Homemade Scrapbook
 

But housekeeping is fun, and I think the women who hate it lack
imagination. It is one job where you enjoy the results right along
as you work. You may work all day washing and ironing, but at night
you have the delicious feeling of sunny clean sheets and airy
pillows to lie on. If you clean, you sit down at nightfall with the
house shining and faintly smelling of wax, all yours to enjoy right
then and there.
And if you cook---ah, if you cook---that creation you lift from the
oven goes right to the table.

~~Gladys Taber, Stillmeadow Seasons~~

I don't know what kind of house keeper I really am. Some people know right
off ...precisely what kind of home keeper describes them but not me.
Sometimes my house is so clean and so organized that people make jokes about
what a perfectionist I've always been. Other times my house is in such
disarray that I am humiliated if someone arrives on our doorstep! There are
many times I find myself in the middle... times like now, when it isn't
horrible and still not comfortably clean all at once.

When I jumped (ok, more like dove head first) back into scrap booking... I
found something not nearly as available years ago when I played with this
art before. What is that something? Pages by the thousands done by other
scrap bookers! Pages that said something about the one making it and pages
that revealed more and more about what that person loved, disliked, was
strong/weak in, and so much more!

It made me want to share more about who I am and what Christ has made of me
in a variety of areas and my role as a homemaker is a favorite:) This isn't
a show off or prideful quest by any means even though it may sound so at
first. It is sharing all of the good only possible by the Light that Christ
Jesus shines through me to give HIM all the glory for and it allows glimpses
into the not so good parts of me that show just how weak I am without Him.

Jam 1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming
down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting
shadow.

I don't know how I'll start my homemaking scrapbook but with the grace of
God... I'll start it. The book may end up something I love or a thing to be
hidden but I will hope to keep it either way. I need to not only pour out
feelings, hopes, questions, confusing thoughts, routines, Scriptures,
hospitality stories, and much more but I need to see who Christ says I am.

With this book, and I'm writing in the hopes that you, God's blessed reader,
will contemplate making a homemaking book for you, ...anyway, with this
book: I hope to be able to see through more clear eyes for who and what I
am. When I get down on myself, I tend to see only my horrendous failures and
anything else is darkness to me. When I am shining and feel a continual glow
of accomplishment... I tend to neglect the humility I need to govern my
pride away.

Looking at what is recorded down that I have or haven't done, felt, said,
and in some way served... well, it will be the "proof in the pudding" as so
many say:)
If I accomplish 101 things one day but start feeling lazy that night a few
days later... I can look back and see a hard work load tackled and taken
care of. If I'm feeling a bit critical of another dear sister or brother...
I can look back and read where I've jotted down sinful thoughts, feelings,
or actions on another day.

My book and your book can be and should be... simple. Our lives follow
enough complicated lines that we don't need extra projects to just add to
the pile of debris in front of us. All we shall need is a place to pack the
information and whatever we want to journal, decorate, and record with!

For me, I am thinking of lots of hand written or computer generated
journaling, little lists of what I served from my pantry when Christ called
me to quick hospitality, what I like, what I don't, and anything else placed
upon my heart.

I can add photos, receipts, cards and other correspondence from others,
swatches of fabric, dried flowers the kids bring in, announcements, menus,
routines, calendars, and just anything that calls to go in!

I'm going to use a three ring notebook and can just graduated to bigger
sizes if I need to. I'm looking forward to filling this up!
"Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret - it leads only to evil."
(Psalm 37:3-8)

Love,
Sandy

Sandy Willoughby, © 2005