Friday, January 28, 2011

Mundane Becomes Enriching


NOTE: Picture has nothing to do with post. And yes, that is duct tape on my children's mouths. Awesome.

You know how the everyday mundane chores kind of get boring? Dishes, sweeping, folding laundry, ironing, putting away groceries, etc. We all know we have to do them - it's just a fact of life.

Lately, I've been listening to general conference talks while I do this stuff. Today, I listened to 4 different talks while the kids slept. I had it open on the laptop and put it on the counter top in the kitchen while I did the dishes and cleaned up the mess from last night (Book club!!). I then ported it to my bedroom where I set it on my nightstand while I folded several loads of laundry.

I love this for a couple of reasons.

1. I get to re-listen to talks that I may not have paid attention to during conference because of little ones.

2. With a quiet house, doing my mommy duties, I felt peaceful. All of a sudden, I was glad that I was doing those chores, instead of dreading them. The spirit was present, I was enriched, and the house was somewhat cleaned up.

I feel a sense of renewal of being a wife, mother, and home-maker while I listen to these talks. I chose this life - I should be proud of it! I've also had a few friends really struggle with their faith. Questioning the things they have felt were true since they were small, because of outside influences. Our homes are sacred, and I want to foster the testimony of my children, as well as actively preserve my own. It can happen to anyone at any time, and it starts with tiny questions and doubts. To keep those at bay, I must do all that I can.

....Speaking of being proud of decisions.... I have decided to cut out most meat. I'm not going to say I'm a vegetarian because I might order some chicken at a restaurant or something like that, but I am going to stick to a meatless diet. I did a lot of research into foods I could eat that would give me protein, as well as the energy I needed from the right carbohydrates. With all of the hormones and additives that go into meat these days, I just felt like it was time. If I do cook meat, it's organic free-range chicken, or organic grass-fed beef.

NOTE: Today's enlightenment here, here, and here.

3 comments:

Crystal Pistol said...

Good for you about the meat. I am a hopeless carnivore.

The pic of your kids is funny.

bedonts said...

I'm with Crystal! If I decided to go meat-less, I think BJ would leave me!!! ;-) Ok not really, but I do enjoy meat. Although, I'm perfectly happy with a good pasta dish, too.

I LOVE your idea of listening to Conference talks while you do work around the house! That's brilliant! I may just have to try it myself! I usually will turn on some nice calming music, but it would be a nice change to do some Conference talks occasionally too!

You're amazing!

Love you!

Anonymous said...

I agree. Listening to conference talks while doing mountains of ironing not only makes it bearable, but pleasant!