What Does a Homemaker Do All Day?

August 28, 2020October 7, 2024 RefreshHer17 Comments

What is your employment?

I’m a homemaker.

Oh.

Enter blank stare.

I have had that awkward conversation in the past.
I think it could be easy for women who work outside the home to wonder…

Is there really enough to keep a woman busy homemaking all day long?

It could be easy to assume that a homemaker has lots of down time, time to just sit and do anything she wants! But just as with any assumption, those statements are far from the truth. May I take you through one of my weeks and give you a little glimpse at the busyness and the joy of being a homemaker?

My children are gone from home, but I’m still their mom, and that means I have the blessing of participating in celebrating their birthdays and our family holidays. So that involves cooking, decorating the table, purchasing gifts and being the hostess.

On Saturday and Sunday I was busy with attending Bible study, doing laundry, preparing Sunday’s clothes and dinner, fellowship with friends, and worship on Sunday morning. Then on Sunday evening we traveled to Kentucky to visit my parents and also get to see my aunt and uncle from Florida. I helped my mom prepare the meal for our family, which was a blessing.

When I got home on Tuesday, I had a half bushel of South Carolina peaches waiting for me. I really enjoy canning, and I really love the reward of opening my pantry and seeing these jars on the shelves! It’s a labor of love that we enjoy all year long!

In case you didn’t know, I’m also a Gigi (ha!!)! Each week I have the boys over for Bible Club. This week it was really hot, so they came over to use the pool that we had prayed for when every store was sold out! They had so much fun and so did I! I got to remind them that we had asked God to provide a pool and He did it!! It’s my greatest joy to point their little hearts to the Lord!

Daily it is my joy to prepare meals for me and my husband. I try really hard to provide food that is healthy and delicious. It takes time and effort, but it’s worth it! We love being outside during the warm days, so this lunch was served Al fresco, as are most all of them during the summer months!

Not pictured is the house work- mopping, wiping, dusting, polishing, ironing, sweeping, gardening, straightening, fluffing, decorating, and folding that happens weekly.

Of course I also have a personal life and a ministry life. As a wife, I try to serve my husband (though I feel like he does a whole lot more serving me than I do him! I take time each morning to study God’s Word, to journal and pray. In an effort to stay active, I walk two miles at least three times a week.

I take time sometime during the days to prepare and study for my radio ministry, my blog and any speaking engagements that are coming up. So I do spend a good bit of time at my computer.

It feels like the days are very full, but honestly, so is my heart. My husband worked three jobs early in our ministry life to provide so I could stay home and be the homemaker. He has sacrificed, because he has seen the benefit of my presence in the home. I am so very thankful!

There were times that I have been embarrassed about telling someone what my “employment” was, but I’ve learned over the years that being a homemaker is a high calling. I couldn’t be more fulfilled doing anything else!

What do I do?

I get to be a homemaker!!!!

Do you wish you were a homemaker but have to work out of necessity? Pray. Ask the Lord if He would give you the desire of your heart. Wait and watch what He will do! In the meantime, do what He has called yo to do with a thankful, contented heart.

Are you a homemaker? What do you love most about it? What do you dislike?

Here are some other encouragements about homemaking!

Easy Does It!

August 14, 2020August 14, 2020 RefreshHer13 Comments

Sometimes it’s the simplest changes or additions that bring the greatest blessings! I’m starting a new series, Easy Does it, that I’ll feature every now and then of easy things that have made life better or a little easier in my home.

Let’s get started!

After being gifted a bushel of cucumbers, I decided to try my hand at 14-Day Pickles (wish me luck!). I attempted to gather all my ingredients, except I couldn’t find pickling salt on any store shelves! While I was on the search for the missing salt to make my first round of homemade pickles, my husband came across this Mrs. Wages 1 Step Pickling brine. It only takes 5 minutes to cut up the cucumbers and slide them into a clean jar! You let them set overnight and they’re ready to eat!

The result? They are delicious! The package costs a couple of dollars and makes one quart jar of pickles. They offer several different kinds of pickles and also salsa! If you’re not into canning but enjoy a good pickle, you need to try these! No canning is necessary. They’ll keep in your fridge a week. They do all the work and you get to take the credit! Five minutes work and eight hours to wait is it. That’s lots easier than my 14-day recipe!!

Mrs. Wages Pickling Brine makes making homemade pickles 5-Minutes of easy prep!

I’m laughing at my caption…it sounds like a commercial! But hey, they really are good!

2. It’s amazing to me how long I’ve had some of the items I use daily. Age does that, I hear! I’ve had a basket that I have used on my patio for probably more than 30 years. It’s super sturdy and is great as a tray for outside entertaining I usually set it in the middle of the patio table and keep a centerpiece on it, but I also use it to serve beverages and desserts. Recently I looked at it and realized that it had seen better days. I couldn’t get rid of it because the bones of the basket are still in great shape! So, I went to the utility shed and found a can of black spray paint…just the thing to give it new life! A few coats of paint and a couple hours later and it looked brand new!

That was easy!

