Minding the Manse

(my own photo)

I want to tell you the little canvas painting came from Dollar Tree for only $1.  I was looking for larger canvases to paint on and discovered these.

It has been awhile since I have posted and someone phoned to urge me on. When I protested that I did not have the time or the inspiration at the moment, she said, "Just post a picture, and say something; anything."  And so here it is.

Today I am busy minding the manse, which is a phrase I have created out of the fact that the preacher's home used to be called the manse.  I like to think that "manse" is short for "mansion." I have a long way to go in getting it to the mansion state, but am taking a break here just for those of you who might be struggling in the same area.

I need to state at the onset, that we as ladies of the home do not spend enough time praying for the success of our housekeeping, homemaking, and our roles as homemakers. In the big world of trouble and sorrow, God still cares about your concern to be orderly in the home.. Don't neglect to pray all the way and commit your work to the Lord.

While I am here, I will tell you something I have been considering:

The concept of living several roles at home.

I will address two of them:

The lady of the house, similar to royalty
The house keeper.

To the Maid:  Keep the house clean and orderly for the Lady of the house.
To the Lady: Provide tasks for the Maid.

Just think of yourself as the lady of the house who is going to be arriving soon after being away.

Then think of yourself as the maid who comes along and gets it all ready.

If you get up in the night and need to use the bathroom, or the kitchen, you are the lady of the house and you certainly don't expect to have to move the  many particles of flotsam and jetsam aside just to find the kettle or the glassware, and you need to have a pristine and fresh looking bathroom. You need to be able find your clothes in the morning and not have to rifle through piles of things to locate the hairbrush or your shoes.

Therefore, one of your roles has to be the maid. And, to be the maid, you have to set your mind on creating a orderly place for the lady of the house, not just to make life better for her, but to be able to have a clear conscience about your work.

 So while you are cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, you need to think of how pleased the lady of the house will be when she comes in to those rooms.

Fox and Jacobs Homes

Those two roles work together to make things pleasant.  Think also of what you deserve. You as a human being deserve to live in a clean home, and have things in order. You are not a pig in a sty or an animal in a stall to scrounge  around the floor for food.

You are created to be far above that because you are a human being with a soul, who deserves to have some dignity, some comfort, and the type of home environment that makes you want to stand up straighter and hold your head up and be proud of the Great King, the Savior we serve.  Remember, He said "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, as unto the Lord, and not unto men, for you serve the Lord!" (Ecclesiastes 9:10)

Therefore, as the housekeeper, you have to get that house ready for the royal lady who resides there.

So now it is evening, and the Lady has to sit at her royal desk (graciously cleaned and organized by the lady-in-waiting or the maid), and make a list of tasks for the household servant for the next day. She divides this list into morning, afternoon and evening.  When the maid (you) wake up, you will be living both roles: the maid, who goes to a clean bathroom to get ready for the day of responsibilities, and the Lady, who is going to manage the work.

You will be very happy that your maid, which is your other role, was thoughtful enough to leave the house in order for you, the Lady. You will wake up in the morning to thoughtful order and cleanliness.  You will think the maid you hired is awfully good and you will want to reward her in some way--maybe a special shopping trip, a tea party, ordering something from a catalog or online, or making a special thing for her to use.

In your maid role, when you hear the sound of the Lady arriving, you will quickly survey the entry area and the scene she will see before her when she enters the door.

As the maid, you will get your work finished before 4 o'clock and sleep well knowing you did not leave the work for the next day. You will instruct the rest of the household to clean up after themselves so that the maid and the lady of the house will not have to look at something unpleasant.

If you want to be smiling when you get up, have everything lovely and in order. Your maid role and your Lady role have to work together.

I'm not trying to make you feel fragmented, but feel like the two roles meld together in perfect harmony. Every time you pick up, prepare, clean up, etc., you are making things better for yourself, and you deserve better.  There is no reason a woman should have to live in chaos in her own home. It muddles the thinking and it makes her feel she is losing her mind. So if you want your Ladyship to be a dignified person with clear speech and logical thoughts, keep the house nice for her.

This duo-role job will remind you every time you put off something like wiping the sinks or cleaning the floor, picking up clutter and putting it away, that if you don't do it, you are going to punish yourself later with having to do it under stress or tiredness.

I was never one to promote self-respect, until I learned that you should "love your neighbor as yourself."  If you haven't got any respect for yourself, and you don't think you deserve better, you certainly wont be treating other, including the family, as well as you could.

What do you do as a maid?
What do you do as the Lady?

Remember, the more thoughtful and diligent the maid is, the more leisure time and creative time there will be for the Lady.

The tasks the Lady of the manor has given me today is to clean up the dining room and get all the bedrooms back in order and read one of the books and a post I promised to review. I'm glad she took the time to put it on paper.

The way I perform both roles is when I am working, I have an apron. When I am receiving guests or going somewhere I try to remember to remove it.

Ladies I am still studying the possibility of making podcasts but it will take some time to figure it all out. If I do get it going, I will read some of these posts so you can have something to listen to while you are cleaning or sorting or some kind of monotonous task.

Things for the maid to do:  follow a list and get your tasks done so that you will be happy in your job.
Things for the lady to do: Make a list of things that must be done in order to to be happy being in the house.

I do not want to draw too fine a line between the maid's responsibility and the Lady's tasks. It is advisable that the lady be thoughful of the maid and make her tasks lighter by ckeaning up after herself, putting things away and being automatically tidy. Leaving everything for a cleaning day puts strain on everyone. The clean-as-you-go principle reduces stress and balances the mind.