Housework gives back more than it takes

Over the years, I have collected some posts that have blessed me enormously. This is one of them, and although I have lost the name of the writer, I am sharing it with you in the hope that it will bless you too. Here are some wonderful words of wisdom and encouragement.

Not many of us really enjoy housework. I love being in my home but if I look at housework as one big thing - washing, cleaning, cooking, baking, gardening, maintenance, mending etc. - it can be overwhelming and I don't know where to start. My best advice is to organise yourself and do things ahead of time. 

Most of us don't do all our housework in one day. We organise smaller chunks of work and spread it out over a week, or a weekend with small chores morning and evening. When you organise your work into chunks and do it at the same time each week or day, that's a routine and it usually makes it easier. The Keep Calm and Carry On idea came from Britain before and during WW2 and it's helpful to remember it now too. 

Relaxed order in my home makes me calmer and happier. My routines are weekly - which change with the times - and if I stick to those changeable routines, I get through my work without rushing and usually get it all done. If I don't, I don't care. The chance to do it all again will present itself a second time tomorrow or the next day. 

Living in a clean and tidy home gives all of us the opportunity to start each day rested, well-fed and with the knowledge that we'll be returning to a calm home after work or school. It also gives structure and stability to those of us who work at home. 

If you're struggling with housework, don't think of your work as drudgery or a waste of time. You'll develop a mindset of productivity and progress at home if you think of it as fluffing your nest and making your home feel comfortable. You might find housework easier if you develop a routine. 

To do that, make up a realistic list of the work you have to do in a week, divide it up into days, giving every person in the house responsibility for certain tasks, then decide when the work will be done. You might have a couple of big days when you do the laundry and the shopping and you might get someone to help you with cleaning and batch cooking. The work is not all yours and your partner's. 

Show all the kids how to make their beds, organise their clothes, both dirty and clean, and then expect their beds and clothes to be taken care of without too much input from you. Although you'll have to supervise this when they start. No matter how you divide the chores, it's only your job alone if you live alone. 

If you have a family, they should do their fair share. Start them young and they'll grow up being able to look after themselves, a definite bonus. If you're struggling to start, set a timer and work on something for 15 minutes. Then sit down and have a tea or coffee or walk around the garden. 

Even an untidy kitchen with dirty pots and pans could be cleaned up in two 15 minute sessions. When you clean up the whole house, and that might take a couple of days, keep on top of it with a routine that works for you. I promise you, when you have a clean and organised home, it will support you and your family in all the fun and interesting things you want to do. 

Our lives are a continuing process of reorganisation. There are many ways of living simply and sustainably but if you work calmly and don't let the house become chaotic, you'll benefit from it. It's up to each of us to choose how we work in our homes, create routines that work, and change them when we need to. We put time and effort into housework, but it will give back more than it takes. author unknown

         Blessings, Glenys

So teach [us] to number our days, that we may apply [our] hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Coping with anxious thoughts

In the wake of the Corona Virus, and political unrest, comes anxiety and fear for the future and for a lot of us-(let's be honest-most of us), we don't know what to do with our days.

Being at home is both exciting and challenging and it can leave us unsure of what to do and how to  handle it.

My friend, Mrs Sylvia Britton of Christian HomeKeeper is a very gifted writer. She has blessed me so much with writing her Lists for the chronically ill woman. I follow them most days and they have helped me so much for many years now. 

Sylvia graciously allowed me to post her Lists here and on my other blog and I am eternally grateful.

Recently she has written a post which is so very helpful for us concerning coping with isolation and the Corona Virus.  Once again, she has graciously allowed me to share this with you. Thanks again, my friend.

Here is what she wrote: 

We’ve been in semi-isolation because of covid19 for 4 weeks today. It is very similar to how we live our lives as older, semi-retired people. So, we’re not doing too badly here. I do miss my children coming ’round and I miss all the sweet little grandchildren being here.

It is a little harder for my husband who is newly without a job from being laid off. I say newly, but he’s been without work for 6 moths now. Still, it’s new for him, he has worked all our married lives and longer. So, I think it is a little harder for him to adjust. I, on the other hand have been ‘at home’ for over 35 years.

Since I am an old hand at being at home, I have a work flow, a way of doing things and getting things done, resting, participating in hobbies, chatting with friends online and then doing more work, that he is just now developing for himself. But in all, we’re staying busy.

This is the key to being content during this strange time in our world: staying busy. You remember of course that old saying that idle hands are the devil’s workshop? I also believe that an idle mind is his workshop.

But by staying busy I don’t necessarily mean work, work, work til you drop! What I mean is, your mind needs to be occupied with noble thoughts and good things instead of worry and sin.

It is possible to go sit under the tree outside and rest and still be busy with positive and good things.

Don’t dwell on tomorrow.

Don’t worry about yesterday.

Don’t stress that you can’t do more today.

Just do what you have in front of you to do.

 It might be dishes, preparing a meal. It may be reading a book or drawing a picture.

Write that letter.

So, stay busy friends. Find some project that you would like to have done at your house or in your self and work on it. Whether it is a puzzle that has sat on the shelf for too long or cleaning out a room, starting a new Bible study or weeding a flower bed, now is the time to do it.

