What it means to be a homemaker has been heavy on my mind lately. I've been asking myself what are the things I need to be doing to be a good homemaker? Should my house always be clean? My home-schooled children neat, polite, and brilliant? The laundry always washed, dried, and put away? (Do I need to iron!?!?!) Should all my family's food be made from scratch? Should I learn to sew? Should I find a way to earn a little money? Should I start a garden to grow our fruits and veggies? And the questions go on and on and on basically ending with: Should I become Caroline (aka Ma) Ingals?
If you know me this list probably amuses you. You see my children rarely have clothes on, the laundry doesn't often make it into the dryer before it's been rewashed 2 or 3 or 4 or (don't judge me!) times. The food I'm pretty hit or miss. It's either totally from scratch or totally from a pizza place. I planted 3 plants last spring and kept them alive ALL SUMMER if they come back this year it will be a/an (which is it?) huge accomplishment and I certainly wouldn't recommend eating them. In fact if anyone ate my plants I'd be pretty ticked. As far as earning money as a mom. Yeah, that hasn't really panned out for me. I shudder when I hear Stroller Strides and while I LOVE baking cakes it takes a ton of time and money and I rarely make very much (and never consistently).
Anyway, all that to say that as I've been considering this home-maker thing I've been getting stressed. I feel so utterly (should I get cow?!?!?) "what the French call le ze compitant" Happily, while driving in the car yesterday and listening to christian radio it suddenly occurred to me that what they were singing about, that is what I wanted my home to be! A place with no judgement, love, mercy, grace, where everyone is accepted for who they are not what they've done or may do, etc. etc. I don't want to be just a homemaker. I want to be a Heavenmaker! When people ask my kids what do you think Heaven is like? I want them to answer, "Like home! Only even better!" I realize that it's totally unrealistic to make my home truly heaven like, what with all the big and little sinners running all over the place, but still just because it's impossible doesn't mean I shouldn't strive for a place of peace and acceptance where everyone's focus is Christ and each other and not on themselves.
So from now on I'm not just a home-maker. I'm a Heaven maker. And if everything else falls into place? Great! But if we have to eat pizza every night in our birthday suits (sorry for that painful image) well, so be it!
