I will open with that I do not demonize, altogether, electronics or “screens.” I would then hasten to say some tools need more care with use than others. The scope of this post is not to provide a comprehensive theology of technology in dominion and the christian life (lol), but to just share one possible tip or strategy for homemakers. My best strategy for making good decisions about recreational social media time has been this perhaps unexpected little concept – really enjoy your phone time. You can thank God for it! When you decide that for-fun phone time is an intentional portio ..read more

An amazon order is worth a thousand words. Sourcing things well for your household is a skill, and one good homemakers need. There’s a framework I use for my sourcing analysis I heard somewhere, and that I now refer to as The Three Pillars of Shopping. The Pillars are: Fast, Good, and Cheap. You can choose two. Let’s take an example of something you may be needing to source – perhaps your new winter coat or some curtains for the dining room. T he first combination, Fast and Cheap, is easy. Just go to Walmart. But, it might not be Good. Second, Fast and Good. Also easy, just go ..read more

“Somebody cares for me.” An immovable part of the feminine life is tending the sick. You can give stressed, clinical, minimal care. Or, your home can be the best hospital in the world. I have seen an exceptional grocer bag my groceries (back when that happened) with an amount of innovation and care I would not have thought possible. Any job can be done at an elite level. So too is the life of helping the ill. Your children can have much better than the average American. They can have a keeper at home for a mother. Edith Schaeffer has a great chapter titled “A Shelter in the Time of ..read more

There are some strategies I think can contribute to it going well for young children and the family during a church service. A family being able to sit together with self control and worship without significant distraction is a great blessing and something worth laboring for. A lot of the work to make it possible is done at home during the rest of the week. Some seasons are harder to achieve this than others. Keep at it! It is worthy work. Below are tactics I think help it happen. I am not saying these are the only way, but I hope it could stir up some ideas that are helpful to you. “If you ..read more

I’ve done a Summer Reading Program for our family for a few years and I get questions about what we do and how it works. With some different tweaks and experimentation, I have found the way I like to do it best. I also do some adjustments for ages and reading ability. Looking back through my files, I tried to see how many pages kids usually read each summer. A couple years ago my son read 2,500 pages. My daughter was around 1,800 pages. They are elementary age and that was reading 15-20 chapter books. Reading is a BIG part of our family culture. We are huge fans of making a Family S ..read more

How do homemakers’ work differ based on how much money their husbands earn? In what ways must their work be the same? Let’s begin with the definition of a “good provider,” referring to husbands. Often people call a man a “good provider” as a codeword for that he makes a lot of money. But, I don’t think that is only how we should define a “good” provider. Any man can be a good provider if he has a vision for his livelihood and he is hard working. A pig farmer who has a plan that he wants to always be a pig farmer and in his vision that will likely not make ever more than a few thousand do ..read more

The most common pitfalls in Easter books for children are: 1) violating the second commandment by depicting images of Jesus or 2) giving an unbiblical reason for Easter, or summary of what occurred at the resurrection. Books that come out into the house annually for a season are going to be pretty powerful for family culture so families should want to find good ones. This work is refining a child’s palette. A mother is helping shape an appetite for what is beautiful, as defined by God. These are children’s books I recommend that capture the glorious meaning of Eastertide. This list is se ..read more

How do holiday traditions start? One of my dreams is to play a part in Easter, or Resurrection Day, becoming as big as Christmas in celebration. With having a dream like this, it’s helpful to reflect on how holidays come to be. They originate from some group of people, somewhere, simply – having fun. Or, having a culture. The Germans were over there decorating pine trees to celebrate the incarnation, and now everybody in Branson, Missouri does it too. How did this happen? In part, when people have a tradition and it looks fun, other people want to start doing it. This is one wa ..read more

This is an offering of help for Weather Complainers and a reminder homemakers can set the dark months’ ambiance. It has never become not strange to me when someone starts doing a little bit of Weather Complaining. It’s the boring talk of the unintelligent and sinful. Some women nearly make disliking cold (during winter) and grieving that summer will end (during summer) their whole personality. First, stop complaining about the weather. Second, be a great homemaker during the winter. If your children are tempted to complain (but I doubt they will be if you don’t model Weather Complai ..read more

The most common pitfalls in Valentine’s books for children are: 1) depicting romance between children or 2) giving an unbiblical definition of love. What better way do I like to celebrate any time of year than with a children’s books curation. I love curating book collections (and I don’t discriminate against “lower” art mediums so movies too) that are beautiful or good in some way to share with others. And I am highly selective! In general what I look for in children’s literature (and all art forms) is a piece that somehow captures some of whatever is true, noble, just, pure, lovel ..read more