The baths have all been taken, a cup of milk all drank and now the children, all nestled in bed, listen to their mothers calming voice. A bedtime story calms them down and makes their eyes heavy and soon they begin to dream.
One young child fights off sleep and climbs into the storytellers lap. He wiggles and he squirms long after the story has ended. The young mother rocks the infant until the child’s eyes close and she lets out a sigh of relief, as if she felt he would never get settled to sleep.
She lays him in his bed and tucks him in tight and then leaves the room after turning out the night light.
The house is quiet now, almost an eerie feeling. As she walks through the hallway and steps into her kitchen, she sees the piles of dishes. Another sigh escapes her lips but she does not complain. She rolls up her sleeves to do her task all over again.
How mundane her life, she thinks. However, she knows her tasks do not go unnoticed by her heavenly Father. He sees and knows her heart. This makes her smile as she rinses the suds away.
“She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.”
Proverbs 31:27
She whispers this verse under her breath and knows she’s doing exactly right. No matter how ordinary her life may seem, she knows she’s been ordained by God, to be the keeper of this house, mother of her children, wife to her husband, and most of all a servant to the heavenly King.
How extraordinary the life of a homemaker is, if only one looks at it from the right point of view.
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The evenings are usually a time when all the days work either comes to an end or sometimes feel like it just begins.
Staying on top of your chores throughout the day really is a time saver at the end of the day.
If you overlooked all the “little things” throughout your morning and afternoon, then by evening time you will soon realize that all those “little things” grew into big things.
So here are a few tips to help you throughout your days, to keep your house under control and to make your evenings much more relaxed.
1. When cooking, clean as you go.
This is such a huge, yet simple, tip. If you are baking cookies and you have emptied the bowl of cookie dough, simply rinse it out and wipe it clean. Just think how much time that saved you. Compared to setting it in the sink until you “got around” to washing dishes, by that point the raw dough would be infused to the sides of the bowl, making it a much more tedious and time consuming task.
The same principle applies at meal time. Once your food is cooking, clean your dishes. This is so simple, yet so revolutionary!
2. Throw dirty clothing into the washing machine, not the hamper.
This works best for those of you who’s laundry room is centrally located. So for those who have the washer and dryer in the garage, this is probably not the best strategy.
But for those who have their washer close at hand, this is a great strategy. You’ve got to toss those soiled clothes somewhere so why not go ahead and put it in the washer. This saves time in the long run because you’re skipping the step of carrying the hamper to the machine and emptying its contents.
For those of you who like to seperate the lights from the darks, simply decide what you want to wash the next time you do laundry and throw one into the hamper and the other into the machine. Once it’s full, simply add the detergent and wash it. And that’s that.
3. Make a habit to wipe everything down after meal time.
It’s amazing and pretty gross how much greese, food particles and unknown substances build up on our tables, counters, ovens, kitchen walls and window sills. Think how much hard scrubbing you could avoid, just by simply wiping things down atleast once a day after supper.
4. Every morning after brushing your teeth, straighten up and wipe down the counter.
You can save yourself from an overhwleming, nasty mess on your bathroom counter if you make this tip your daily routine.
5. Since you’re already in the powder room, the commode could use a wipe down as well.
Cleaning the toilet should be atleast a once a week chore, but if you’re like most of us, that is the most neglected, uncleaned thing in your entire home. If you make a habit of wiping it clean once a week (pick a day, like Saturday) after brushing your teeth and straightening up the counter. Then you are set to have a clean powder room.
6. It’s ok to make life a little easier on you and use paper plates sometimes.
This isn’t so much a tip as it is a permission statement. Sometimes we think we have to be “so-so” and do everything so perfectly that we can overwhelm ourselves. We don’t have to use our good plates all the time. We don’t have to be fancy. We don’t have to use silverware or glasses all the time. Just enjoying a meal with your family is what is important.
So, although using paper plates are a little pricey, it can save you so much time cleaning dishes and give you more time enjoying your family. ❤
I so hope you enjoyed todays encouragement and tips. If you have some tips of your own, please comment down below, I would LOVE to read them. Make sure to subscribe by providing your email (I never spam) and follow me on facebook and instagram!
Home Sweet Cottage 