“Our lives begin to end when we become silent about things that matter”
- MARTIN LUTHER KING
As a young girl all I ever desired to be was a stay-at-home wife and mother, and for most of my adult life I have been blessed to do so. For several years I maintained a blog,
Life in the Little Nest, which chronicled my life as a stay-at-home wife, mother and homeschool teacher. Those were the “golden years” of blogging for me. I seemed to never run out of content or motivation and posted regularly. But about the time that our youngest reached middle school, something changed. Blogging itself was changing and becoming more of a “business” than simply a means for sharing and supporting one another. I disliked it when people began to ask how many “followers” I had, though I guess that in my early years of blogging those numbers were high, it had just never occurred to me to care. But the most siginificant thing to happen was when I began to experience criticism for my choice to be a homemaker and stay at home. To make matters worse, most of the comments were made by someone I trusted. It is one thing to be mildly offended by criticism and comments and to brush it off, but this attack was malicious and hateful. This person likewise took the conversation to FB and incited their friends to join the conversation. I was deeply hurt, and for the first time in years, blogging lost its appeal. I simply wasn’t willing to put myself out there and make myself a target for further judgement and ridicule.
I dislike the phrase “feminist” or “feminism” because just as “homemaker” and “stay-at-home mom” are often viewed in a negative light, I believe labeling women as “feminist” can likewise be polarizing. I support the rights of all women to make the choice that is right for them. Between my husband and I we have five daughters who are each employed and successful in their careers. Our oldest daughter is a single mom who has navigated the demands of a career and motherhood for fifteen years now, so to say that I look down on women who choose to have a career would mean that I disapprove of my own children. And while it is true that I encouraged our daughters to consider choosing to be at home with their children in their younger years, it was never presented as a requirement or communicated in such a way that would cause them to feel that I would judge them differently if they did not. I understand completely that with the rising cost of living that choice is difficult. But even when money is not a factor, I likewise respect that for some women that is simply not the choice that is right for them.
When our youngest graduated and
Life in the Little Nest no longer seemed to represent my stage of life, I developed
Ordinary Days of Small Things with the intent of writing to encourage like-minded women. But regardless of my desire, things never seemed to flow here as easily as they did before and it’s been frustrating. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that the driving force behind my inability to show up and write consistently was fear. It is true that I have a heart for women who have made the choice to stay at home, and there will be times when I write posts that will be specifically targeted to encourage them in that role. But overall, the support and encouragement I extend is to everyone, whether you are single, married, working part time, full time or retired, and the ideas and resources I will be sharing can be adapted to suit any lifestyle. It is my deepest desire to encourage women in every stage of life, and I sincerely hope you will find something of value here and be encouraged.
With that, here are some of the things we will be discussing in this space.
Blessing and building our lives and the lives of families and community through;
SLOW, INTENTIONAL LIVING - calming rituals, single tasking, small circles, living with intent and purpose.
LIVING IN RHYTHM- With the sacred and seasonal flow of the liturgical and seasonal calendars through the observance of holy days and holidays.
ROUTINES AND GOALS - setting achievable goals for the day, week, month and year. Developing and living by a “Rule of Life”.
HOMEMAKING - and all ALL that entails. The topics would be far too many to list!
HOMESCHOOLING - After homeschooling for 20+ years I have a wealth of ideas and resources that I want to share with homeschooling families. Right now I am trying to decide if I want to include that here, or link to another blog (which is where it is all currently archived).
Mixed throughout this you will also find references to things I love, such as cooking and baking, reading (particuarly classic children’s literature) and poetry, cross-stitching, crocheting, crafts, old movies and sitcoms and oldies music and radio. These are things that will make this space personally and uniquely my own. They will often accompany a post on one of the topics I mentioned above or they may even merit a post of their own. If those things don’t interest you, you can just skip over them, or anything for that matter, that isn’t too your liking or doesn’t catch your attention.
And finally, and the most important thing you need to know, is that I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and as such my beliefs and opinions will reflect that. But as I said previously, all are welcomed in this space. I would simply ask that you extend to me and others who visit here, the same respect that is extended to you. If faith, home and family are not topics that interest you, I would dare to say that you will probably not find the content here very appealing. There are any number of topics that do not interest me, and I simply choose not to read about them or visit blogs/websites that focus on such things. We are each entitled to our beliefs and opinions, and even among followers of Christ, those vary widely. However anyone who visits here with the specific intent of evoking argument, controversy or simply to be hateful, such actions will not be tolerated. All comments are moderated and must be approved. I can typically tell within a few seconds if a comment is made with ill intent and I don’t read it any further. While I respect the beliefs and opinions of all, I will no longer be silenced by fear for voicing my own and encouraging others with like-minded beliefs. As the quote at the top of this page suggests, we must speak about the things that matter, and for me that is encouraging women in their decision to stay at home, and all women in their heart for thier homes and families. If that sounds like something you would encouraged by, then I invite you to join me!
Until then,
Kim
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