Comments on: Tips for Maintaining a Simple Home

By: Marymom

Marymom — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:06:17 +0000

Thanks so much for this website. I have learned so much and I am continually motivated by this blog to refocus when I stray from the vision God has called me to, which is often. I view you as a mentor and hope that you and your husband are very successful in all your endeavors. I have been reading along for several months now and have found your advice to be thought provoking. I am an in home day care provider with 2 children of my own and I hope that all my “children” benefit from the tips I put into place. Yesterday, I felt like the play room was overloaded with toys and the kids seemed uninterested in playing. I took out about 1/4 of the toys and today they played longer alone and fought less.

Blessings,
May

By: Great-Granny Grandma

Great-Granny Grandma — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:23:29 +0000

I really enjoyed reading this post. Great tips.

By: Trish

Trish — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 01:46:37 +0000

Interesting and inspiring. As a mother of 5 (10, 6, 4, 2, and 1) I am constantly looking for ways to stay focused on what is important and not beat myself up with what hasn’t gotten done. I am a morning person by nature but as the kids started coming I realized I was failing at getting up early (and beating myself up for failing) and realized I must go with what works for me. Now. What works changes all the time! Because my husband works more than 80 hours a week I needed to make time if at possible for him to spend with the kiddos, and with me, but still needed to keep some schedule and routine for the sake of my sanity and our kids well-being. I found that for my sanity staying up late (after the kids go to bed) was the key. If I woke early the kids just woke early too. I felt prepared in the morning and less overwhelmed. I also realized that I had to give myself a year (yes, one whole year) after a baby was born to get it together (this in and of itself was so liberating). So for a year I’m always behind on laundry, eat out more than we should, and the house is always in need of a good cleaning, but my kids were happy, I was happy, and life was peaceful. (I might also note the we move every other year). Just a simple chore list for when we do wake up and a simple chore list before I go to bed was enough to stay on top of things no matter what time we awoke or went to bed. I have also started assinging a time for my weekness (blogging) each day and only sit down at the computer at that time. I know that as each week flies by it gets a little easier and I improve a little each day. But I try to remember to start the day (even if it is 10 am) with a prayer, a scripture, and a lot of hugs as they come trudging into my bedroom and if some mornings it just doesn’t happen – I can try again tomorrow.

By: Julia Brown

Julia Brown — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:28:34 +0000

Wow – this is such a great post. Thank you SO much for taking the time to write all these details out so clearly.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 03:13:49 +0000

Good idea. It also helps that we’ve finally been able to get high-speed internet (by getting rid of our landline phone and other internet service, it actually costs LESS!) so I spend less time sitting waiting for pages to load!

By: Kate

Kate — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:04:29 +0000

Ask the Lord to show you the best deals on the internet, He will . That way you won’t spend more time than you wanted to. And you’ll get done faster!

By: Lauren

Lauren — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:29:27 +0000

Thank you so much, Lindsay for responding to my question! What a wonderfully helpful post that was. My husband and I are loving married life! Wow, what a precious gift from God. I’m so glad that I have been reading your blog before getting married as there were reminders that spending time with my hubby was so much more important than getting the house perfectly tidy before guests came over. I love reading your baby and toddler tips for the future too!

By: Rebekah

Rebekah — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:22:17 +0000

Honey, thank you! I never thought of it this way before, but I too spent so much time with the Lord before becoming a wife and mother and I also feel that He was preparing me for the season I’m in now. I’m so thankful that He is greater than our weaknesses and more loving than we understand!

By: Honey

Honey — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:05:18 +0000

Thanks for all the ideas everyone posted and for the wisdom in the intial post about the priority of God, and family, and being busy at home. I just wanted to encourage women with small children to not feel condemned if you can’t rise early. Fit in your quiet time wherever you can. My youngest boys are now five and I can get up earlier than the children now. But for me, it was challenging to do so until now. I had 5 children ages 2.5 and under (.25 year old, two 1 yr olds, and 2 newborns). So, I was exhausted. I did not have a lot of devotional time-I don’t recommend skipping it, but I did learn a few things during that time. That what I had sewn, I was able to reap in that time. As a single woman, I tried to store up the Word in my heart. And now as a mom, God was very faithful to me in that when I had nothing to offer Him, He would meet me by putting a scripture on my heart. His truths would encourage me continually. He fed me spiritually, when I couldn’t feed myself. And now, I feel I can get back into the game to store up more truth for another season. Do what you can, look for chances to pray & read the Bible, and know that his grace covers what we can’t accomplish.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 07:41:18 +0000

This was a good reminder for me. I do pretty well at keeping our actual living space uncluttered and simple, but keeping my spirit uncluttered I find more challenging. I am incredibly blessed to have two babies 16 months apart, but Little Man has severe reflux, and is up every 40 minutes some nights. I feel like a zombie most days. Even though I get up with my husband around 5, I’m often too exhausted to do much productive and my quiet time has gone out the window. Your encouragement to just grasp hold of one verse to meditate on throughout the day spoke to my heart, and I’m going to begin to do just that. I also struggle with computer time. I do most of our shopping for clothes and alot of bulk food online as it’s much more frugal, but sometimes I get obsessive about finding the best deal and waste more time than it’s worth. So even though I’m nearly always engaged in a worthwhile pursuit when I’m online, I need to be careful about spending too much time, especially when the children are awake. Thank you for these reminders. You are a blessing.
Lisa