Guest Post-Hearts At Home

                                                              By Mary Paitsel

 

Hello! I had previously promised that I would be including guest posts from ministries that could serve to bless my readers. Today is such a post. I want to connect you to ministries that can strengthen your daily lives and this special lady’s ministry can do just that. Her name is Mary Paitsel and her ministry is called Hearts At Home. I know Mary personally and have tasted from the good fruit of her life and have been blessed by her heart for women and I hope that you too will be encouraged and strengthened!
Sweet Blessings,
Sandy

 

 

“Thirty years ago I was a young mom with three small children at home. I also had a big mess on a daily basis. I have a lot of unpleasant memories from those days many of which include mold and mildew. I remember grocery bags full of papers and other stuff hidden in closets and rooms. I remember always getting an extension for my taxes. I remember laundry baskets full of unmatched socks and clothes that needed to be ironed or mended. I remember opening the door only wide enough to talk to the person there and rarely inviting them in.

 My mother never taught me to care for a home and family because her mother never taught her. I read in Titus 2 that older women are to teach the younger women but I did not have an older woman around to teach me. After more than one humiliating experiences I decided to get organized. I began to read everything about home organization and time management I could find especially by Christian women like Emilie Barnes. She shared her experiences and related it to the Word of God. I found answers in the Bible like beginning my day the night before from the fact that in Genesis day begins the night before. So I started to do what I could the night before to prepare for the next day.

 I crashed and burned many times but bit by bit I began to see progress.  Let’s face it, we did not get where we are in one day. Doing a little bit each day consistently will make a difference. I hope not to use “I” quite so often in the future but I want to make the point that what I know I learned by raw experience and you have no need to be embarrassed by your mess because mine probably matched or exceeded it.

 One of the first things I resolved was to show people my home.  When someone visits for the first time I show them through my home. This includes times when everything is not in order. I wanted to be accountable and have an incentive to keep things pleasant. I do not keep my home clean for others. This is an accountability device.

 Our homes are not museums, magazine layouts or furniture showcases. Our homes are the canvas for our family’s lives. Our purpose goes beyond cleaning toilets, dusting, laundry and all the other mechanisms to keep the Health Department or DSS from condemning our homes. My purpose is to glorify and love God, and love and honor my family, my friends and the people God places around me.  After I learned to care for my home and family I determined to fulfill the charge Titus 2:3-5 gives us—to live in a way that honors God and to teach the younger women. I began a small group at my church and then began to blog several years ago. My purpose for My Heart's at Home  is to help us find solutions to the challenges that prevent us from keeping our homes lovely and functional. Doing this puts legs to loving our spouse and children or whoever makes up your household at this stage of life, including yourself.

 If this interests you, then there are things I want you to begin to do each day:

v Get dressed and take care of yourself. You can do this by moisturizing your skin, brushing your teeth, and putting on real shoes.  Real shoes tell us it is time to go to work. Real shoes are a foot saver when you get locked out of your house or have an emergency outdoors.  I fought this tooth and nail. I was a barefoot girl. Now my toes don’t get stubbed and I haven’t cut my foot in forever. 

v Consider how you dress.  When we look pulled together we feel pulled together.  People treat us with more respect when we wear clothes that are not holey, stained or wrinkled.  (Maybe it shouldn’t be that way but that’s the way it is.) Simple clothes like a pair of slacks with a top and a jacket can be inexpensive.  If you are wearing clothes that are not fit for Goodwill, take a good look at your closet and start wearing clothes that look and fit better. Often we have better clothes but are saving them. More about closets and clothes in the future. I wear a cover-up when I am doing something that may stain or soil my clothes.

v Pick up after yourself.  When the children were small, every day at least once or twice we would have a “5 minute pick up” I would set the timer and we would see how much we could get done in that amount of time.  The children enjoyed it and it improved the condition of the house.  Good times for the pickups are just before Dad gets home and right before bed.

v Challenge yourself to treat others with love and patience.”

 Hugs,

Mary P

Mary resides with Roy, her husband of 38 years; they have three adult children, and share 6 step-children, more than 30 grandchildren and great grandchildren. Mary is active in the Prayer Shawl Ministry and as a MOPS Mentor Mom. She has created and currently leads a new believer’s course at her church, as well as women's leadership and Bible study. Through her “Hearts At Home” ministry; Mary is also involved with mentoring young wives and moms, as she deeply desires to help them avoid the mistakes she made prior to her commitment to Jesus Christ.

For more information, you can contact Mary at mj8849.wordpress.com