Homemaking is a beautiful way of life. It can be the greatest vocation in the world, preparing and keeping the place of peace and solace where your family members can find refuge in the midst of turmoil and troubles of the world. Your home can be a nest to nurture young ones, a haven for your tired spouse, a lighthouse shining in the darkness for others to see and find a safe harbor.
But not all homemakers see their lives as courageous and daring and epic. Some people, including some homemakers, think homemaking is boring, or even useless. It is my hope that this guide to intentional homemaking helps you to understand the homemaker’s vocation better, and inspires you to pursue this way of life.
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This document is organized into two parts. In the first part, we will discuss the dignity of homemaking as a vocation and a way of life. This section is more theoretical and philosophical, but it is designed to help you come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of homemaking before we move on to more practical considerations.
The second part goes into intentional homemaking on a more practical level. This part describes specific ways you can change your life by adopting the attitudes and values we covered in the first section.
Part I: The Dignity of Homemaking
WHAT IS HOMEMAKING?
In a different time and place, this question would have been unnecessary. But today, in our fast-paced technological societies, global connections, and maxims of “total work”, the art of homemaking has been all but forgotten.
Homemaking is a full-time occupation for many people, or part-time for those who work outside the home, but I prefer to think of it as an art.
Why? When you think of it as a job, then it becomes cooking and cleaning, mending and laundry. But when you think of homemaking as an art, it’s as if a simple line drawing gets filled in with oils and becomes a masterpiece.
Homemaking is the art of creating a home.
The canvas is your dwelling, whether it happens to be a rental, starter home, condo, or your dream house. The focal point is your family: everything in your home should serve them and convey your love for them. The materials you use to create this masterpiece are the skills needed to maintain a house and home.
They will depend somewhat on the size of your family and your living arrangements, but in general, these skills include: cooking, baking, meal planning, cleaning, laundry, sewing, gardening, canning and preserving food, hospitality, and decorating. You may wish to include other skills such as needlework, animal husbandry, candle or soap making, calligraphy or card making, fermentation, and herbalism.
If this list sounds like a lot to you, don’t get discouraged. It’s meant to inspire, not intimidate. When you’re just starting out with homemaking, it’s best to tackle one thing at a time, instead of trying to learn everything at once! One of the beautiful things about being a homemaker is that you create your own schedule, so you can always make time for learning new skills!
These skills are the tools you need to become a home artist. You will be empowered to make your home beautiful and unique, not just a reflection of whatever décor collection is trending at your local department store.
They give you the freedom to be yourself, to delve into family and cultural traditions or come up with new ways of doing things.