This will all end and you’ll be able to do more, go places and enjoy friends again. In the mean time, do what you can and do it well.

Wise words and so encouraging. If you want to be encouraged and are a Christian woman, you might want to join her FaceBook group: Christian Homekeepers

 

Blessings, Glenys 

 

Everyone helped his neighbor, And said to his brother, “Be of good courage!” Isaiah 41:6

There to be a light

The caption on this Good Housekeeping Magazine of 1902 says it all: “His House She Enters: There To Be A Light”

It is not difficult to see that a good home life is grounded in a good marriage. Marriage is as much the foundation of the Christian home as Christ is the foundation of our faith. Hear what Dr J.R. Miller has to say on the importance of a good marriage in building a Christian home..

“Back of the home lies marriage. The wedding day throws its shadow far down the future; it may be, ought to be, a shadow of healing and benediction. In a tale of medieval English life a maiden goes before the bridal party on their way to church, strewing flowers in their path. This was meant to signify that their wedded life should be one of joy and prosperity. Almost universally wedding ceremonies and festivities have some feature of similar significance, implying that the occasion is one of gladness.

In some countries flowers are worn as bridal wreaths. In some they are woven into garlands for the waist, the tying of the ends being a part of the ritual. In others they are carried in the hand or worn in the hair or on the bosom. Music comes in also, always joyous music, implying that the ceremony is one of peculiar gladness. In some places, too, wedding bells are rung, their peals being merry and gladsome.

All these and similar bridal customs indicate that the world regards the wedding as the crowning day of life, and marriage as an event of the highest felicity, an occasion for the most enthusiastic congratulations. Yet not always are these happy prophecies fulfilled. Sometimes the flowers wither and the music grows discordant and the wedding peals die away into a memory only of gladness. It ought not to be so. It is not so when the marriage has been true, and when the wedded life is ruled by love. Then the bridal wreath remains fresh and fragrant till it is laid upon the coffin by the loving hands of the one who survives to close the eyes of the other; and the wedding music and the peals of the bells continue to echo in tones of gladness and peace until hushed in the sobbings of sorrow when the singers sing in dirges and the bells toll out the number of the finished years.

Marriage is intended to bring joy. The married life is meant to be the happiest, fullest, purest, richest life. It is God’s own ideal of completeness. It was when he saw that it was not good for man to be alone that woman was made and brought to him to supply what was lacking. The divine intention, therefore, is that marriage shall yield happiness, and that it shall add to the fullness of the life of both husband and wife; that neither shall lose, but that both shall gain. If in any case it fails to be a blessing and to yield joy, and a richer, fuller life, the fault cannot be with the institution itself, but with those who under its shadow fail to fulfill its conditions.

The benediction that falls upon the homes of a country is like the gentle rain that descends among the hills. A thousand springs are fuller afterward, and along the banks of a thousand streamlets flowing through the valleys the grass is greener and the flowers pour out richer fragrance.

Homes are the springs among the hills, whose many streamlets, uniting, form, like great rivers, society, the community, the nation, the Church. If the springs run low the rivers waste; if they pour out bounteous currents the rivers are full. If the springs are pure the rivers are clear like crystal; if they are foul the rivers are defiled. A curse upon the homes sends a poisoning blight everywhere; a blessing sends healing and new life into every channel.

Homes are the divinely ordained fountains of life. It is not by accident that men live in families rather than solitarily. The human race began in a family, and Eden was a home. The divine blessing has ever rested upon nations and communities just in the measure in which they have adhered to these original institutions and have kept marriage and the home pure and holy; and blight and curse have come just in the measure in which they have departed from these divine models, dishonoring marriage and tearing down the sacred walls of home. by Dr J.R. Miller

Blessings and comfort, Glenys

“I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully” 1 Timothy 5:14

Teacher of good things

I have recently been reading posts and stories of Elisabeth Elliot a wonderful woman of God who lived what she believed. 

Elisabeth died at the age of 88 in 2015 and she left a legacy of writings for today's Christian woman to emulate. She was a true Titus 2 woman, teaching the younger women by her godly example.

I particularly love these two videos on YouTube that I will share for your perusal and pleasure. The titles are A Peaceful Home parts 1 and 2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veci9jXajOE  part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM0mcENWkmw  part 2 

There are many wonderful videos and indeed, many books that Elisabeth has produced that are great for growing in biblical womanhood. 

In this depressed climate, it is good to fix one's eyes on godly and Christian teachings, and focus on positive teachings. Unlike Debi Pearl, I find Elisabeth Elliott was scripturally sound, compassionate with women and a woman who exuded Christ in her life and teaching.

This is so critical in mentoring or ministering to women who are seeking to be Christ like in their dealings with others. We are to be encouragers and sharers of biblical principles for women.

Along with many others, we older women are to be gentle and wise as we minister to younger women and we are like Elisabeth, to be a teacher of good things.

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

Titus 2:4-5 “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”

God loves womankind

Women hold a very special place in God's Heart. Many feel that He is a misogynist or woman hater, but nothing could be further from the truth.

