talents, their education and their good successes in life. Remember that the success of other people means they will be less likely to become a burden on others and be more able to help others. Forget about what anyone else is doing. For now, focus on improving yourself and your home.
2. Appreciate all that you have. Make a list of your possessions, noting who gave them to you or how and why you acquired them, and you will be overwhelmed with how much you have that enhances your home life.
3. When worried about something, clean out a drawer or a shelf, sort a box of things, and make a giveaway box. If every time you have bad news you use it as a signal to do something positive in your home, you will see improvements all around you and it will lift your soul immensely.
Above: Lady Carlyle from Royal Albert
4. Do something pretty for yourself every day, whether it be improving your appearance or having a quiet time in your favorite chair with a nice book. Remember that every day is a precious gift. Once over, it cannot be relived, so make the best of it as far as it is within your own power.
5. Do something elegant for your home every day: a flower arrangement from real or silk flowers, a new cloth for a table, a fragrant meal in the slow-cooker, a pretty pillow for your bed, or a seasonal wreath on the door.
Above: Polka Blue from Royal Albert
6. Divorce yourself from the "petty gossip of the county" (a quote from Elizabeth Gaskells book, Wives and Daughters.") to accomplish this, become absorbed in your home life and find ways to acquire new knowledge of skills that will enhance your life at home. Refuse to live the old life but walk in the new, as the Bible teaches.
7. Homemakers should exude love and hospitality to their families. Grudges and tale-bearing and any kind of resentment can crowd out the Holy Spirit and can harm your digestion, your sleep, your blood pressure and give you ill health. Opt for good health by keeping a song in your heart and gratitude in your mind. If tempted to hate someone, think instead of all the good things they have done that have benefited you and others.
8. To use another quote from Wives and Daughters: "Moderate your tone, dear!" Snippy, sharp replies are not becoming to a lady and do not exemplifiy understanding, maturity or patience. Too much of this kind of tension can result in sleeplessness and breathlessness. Take good care of yourself by moderating your responses.
I notice how other homemakers blogs achieve some of these things by sharing pictures of what they are doing, and writing of the way they have overcome obstacles to their goals. If you do not blog, try a journal in which you record one positive thing each day, along with a bright illustration using a clipping or scrapbook art, sticker, etc. Let these things dominate your life instead of suspicion and criticism.
Finally, Colossians 3:16 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."
It is time for me to get busy and do my daily work here at "The Manse". I hope you will participate in this chat when you have a moment, and share your thoughts and ideas.
Lately I have noticed from my stats some guests are enjoying this old post on the subject of frugality.
I guess instead of calling it "an old post" should refer to it as a historical piece, which sounds a lot more eloquent.
Also I am delighted to see more visitors from Oregon than usual this month, including Portland, Salem, Eugene, Monroe, Corvallis, Molalla, Halsey, Veneta, Lebanon, Hood River, The Dalles, Dallas, Tualatin, Roseburg, Prineville and Bend! I certainly appreciate your readership and hope that the things on this blog bless you and make your day worthwhile! And I hope that many of you are me embers of the Lord's kingdom. Please leave a comment or email me! If you are visiting for the first time, please remember to view the reader comments by clicking on the post title. Thanks to all of you who leave such nice remarks.
12 comments:
Thank you so much for this. It is just what I needed to be reminded of. On occasion when I do crowd out the Holy Spirit, I can be quite the sharp tongued woman. Walking in the Spirit and not the flesh is paramount to being a gentle and quiet woman:)
Thank you
Becky
This is a lovely post!Thank you for breaking down each section; great point about dwelling on the good in our journal writing. I am enjoying the frugality series and attempting to wrought it into my character as you might put it.
tine has left a new comment on your post "Today's Invitation":
Dear Lydia,
This is a wonderful post and perhaps one of my favourites! I shall refer to it often, especially when I begin feeling unsettled and think that my home somehow isn't nice enough, or I should have a new (insert item here!)
Such wise words to live by in an age such as this. You have excelled yourself yet again, and thank you for being a blessing in our lives.
Christine xx
Point 3 is a lovely idea, to be taken to heart.
Another beautiful post! For me, I would include not being envious of other's health since this is something I struggle with. "Snippy, sharp replies are not becoming to a lady and do not exemplify understanding, maturity or patience." My husband helps hold me accountable to get rid of this behavior, especially since it was mostly him who I was responding this way. It sure is ugly.
This might be another one for me to print!! Excellent words of encouragement. Even if things are repeated it is still encouraging and I never run out of the need for encouragement. Does anyone?
Great post! Will probably become a "historical piece" in the future.
Each mark has it's own important message. Lovely, jut lovely!
Now, I'm off to read your other historical piece that you mentioned.
Blessings!
Thank you for your lovely post.
This is just lovely to read, Lady Lydia, as encouragement to be content with, in, and at our homes is at such odds with mainstream society. I get called anti-social and a hermit because I'm not gadding about everywhere outside my home. I go to church, run my errands, visit with my female friends after church or occasionally (every few months or so) in person, and keep an eye on those in need that the good LORD puts in front of me. There is no need of 'Mom's Night Out,' meeting a friend during family hours, or other such distractions for me. It is so very difficult when everyone wants you to behave as they do.
Thank you for these points; I'll be saving this post for reference as there are still far too many of my own character defects I still struggle to subdue.
May God's peace be with you,
Shani
Dear Lady Lydia, how I have missed these little snippets of inspiration while I have no internet at home. In two weeks we will be moving either to a place closer to my husband's work or...my son our animals and myself will be moving back to the mountains while my husband stay here and keeps looking for a new home. If back to the mountains, I will definitely need your gracious comments to remind me that even though I wear boots and jeans, I can still be a feminine and gracious woman. Thank you so much.
I too have a tendency to get "snippy", mostly when I am not feeling well or have not had enough sleep. It definitely is an ugly thing. When I find myself getting that way I try to get a nap in or I hide myself in a corner with a good book for awhile and don't say anything to anybody. I try to give myself a personal "time out". A walk on a sunny day will sometimes solve it also.
I like the idea of pasting pictures in a journal. I have never been successful at journaling because I just forget to do it. I think a gratitude journal would be nice to look back on in years to come. I might give it another try.
I like the historic articles on frugality because during this Holiday time there is pressure to spend coming from everywhere. Most of us don't have the luxury to spend that way and the advice on this blog is helpful in that area.
Thank-you Lady Lydia,
I enjoyed this post so much. I want to print it and refer to it often.
Linda
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