My friend Olivia recently blogged about home-making, with lovely photos of illustration and some really great ponderings about keeping our homes!

I was inspired and encouraged by her post, since I tend to focus on the "tidyness" and "cleanliness" of home-making rather than the beauty of making our house a home. Here is a snippet of what Olivia shared:

"When I agree to marry a man, I want to not be a keeper at home to the least of my ability, but to the best of it."

"What an honor for our role to be that of creating a beautiful haven. - Oh yes, it takes energy and time. It's a lot more work to dust around things. It's harder to sweep if you need to move rugs. Coffee-table books continually need re-stacked. But, in return we have a beautiful home that can be a testimony to the lost and a retreat for our family and a place where friends can have enjoyable visits."

"There's just something about the way that a woman can transform a home, but instead of taking that role seriously we take the easiest way out too often. Does a messy family deserve our unwavering dedication to creating a beautiful home? No, but then neither do we deserve the blooming flowers when we complain about rainy days and the hot sunshine."

Read and reflect with her here! :)