God knows that women are entrusted with an eternal purpose of life: to serve Him, love their husband and nurture their children. And to be keepers of the home. "Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house...' 1 Timothy 5:14c

Jesus in fact respected and loved womankind, and entrusted His first visitation after His resurrection to Mary: a woman.Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.  Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethrenm and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. John 20:16-17

He interceded for the woman who was chided for breaking forth the alabaster jar of precious and expensive ointment, anointing His feet with it and drying them with her hair. It was He Who said that what she had done for Him would be spoken of forever. Love. Respect. Mercy. Grace. (Luke 7:37-50)

Forgiveness and grace were shown to the woman caught in adultery: respect and love from God meant her life was spared. (John 8:3-12)

He created Woman to be loved, to be loving, to be nurturing, to be protected and to be respected. To us He gave to us the ability to bear a child and then to raise it for His glory.  Any man can father a child, but it takes a loving woman to bear and raise it. No small matter. It takes a woman.

God knows that He can entrust women with eternal treasures, that's why He gave us the protection of marriage and the creating and keeping of a home: godly foundations on which to build a new generation of sons and daughters for Him.

Whilst men go to synagogues in Judaism, whilst men go to work and whilst men go to war, it is the women who carry the home, teach the children and bring them up unto Him. A worthy calling.

It is here that God meets with women in the mundane things of life, for He knows that the mundane is of great value, and so is a woman's service. And from love for womankind, comes a God Who meets us where we live: in our kitchen. In our baby's nursery. In the laundry.

To believe that women are forgotten by God is a gross misrepresentation of His love. It is we who keep the homefires burning and keep it all together when the world falls apart. No wonder God loves womankind.

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.” Proverbs 31:10

Staying busy

In the wake of the Corona Virus, comes anxiety and fear for the future and for a lot of us-(let's be honest-most of us), we don't know what to do with our days.

Being at home is both exciting and challenging and it can leave us unsure of what to do and how to  handle it.

My friend, Mrs Sylvia Britton of Christian HomeKeeper is a very gifted writer. She has blessed me so much with writing her Lists for the chronically ill woman. I follow them most days and they have helped me so much for many years now. 

Sylvia graciously allowed me to post her Lists here and on my other blog and I am eternally grateful.

Recently she has written a post which is so very helpful for us concerning coping with isolation and the Corona Virus.  Once again, she has graciously allowed me to share this with you. Thanks again, my friend.

Here is what she wrote: 

We’ve been in semi-isolation because of covid19 for 4 weeks today. It is very similar to how we live our lives as older, semi-retired people. So, we’re not doing too badly here. I do miss my children coming ’round and I miss all the sweet little grandchildren being here.

It is a little harder for my husband who is newly without a job from being laid off. I say newly, but he’s been without work for 6 moths now. Still, it’s new for him, he has worked all our married lives and longer. So, I think it is a little harder for him to adjust. I, on the other hand have been ‘at home’ for over 35 years.

Since I am an old hand at being at home, I have a work flow, a way of doing things and getting things done, resting, participating in hobbies, chatting with friends online and then doing more work, that he is just now developing for himself. But in all, we’re staying busy.

This is the key to being content during this strange time in our world: staying busy. You remember of course that old saying that idle hands are the devil’s workshop? I also believe that an idle mind is his workshop.

But by staying busy I don’t necessarily mean work, work, work til you drop! What I mean is, your mind needs to be occupied with noble thoughts and good things instead of worry and sin.

It is possible to go sit under the tree outside and rest and still be busy with positive and good things.

Don’t dwell on tomorrow.

Don’t worry about yesterday.

Don’t stress that you can’t do more today.

Just do what you have in front of you to do.

 It might be dishes, preparing a meal. It may be reading a book or drawing a picture.

Write that letter.

So, stay busy friends. Find some project that you would like to have done at your house or in your self and work on it. Whether it is a puzzle that has sat on the shelf for too long or cleaning out a room, starting a new Bible study or weeding a flower bed, now is the time to do it.

This will all end and you’ll be able to do more, go places and enjoy friends again. In the mean time, do what you can and do it well.

Wise words and so encouraging. If you want to be encouraged and are a Christian woman, you might want to join her FaceBook group: Christian Homekeepers

Blessings, Glenys 

Everyone helped his neighbor, And said to his brother, “Be of good courage!” Isaiah 41:6

I guess I am essential too!

In Australia, we've just had that debate about what's essential. With this Corona Virus, we are at stage 3 which means we must stay home unless it's essential work and if we meet in groups of more than 2 people, we will be fined $1600 on the spot. 

Weddings with no more than 5 people: bride, groom, celebrant and two witnesses. No more than 10 at a funeral. And one is the deceased! 

It got me thinking about what is really essential. You know, in jobs and in relationships as well. I think for me, keeping a grateful heart for what we have, not focussing on what we've lost is essential.

For me, loving Chris, loving my home and loving God is essential. Living in the present is essential to mental health as well. So to me, hugging and loving our family at home is essential now.

Keeping in touch with family during this time of isolation is also essential to alleviate anxiety and missing them. Likewise, keeping up with prayer and Bible reading is essential always, but more so in a time of trouble. We need to keep the faith and remember the promises of God.

