In 2024 the theme of my blog will be “finding joy in the ordinary”.
As
a homemaker, it is quite easy to allow the everyday matters of life to become
so routine that they lose a bit of sparkle. Delight in having a floor to mop, a
meal to prepare or a bed to make, dulls with each passing year. In its place
the tasks become hum-drum, boring, endless, unimaginative, and may even provoke
an attitude of bitterness or agitation.
For
many years I’ve been writing here about the love I have for my privileged role
as a homemaker, and how that came about
through the example of my Nana, who lived a very simple ordinary life with many
hardships along the way - yet she always
found a reason to smile by looking for the joys around her, and that attitude created
an atmosphere of love and gratitude which permeated every nook and cranny of our
very tiny home. She made it known that Pop and I were her favourite joys, and therefore
everything she did was done out of love for us. She had a deep respect for Pop,
and taught me at a very young age to honour his position in our home. He in
return adored her, and by extension heaped so much love on me that even today I
shed tears thinking of how much I loved that dear little old man.
Nana’s
example taught me to honour my own husband one day - to ‘do him good and not
harm all the days of her life’ (Proverbs 31:12), a lesson which resonated with
me later in life. The more I glance back into my memories of her life, the more
nuggets of wisdom rise to the surface, and now I clearly see the many lessons
she had taught, not in words, in fact rarely in words, but just by being
herself and living an ordinary life in a very simple home with the people she
loved.
To
kick off 2024 I have a brand new, free, block of the month, “Joy in the Ordinary”, which over the course of a year will become a small wall quilt to
hang in your home. Each monthly block has a little stitchery encased in a log
cabin style border.
Today
you can download Block 1 and each of the remaining blocks will be shared on the
1st of the month throughout 2024.
DOWNLOAD Block 1 of Joy in the Ordinary BOM
Now,
what about my annual January Tea Towel post and pattern?! Did you think I’d forgotten?
Not at all.
As
you know, the past few months my fingers had moved from stitching to crochet
edging on a number of table runners, small doilies, and a pile of new tea
towels to carry me through 2024. Oh, how I LOVE replacing all my tea towels in
January! The old ones then become cleaning rags – those in good condition are
for use around our home, and those that are stained are given to hubby to use
in his shed.
Perhaps
you will crochet an edge on your towel as well? Or you might like to sew some decorative
crochet cotton lace along the edge instead?
I
am always asked if I fuse any backing to the tea towel before I embroider, so I
shall answer up front – no. I just weave the thread ends into the stitches
already made and they have never come away in the wash (yet).
DOWNLOAD the Joy in the Ordinary Tea Towel pattern
Family
Update:
Thank
you for all the emails which arrived asking if we were okay, as I had not
posted on the blog in a while.
As
you know, Blossom and the children had Influenza A…but then they got Covid over
Christmas so we were all isolated and had to resort to a Facetime call to watch
them open presents. It was sad not to be together and have our plans come to nought,
but how grateful we are for the technology on hand to still ‘see’ each other
and be entertained by the children!
Just
when they came out of isolation, darling Bloss was diagnosed with pneumonia,
and if you’re a long-time reader here you may remember that she gets it almost every
year. 2023 was particularly difficult health-wise for my girl, and
having Influenza, then covid, then pneumonia back-to-back without a break has
created havoc with her immune system. Please pray for her, that the Lord would
heal her and bless her with a healthy and strong 2024. (thank you xxx)
At
our home, I was health compromised too, but it was over quickly and I recovered
well. On Christmas Day hubby battled with our four pumps to keep water out of
the house as we were hit with a tremendous storm (we got 7 inches of rain that day), which continued off and on
for days. Two of the four pumps broke on Christmas Day, as well as the
dishwasher, and the cold water tap in the kitchen, and the internet. Honestly,
all we can do is laugh now…even though we’re still waiting for things to be
fixed. But praise God we’re all fine here and nothing major happened that cannot
be fixed. In the big scheme of life, these were minor annoyances and nothing
more. I have to say that after only having a dishwasher for five years, it was
a delight to revert back to hand washing again. Standing at the kitchen sink
looking out the window was always very meditative for me, and with soapy rubber
gloves and dishwashing cloth in hand, I had many of my aha moments with God. I
always believed He chose then to speak into my thoughts because I wasn’t
distracted by other things, but present in the very lovely task of washing
dishes. Just as Nana did. Now I am wondering if I really want that dishwasher repaired after all.
The future...
A new year is upon us, dear friends, and I am hopeful that the Lord will allow me to blog regularly, to inspire and encourage your homemaker heart, and to live an ordinary life with JOY for my grandchildren to see and remember when I am gone. If this becomes my last year blogging (we never know what is ahead) then I’d love for it be a good year. And I shall be praying for you too.
God bless you all, and may 2024 be a new season of life which we each approach with HOPE, leaving the past struggles and disruptions behind because we cannot change them. Shake off those feelings which darken your thoughts, and seek out all that is good, and lovely, and pure and hope-filled. Seek the Lord daily, and if you still find it hard to be cheerful, ask Him to gently sweep away emotions that are unproductive (or even harmful). You may still have to work through grief, illness, separations, financial strains (as we are) and other life challenges, but don't allow the weight of these trials to block out the light, darling girl. It is there. His Light is always there to shine a path forward, even if its only one step at a time.
May the Lord bless our year ahead as we seek out simple joys in the everyday, very ordinary, matters of life.
Hugs
