Homemaking Monday - Beginning March 2!

I want to begin by saying that this post may feel a little different from my usual tone. It may even come across as more direct than the encouraging, uplifting atmosphere I strive to cultivate here. But what I am about to share feels important, and it needs to be said.

For years, I have struggled to post consistently in this space. Recently, I realized that struggle was rooted in fear. That ends today.

Being a homemaker and making a home has been the most fulfilling role of my lifetime. It is all I ever aspired to be as a young girl. I have been blessed to serve as a stay-at-home wife, mother, and homemaker for most of my adult life, and so it is only natural that this will remain the primary focus of what I share here.

Before I begin creating again with consistency, I want to make something very clear.

This space has never been—and will never be—a place that shames or judges women who, by choice or circumstance, are not full-time homemakers. My hope is that the ideas and resources shared here will encourage women in every season: stay-at-home mothers, work-at-home mothers, women employed outside the home, young single women dreaming of one day keeping a home of their own. This space is for you.

That said, I do hold personal convictions regarding the importance of mothers in the home. Those convictions will naturally shape my content, the books I read, and the resources I share. I believe God has entrusted me with both a gift and a message, and I will no longer allow fear to silence that calling.

Some may consider my beliefs old-fashioned. I am at peace with that. While I do not embrace the rigid patriarchal models that were popular in some evangelical circles in the early 2000s, I do believe our culture is experiencing the long-term effects of generations of mothers leaving the home for the workforce.

I also recognize that today’s economic realities often leave women feeling they have little choice. There have been seasons in my own life when I worked outside the home. Most of the women in my family do. I understand this personally.

I wholeheartedly support women finding creative ways to contribute financially to their households. I do the same. Many young women today are beautifully balancing marriage and motherhood while earning income from home—through baking, small businesses, social media, writing, or other creative avenues. The possibilities truly are vast.

And yet, deep in my heart, I remain convinced that the consistent presence of a mother in the home shapes families in ways that no full-time position outside the home can replicate. I believe it is worth considering whether that life might be desirable—or possible—for more women than our culture suggests.

More than anything, I want to help remove the stigma surrounding homemaking. I want to encourage women—especially young women who may feel they have chosen an unpopular path—to take pride in their role as daughters, wives, mothers, and grandmothers who build homes with intention.

The choice to remain at home, work from home, or work outside the home is deeply personal. Each woman must walk her own path with wisdom and grace. I ask only that we extend that same grace to one another.

If you find yourself here and occasionally disagree with something I share, I encourage you to extend generosity of spirit. Perhaps another post will resonate more deeply. However, if over time you discover that the heart of this space is not aligned with your own, then it may simply not be the right place for you.

I will not dilute my convictions to make this space more broadly palatable. I have done that before, and it cost me both joy and clarity. This is my space. Staying home was—and remains—my choice. If yours is different, I respect that fully. In return, I ask for the same respect.

In the past, I allowed bullying and shaming to reshape my voice and diminish my desire to share. That will not happen again. While respectful discussion is welcome, hostility and shaming will not be permitted here.

And now, on a much lighter note—

Beginning Monday, March 2, and every Monday thereafter, I will be launching a weekly series called HOMEMAKING MONDAY: A weekly space devoted to strengthening the heart, faith, and calling of the homemaker.

While many of my posts already center on home life, Homemaking Monday will be a dedicated space for encouragement in your calling. I plan to share poems and reflections on home, curated articles and resources, and one homemaking-related book each month.

I am not quite ready to call it a book club—but if you would like to read along, I will be posting the schedule for the remainder of the year later this week so you have plenty of time to gather the books. If there is enough interest, perhaps we will make it official.

I am genuinely excited about this new rhythm and look forward to sharing from my decades of experience as a wife, mother, and homemaker.

For today, I will leave you with one of my favorite poems about home.

❊ HOME INDEED

Draw up a chair and light a light
And find a book to read.
The heavens are dark and wild the night
And home is home indeed.

The louder seems the winter's ire
Tonight, the brighter seems the fire,
For when the wintry storms begin
The more the comfort here within.

The wind is at the windowpane,

The wind is at the door.

It shakes the house and shakes in vain,

For loud the chimney's roar.

And higher leaps the crimson blaze

In winter than in summer days.

The more the weather is unkind,

A greater joy within we find.

The fields in springtime call us forth,

Their rosy paths to roam,

But when the wind is in the north,

We pluck the rose at home.

Perhaps God sends the wintry hours

To show that there are other flowers,

For when a roof and fire you need,

Ah, then a home is home indeed.

- DOUGLAS MALLOCH

❊