Home has never truly meant more than now with us needing to isolate ourselves and it is up to us wives and mothers to keep the homefires burning. 

Essentially keeping the home a welcoming and cosy place to come aside and allow this pestilence to pass is no small thing. I am taking this very seriously. 

We won't hear it in the media, but housewives are essential in keeping up morale in families.

Therefore, I guess I am essential too!

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

The flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:17b-18

The four little tasks of home

It is nice to have a set routine of work to do at home.  One can go about the day with a remembrance of certain housekeeping duties that are necessary for each day.  Then, during the many breaks for rest, or visiting with guests, or a pleasant talk on the telephone, one finds refreshment and courage to go on.  The times of work and the times of rest, done with quiet courage, provide happiness in our homemaking.

The Four Little Tasks of Home

1.  There is the breakfast hour, which includes tea-time. First we prepare the meal and set a table.  I often set up a tray- table and sit in the parlour before anyone else is awake.  I am an early riser so I have my tea while the sun is just beginning to rise.  I enjoy this quiet time of resting from the brief bit of morning work.

Later, when the family has their eggs and toast, or fresh baked muffins with fruit, it is time to do the dishes.   We wash the table and the counters and do the sweeping.   All the work of tidying and making things neat are part of the breakfast duties.

2.  Often, during the morning hours, we do the laundry or the dusting and vacuuming. Each day has its special work.  It may be Wednesday is for washing floors. Perhaps Thursday is for cleaning the bathroom.  The mid-morning hours are a good time for many of us to do these special duties of making a home look pretty.

3.  The Lunch hour is such a wonderful time to stop and rest.  We put out a fresh, clean tablecloth.  I love my white-and-teal checkered cloth.  It looks so homey and old fashioned.  We can set up our plates and napkins. We can do this even if we are just serving grilled cheese sandwiches, pickles, and chips!  It makes the lunch - work like a reward when we sit at that pretty table and rest and eat while we enjoy the family.  Next we do the sweeping and the dishes, much like we did in the morning.

4.  The dinner hour is such a precious time in the day.  I often start working on the evening meal at 3 in the afternoon. I work slowly and take lots of breaks. Sometimes I peel potatoes and start getting a little casserole ready to bake.  Other times I might do much of the work for a pan of lasagna. I like to put these pans of prepared food in the refrigerator and then just take them out to bake when it is just about dinner time.  That way I get a great deal of rest between all the work.

Sitting with the family and hearing the blessing (or the prayer before the meal) is such a peaceful experience.  It is lovely to just sit and enjoy dinner at the end of a long day.  Then the work of tidying, doing the dishes, and sweeping the floor happens.  We make everything look neat and pretty. But I do not like to rush.  I do not want to just "get the work over-with." I take my time and go at a steady pace.  The work of cleaning and accomplishing the beautiful work of making a neat home makes me happy.  It also brings peace.

These four tasks of homemaking do not take a great deal of effort.  They may seem simple and ordinary.  They may seem mundane.  But if we dress up in something pretty, wearing an apron, and keeping our hair up in a pretty style, we may find ourselves enjoying the work.  I have an old blue-and-white gingham apron that I love to wear. It is getting old and ragged. I will have to make a new one this coming fall.  I need a fresh supply of lovely aprons to wear as I do the housekeeping.

When we look extra nice as we do our work, we can find joy in the labor.  Doing the little tasks of keeping house, each day, with a feeling of contentment, will bring a true feeling of comfort and happiness to the family.  It will help them feel welcome and loved in a happy and simple home.  by Mrs Sharon White of the Legacy of Home

 “[To be] discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed”. Titus 2:5 ..

Not even on our worst day.

Whenever we sometimes question the why of doing our housework, let’s consider the end result of not doing it! These photos are pictures of an actual apartment in Houston which had been evacuated *prior to* not *because of* a hurricane! I will publish a picture and then the links to others as they are true lessons in the whys and wherefors of housekeeping!

Here is a link to more photos. Every type of filth is in that house (Check out the bathroom basin. If they had wings they would take off! ugh! ) Somehow, I don’t think this lady would get the prize for Housekeeper Of The Year!

It makes sense that in Titus we read the older ladies are to teach the younger ladies how to be domestic. Having a home like this certainly wouldn’t be an example of a Christian home! No Christian woman should keep her home like this, even if she is chronically ill. 

Most of us sacrificial home keepers usually manage to keep our homes basically clean and a scene like these wouldn't be a scene from any of our homes- not even on our worst day!

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

 “[To be] discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed”. Titus 2:5 ..

Humility and meekness becomes us!

Over the past forty years of  being a Christian, I have witnessed to people without saying a word. Everything has been done in His Name and I have been very open about being a Christian. But I never preached at them.

Many people in our neighbourhood have come to me when in trouble and I have prayed for them. I have been called upon to exorcise homes and bless homes. I have given handkerchiefs prayed over  by the pastor and anointed with oil to people facing risky surgeries, who were afraid and needed a touch from the LORD.  I helped  sick neighbours and visited hospitals in a Ministry group at church. 

