Ch. 2: Ordinary work, Extraordinary Grace

*I forgot to mention in my last post, that the book also focuses on the Proverbs 31 woman.*

Chapter 2 had a lot of great information, I think, when it comes to the clothes (laundry, ironing, buying, etc.) aspect of our lives. It was also the first time I have ever written in a chapter book (other than a textbook).

The first thing that really caught my eye was the advice Kimberly's mother had given her when trying to redeem ironing (a task I'm sure most of us dread!). Her mother said: "When I iron, I pray for the person who will wear the garment--the their words and actions will honor the Lord." When I read this, I thought, "wow, what a great way to incorporate prayer with things I may not like to do!" 

For me, the thing I dread the most is laundry. It seems to be never ending in my house! Whenever I pick up all the clothes and put them in hampers, I seem to find even more clothes on the ground. It's a bigger problem whenever we have come back from vacations, the clothes just seem to sit in our luggage until I finally decide to wash them. I always think about how I feel when I see that the hamper is full to the point that it's spewing over onto the floor, but I never ever think to add a little prayer as I put them in the washer, or even when I fold them.

After reading this chapter, I started to say a little prayer whenever I fold them. You could pray the same thing that Kimberly's mother had advice Kimberly, or make up one of your own. I give thanks to God for the clothes he has provided for us and that I pray they will keep (insert name of person I am folding the clothes for) safe and warm, and protect them from the weather.

A big thing that I am glad she talked/wrote about was how to dress up attractively without looking seductive. I have always grown up this way and I want my children to dress modestly as well, especially when they get closer to their teen years. The website that Kimberly mentions is called Pure Fashion, "a celebration of style and virtue." I know it is very hard to look for cute clothes for your little girls now a days, but I would give this website a try and maybe you can get some inspiration on ways to dress yourself and your girls.

I also read the third chapter, titled "A Mother's Guide to Baptism." It was only two pages long so not a long read at all!

Yes, this chapter talks about the sacrament of baptism and how it can correlate with clothing. As we take care of our family, especially our children, we want to be sure that they have food in their stomachs, a good night's rest, and clothes on their back. One thing we should remember when clothing our children is that they are clothed in righteousness. When a person is baptized, there is a white garment that is worn. It symbolizes that this person has "put on Christ." We have been cleansed of our original sin and are pure. We should strive to live as Jesus did; a pure and virtuous life. We should want our children to live as we do, to love our Lord as we do, and to strive to be like Christ. We can achieve all of this one step at a time with clothes being our first step.

Prayer seems to be the most difficult to set aside time for, hopefully my view of this chapter inspires you to add prayer into your life, whether it be when you are folding your laundry or cooking the family dinner, all it takes is just 10 minutes (or 30) to say a little prayer for your family.

May God be with you and your family as we add more prayer into our lives this year! 

A New School Year, A New Beginning

**I had this written out about a month ago, but things sure did pick up when my eldest started school this year!**

It has finally arrived...albeit 3 weeks later...a new school year for my eldest. This year she goes to preschool three days a week. It was a little rough for me to get used to waking up early again, but I survived! On top of waking up to take my eldest to school, I also go to the mom's group that I got involved with back in march time frame.

This year we are reading the book Graced and Gifted by Kimberly Hahn. (and yes, she is Scott Hahn's wife!) So far we have only read the first chapter. It's a very easy read, and I really like the way she has the book set up.

The first chapter really got into the priorities of a homemaker. There were seven different ones, each with their own explanation of why they are listed in a particular order, but instead of just the information on them, she correlates a sacrament to them!

One of the questions that was asked in the book is what I would like to get out of studying the book. Just this year, I really started to get into being frugal/thrifty with our house cleaners, and some of our foods. Meaning, trying to do everything homemade with the items I already have on hand. As some of you know by now, I have a page with a list of homemade house cleaners. Most of them I have used and actually work pretty well, others I will have to wait when I run out of the stuff I already bought before I found the recipes, hehe.

Another thing I really got into was sewing and crocheting. For the past several months, I have been busy crocheting christmas gifts for all of our nieces and nephews (some of our little cousins and of course our daughters) on both sides of the family.

In a sense I have really gotten into being a "homemaker." What I hope to get out of the book is to learn even more ways to be frugal/thrifty within the means of our budget as we try to pay our debt off, but also to try and incorporate more prayer within my life.

Prayer has been at the bottom of my list for a good few years, I'm sad to say. I really want to start back up and become closer to Christ Jesus as I once was when I converted to Catholicism in 2007.

I hope by doing these post on my view of the book, that it will inspire you to go and read it yourself. Maybe it will help you out as a stay at home mom, or maybe you have your own tips and tricks, but could use more resources, who knows!

Happy reading!