She Does Not Eat The Bread of Idleness!

This is one of the things I struggle with the most. I feel like I'm almost always behind on my housework, and this is even more shameful because I have a very small house and there's only two people in it! I don't want to just get the bare essentials done so that the house isn't a wreck when Josh gets home. I don't want him to smell the trash can when he comes in. I don't want him to walk into our bedroom and say ( or think ) "Man, this room is a mess!". I want this house to be a beautiful inviting place that he can't wait to get back to, not only because I'm here, but because it s a peaceful, sweet smelling, beautiful place where he can come and relax after a hard days work. I don't want him to come in the door at night and wonder what I did all day, I want him to come in the door and think " Wow, it's nice in here!".
Now, I believe that a man's home is his castle. When I think of a castle I think of a beautiful place, well kept, and beautifully decorated. I want to make my husband's castle like that. Decorating is not one of my strong suits, but there are so many inspiring books and articles and magazines out there with so many beautiful ideas that I think even I can create something beautiful here. I do think that it is possible to go way overboard with decorating and organizing. We don't want to have a home that is not inviting and beautiful. It should have a homey, lived in feel as well. A beautiful home that is absolutely perfect in every way is less inviting than a simply but prettily decorated well kept home that shows a few signs of life and wear.
I don't think we have to spend lots of money to make our homes beautiful either! Sometimes the simplest things can make a huge difference. A small bouquet of flowers on the kitchen table can make the whole room look many times better. Just doing basic things, like making sure that the floors are swept, the dishes put away and counters washed, the rugs shook out,the bed made, and the bathroom clean, can do wonders for the overall appearance and feel of the home.
I realize that most of you reading this are probably way ahead of me in this area. I am just writing some of what I have been thinking about for the last couple of days, because I have been convicted in this area. Now I'm going to sign off of this blog because I have a lot of cleaning and reorganizing to do! It's amazing how fast a closet can go from a well organized area to a complete disaster! I have a tendency to hide messes in the closets thinking I will take care of it later and then I never get to it. Well today I'm going to clean them out again and try to keep them that way. Goodbye for now!

Beautiful Womanhood

This evening I just want to copy a few paragraphs from a book that I love called "Daughters of Destiny". This section has always inspired me, so I thought it might be encouraging for you. :-)

" What is womanhood? Is there any more important question for young women to consider than this? It should be the highest ambition of every young woman to strive toward possessing a heart of true womanhood. Earth presents no higher object of attainment. To be a woman, in the truest and highest sense of the word, is to be the best thing beneath the skies. To be a woman is something more than to live eighteen or twenty years; something more than to grow to the physical stature of women; something more than to wear flounces, exhibit dry-goods, sport jewelry, catch the gaze of lewed eyed men; something more than to be a beauty, a wife, or a mother. Put all these qualifications together and they do but little toward making a true woman.
Beauty and style are not the surest passports to womanhood- some of the noblest examples of womanhood in the world, have looked quite plain in outward appearance. A woman's worth is to be estimated by the real goodness of her heart, the greatness of her soul, and the purity and sweetness of her character; and a woman with a kindly disposition and well-balanced temper, is both lovely and attractive, even if her face is plain and her figure imperfect; she makes the best of wives and the truest of mothers. She has a higher purpose in living than to flaunt her finery on the street, or to gratify her inordinate vanity by extracting flattery and praise from society, whose compliments are as hollow as they are insincere.
No gift from heaven is so general and so widely abused by woman as the gift of beauty. In many cases, it makes her thoughtless, giddy, vain, proud, frivolous, selfish, low and mean. I think I have seen more girls spoiled by beauty than by any other one thing. " She is beautiful, and she knows it," is as much as to say she is spoiled. A beautiful girl is very likely to believe she was made to be looked at. And believing and acting thus, she soon becomes good for nothing else, and when she comes to be a middle aged woman she is that weakest, most sickening of all human things- a faded beauty. Outward beauty is shallow- only skin-deep; fleeting- only reigning for a season. But inward beauty will last forever.
If you desire to be admired and beloved, be an example of beautiful womanhood and cultivate the virtues of the heart. Wealth may surround you with its blandishments, and beauty, learning, or talents, may give you admirers, but love and kindness alone can captivate the heart. Whether you live in a cottage or a palace, these graces can surround you with perpetual sunshine, making you, and those around you, happy.
Seek then, fair daughters, the possession of that inward grace, whose essence shall fragrance and vitalize the affections, adorn the countanance, make sweet the voice, and impart a hallowed beauty throughout your very being."

I hope you had time to read all of that, and you enjoyed it! I know I always enjoy reading it!

Hello!

Hello everybody!
This is my first attempt at blogging- hopefully you'll enjoy it! I decided to do this so I could keep in touch with my friends and possibly encourage other young wives. In case you don't know, I have now been married for almost 7 months. That's not really very long I know, but it's amazing to me because it doesn't seem like it's been that long! My life has changed dramatically in the last 7 months! I went from living in my parents house with my 8 brothers and sisters on a farm in Florida to being married to a wonderful Godly man, Josh, and living in an apartment in a small town in Ohio. I miss my family a lot, but I am so thankful for my husband and his parents. I truly am richly blessed!
All of my life I have dreamed of being a wife and mother. The kind of husband I dreamed about always seemed to good to be true, but here I am now married to a man who is better than I could have ever dreamed. He may not be perfect but neither am I! Now we get to grow and learn together for the rest of our lives.
I always wanted to be the perfect wife. Now I know that I have a LOT of learning and growing to do before I'm even close to being a prefect wife. One of the blessings that I'm most thankful for is that I have a perfect and loving God who will always be with me and help me learn and grow, and also I have a wonderful husband who loves me even though I'm not perfect.
My hope for this blog is that it will be an encouragement to young wives and young women who are hoping to be married someday. I will share some of the things that go on in my happy un-perfect life, and some of the things I learn, and the things that encourage me along the way. I hope you enjoy it! God bless you in your richly blessed life!