There is a way to keep Lent in a kitchen.
There is a way to repent while folding laundry.
There is a way to fast while stirring soup.
There is a way to walk toward the Cross without ever leaving your home.
For years, I subconsciously believed Lent belonged to people with more “obvious” spiritual lives — missionaries, monks, pastors, women leading Bible studies. It felt structured for people whose days contained visible ministry.
But what about the woman whose ministry is largely unseen?
What about the woman whose sanctuary is the laundry room?
Whose liturgy is repetition?
Whose offering is consistency?
Lent matters for her.
Lent matters for the homemaker.
THE HIDDEN YEARS OF CHRIST
Before Christ preached.
Before miracles.
Before crowds.
There were thirty hidden years. Thirty years of ordinary life, of work, of meals, of routine, of obedience that no one applauded.
The hidden life is not second-tier spirituality. It is formation ground.
If most of Jesus’ earthly life was lived quietly, then perhaps our quiet lives are not spiritually inferior — perhaps they are sacred.
This changes everything.
LENT IS NOT PERFORMANCE
Lent is not aesthetic minimalism.
It is not proving devotion.
It is not creating an impressive spiritual routine.
Lent is return.
“Return to me with all your heart.” (Joel 2:12)
For the homemaker, return happens in small decisions:
Choosing patience instead of irritation.
Offering a chore instead of resenting it.
Turning off noise and entering silence.
Cleaning a space as if preparing a temple.
The home becomes the wilderness.
The kitchen sink becomes the altar.
The repetition becomes prayer.
GOD WALKS AMONG THE POTS AND PANS
“God walks among the pots and pans.”
- TERESA OF AVILA
This quote has always steadied me. It means nothing in our homes is spiritually neutral. The folding of towels, the wiping of counters, the sweeping of floors. These are not distractions from spiritual life. They are the place where it unfolds.
Lent does not require abandoning our vocation , it invites us to inhabit it more deeply.
THE DESERT IN THE DOMESTIC
When we think of Lent, we imagine desert landscapes. But the homemaker’s desert is quieter.
It is the monotony that tempts resentment.
It is the fatigue that tempts self-pity.
It is the invisibility that tempts comparison.
The desert is not the absence of noise — it is the confrontation of the heart. And in the home, our hearts are exposed daily.
How we respond to interruptions.
How we speak when we are tired.
How we carry unseen sacrifice.
Lent simply shines a light on what was already there.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF FASTING
Perhaps your fast this year is not dramatic, perhaps it is;
Fasting from complaint.
Fasting from rushing.
Fasting from proving.
Fasting from internal comparison.
Perhaps your feast is:
Silence before sunrise.
Lighting a candle on Sunday evenings.
Reading Scripture at the kitchen table.
Offering each task with the words, “For You, Lord.”
Small things.
Hidden things.
Holy things.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Because the home shapes souls.
Because children absorb atmosphere.
Because marriages are strengthened by quiet faithfulness.
Because your interior life spills into every room.
Lent matters for the homemaker because the homemaker sets the spiritual climate of the home — not through control, but through presence.
When your heart returns to Christ, your home feels it.
When your rhythms slow, your household breathes easier.
When you consecrate your ordinary work, the walls themselves seem steadier.
A GENTLE INVITATION
Beginning today, throughout March and into April , I am walking through Lent slowly.
Not with intensity.
Not with spectacle.
But with intention.
I am creating a small prayer space, lighting a candle each Sunday, offering my daily work as worship and entering silence when I can.
If you are a homemaker, I invite you to join me.
We will not leave our homes to find holiness. We will discover that holiness has been waiting for us there all along.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- Where do I believe my vocation is “less spiritual” than others?
- What part of my daily work do I most resist?
- What would it look like to treat my home as holy ground this Lent?
- What small, sustainable rhythm can I begin this week?
Following is a small devotional for today, Ash Wednesday and tomorrow we will step gently into what I’m calling The Desert Threshold — the quiet days after Ash Wednesday where we clear space, establish rhythm, and prepare our hearts before the deeper work begins. On Friday of each week I'll post the readings, acts of service and reflections for the upcoming week.
Move slowly.
Return gently.
Christ is already present in your kitchen.
LENT FOR HOMEMAKERS
A Forty-Day Pilgrimage Through the Hidden Work of Love
Move slowly.
Miss a day if needed.
Return gently.
Christ is not measuring productivity.
He is forming your heart.
For today:
ASH WEDNESDAY
Remember You Are Dust — And Deeply Loved
Scripture: Joel 2:12–13
Reading: Psalm 51
Quote: “Return to me with your whole heart.”
Ash is not condemnation. It is invitation. Today, we begin not with striving but with surrender. We admit our frailty. We admit our need. And then — we go home and cook dinner. There is something profoundly holy about receiving ashes and then chopping onions.
Homemaking Act: Clean your front door and pray protection over your home.
Intentional Encounter: Sit 10 minutes in silence holding soil or ashes.
Journal Prompts (Choose one)
- Where in my homemaking life do I feel my dust most deeply? Where do I need mercy?
- Where have I grown spiritually dull?
- What is God inviting me to return to?
- What false strength must I release?
And so, as we move through these forty days, remember: holiness is not hidden from God. It has never been about grandeur or public acknowledgment. It is found in the faithful turning toward Him in the quiet corners of our homes. Each dish washed, each towel folded, each whispered prayer is a step on this Lent-long pilgrimage. Let us return gently, consistently, and with hearts wide open, trusting that in our ordinary work, Christ is quietly being formed in us—and through us, His presence fills our homes.
I'll meet you here tomorrow.
❊
I apologize for the double post today. What I am sharing here is a very personal work I've been quietly creating over the past several weeks, originally for myself. But then as I was reading through it this morning, I felt the Holy Spirit gently nudge me to share it here with you. If it blesses even one other person, then I am blessed! And one final note, the 40 Things in 40 Days Decluttering Challenge begins today! Let's make room!
