A worthy quote

"What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow."

Martin Luther

So Whatever You Do Work At It With All Of Your Heart...

Summer is almost over... well, it actually feels like it hardly started! No floods this year - yeah!

After saying good-bye to my sister and family on Monday, I am beginning to prepare for another year of homeschooling. Keziah is settling into a bit of a routine now that she is 9 months old so I have some time in between naps.

I set up a weekly menu to follow to make life a bit easier and it seems to help. Now that everyone is tired of stir fry every Saturday night I will try to make a 2 week rotation menu.

I organized the storage room AGAIN and it feels good to get some order down there. I organized children's clothes that are not being worn currently into boxes of varying ages -separate boys and girls. (Newborn to 6 mo., 6-9 mo., 9-12 mo., 12-18 mo., 18-24 mo., 3-5 yrs., 6-7 yrs) I also have a shoe container for sizes that don't fit, a snow boot box, mitts/touques/baclavas and winter coats/pants. I could probably use another container for winter gear but I used what I had and it works.

As the older boys have been working hard this summer with our new exterior maintenance company I have had to rely on the younger ones to help out on the home front. Lots of fun! (Not) I realized that I have neglected the younger ones in their "domestic skills training". We have had to have a few attitude adjustments to say the least esp. when they watch their neighbor friends and see that they don't have the responsibilities that a large family has. We have had to especially help Elyse with this. She is beginning to see that "a wise woman builds her house but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands". Yesterday, she made rice crispie squares for her big brothers for a special treat. She said, "Mommy, I'm building my house".

The children are beginning to rise up in their responsibilities and it blesses me. Lowell encouraged the children with this verse this morning on their list of jobs for the day:

"With a good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free."

Ephesians 6:7-8

May we all work as to the Lord with joyful hearts!