I said I would comment on the book I have been reading called “Home-Making” by J.R. Miller.  Never have a read something about a family so beautifully, delicately written!  On that same hand, it is SO honest!  I find myself being so encouraged to keep moving forward and striving to be the woman of God wants me to be and to fulfill my God given roles in my family with delight!

I am not completely finished with the book and will actually be going through it all over again, as my husband has great interest in reading it along with me now.  I have ear marked some of the pages that really stood out to me.  I put in quotation marks statements that are directly from the book.

“Where ever a child grows up, it carries in it’s character the subtle impressions of the home in which it lives.”  He then goes on describing beautiful things that surround us in our home are really actually important!  No, he is not talking about things that cost an arm and a leg…not at all, yet he is saying that things such as flowers, pictures, wonderful smells and so on help determine the final shaping of a character.    He says that these things should never be overlooked when preparing a home and the surroundings of a child should always be cheerful and attractive.

“The rooms in which our children are to sleep and play and live we should make just as bright and lovely as our means can make them…the educating power of beauty must never be forgotten.”  He talks of how paintings and pictures make a huge impression upon a child’s soul and they will never forget them.  After having read that my mind really start reeling. 

About 2 months ago something really bad happened to our family.  We had absolutely no control over the situation and it affected every one of us.  Our 4 year old son started having nightmares and every night, without fail, ended up in bed with us. We prayed with him, talked with him, read the Bible to him…but the dreams kept coming.  A couple weeks ago though, after reading Miller’s claim that a child’s surroundings make a huge impression on them and their lives, I remembered a picture I had seen in a calendar I have on our wall.  As my husband was tucking our son into bed I ran and took the calendar down.  I flipped to the picture I was thinking of and showed it to our son.  It was a picture of an angel holding a candle in one hand and a sword in the other.  He was standing over the bed of a sleeping little boy.  I could see it in my son’s eyes!  Something happened right then!  He went to sleep quickly that night and has not had a nightmare since.

Miller goes on to express the importance of a home being neat and tasteful.  I am NOT a neat person by nature.  I have to really discipline myself to keep up with our home, keeping it attractive and tasteful, but the scripture, Hebrews 12:11,“Now no chastening (discipline)  for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yeildeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”, has held true in my own life!  When I discipline myself to keep things in order, neat and tasteful for my family (and others who may enter) I am yielding the PEACEFUL fruit of righteousness!