A "Real Life" ~ Snippets

May I never forget the “real life” I was raised with so that I can daily live with a grateful heart…

I grew up in a two-bedroom home sharing a room with my two younger brothers until I was ten. This was normal. In our home, there was never money for remodeling or redecorating. We wore hammy-down clothing and then continued to pass them down to others in the family. We ate what food was put on our plates, never wasting as we were taught to be thankful for the food we had. There was no individual catering of menus to each of our desires. And yet this was all normal.

Somehow along the way, our culture has begun to accept the wealthy lifestyle as one of normal. And when it isn’t your own, you begin to feel discontent and ungrateful because it seems everyone else lives it but you. You begin to accumulate debt to satisfy your desire to keep up with the Joneses. But none of these things will ever satisfy as there is always something better, newer and more luxurious. And sadly, none of this is normal. 

It is living within your means which brings true prosperity. You don’t have the anxiety of endless bills to cripple your joy each month. We should view our hardworking husband as wealth and our children as riches. Our faith in God gives great contentment and peace. This concept, once comprehended, is true earthly treasure.

This lifestyle is “normal” (or once was 😞).

So what does one do to appreciate their humble, normal life?

“I make myself rich by making my wants few.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

~ Philippians 4:11-13

Pictured: Our little farmhouse (in which we raised our little family) with all its imperfections made the most glorious of memories. Bittersweet as they often were with its challenges to survive but, you guessed it, it was all quite normal.

Great and Noble Tasks ~ Snippets

“I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."

~ Helen Keller

Dear reader, this delicately describes the gentle life of a homemaker. Through daily rituals of love and care, we are sending people into the world who are well-adjusted, who will shine a light in dark places, who will be peculiarly holy because you took the time to make this example in the home. You took the time to show what beautiful is, what noble is, what truth is.

Just as a “little leaven leavens the whole lump” in a negative way (Galatians 5:9), imagine what a “lot of love” can leaven in a positive way. Please don’t underestimate your sacred influence.

“If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.”

~ Mother Teresa

You are not “just” making a home but maintaining a ministry.

🕯🧺🥀 

Pictured: apple turnovers made with the apple pie filling I canned last autumn…

"Cracked Eggs" ~ A Proverbs 31 Story ~ Snippets

Every time I see a cracked egg, I am reminded fondly of my grandmother. You see, my grandfather ran an egg farm and as a peaceful type of fellow, he wasn’t too aggressive as a businessman. When grandmother noticed trays and trays of cracked eggs that were unsellable to his customers (and therefore being wasted), she asked if she could have them. He gave her the go-ahead and she took them to the local restaurants and sold those eggs for half the price. The businesses were delighted with the arrangement which lasted many years and she was able to put aside some savings for their family. Later, she was to use that money to purchase a few beachfront properties that she felt were fairly priced. Grandfather never got involved. He trusted her. These homes (that she rented out) eventually became their retirement. 

Through an old fashioned dose of diligence and resourcefulness, a poor egg rancher was essentially “rich” with her as his wife…

“The heart of her husband safely trusts her;

So he will have no lack of gain.

She does him good and not evil

All the days of her life.”

~ Proverbs 31:11-12

Ethereal Spring Cleaning ~ Snippets

Ethereal spring cleaning... 

Washing your home with the gospel... cleaning the corners of your heart... makes every aspect of life holy, every task, an art.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God;

and renew a right spirit within me.”

~ Psalm 51:10

Related Reading:

Spring Cleaning Inspiration in 10 Steps

Spring Cleaning with Children - Lessons in Home Education

The Way You Keep Your House

Hospitality During Hard Times ~ Snippets

 

"My great-grandmother used to share how difficult times were and how hard the day-to-day living was during the Civil War. There was no tea to drink, and certainly no lemons for lemonade, which was a favorite Southern drink. However, she set a fine example of gracious hospitality even then. When guests came, she would go to the well or to the spring and fetch cold water. She served this refreshment in her grand silver Tea Tipper, an ornate tea pot… The cup she offered her guest was the one without the chip on the rim. Grandma never lost her sense of giving. 

The spirit of gracious hospitality lives in each of us regardless of our circumstances. The ambiance we create for our guests is warm, genuine hospitality... not based on what we have or what we can buy."

~ Alda Ellis, The Gentle Art of Hospitality (affiliate link)

When we were living on an extremely tight income, my husband and I still desired to have company. I found that I could serve very economical food in a delicious way if I put just a bit more effort into the meal. For instance, I would slow simmer a batch of beans in homemade, nourishing stock. I would serve the beans on handmade flour tortillas with a side of shredded garden greens, freshly made tomato salsa and a bowl of hand-shredded cheese. There is something very special and delicious about a burrito (or anything else for that matter) when it’s made with from-scratch ingredients… It elevates a humble meal.

Hospitality is a beautiful component in a believer's life. So many blessings come from opening your home to others -- family bonds grow stronger, friendships are built and/or strengthened and comfort and/or joy is given to the lonely or grieving guest. These are all things that the Almighty commends.

So many people have been alienated for so long, it is time to open our doors and love one another… and be “hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy..." ~ Titus 1:8

"Do not forget to entertain strangers,

for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels."

 ~ Hebrews 13:2

🍞 🧺 🕯 

Here is my tortilla recipe and ideas with beans in case you’d like to host a frugal, from scratch meal…