#homemaking tips

We have more downtime than any other time in history, and we fritter it away in our phones. This week I have challenged myself to go without in small ways. My days were spent chopping and stacking firewood, rearranging our existing wood pile, washing my dishes by hand, cooking all of my food completely from scratch, and spending as little time on my phone as possible. Every day I fall into bed, bone weary but satisfied. To know that i have done this work with my own two hands is very satisfying.

I think much of our modern misery comes from having no time to do things with our hands. We feel we have no time to create, and even when we do many of us have no idea where to start. Gardening, baking, sewing, cooking from scratch, all of this can feel incredibly daunting when you have no experience to pull from, many of our parents did not do these things or pass on those skills.

How do we relearn, where do we start?

‘meek’: mild of temper; soft; gentle; not easily provoked or irritated, yielding; humble; submissive to the divine will; not proud or apt to complain of divine dispensations.

What does it mean to actually be these things? Let’s break it down!

Mild of temper: what does it mean to be mild of temper? This means that this person does not throw around their emotional weight so to speak. They are not throwing tantrums or fits to get their way, they aren’t easily troubled by circumstances where things don’t go their way, and value people more than their reactions

Soft: in the context of women, softness can be attributed to femininity and gentleness. She isn’t loud, quarrelsome, or forceful, but rather speaks with a softness or tongue and acts with a softness of heart.

Gentle: gentleness to me is kindness and compassion. Someone who is gentle is kind and considerate. They take care to build up, rather than tear down. Proverbs 14:1 “Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

Not easily provoked or irritated: it is very easy in our modern world to find ourselves lashing out in irritation at the smallest things, the woman who cultivates a meek spirit also has a spirit of patience that is intertwined with her meekness. She is not quick to lash out, but holds her tongue in wisdom and patience. This is especially important for mothers seeking to raise disciples. We cannot react in anger or irritation but first must seek prayer before disciplining. You never want to discipline in anger, this often does not teach any lessons but only instills fear and distrust.

Yielding: a meek woman surrenders her will to her husbands, just as the church does to Christ and the husband does to the church. This does not make her a doormat, on the contrary it elevates her to a position of reverence and respect when she makes the joyful decision to give up authority. We should feel comfortable giving out opinions, and they should be listened to and taken into consideration, but the final decision should be left up to our spouses.

Humble: to be humble is to avoid arrogance, superiority, pride, and haughtiness. She takes her worthiness and her pride in knowing that she is a loved creation of Christ and her identity rests in him.

Submissive to the divine will: she follows the word of the lord, and does not try to stray from the path he has set before her. Rather than trying to go her own way and guide her family away from the lord, she strives to always point her family to the lord.

We put up a tree in our office and it makes if so cozy in there.