People just seemed to call on me when they needed a pastor and were unchurched and unsaved.  And some asked me about becoming a Christian. Not all became one, but that was their choice. Some were saved.

The reason I am telling you this is that we can't segregate ourselves from the world. We must work amongst the unsaved without pride or judgments. It is not helpful to insist on the unsaved acting as saved before you minister to them. God loved us when we were still sinners. Besides, we were just like them once: in need of a Saviour. We are saved by Grace!

I have found that people who are unsaved but who call on believers in time of trouble are already tender to the things of God. There's nothing attractive to non believers who are searching, like a self-righteous, proud, overly pious Christian who looks down on them. People know instinctively when someone is doing that.

This serving of people who as yet do not know the LORD should be done in a seemingly ordinary but loving way so that people see Jesus in you. That is the aim of all Christians who are trying to be Christ-like. To draw attention to Him, not them.

When or if questions are asked about our faith, it is important that we share the love of Christ and what He has done for us and will do for them, in a simple way. Give them hope. Give them a reason to accept Jesus as LORD. But remember to include them in the hope you have, and be gentle but sincere.

As servants of the Most High, remember our example: Jesus. Putting on humility and meekness becomes us and glorifies Him. 

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 1 Peter 3:15

Serving God when the nest's empty

I have been a homemaker since I was 16 years old- 51 years in total. I love a clean house, and I plan and clean, but after the cleaning is over, my heart asks ‘now what?’  I don’t find that housework in itself brings me full satisfaction in my Christian life. It is my responsibility before God to run my household well and to look after my family, but what about after that’s done for the day? I mean, after 51 years, you do get housekeeping down to a fine art! Over the years I have found ways that I can work from my home and serve Christ and others.

Now I realise that there are many home-based businesses you can do, but I am specifically talking about ministry- acts of charity and kindness one can do from home. With small children at your feet, and dinners baking in ovens and simmering in crockpots. Laundry tumbling happily in the laundry room and no freedom to leave the home. And really there is no need. As keepers of the home, it is to our advantage to be at home-for then people will know where to find you. But therein lies the problem:; how do we satisfy that craving to serve Christ and others more fully whilst still being Keepers of the Home? How can we show charity and acts of kindness to others whilst at home?

There are many ways one can be charitable and kind to others without leaving home. Here are some of the things I have done with children around me, and now grandchildren.

* I have baked for the woman down the street who was on bed rest for a problematic pregnancy. And learnt to praise God that mine weren’t.

*I have designed and typed resumes for neighbours who didn’t have the ability or computer. Put to use my training as a data entry operator.

* Designed my own cards with a personal message for the sick and sent a child over

* I have minded a fractious baby for a friend who was a new mother and just needed some time-out! (Wishing I had had that myself in hindsight. Smile)

* Over a cup of tea, I would help a friend work out a budget as she wasn’t sure how to stretch the funds and her husband had handed the responsibility over to her (probably feeling overwhelmed) I have been there too- but because of that, I had become extremely good at frugality. For which I praise the LORD!

* As it became known that I could sew, it was not uncommon to have a hem of some school trousers or a friend’s dress to take up or even to be asked to finish knitting a baby jacket someone had started and was running out of time to finish.

* I would provide free after school care for my neighbour’s children if she had a dental or medical appointment that would prevent her from getting home earlier.

* I have sat at home packing endless pieces of jewellry or Christmas cards with a friend who was subsidising her disability pension with piece work and was behind.

* I have laundered clothes for a friend with a house full of sick children and so overwhelmed with that and laundry that I told her to bring a few loads to me.

* And ironed those clothes too- now that’s love! (Smile)

* My home has been like a crèche some days as the neighbour’s children played with mine because their Mother was morning-sick (I relate so well to that one!)

* And I have just sat at my kitchen table with a cup of tea and listened to some friend’s problems and offered advice if asked, but mostly listened. A problem shared is a problem halved! Never underestimate the gift of learning when to listen and when to keep silent. Many mistakes made and lessons learnt for me there!

* I have sewn countless little cotton shifts and pants for the orphanage our church sponsored in Madagascar. I never saw them wearing them, but I got letters!

* I have sat countless hours after my housework was done sewing sequins on big banners for the Worship Hall in our church. Thousands of sequins..thousands!

* And I have lost count of the number of women who have come with unfinished projects that we have worked on at my home. Sewing, knitting, crochet… And speaking of crochet and knitting…teaching a couple of friends crochet and knitting and how to read knitting patterns!

* Teaching my friend to touch type was another thing I did at home. That taught me a lot about patience, believe me!

* A young man who was my son’s friend couldn’t read and confided in me and he came and I taught him to read. He has a lot of confidence now! Praise God!

* I helped a friend with a disabled child do physical therapy at my home on the days when she was too exhausted to do it. I sure learnt a lot about a mother’s love!

* A rather humorous time was my neighbour who lived behind me asked me to show her how to peg her laundry out like I did- boy, I didn’t know she was looking!

* A young wife wasn’t sure how to use ammonia on her oven and asked me for a demo. I had the cleanest oven in town by the end of the day.

