A Holy Reordering: Recovering Peace Room by Room - A Lenten Series on Homemaking and the Interior Life

There is a difference between cleaning and reordering.

Cleaning can be cosmetic.

Reordering is consecration.

Every year as light begins to stretch longer across the floors, many of us feel the urge to open windows, clear surfaces, and begin again. But this series is not about seasonal productivity. It is about spiritual alignment.

Lent is a season of repentance, yes — but also of recalibration. It is the gentle turning of the heart back toward what matters most. And because the home is the place where our loves are lived out daily, it too becomes part of that turning.

Scripture reminds us:

“Let all things be done decently and in order.” — 1 Corinthians 14:40

Order in the biblical sense is not rigidity. It is harmony. It is right placement. It is peace.

When our homes feel chaotic, it is rarely only about the laundry or the drawer that will not close. Often, it reflects something deeper: fatigue, distraction, overstimulation, unprocessed emotion, misplaced priorities.

A holy reordering begins beneath the surface.

Over the coming weeks, we will move slowly — room by room — asking not only what needs to be cleaned, but what needs to be realigned.

We will begin where all true order begins.

❊ The Hidden Foundation: The Heart of the Homemaker
Before counters are cleared or closets emptied, we will tend to the unseen place. The atmosphere of a home flows from the spirit of the one who stewards it.

❊ The Kitchen: Where Nourishment Shapes Atmosphere

We will examine the table, the rhythms of meals, and how nourishment is not only physical but emotional and spiritual.

❊ The Bedroom: Rest as a Spiritual Discipline
We will consider rest not as indulgence, but obedience — reclaiming sleep, stillness, and marital intimacy as sacred ground.

❊ The Living Room: Hospitality Without Performance
We will strip away the pressure of curated perfection and rediscover welcome as presence, not presentation.

❊ Closets & Hidden Spaces: What We Keep and Why
We will look honestly at accumulation — not with shame, but with discernment. What are we holding onto? What is holding onto us?

❊ Paper & Possessions: The Weight of the Unnecessary
We will address the quiet mental clutter of stacks, systems, and unfinished decisions — and how simplicity frees attention for what matters.

This is not about achieving a picture-perfect home.

It is about recovering peace.

As the philosopher and mystic Simone Weil once wrote, 

“Order is the first need of the soul.”

And so we begin.

Small Things: Third Saturday in February 2026

 "Life is not, for most of us, a pageant of splendor, but is made up of many small things, rather like an old-fashioned piecework quilt. No two people have the same, but we all have our own, whether it be listening to Beethoven's fifth with a beloved friend, or seeing a neighbor at the back door with a basket of white dahlias. Or after a long, hard day, having the family say, "That was a good supper."

- GLADYS TABER

In no particular order, here are six small things that inspired me this week.

1. The Seasonal Meal Planning System 

I'm always interested in a good menu plan system and this one looks easy and funcctional!

2. Biblical Homemaking 101 | How to be a Godly Homemaker

An inspiring post about the purpose and heart of homemaking!

3. Old Fashioned Housewife In Real Life {free printable biblical word study}

Another great post on what it means to be a housewife.

4. The Homemaker's Hands

Came across this book this week and added it to my library. Looking forward to reading it!

5. My Quiet Cup: My Home Is A Haven

A beautiful post that focuses on gratitude for the home.

6. 10 Soft Homemaking Habits That Turn Your Home Into A Haven

A good reminder that it really doesn't take much to live a calmer more peaceful life, and her blog is beautiful!

Lent For Homemakers / Week One: Returning To The Heart

Lent is often pictured as a season of grand gestures—fasting, elaborate prayers, and long hours of reflection. But for homemakers, the spiritual rhythm of Lent can live in the small, ordinary acts that fill our days: folding laundry, tidying a counter, lighting a candle. It’s in these quiet, faithful routines that God often speaks most clearly to our hearts.

This year, I invite you to join me in a Lent designed specifically for homemakers—a Lent that meets us where we are, in our homes, our kitchens, and our hearts. Week One focuses on returning to the heart: interior examination, repentance, and small acts of obedience. Each day pairs a scripture, a quote, a simple homemaking act, an intentional encounter with God, and a journaling prompt to help guide your reflection.

Light one candle on Sunday evening and allow these practices to center you as you move through your week. Here is your schedule for the first week.

✝ WEEK ONE — Returning To The Heart
Theme: Interior Examination, Repentance, Small Obediences
Light one candle Sunday evening.
Guiding voices:
Augustine of Hippo, Mother Teresa
Theme prayer: Search me, O God.
Diffuser Blend: Returning to the Heart Diffuser Blend
Theme: Interior examination, small acts of obedience
Essential Oils:
3 drops Lavender (calm, focus)
2 drops Lemon (clarity, cleansing)
1 drop Rosemary (mental alertness, reflection)
Notes: Bright and gentle, supporting daily homemaking tasks with intentionality and prayer.

Sunday — Welcoming the Week
Scripture: Psalm 51:10
Quote: “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”
Homemaking Act: Straighten one area that feels cluttered.
Intentional Encounter: Pray for God to examine your heart alongside your home.
Journal Prompt: Where do I feel most cluttered, inside and outside?

Monday
Scripture: Matthew 6:6
Quote: “Pray in secret; your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Homemaking Act: Fold a basket of laundry slowly, offering each piece to God.
Intentional Encounter: Five minutes of silent prayer while sitting with the folded clothes.
Journal Prompt: Where do I seek recognition instead of serving quietly?

