Things I Cannot Schedule (an incomplete list):

Projectile vomit 

The ideal laundry-on-the-line day

An invasion of slugs

A second cup of coffee

Creating the perfect funnel for a plasticine train

Noticing orange on a caterpillar
Baby kisses

The thought that went down a rabbit trail 

Pillow fights

One more chapter

Last one

Ok, just one more

Cuddling away thunder

A headache

Breathing in the after-storm breeze

~lg

Cultivating a Life of Order and Wonder

Today I'm sharing over at They Call Me Blessed as part of the 30 Ways We Homeschool Blog Party!

Click for a peek into our approach to home education: Cultivating a Life of Order and Wonder.

~lg

Relational Homemaking

This was a post I wrote back in June 2012 over at Little Hearth & Homestead. This is where the rubber of deep theology hits the road of daily life. 

Homemaking.

I have the choice –

Is it a series of chores, or a sacred career?

Am I biding my time, or building the kingdom?

I need some kind of framework on which to hang the fingerpainting of my days.

I need a vision that puts the mundane into perspective.

I need the why behind the what.

At the end of the day, my home is a gift from God, and I am its steward. It is not an end in itself, and I am not the Master. I am a servant, and all we have belongs to the King.

My home is the environment and atmosphere in which my family grows, and so its design is crucial to the direction of our growth – toward or away from God, into or out of love.

Here the physical should mirror the spiritual. This is a place where what is most important should be most visible.

And I have decided that my goals as a homemaker are inextricably connected to my relationships. All my homemaking efforts should be directed toward four main relationships, which are also gifts from God.

It is what I call Relational Homemaking.

God

How does our home nurture my and my family’s relationship with God?

How does our home reflect the unconditional nature of God’s love?

How does the shape of our home form us into the shape of Christ?

How does our home point us to seek God’s kingdom first?

Marriage

How does our home contribute to love and unity in our marriage? 

How does our home make room for intimacy?

How does our home bring us together in mutual activities and a shared vision?

How does our home promote co-labour as co-heirs of the grace of life?

Children

How does our home encourage my children to know and follow God?

How does our home provide opportunities for loving nurture?

How does our home provide order and wonder for my children?

How does our home facilitate in the training of my children?

Hospitality

How does our home enable me to offer hospitality to others?

How does our home provide peace to others?
How does our home foster deep friendships?

How does our home point people to Christ?

~lg

everything we need

Oh yes, we have everything we need.

A sun-dappled path, a bit of mud for fun, the confidential whispering of trees.

Strong legs and lungs and space to run, and a warm house to run into when our noses are cold.

A cup of tea and a cuddle in the chair, time to sit and not be rushed.

Time to gather up the moments of the day into an armful of praise to our Father.

And love, love, love, that is poured out, covering, binding all together!

Yes, this is life abundant. To have our days filled with meaning because He means for us to really live, in the midst of all these good and perfect gifts.

And so the striving for something other fades away in the light of this living.

Our fires are lit with contentment, and we are rosy in the glow.

~lg

making holy

In the midst of the day, the noon of it all, the pressing in walls

I make a space

I make it holy

I turn the chair

Away from the mess, the ever unfinished busyness

I turn toward the window

To a horizon deep and wide

I set this place apart

I set my eyes and heart above

I turn the page

And let the Word wash over the mess

(The only housecleaning I may get to today)

It sets me apart

It makes me holy

Fills all this space

Till I turn and turn and turn

And everything is horizon

And everything is holy

~lg