Seasons of a Mother’s Heart Chapter 4 – Building My House

Hi Friends!  This week in our Seasons of a Mother’s Heart study, we’ve changed seasons and we’re heading into Summer.

Summer is considered a ‘season of response’, and as we see in Chapter, 4, our response involves building our homes.

This idea of intentional mothering – and house building – is not a new concept to me, but I love the fresh perspective I received!

Building My Home

In this chapter, Sally describes what it looks like for a mother to ‘build her house.’  This phrase is from verse 3 and 4 in Proverbs 24 which is a beautiful picture of what a Biblical “home” contains.

Not only does Sally describe what this act of building looks like, but also practical examples of how to do it.

I love that, as I’m a very practical person and need step-by-step instructions!

However, before I got down to the nitty-gritty of the how, I needed to re-examine the why.

So why is it so important for me to build my home in a wise way?

There are several reasons, actually:

→ I want my husband to have a wife who supports him in all the ways that God intended, covering him in prayer.

→ I want my children to have a daily example of a person who serves the Lord in mind, body, and deed.

→ Most importantly, I want our home to be a place where God is honored, respected, and loved.

In order for those things to happen, I must be intentional in building my home.

What are your reasons for building a Godly home?

Counting the Cost to Build

Sally goes over building your home with a good plan and on a strong foundation in a wonderfully down-to-earth way.

However, the section on counting the cost to build my home was the one that spoke the loudest to me.

Counting the cost of this homeschooling life was not something I did.  As I’ve shared with you in other posts on this book, I do not have a homeschool mentor.  There’s no one that I can call on and say, “Hey – what do you think about x,y, and z?”

Often times, I feel like I’m dangling out here alone on my own.

I’m sure there are many of you that feel that way, too.

So in the beginning of our homeschool life, I didn’t have anyone caution me to examine what it would cost me to choose this path.  No one told me there would be a price to pay, and I was too naive for that to even cross my mind.

Oh, I’m pretty certain I would have still chosen this road, but I imagine I would have a better idea of the things I would have to give up.

It would not have been such a shock to the system. 🙂

This section written by Sally was especially validating:

There is the physical cost of weariness from teaching and caring for children with constant needs, from doing housework and laundry, from making countless meal, from picking up the same toys over and over again.  There is the emotional cost of always being expected to give affection and attention to ever-present children, of directing their education, of training their spirits and disciplining them, of being available to them for what seems like 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  There is the personal cost of giving up personal expectations, of sacrificing personal ‘rights’ for the benefit of the children, of accepting the limitations of time, of often choosing to live and make do with less as a one-income home. (Clarkson 89)

What is it about seeing those costs in print that makes one feel better about them?

I think it’s the sheer acknowledgement that this choice does have serious costs associated with it.

It’s affirming to have someone say it, don’t you think?

Not in a pat-ourselves-on-the-back, but in an I-know-what-you’re-going-through way.

There’s no pride here, just acknowledgement that this isn’t an easy row to hoe.

This section prompted me to ask myself these questions:

♥ What cost do I find the hardest to pay on a daily basis?

♥ What makes it so hard for me?

And then I wrote those top two costs on a index card and put it at my kitchen sink so I could remember to pray over them.

Journaling and Prayer

During this Seasons of a Mother’s Heart study with all of you, I’m journaling and praying as I read through each chapter.

As I read through the ‘Thoughts on the Living Word’ section (pages 91-92), I recorded a few of those questions/tasks in my journal.

♥ I prayed for the Lord to make me wise in what materials to use in building my home – Bible studies for me, Bible studies with my children, if there’s a best time to have my quiet time with the Lord.

♥ Over the last few weeks, my children and I have talked a lot about building our lives on the Rock or building our lives on shifting sand.  It was good to think about this from a mama’s perspective, considering it was so fresh in my mind.

♥ Luke 14 – the cost of building a tower.  I’ll be honest and say that it occasionally crosses my mind to choose a different schooling method for my children.  But those moments are when I am feeling down and discouraged.  I think a large reason is because I didn’t count the cost before we started, so those moments catch me off-guard.  Then I wrote a description of what I’m trying to build.  When I see that cost in my own writing, it seems less of a price to pay. 🙂

What About You?

How did the Lord speak to you this week as you read through Chapter 4 of Seasons of a Mother’s Heart?

Did you count the cost before you started homeschooling?

Did you receive some practical help in building your own home?

Did you re-dedicate yourself to building your home on a strong foundation?

Tell me all about what you learned in Chapter 4! 🙂

Lauren Hill

Lauren Hill is a Christian mom to 5, ages 19 to 7. She homeschools her children in the classical education tradition and is currently in her 15th year of homeschool. She creates engaging worksheets and hands-on printable activities for Preschool and Elementary age children to supplement their daily studies.

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