Am I the only person who’s always
on the lookout for faster, simpler ways to keep my house clean? When I look at magazines, blogs and Pinterest
I see so many beautiful, well-organized homes, and I always wonder how they
live in a house like that. Where do they
sit and do craft projects? Where do the
kids play? Do they actually cook meals
in that pristine kitchen? And then comes
the inevitable feelings of failure and inadequacy because, no matter how hard I
try, my house will never look like that.
When I read Having a Martha Home
the Mary Way, I found out that I am not alone. There are others out there who feel that
their homemaking skills are less-than-perfect to say the least. And then there is the Mary life. Don’t most of us wish that we could spend
more time at the feet of the Saviour, listening to His words and soaking up His
presence? And more than that, don’t we
wish for a space that feels comfortable, homey and welcoming to friends and
family?
In this book, Sarah Mae has presented thoughtful, clear ways to keep
your home clean, without spending 90% of your time with a scrub brush in
hand. She also gives practical advice for
finding the time and energy to spend in prayer and Bible study that so many of
us sacrifice for various reasons every day.
She has broken her plan down into thirty-one days. Every day has a simple devotion with a
life-lesson, followed by a Mary challenge with a scripture reading and a Martha
challenge. By following along every day
you’ll be able to find the balance between the hard-working Martha, and the
friend-visiting Mary.
Mary challenges will help you to
see yourself in a new light, more like He sees you. Challenge yourself to give up your
expectations of what you think your life and home should be. We all fall short so many times of the goals
we give ourselves. Mary will challenge
you to forgive yourself when you fail, and get up again tomorrow ready to give
it another try. And always remember that
you are you and no one else. We don’t
all approach life the same way, so our homemaking routines are different,
too. There are lessons about kindness
and diligence, and so many other traits that we need, not only as wives and
mothers, but as Christians. There is encouragement
for those days when you just feel tired, run-down and discouraged, and advice
for when you find yourself getting distracted.
Then comes the Martha
challenge. These challenges are broken
down by rooms, where you tackle a few jobs in one room every day until it’s
clean. The tasks are very manageable,
and will have you feeling better about your homekeeping skills in no time! As you complete each job and each room, you
will be able to develop a routine for yourself to keep the mess from piling up and
overwhelming you again.
If you already keep your home
pristine and have a perfect cleaning routine, yay for you! But I would still recommend this book. The spiritual aspects and journaling prompts
alone make it worth reading. The
cleaning plan would also be great to follow if you are performing your spring
cleaning for the year.
What makes it a must-read:
The most important thing that I
took away from this book is the realization that things don’t have to be
perfect. My worth isn’t based on my
abilities as a housewife, or the cleanliness of my home. While these things are important, they aren’t
the most important. There will be days that I fail, or don’t
measure up to the standards that I’ve set for myself, but I can’t give up! I have a Heavenly Father who loves me whether
my floor is clean, or not. One of my
favorite quotes from the book is, “It is
practical to clean, and it is necessary, but my identity has nothing to do with
it…It is purely in Christ. He tells me
who I am, and loves me where I am.”
If you are a woman struggling to
be the homemaker you think you should be, but keep falling short, I recommend this
book to you. Your home (and my home!)
may never win awards for being the cleanest in the neighborhood, but if it’s a
place where our family, friends and most importantly, our Saviour feel
comfortable and at home, that’s really all that matters!
Happy reading…and cleaning!
Lyndsie
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for
this review. All opinions are my
own. Having a Martha Home the Mary Way is available now.
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