Tuesday
Scripture: Proverbs 4:23
Quote: “Above all else, guard your heart.”
Homemaking Act: Clear a counter or table where papers, keys, or items accumulate.
Intentional Encounter: Pray for clarity in your thoughts and decisions.
Journal Prompt: What distractions are keeping my heart from God?

Wednesday
Scripture: Psalm 139:23–24
Quote: “Search me, O God, and know my heart.”
Homemaking Act: Tidy one personal space — your bedside table, desk, or prayer corner.
Intentional Encounter: Read Psalm 139 slowly, aloud if possible.
Journal Prompt: What does God want to reveal about my interior life today?

Thursday
Scripture: Micah 6:8
Quote: “Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God.”
Homemaking Act: Write a note of encouragement to a family member or friend.
Intentional Encounter: Offer a short prayer for the person as you place the note.
Journal Prompt: Where in my home or family life could I practice humility today?

Friday
Scripture: 1 John 3:18
Quote: “Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
Homemaking Act: Do a small hidden act of service — refill soap, water a plant, wipe a counter without comment.
Intentional Encounter: Take five minutes to reflect on God’s love in your life.
Journal Prompt: How can I serve quietly and sincerely today?

Saturday
Scripture: Psalm 46:10
Quote: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Homemaking Act: Light a candle and spend five minutes straightening one room or corner.
Intentional Encounter: Sit quietly before the candle, focusing on God’s presence.
Journal Prompt: How does stillness feel in my home? What did I notice about God today?

As we enter this first week of Lent, may these simple practices help you return to your heart and to the God who quietly meets us in the ordinary moments of our days. Small acts, faithfully done, have the power to transform both our homes and our hearts.

Let’s walk together this week, offering our homes, our hands, and our hearts to God. 

If you don't mind, could you take a few minutes to participate in my poll? 

Thank you!

Journey Into the Desert: At the Threshold of a Homemaker’s Lent

There is a way to enter Lent without leaving your kitchen.

There is a way to walk into the wilderness while still packing lunches, folding laundry, and answering the thousand small needs of a household.

For homemakers, the desert does not look like silence in a monastery.
It looks like choosing gentleness at 4:30 p.m.
It looks like fasting from noise when the house is loud.
It looks like blessing when irritation rises like heat.

Lent is not an escape from ordinary life.

It is an invitation to meet God inside it.

As we step through the desert threshold together, these first days after Ash Wednesday set the tone. Not with dramatic vows — but with small, deliberate choosing.

Below is your guide for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday — the quiet beginning of this season.

THE DESERT THRESHOLD

Thursday — Entering the Wilderness: Choose Life

Scripture: Book of Deuteronomy 30:19–20
Quote: “Choose life.”

The desert asks for decisions.

Not dramatic vows. Small ones.

Will I respond gently?
Will I speak blessing?
Will I choose patience when irritation rises like heat?

Lent is not about grand gestures.
It is about daily choosing.

Homemaking Act

Prepare a simple meal with intention. As you stir or season, pray for each person who will eat.

Intentional Experience

Take a short walk outdoors. Notice one living thing — a tree, a bird, even winter grass — and thank God for sustaining life.

Journal Prompt

What small daily choice would change the atmosphere of my home?
What noise fills my days unnecessarily?
What am I afraid to face in stillness?

Friday — Choosing the Narrow Way: The Fast That Frees

Scripture: Book of Isaiah 58:6–11
Quote: “Is not this the fast that I choose…?”

True fasting loosens what binds.

Today we ask:
What in my homemaking is driven by pride?
By comparison?
By the need to appear capable?

God desires mercy more than performance.

Homemaking Act

Give something away — food, clothing, money, or time. Let your fast become someone else’s relief.

Intentional Experience

Fast from one comfort today (sugar, scrolling, noise). When you feel the lack, pray for someone who is lacking far more.

Journal Prompt

What invisible chains do I carry in my home life?
Where is God asking me to love more sacrificially?
Where is God asking for hidden sacrifice?
Who needs my intercession?

Saturday — The Quiet Preparation: Establishing Holy Rhythms

Scripture: Gospel of Luke 5:27–32
Quote: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Before the First Sunday arrives, we prepare our inner rooms.

Saturday is for hidden work.
For small obediences.
For tidying corners both visible and invisible.

We do not begin Lent polished.
We begin invited.

Homemaking Act

Prepare a prayer corner in your home that you return to daily during this season — an intentional space to meet with the Lord.

Intentional Experience

Light a single candle at dusk. Sit with its flame and say, slowly:
“Jesus, call me deeper.”

Write out your Lenten intentions for the coming weeks.

Journal Prompts (Choose One)

Where do I resist being called? What would it mean to answer freely?
What do I long for this Lent?
What needs resurrection in my homemaking?
What do I long for this Lent?

Preparing for the First Sunday of Lent

On Saturday evening, prepare a small place where you will light a candle each Sunday of Lent — perhaps on your dining table or prayer corner.

This candle will mark the weeks.
It will grow shorter.
So will our striving, and deeper will grow our longing.

Tomorrow, we enter Week One.

The desert is not empty.
It is inhabited by God.

A Gentle Invitation

If you are a homemaker who has ever felt that Lent belonged to “more spiritual” women — women with uninterrupted quiet time, women whose ministry is visible — this season is for you.

Your sink can become an altar.
Your table can become a place of intercession.
Your hidden obedience can become holy ground.

This Lent, let us choose life in the small places.

If this resonates with you, I invite you to:

- Bookmark this post and return to it over the next three days.
- Create your prayer corner before Sunday.
- Share in the comments one small choice you are making this week.
- Send this to another homemaker who might need permission to enter the wilderness right where she is.

We begin not polished.

We begin invited.

And we walk into the desert together.

❊