Homemaking
I feel great this evening. I did my work for the day, washed three loads of laundry this evening, took a warm shower, ate dinner, made plans for the weekend and this coming Lord’s Day. I think cleaning is therapeutic for me. Organizing makes life so much easier and manageable. I enjoy putting things in order or where they belong. Yes, I even alphabetize my books…according to author’s last name, publication date, etc. (This is what happens when God combines a love for books and organization together in one person. 
) Okay, just kidding about the publication date part! Couldn’t resist, heh-heh. 
There’s also something fulfilling about performing these things ourselves. It’s just not the same when we hire a maid or someone else to do them. I am learning that taking care of one’s home is more than just going through the motions. The labor of love that goes into it makes a difference. One can’t pay for that; it’s priceless. It is the ingredient that turns a house into a home. Growing up, I wondered why my mom’s cooking often tasted better than mine even though I’ve tried to replicate her recipe by following it step-by-step. Now I know why. It is because of the dedication and labor of love that she pours into everything she does for her family. The dishes she prepared were stewed with a mother’s warmth, stirred with a mother’s patience, seasoned with an extra pinch of real hearty love, and served generously with affections.
I echo Cheryl Mendelson’s words when she wrote in her excellent book Home Comforts (an encyclopedic A-Z resource on homemaking how-to’s):
[W]hat a traditional woman did that made her home warm and alive was not dusting and laundry. Someone can be hired to do those things (to some extent, anyway). Her real secret was that she identified herself with her home. Of course, this did not always turn out well. A controlling woman might make her home suffocating. A perfectionist’s home might be chilly and forbidding. But it is more illuminating to think about what happened when things went right. Then her affection was in the soft sofa cushions, clean linens, and good meals; her memory in well-stocked storeroom cabinets and the pantry; her intelligence in the order and healthfulness of her home; her good humor in its light and air. She lived her life not only through her own body but through the house as an extension of her body; part of her relation to those she loved was embodied in the physical medium of the home she made.
Housekeeping is also one of those things that returns immediate satisfaction. It’s one of those jobs where we can not only enjoy, but also see, the results almost immediately. After finishing the laundry, at the end of the day I get to enjoy the nice, delicious feeling of clean bed sheets and warm, fresh-smelling comforter during a cold winter season such as this one. Or when I cook, I get to share and partake with my loved ones the savory creation of homemade recipes with fragrant aroma already wafting through the air. How wonderful…
On this note, well, soon it will be time for me to sleep. Before then, I shall lie down and curl up with a good book on my cozy bed that has been wrapped with crisply washed sheets. The rain has been pouring outside, and I cannot think of a nicer way to end the evening than snuggling up on airy pillows, under a soft comforter along with a great book (off my alphabetized bookshelf, of course ), a warm cup of drink, and a few chocolate chip cookies.
January 26th, 2008 at 1:53 pm | Permalink
Jessica,
I cannot agree more with you: the way a godly woman faithfully takes care of her home and family is something that cannot be replaced with a maid or hired help. I’ve seen this kind of dedication in my own mother, who has been dead now for two years (on February 15). I remember as a child, coming home to ‘magically’ cleaned bed linens, a warm and delicious dinner, and always - always - the smell of a clean house. To my young eyes, she was a miracle worker indeed.
I realize now, of course, how hard she worked mainly because now I have to do all of those things myself. It’s not that they’re necessarily physically demanding; although sometimes they can. I don’t know…it’s not quite the same as when she did those things.
Anyway, speaking of doing laundry, I need to wash my clothes for tonight and the coming week - tonight is Derek’s wedding reception for all those who were either not invited or too poor (that’s me!) to travel to Hawaii for his wedding. I don’t want to show up grungy
Bye for now
January 26th, 2008 at 10:11 pm | Permalink
Hi Michael, thanks for the comments. It was nice to hear more about the qualities of your wonderful mom.
You wrote:
Congrats to him! By the way, my parents also attended his wedding reception! Did you have a fun time? And did you happen to see Erna or Katherine there?
January 26th, 2008 at 11:08 pm | Permalink
Hi Jess,
Oh well….
).
My mother wasn’t perfect, of course, yet I think she all right with us. Part of me wishes she wasn’t dead…but yeah, the only thing I can say about that is: the Lord gives and the Lord takes away; praise be the name of the Lord!
I didn’t know your parents were there! I wish I would have recognized them; I would have said “hi”
Yes, I did see Kat and Erna there, although I didn’t speak to them much. There were so many people there that it was somewhat difficult to talk with everybody, at least everybody I knew. I left just after 10pm; that’s when it was starting to get a little too crazy for me. Conga lines, loud music, so-calling “dancing”…meh, I never was a partier; I’ll stick to ballroom dancing any day (even though I’m not too good at it
I hope you had a good evening tonight. God bless you and the Lord’s Day tomorrow.
