Back to Work - My Home

Ladies, today is my day to put order back in my life. This will be a practical post today and I hope it helps you as you fulfill your ministry of "Homemaking". Whether you work outside the home or not, you as a Biblical woman are to be keepers of the home.

After sitting/lying around for days, I am on the upswing. I still get winded and easily fatigued but hey I am breathing and alive so no complaints here. Actually, this is not true. I woke up this morning and looked around and said "Where's the woman in this house?". The house looks fine but the little things like shiny faucets, order in the cupboards, clean hand towels, and filled soap dispensers are clearly neglected. These little details mean something to me and though not recognized by my men, they are used to the benefits of my commitment to order.

I have been asked how I keep order and my house up. The fact that I don't have small children, a job outside of the home, nor physical disabilities, has nothing to do with my capability for order. I was just as organized and orderly with small children, and a full time job. I don't neglect my family for order and I am not obsessed. My desire for order motivated me to find and use any resources I could get ahold of to help me produce order and thereby "peace" in my home. Ladies, I read magazines, books, and watched/listened to any media on the subject of order and homemaking. I chose and utilized what ever was applicable to my home life.

Ladies I will provide some helpful websites below to help you if you want to bring order into your home. I have several notebooks I try to keep up. I am constantly collecting information and using printouts from the web to help me have order. I am currently on a quest to have more order re: paperwork, mail, and bill paying. I need a file cabinet and some office furniture for myself. So I will hit thrift stores soon. Let me share the notebooks and tabs I keep. Maybe they will help you. I started out by plugging in home management and household notebook on Google.

I have a Household Notebook, Finance Notebook, and a Personal Notebook.

Household Notebook Tabs:

• To Do Lists
  
• Calendar/Schedules
  
• Shopping Lists/Gift Lists
  
• Planner/Goals
  
• Phone/Email/Address Book
  
• Spread Sheets (I use for tracking projects/expenses)
  
• Prayer Lists (I have printed lists of what to pray for each of my family members)
  
• House Projects
  
• Family Info (ss#, medical info)
  
• Church Info
  
• Menu Ideas
  
• Receipts/Invoices (for short term reference)
  
• Misc.
  
  

The Finance Notebook houses information collected to help me establish a budget, and keeps forms I use for organizing finances.

Personal Notebooks tabs (I organize articles, printouts, and handouts re: specific subjects)

• Kitchen Helps
  
• Home Organization
  
• Time Management
  
• Holiday/Special Occasions
  
• New Year/New Start
  
• Childcare
  
• Party Ideas
  
• Women Issues
  
• Marriage
  
• Emotions
  
• Lifestyle/Behaviors
  
• Bible Study Helps
  
• Prayer Guides
  
• Music/Hymns
  
• Sermon Notes
  
• Titus 2/Biblical Womanhood
  
• EWomen
  
• Personal Email
  

Here are some websites for referencing:

• printablechecklist.com
  
• digital-women.com
  
• homemakingorganized.com
  
• reallifecoach.com
  
• ineedmoretime.com
  
• organized-mom.com
  
• frugalhomemaker.com
  
• heart4home.com
  
• organizedhome.com
  
• christianhomemaker.com (look up "The clean house list for husbands" this is great start to finding out what is important to him and you. A great way to determine priorities.)
  
• practicalhomemaking.com
  
• getorganizednow.com
  
• mayoclinic.com (great articles on time management/stress)
  
• reviveourhearts.com (an excellent source for women issues/relationships)
  

Well, I better get back to my "home" work. I had Kevin rearrange furniture in the den before he left for Greenville this morning. I am exhausting I know, but he loves me. He was happy to see that I was ready to "home make" again.

I hope this post will help you if you are looking for some order in a specific area in your home. I didn't get order all at once and I still need so much more. Ladies it feels great to open a cupboard or notebook and see the order and it is very satisfying. You are probably thinking the meds I am on are pickling my brain and maybe so. But my heart is my home. It is a safe, comfortable place to land. My home may rock with human emotion and struggle, but hey ladies I HAVE ORDER and I have the Lord. He is my most important source of peace.

PS: Some of my most valueable decorations are my sons' shoes on the floor, milk glasses on the coffee table and crumbs scattered about. You see, my friends, there is a difference between order and cleanliness. I don't my a little untidiness if it means my boys are home and safe.