How I Stay Encouraged When the Work of Homemaking Feels Endless and Mundane


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For those who participated, it’s been a little over a week since we completed the Simple Homemaking Graces Challenge!

(This was a challenge to do some extra cleaning tasks and add some special little touches around our homes for five days in a row.)

My flowers are dead and gone, and the cleaning I did has pretty well been undone. I threw away the little note I left on the bathroom mirror because it was beginning to blend in with the furniture anyway, and I desperately needed to clean the mirror… again.

Isn’t that how this homemaking thing goes?

We work to manage and run our homes, to bless and serve our families, and yet it’s all a frustration to us as well, because it’s all perpetually undoing itself. Forward progress is hard to come by. Tomorrow, we will have very little to show for today’s toil; it must all be done again.

That reality can be a bit disheartening.

When I feel discouraged about the endless mundane tasks of homemaking, I find motivation and eternal value in Colossians 3:23-24.

It says,

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though working for the Lord, and not for man. For you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Each moment of whole-hearted work we accomplish, when it’s dedicated to the Lord, is achieving for us an eternal reward.

The worldly fruits of our labor, which seem to be so quickly gone, are not the only fruits produced! In fact, we are storing up treasures in heaven that have unimaginable worth that will not fade or tarnish or be stolen.

I don’t know about you, but that encourages me!

So if you struggle with motivation or discouragement in the daily work of running a home and or being a mom, can I challenge you to memorize Colossians 3:23-24? It’s worth doing!

If you’ve never memorized a verse before, here’s how I do it:

  • Write it out on a notecard of some sort.
  • Read it each day.
  • Study the first few words, and then try to say them out loud without looking.
  • Slowly add more words and continue reviewing over the course of several days.
  • And soon… Viola! You’ve got it memorized!

 


Do you ever wonder how some women make running a home look so natural?

I certainly have!

However, after many years of watching my friends who do this well, and after much trial and error, I’ve boiled it all down to 3 essential daily habits. With these 3 habits in place, a home can function pretty well! Without them, it will be perpetual catchup.

While I used to feel like a failure as a homemaker, I know feel a sense of success and satisfaction.

I’d love to share these 3 simple (secret) daily habits with you. If you focus your energy into establishing them, I believe you will achieve the same breakthrough in your homemaking that I did.

Can I share my secrets with you?

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Comments

  1. Amanda says:

    Amen! I recently asked my husband, “why not just move about the daily tasks of laundry, dishes, and picking up at a relaxed pace since its never going to be done anyways?” And he said: “so you have time to feed the poor.” This challenged me and encouraged me! So we can have time to pour into other facets/people (kiddos included!) and ministering/evangelizing! Love thinking about serving the Lord Christ even in the dishes. Not to mention the spiritual blessing of sanctification (perseverance, long-suffering, patience, etc! ). Awesome post!

  2. This verse has been encouraging and challenging me a lot recently as well!

  3. Kristal says:

    This was such a timely post for me. My home has been over taken by ants and I found myself grumbling at my kiddos over not properly rinsing their dishes, while moaning about spending the entire day dealing with the ants. While I am not sure cleaning ants all day is mundane :), I am serving the Lord by serving my family in this way. An encouraging way to end the evening!

    • Yes! That is so true Kristal! I fall into the exact same grumbling patterns if I don’t watch myself, but really, there is so much purpose and joy in it all knowing that we are serving the Lord!

  4. Cathrine says:

    wow am so Happy to know about your Blog Katie. Am a believer, a child of God, a student and perfecting my programming career, from Africa a country called KENYA. God Bless you for the lesson you have taught me. I USED to get annoyed, overwhelmed when working on things and today i was a bit tired and felt annoyed, mood-less. Though the Holy Spirit told me to not get annoyed. Reading this i will always memorize Colossians 3;23-24. Am not married yet and don’t have kids but am Happy i will learn as i look forward to being a Godly Wife and Mom that can cultivate Gods word in my home.

    • Cathrine, thank you so much for your encouragement! It is so fun to see how much God is at work in our hearts around the globe, in different life situations, in a similar way. God bless you!

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