January 28th, 2008 at 8:44 am | Permalink
You know, in society today the idea of a “Homemaker” is sneered at. Now, in some cases, the woman has to work outside the home. For the first 2 years of my daughter’s life, my wife had to work because I was in school studying accounting to get a better job. There was no happier day in my life than when I finally landed a job that payed enough for me to tell her “Here’s the deal-I’ll go out and make a living. You make the living worthwhile.” Our children are quite young so it’s still a struggle to keep things clean and neat and orderly. I’m just so glad I’ve got a wife who wants to stay home and take care of her family.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:44 pm | Permalink
Joe wrote:
Hi Joe,
What a great quote!
Thanks so much for sharing your story. It’s refreshing to know there are others who appreciate and value the role of homemaking. Like you said, the idea of the homemaker these days are often undervalued (or worse, sneered at).
That’s nice to hear of examples and women like her.
I really appreciate your comment very much … it is so encouraging. Thanks for writing!
January 30th, 2008 at 8:54 am | Permalink
I usually skip over blog posts on homemaking in favor of more explicitly theological posts. But I very much appreciated your post on homemaking. I can certainly see my wife doing these sorts of things, though probably a bit unconsciously. I’ll have to have her read this one. For me it is always the smell of fresh bread baking.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:32 am | Permalink
Thanks for stopping by, Pastor Lane. Glad to read your comment. It’s actually helpful to be able to see & hear from the perspective of a man also regarding these things.
Yep, the smell of fresh bread baking… The sound & aroma of onions frying… I’m hungry now.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:04 am | Permalink
Hi Jess,
This post reminds me of one weekend just a weeks away where a young lady had a long chat with another young lady talking about… let me scroll up…oopss… not homemaking!
Well, they were important and edifying subjects anyway, hehehe 
As a working 9-to-6-sometimes-back-to-9 woman, I often miss the opportunity to get involved with my mom for this homemaking stuff. So what I do is I bring some of that homemaking activities into my office :D. The cleaning, organizing and keeping the environment fresh and clean become a habit I unconsciously adopted. And yes, it feels good to work in such surrounding. I just now hope to ‘menularkan’ that ‘enthusiasm’ to other colleagues by promoting the benefit of doing so, hahaha
Hey, do you think Elizabeth Bennet of P&P is a capable homemaker (can I say it that way?)?
January 31st, 2008 at 6:12 am | Permalink
Hi Alf,
What a surprise to read Indonesian from other blogger (usually only Jess and myself)
OK, some of my writings are here http://www.sabdaspace.org/blog/xaris. To me English is still quite challenging so saya banyak mencontek vocabularies yang bagus dari mana2 termasuk dari blog Jessica 
January 31st, 2008 at 9:19 pm | Permalink
Hi Grace,
About Elizabeth Bennet from P&P, that is one interesting question! Mmm, I would think she would be a capable homemaker since it seems she’d make a responsible and loving helpmeet. What did you think of the movie “Pride & Prejudice”? I love the BBC version starring Colin Firth (it’s better than the recent version that came out in theatre). Or did you read the book instead?
January 31st, 2008 at 9:39 pm | Permalink
Hi Princess,
It’s raining cats and dogs here, flood, traffic jam and all! Good to have P&P to talk about during such times
I really love BBC version and although I did try to find something I could love for the theatre version, I just can’t! I especially dislike Liz and Mr. Collin characters there, so very different from BBC. I haven’t read the book yet, but they’re on my list
February 2nd, 2008 at 5:33 pm | Permalink
Grace said:
Wow, Grace. That sounds dangerous. Are the animals all different shapes and sizes. You be careful!
February 4th, 2008 at 7:44 pm | Permalink
Hola Josh, hahahaha! I really wonder why cats and dogs are used here.
Can it be like “pigs and cows” for example? Or “cats and rats” if you like the antonym 
February 24th, 2008 at 6:26 am | Permalink
Hi Jessica,
This “homemaking” issue is a can of worms in Singapore. There are even some Reformed pastors here who do not believe that their wives should be homemakers … I know of a Reformed pastor whose wive is working full-time as a lawyer, and their kids are cared for by their relatives. As the saying goes, “kids today are being raised by appliances” (and not the mum). Not good.
In Singapore, it is usually not the wife who wants a career; it’s the Christian husband (and wife?) who (unfortunately) wants his wife to bring in a second salary.
Didn’t it say in that epistle that “money makes the world goes mad?”
…
As I have mentioned, it is a can of worms, and I’m not afraid of opening it.
February 24th, 2008 at 6:50 am | Permalink
correction … “go mad”
February 28th, 2008 at 2:14 am | Permalink
Hi Vincent,
Yes, unfortunately homemaking or motherhood is an under-appreciated and undervalued profession, even though it is such a high and honorable calling for a woman to have. I think it’s wonderful for a woman to make her husband & home as her primary career.
Mmmm, this reminds me of a related blog entry I wrote on homemakers a while back, titled Stay-at-Home Mother’s Work Worth $138,095 a Year, if anyone happens to be interested in reading.
February 28th, 2008 at 3:17 am | Permalink
Thanks Jessica for your article … very much appreciated.
And it’s a “high and honorable” perspective. =)