And then there were the fun times- I was showing the same woman how to bake a certain recipe, and it flopped! But the fellowship was sweet at least!  The LORD will give you wisdom to know who is needy and who is greedy or lazy! It is never good to be used up when there is no need of it. But I found the majority of people asked for help only when it was truly needed- but I feel I must caution you to be aware that some people can abuse your friendship if you don’t set boundaries and use wisdom.

Putting this all to paper makes me realise just how many things we can do from home to show charity and kindness to others. I am sure you can think of more. But it is these things that I believe make up that part of home keeping that are fulfilling for me. 

After my house is clean- then I can joyfully branch out into that part of life some call ‘ministry’, others call helping, or friendship or mentoring. Whatever it is called, it is possible to be kind and charitable from your home. Not only does it help your neighbour, but it helps you feel totally fulfilled in your calling as a wife and mother. 

What better way of serving Christ than to serve others in His Name? I give God the glory for bringing these people into my life, and for allowing me to pass on a little of what I have gleaned of life along the way. May the LORD richly bless you in your homes and bring opportunities for acts of charity and kindness to you.

Please note that this was over a period of years... my recollections over the most productive years of my life prior to becoming chronically ill...

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

"As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." 1 Peter 4:10

Memories of Mum's housekeeping

My mother was a good homemaker. Some of my earliest memories were of her hanging out washing on her long line held up by props.  She used to boil up the copper and honestly, she had the whitest washing ever.  She used Rinso to wash the clothes and Lux Flakes for delicates.

When I was really young, we didn't have hot water on tap, so Mum would boil up the kettle, fill the sink- a single sink- and she used a metal cage thing with slivers of Velvet soap in it to soap up the water. Steel wool was the go for saucepans and the plates were washed with a foam rubber sponge.

Whilst she was washing the dishes, she would have the kettle on again to rinse them. Then we children would dry them for her. We had metered gas by way of a machine with a coin slot in it in the laundry. When the gas got low, Mum would put sixpence or a shilling in it...

We all bathed daily and our hot water was heated by way of a chip heater over the bath. I can still remember fighting over who was the child who was to be seated under it. It was scary to a kid's mind. In fact, I sometimes still dream of it- making sure the water tap was on before lighting the pilot light.

Pride of place in our living room was the clothes horse aka clothes airer. Mum was very careful to air all our clothes and she spent quite a lot of time arranging clothes on it daily.

Mum had it tough too because we four children were bed wetters. She worked very hard to keep up with it all. 

With all her neighbours finishing their chores by 9am, poor Mum was still washing the sheets. In fact, when they called on her for a cuppa, she would be flustered because she was inundated with work.

Mondays Mum "did through".  She vacuumed, dusted, cleaned the bath and toilet and ironed. She also polished the linoleum in the kitchen with her Hoover polisher. It was quite a chore, with applying polish, buffing it with the machine then redoing it with the lambswool pads.  Her Monday routine was as regular as the sun coming up in the morning. 

Everyday, she would also make the beds, do her washing, think about what was for tea that night, clean her kitchen and sweep the carpets with a carpet sweeper. Routines were written in stone.

Mum didn't have a car, in fact Dad didn't even have one. She would catch the bus into town and shop for groceries which were delivered to our house. No plastic bags: the bags were brown paper...

I remembered how hard she worked the day I held her gnarled hand as she passed. She certainly loved her home and family... 

I am so glad that God honours the hardworking woman. In writing her eulogy, I included that well-known and loved verse from Proverbs 31 and when it was read, everyone of us nodded our heads in agreement and acknowledgement. She was blessed.

Memories of a well kept house we were never ashamed to call home will always be dear, along with the memories of a tired but diligent homemaker and her wonderful serving of our family, and then her  second husband's.

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.  Proverbs 31:28

The foundation of a happy home

If  I were to sit down with you for a  cuppa and we started to discuss housework,  it wouldn’t take us long to agree  that it can  be terribly boring and monotonous!   It is  thankless and repetitive and  there often is very little instant job satisfaction! I think we would do well to remember something…

Although we tend to find keeping home is often a lonely business, we must consider that housework is indeed a valid occupation and a worthy chore and it is virtually the same the world over. As we start our daily routines, we join millions of people worldwide who must do the same thing if they want to live in a home that is relatively clean and inviting…

Chris and I recently went  around Victoria in a fifth wheeler, driving many long miles, and I remember thinking of the many clothes lines filled with clean clothes along the way. Testimony that someone had taken the time to do it- probably lamenting the tediousness of doing laundry just as we are!

As we passed the high country and it snowed, it was so comforting to see the smoke billowing from the Coonara fires and open fireplaces, again testimony that someone had chopped the wood, prepared the fire and most likely cleaned up the ashes and dusted down sooty places. But be that as it may, the end result would have been worth it. I pondered how cosy it would have been to return home to the warmth of this homestead after facing the extreme cold doing farm chores!

I love collecting graphics of cosy homes and homemaking scenes…and I often reflect on the work behind the well-lit cottages with their chimneys and the kitchen scenes with baked pies cooling at the open kitchen window. Often there is a beloved cat or dog sitting in front of the fire….all making a very captivating homely scene. But have you ever stopped to think that said animals must be fed? Those cooling pies must have been prepared and to do that shopping must have been done and apples peeled….and then there would have been a mountain of dishes to wash!

