Homemaking with an Eternal Perspective

Change each and every day, to care for your home and family, with an eternal perspective in mind. Let us set our eyes not on our to-do list, but rather up towards heaven. What matters most is not what we accomplish in a day, but that we are working in obedience for God’s glory.

“I love being a stay at home mom. I just find it so hard to be truly present with my children.”

“If I’m honest, I enjoy housekeeping a lot more than I enjoy child-rearing.”

“I get really discouraged when my children keep me from accomplishing the tasks on my to-do list.”

These sentiments are not uncommon among homemakers. I frequently feel this way when my plans are disrupted by an extra-needy toddler, a cluster-feeding baby, or naps that don’t align. If you have littles, it’s a sure bet that no day will go exactly as planned. For the Type-A moms like me, it’s not always easy to roll with the punches. Each time I feel stress and resentment building, I try to remind myself that I have a choice. I can let those feelings build until I take out my bitterness on my children or my husband. Or, I can change my perspective. 

Even if my frustration is that I am not able to do something to bless others, the resentment shows that I have made an idol of that task. Let me be clear: no matter how commendable an action is, if it causes me to sin, it is an idol. Just recognizing that my sin was not mere short-temperedness, but idolatry, was a huge wake-up call for me in how I view my role as homemaker.

Eternal Perspective Mindset

What matters most is not what I accomplish in a day. It is whether I am working in obedience for God’s glory. Having children who come with their own agendas is a great way to become aware of idols in your life!

So what should we do to avoid idolizing a to-do list full of check marks? The answer is not to abandon our post and keep a cheerful attitude while our homes crumble into chaos! Here are the ways I strive to find joy in my calling as a homemaker.

Pray Over Your Day

Idolatry is not a sin that you can squash in your life once and for all. It is a daily surrender of my agenda and priorities to God’s will. Each morning, take time to pray over your to-do list. Ask God for the grace to do what he has planned for you that day. Ask him to align your will to His plans for you. Commit to being industrious, but holding your priorities loosely. This way, nothing will displace the peace of Christ which should rule in our hearts and homes (Colossians 3:15).

Pare Down Your Task List

I love housekeeping. Cleaning, baking, cooking, laundry, all of it. Even if I don’t enjoy the process, I hate leaving tasks undone. I crave a sense of order and the satisfaction of a job well done. There’s only one problem – the job is never done, because we happen to live here! We will keep wearing clothes, using dishes, tracking in dirt, getting out toys, and the list goes on. I had to rid myself of the notion that I can keep everything spotless and still feed my family and nourish my children’s souls. I want to be wholly present when I am teaching or playing with my children. That can’t happen when I am always thinking about housework. 

I have changed my method so that I do two major chores per day, in addition to the daily tidying. This way, I know that the dust bunnies in the corner will disappear on Thursday. Now I can put it out of my mind while I homeschool my oldest. I will share my chore template in a future post. I can knock out my tasks quickly during naptime, still leaving me with a little time to relax.

Prioritize Meaningful Moments With Your Children

I also set my list of priorities for time with my toddler. With a written checklist, these feel just as important and essential as housework. On the list (which is extremely flexible) are Bible story, Scripture memory, reading time, outdoor play, and numbers and letters time. If your children are older and you are homeschooling, then you automatically have some of your priorities set for them!

The book When Littles are Loud by Val Harrison encouraged me to also include a few minutes each hour to “fill the love tank” of my young children with one-on-one time. She recommends at least once a day to have Mom & Me Time with older children too. I find this is so helpful for reducing neediness and fussiness from my toddler and gaining his cooperation so that I can be productive throughout the day. It also helps me reset my focus on my most important job as a homemaker and SAHM – shepherding my children.

Eternal Perspective is Everything

Our time with our children is just a blip in light of eternity, but man, the days ARE long. It’s difficult to remain focused on the eternal significance of your task when it’s all you can do just to make it to naptime. Remind yourself often that your children’s eternal souls are priceless, and He commands us to diligently teach God’s precepts to our children, “and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” (Deuteronomy 6:7)

Meditate on Scripture. Ask God to keep your focus on Him and how you can be his hands and feet as you serve your family. As it says in Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” If you are homemaking and child-rearing for the glory of God, your attitude will be one of worship. The Lord will bless you with peace even when your day goes nothing like you planned.

Choosing the Better Thing

As a Type-A personality, I feel SO convicted whenever I read the words of Luke 10:38-42.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Martha was doing all the right things, but God sees our hearts. Above all, He desires our worship as we go throughout our days. That is what makes homemaking such a beautiful calling. It’s so much more than a checklist of chores. It’s an opportunity to glorify God with every dish washed and every skinned knee kissed. If being a mother and homemaker was easy to do while maintaining eternal focus, it wouldn’t be so sanctifying. There is so much more to homemaking than keeping a beautiful, clean home. May we all choose that better thing, and spend our days at the feet of Christ, as we serve our families joyfully.