3. Our outside back door rug also got my recent attention one day this week. Its cute little bicycle print had worn off of the surface, leaving just the bristles and dirt. Not long after, I was in Hobby Lobby and found their Spring decor marked down 75% off! They had all kinds of outdoor rugs to choose from! The one I found was only $5! It’s bright colors are perfect for the back porch and the design is still in season! It brightened up the doorway so much! That’s was a simple back porch improvement!

4. One morning this week when getting coffee cream out of the fridge, I noticed an area on a shelf that needed to be wiped off. An hour later the entire fridge had been completely emptied, shelves taken out, washed and returned to their places. Been there?
When I returned the vegetables and fruits to their drawers, I thought how much better it would be to put something instead of paper towel there to catch the drips from berries and veggies. I had already placed two vinyl place mats on the bottom shelves and decided that would do the trick in the drawers, too! During my next trip to The Dollar Tree, I purchased two more vinyl place mats, cut them to the size of the drawer and placed them at the bottom where the drips will be easily wiped off simply by removing the place mat. The perk is that they’re colorful and pretty! That will be easier to keep clean!

These were four little ideas/changes that were so easy and made me smile this week! Is there one that inspired you?

Refresh yourself by being part of a solid Bible preaching church this weekned!

Cleaning · Home making · refreshment at home

Four Areas Of My House I Clean, Tidy or Straighten Every Day

May 8, 2020May 7, 2020 RefreshHer4 Comments

This spring I’ve enjoyed having the opportunity to do some deep cleaning. That means that I got out the hand-held vacuum and cleaned behind furniture, I dusted the walls, I straightened out closets. All that feels good, but it’s important to me to be able to walk into any room in my home on any given day and see that it looks presentable. To accomplish that I take care of four major cleaning spots every single day, and they take very little time!

The Bed. I make the bed every day within 15 minutes after I get up. It’s the major portion of the room, so it makes sense that if it’s all tidied, the room feels cleaner, even if there’s dust on the dresser!
The Bathrooms. After we’re done showering and such in the morning, I clean the sinks, the tub, shower and toilet. I change out the hand towels and clean off the mirror. In literally ten minutes our bathroom is done. (I do give it a deeper clean regularly, but this is the daily routine.)
The laundry and laundry room. I do a load of laundry every day except Sunday. That way I can do one load, and it’s done first thing in the morning. The baskets don’t pile up and it doesn’t take long to do one load! I also clean the laundry room because that’s where my kitty’s litter box and food dishes are. It’s also done first thing in the morning.
The kitchen. After every meal I wipe down the counters, the stove and the appliances. A quick going over whenever it’s used keeps the clean up an easy job! The dishes are always either loaded into the dishwasher or are hand washed.

By doing these four areas, I always feel like the majority of the house is in order and clean. Once a routine is established, you never really feel like you’re working, but are just doing the daily schedule. I listen to podcasts or my Bible app while I do each task and it makes it go even faster!

What areas of your home do you feel daily need attention to make your home inviting?

Refresh your home by creating quick, tidying tactics!

denise a

Home decor · Home making

Kitchen Update and a Homemaking Tip

January 30, 2019January 30, 2019 RefreshHer16 Comments

kitchen reno 2

There’s a project that I’ve wanted to do in my kitchen from the day we moved in. There was no backsplash, and oh, how I knew I needed one! Splatters from the stove, sink and electric skillet were making a non-removable mess. We waited until the resources were available to go ahead, and the time was NOW!

I’m really pleased with the results and think it updated the kitchen and also really gave it a completed look (not that there aren’t other projects on my list!). I’m sharing some before and after photos on my video today.

Also on my video is my way of keeping the stove and oven clean. I admit that I have a bit of a fetish about a clean oven (ask my girls!), but to me it’s not only an important safety factor, but a clean stove top and oven help the kitchen look clean and inviting. I often use high temps when I’m cooking and I don’t want the remaining grease and splatters getting hot. It only takes me a matter of minutes each time I clean it out! My tips are easy to do.

Here’s the video and pics of my kitchen update!

Is there a project you’re wanting to do in your kitchen? It’s worth the wait! Keep dreaming but then also praying for God to provide!

denise a

Dinner · home · Home making · Lightened Up Recipe · Meal planning · refreshment at home · Tablescapes

My Kitchen Table – Settings & Sustenance

April 30, 2018April 30, 2018 RefreshHer5 Comments

We all have to eat. But what we fix and how we serve it can make a huge difference in how much enjoyment we give ourselves and those with whom we share the meal. I can remember growing up that my mom always made the table and the food a special part of each day. I don’t go overboard on a regular day, but I try to make the food and the table inviting. Today’s post is just a little glimpse into how I set the table and what meals we’ve been enjoying recently.

Al Fresco Dining – Once the weather turns warm, we eat outside as often as possible! One morning recently I took breakfast outside to the front porch where the sun was shining and ate sitting in a rocking chair. That’s even better than Cracker Barrel! Continue reading “My Kitchen Table – Settings & Sustenance” →