Every facet of housework actually builds the foundation of a happy home. And tedious as it is, it is something we would do well to embrace with at least a willing spirit, if not a happy heart. I am speaking to myself as I write this, for I am chief among murmuring and indolent homemakers at times…

My personal prayer is that God will help me develop a grateful heart and a willing spirit….I do long to be a good wife and homemaker…so as soon as I complete this post, I am going to bless my home and family with a thoroughly cleaned house. My heart is prepared, and I am willing: I just need God to give me the strength….but I think of the end result and push onwards: the end results will be most gratifying even if short-lived! Cleanliness is the foundation of a happy home.

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

“Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully” 1 Timothy 5:14

Balance in all things!

All my writings are a call for common sense and balance in Jesus’ Name! Jesus taught balance in all His sermons. In every thing we should weigh up what is written against the Word of God and not take any persons' message as gospel.

In particular, I am speaking of Debi and Michael Pearls' teachings in their books To Train Up A Child and Created To Be His Helpmeet. After reading them, some people rave of benefits to their marriage and in child training, while most are floundering in guilt because nothing is helping and this is quite often, because the Pearls imply that mostly the woman has the power to change things. Obviously, God is the One Who changes things and all other efforts are doomed to failure. Reliance on God is not stressed in the books, in fact, self-reliance are preached. Talk about building your house on the sand!

However, there is a grain of truth in their books. Let’s acknowledge what little is good in these books, but try and put out the fire of damage that it has the potential of doing in the lives of those who take the Pearls advice to the extreme…I know without a doubt that there will be people who are hurt by over zealous application of some of the basically unsound and unscriptural suggestions regarding suffering in marriage and in child training! 

I will write about them as long as they are selling their books, because Christian families are being hurt by their ministry.

We need to pray for these wives and children…they will be the ones suffering whilst the few who report good changes in their marriages and family rejoice! Only the LORD will know how many really will profit by these applications.

Before you follow any ministry, weigh it up by what the Word says. Is it biblical? Is it loving? Is it something Jesus would do?   Line it up in the Word and pray about it before implementing it. Balance in all things is critical...

© Glenys Robyn Hicks


Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Psalm 82:3

I don't think I stand alone!

After  my  critique of  Created To Be His Helpmeet, I received some not so kind comments,  one in particular from a lady called M... .here is my response to M for stating that I over reacted because of my abusive ex-husband and that this had "coloured my lenses"..

I reflected on M’s comment regarding my first abusive marriage and I had to concede that it had indeed ‘coloured my lenses’ in how I think about women suffering in silence at the hands of a violent husband. It has ‘coloured my lenses’ in how I see the church in general counsel the abused wife- and it certainly has ‘coloured my lenses’ to how I respond to the erroneous advice Debi Pearl dishes out to the suffering wife.

So, I stand guilty of having coloured lenses. I stand guilty of being sensitive to the weak, afraid and hurting godly wife who is abused. I weep when I read or hear of children living with domestic abuse. My lenses are very coloured here because I was raised in a home of not one, but two alcoholics (an uncle who lived with us), who made our lives miserable. My father would often push my mother and I would have to push him off her….yes, it coloured my lenses.

I cry for the children enduring not only the violence that alcoholism brings into the home, but these days- the drugs! My heart is heavy as I relive the pain of domestic violence seen through children’s eyes. And I cry for the feelings of powerlessness that it evokes in all on the receiving end.

When a book such as CTBHH comes along, I am hopeful that it will have real “meat” for the abused wife- some hope and helpful comments to encourage and edify! There are many that do address this issue-alas, CTBHH is not one of them. For the issue is almost deliberately side-stepped, leaving the reader with sand in her mouth.

So, why do I write about this in my blog? Is it a vent for my years of trouble? A cathargic release leading to healing? A bid to become “known” as a Christian writer? God forbid, none of these things! My primary focus is to encourage women- all women: single, happily married, unhappily married, divorced or separated or widowed. I truly love my Sisters in Christ everywhere and I try to uplift and edify them- because of love. God knows, I have had many things happen to me in 67 years: I simply share them in what I hope are transparently honest posts.

My heart is sad that CTBHH is such a divisive book- one is forced to take a stance one way or the other. This should not be! Sisters should support each other in the LORD not fight each other over this issue or anything else. I am sad that Debi and Michael Pearl’s Ministry opportunity was so badly squandered. So much good could have come from them if they had stuck to scripture and had not only compassion, but commonsense!

So I say simply- I stand with the weak and afraid, the uncertain and the searching! I stand with the little children who are switched from an early age- and I stand (trembling) against the sinful husbands who have to take responsibility for their own actions and who must stop pointing the finger at their wives. And I stand against Ministries that offer vinegar to the thirsty and switches for loving discipline and cuddles. I don’t think I stand alone…..

