New here? A warm welcome to you! Allow me to introduce myself and give you a whirlwind tour of Growing Home!
My name is Jacinda Vandenberg. I'm a 20-something Canadian girl who's happily married to the love of my life, Brad. We homeschool our three children, Charity, Judah, and Anna, and are passionate about home-based, parent-led, biblical family discipleship, mentorship, economics, and entrepreneurial endeavors, of which we have many!
I'm a second-generation homeschooler, passionate homemaker, lover of medium roast coffee, whole food novice, and deeply thankful for God's grace, without which I am nothing.
Growing Home is where we share a holistic approach to gospel-centered family building with the desire to encourage and engage our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Here you'll find our thoughts on everything from family life, biblical womanhood, homeschooling, whole food cooking, and natural remedies to preserving the homemaking arts and casting a vision for future generations.
We believe in the sufficiency of Scripture, and understand that it's not our work or methodology that saves us, but the perfect redemption bought and paid for by Jesus on the Cross when he died and rose again to satisfy God's justice on our behalf. To that end, we desire to live holy, holistically, and wholeheartedly for the glory of God.
A few popular posts around here include:
5 Things To Expect If You Homeschool
Child Trophies
Girls Shouldn't Be Highly Educated... (is something I've never said)
How A Single-Income Family Can Afford A Whole-Food Diet
How To Be A Perfectly Miserable Mother
I am a Feminist (not really)
You can browse through our collection of favorite recipes (all of them are delicious, most of them are healthy), peruse our bookshelf, flip through our favorite curriculum, and, if you're a blogger (or want to become one), learn how to grow your blog while managing your home.
In my spare time (cough), I enjoy creating homeschooling and homemaking resources and eBooks such as the 1777 New England Primer Cursive and Alphabet Printable Sets, Growing Your Blog While Managing Your Home, Homeschooling Day by Day (a collaborative effort of 11 homeschooling Moms), and The Pursuit of Motherhood (another joint project involving 17 moms), and providing them to my readers as cheaply as possible.
If you'd like to connect in other ways, you can find Growing Home on Facebook, Google +, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe via email to receive updates each time new content is published.
We welcome your comments and questions as well, and will do our best to respond to them as soon as we can.
Thanks for dropping by! Join us again soon? *** If you have a homemaking related product you'd like to give away on Growing Home, please vising our Advertising Page for more information.
The first step to becoming an excellent manager of your home is to understand your role and why it is so important.
As a whole, our culture dismisses the impact of a faithful homemaker and constructs stereotypes that are outlandishly opposed to our exemplary in Proverbs 31. For instance, note who gets attacked when one young girl says she's going to be a nurse and the other says she's preparing to be a homemaker, which, biblically and historically, is God's normative plan for women. It is considered a waste of talent and intelligence to bless your family with the gifts God has given you for eternal rewards, but admirable if a paper certifies a particular area of focus and you get paid monetarily.
We must not rely on society's view of homemaking as our source of strength, purpose, and encouragement. Our value and fulfillment is found when we understand that the almighty God of the universe has called us to this task, and therefore, there is no greater work as a wife and mother that we could be doing. "... teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." Titus 2: 4The title "manager" denotes different types of jobs we must oversee to ensure our homes are running smoothly. Let's list them:
Accountant
Baker
Chauffeur
Cheerleader
Chef
Coach
Counselor
Dean of Education
Entertainer
Fashion Coordinator
Food Service Manager
Filing Clerk
Fitness Trainer
Gardener
Gift Coordinator
Health-care Practitioner
Interior Designer
Laundress
Maid
Purchasing Agent
Referee
Secretary
Short-order Cook
Travel Agent
Phew! It's no wonder conservative estimates suggest a homemaker's value is somewhere around 100K annually. Do it all "as unto the Lord," (Colossians 3: 23) believing that "as much as you do it unto the least of these my brethren, so you have done it unto me," (Matthew 25: 40) and you can be sure that your work is eternally priceless!
A woman who purposely trains to do all these things well will not just be an asset to her husband, but should the Lord call her to singleness, she will be able to minister well to anyone, wherever she is planted. This is why I tell my daughters that preparing to be a godly homemaker thrills Mommy's heart just as much, if not more, than having them trained, indebted, and degreed, in one particular field of interest at college. "Putting up the lunch for the children or cooking a good meal for the family may seem very insignificant tasks as compared with giving a lecture, writing a book, or doing other things that have a larger audience; but I doubt very much if, in the ultimate reckoning, they will count for as much." ~Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House in the OzarksOnce you begin to understand and embrace the importance of your place inside your home, you can begin to draft a "mission statement" to refer to when you're feeling weary in well-doing, or you need to be reminded of your vision. It can be as simple as photo-copying Proverbs 31 and posting it on your fridge, or writing out your own summary on a note card and placing it above your sink. I've written mine inside my journal where I see it everyday:
"Called, authorized, and empowered by my Redeemer and Friend, with the blessing and support of my husband, my mission as the Keeper of our Home is to create an atmosphere of grace and forgiveness, order and flexibility, warm love and gentle affection, nutritious meals and fragrant aromas, conversation and education." I want our home to be: (Check all that apply)
Welcoming
Stressful
Warm
Light
Dark
Messy
Cluttered
Happy
Perfect
Neat
Chaotic
Tidy
Educational
Shiny
Sloppy
Organized
Attractive
Dusty
Beautiful
Positive
Well-arranged
Tense
Fun
Calm
Rigid
Creative
Chaotic
Cozy
Unique
Balanced
Homey
Joyful
Tacky
Intense
Purposeful
Simple
Appropriate
Immaculate
Functional
Fresh Bright
Expensive
Relaxed
As the Manager and Chief Executive Officer, you set the tone! Consider the list of words above; think about how you want your family and visitors to feel within your home. We'll start talking about practical ways to make your vision a reality next time!
Recommend Resources These titles encourage Keepers of The Home in their God-given calling. I'll list resources specific to organizing and maintaining different areas of the home as we cover them in this series. These are my affiliate links, but you are under no obligation to use them!
Passionate Housewives Desperate For God by Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald
The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace
Queen of the Home by Jennifer McBride
The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson
Praise Her In The Gates by Nancy Wilson
Home-Making by J. R. Miller
Large Family Logistics by Kim Brenneman
Part 1: Keeping A Growing Home | A Management Series for Moms Part 2: Keeping A Growing Home | Know Your Role! Part 3: Keeping A Growing Home | Making Priorities & 15 Good Things I Don't Do Part 4: Keeping A Growing Home | Time-Saving Home Management Tips Part 5: Keeping A Growing Home | My Daily Schedule
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