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Psalm 82:3

God values the homemaker

All of us Christian wives who are seeking to live life according to God’s Word, are bombarded by feminist teaching and other unscriptural advice. We are further alienated from our sisters who work part-time because society sees them as contributing whereas it portrays us as parasitic!

So great is the attack on us, that often we sit scratching our heads and wondering if they could be right. As in all things, we would do well to seek what the Word of God says.

I have compiled some feminist and ungodly views and I have answered them with the Word. As always, we see the Truth of a housewife’s value in God’s sight is revealed in His Word. I am sure you can find other verses such as Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 that show how God feels about our work in the home.

Feminist and worldly view

“A parasite sucking out the living strength of another organism…the housewife’s labor does not even tend toward the creation of anything durable…. Woman’s work within the home is not directly useful to society, produces nothing. The housewife is subordinate, secondary, and parasitic. It is for their common welfare that the situation must be altered by prohibiting marriage as a ‘career’ for woman.” The Second Sex, 1949 by Simone de Beauvoir
Isaiah 3:11-13 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.

“[The] housewife is a nobody, and [housework] is a dead-end job. It may actually have a deteriorating effect on her mind…rendering her incapable of prolonged concentration on any single task. [She] comes to seem dumb as well as dull. [B]eing a housewife makes women sick.” — Sociologist Jessie Bernard in The Future of Marriage, 1982.
Proverbs 31:27 “She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat of the bread of idleness.”

“[As long as the woman] is the primary caretaker of childhood, she is prevented from being a free human being.” — Kate Millett, Sexual Politics, 1969.
Proverbs 31:28 “Her children arise and call her blessed…”

“[Housewives] are dependent creatures who are still children…parasites.” — Gloria Steinham, “What It Would Be Like If Women Win,” Time, August 31, 1970.
Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes

“[Housewives] are mindless and thing-hungry…not people. [Housework] is peculiarly suited to the capacities of feeble-minded girls. [It] arrests their development at an infantile level, short of personal identity with an inevitably weak core of self…. [Housewives] are in as much danger as the millions who walked to their own death in the concentration camps. [The] conditions which destroyed the human identity of so many prisoners were not the torture and brutality, but conditions similar to those which destroy the identity of the American housewife.” — Betty Frieden, The Feminine Mystique, 1963.
Psalm 127: 3-5 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

“[A]s long as the family and the myth of the family and the myth of maternity and the maternal instinct are not destroyed, women will still be oppressed…. No woman should be authorized to stay at home and raise her children. Society should be totally different. Women should not have that choice, precisely because if there is such a choice, too many women will make that one. It is a way of forcing women in a certain direction.” — Simone de Beauvoir, “Sex, Society, and the Female Dilemma,” Saturday Review, June 14, 1975
Titus 2:4-5 “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”

[I]f even 10 percent of American women remain full-time homemakers, this will reinforce traditional views of what women ought to do and encourage other women to become full-time homemakers at least while their children are very young…. If women disproportionately take time off from their careers to have children, or if they work less hard than men at their careers while their children are young, this will put them at a competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis men, particularly men whose wives do all the homemaking and child care…. This means that no matter how any individual feminist might feel about child care and housework, the movement as a whole had reasons to discourage full-time homemaking.” — Jane J. Mansbridge, Why We Lost the ERA, 1986.
1 Timothy 5:14 I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.

We who make marriage and home our career usually do so at great personal expense. It is much more difficult to make ends meet on one wage and it is often made more difficult because of society’s general view of the stay at home wife and mother.  We become unwise when we look at our life's work in service to God and family through the world's eyes, not God's.  We must bring our thoughts into captivity of Christ....

In order to grasp the freedom and beauty of being a full time homemaker, we must come back periodically to the Word. Only in doing so will we see the true value of our calling in Christ, Who Himself came as a Servant to redeem us...

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: Philippians 2: 7

It's love in action

I have been reflecting on the amount of grandmothers who have a large role in bringing up their grandchildren, or who even have custody of them. 

Some of my childhood memories include playing with my father's work mate's children. This friend was a widower and he was left with two young children to bring up. He was helped by his mother, Mrs B.

Mrs B was a senior woman of about 75 years. She wore her grey hair in a tight bun and sported black lace up shoes that gave her appearance a rather severe look, especially with her long black skirt and white blouse that did up right to her neck. She wore no jewelry and I guess you could say she was a plain person.

At the time she took on her motherless grandchildren and moved in with them, she was enjoying a wonderful life as a companion/assistant to a woman of wealth. She was widely traveled and lived in a large prestigious house. Yet, she gave it all up to raise her son's children with him.

Even as a young child, I was impressed by this woman and thought how great was this lady's heart and love that she gave up a truly salubrious life for them.

It is only as a senior great-grandmother myself, and on reading that God classes this devotion as a mitzvah and is especially dear to His heart, I realise that this self sacrifice is so precious to God and to the grandchildren being cared for.

This to my mind exemplifies the sacrificial life of His Son Jesus, Who was perfect in love and sinless. Such kindness is also a fruit of the Holy Spirit.

To all grandmothers who care for their grandchildren, know that your sacrificial love is indeed pleasing to God. It's more than being kind: it's love in action.

© Glenys Robyn Hicks


But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23