Home Work

“The greatest work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own home.” – Harold B. Lee


I got a book of cross-stitch patterns from my Grandma over the weekend. Although I’m not much of a cross-stitcher, I can dream and looked through the patterns last night. One of the patterns was for a Kleenex box cover on which a little house and the above quotation was stitched. I don’t know who Harold is. Probably a great cross-stitch patternist or husband of a compulsive cross-stitcher. I must say though, that his quotation stuck with me through my slumber.

This week I’ve been teaching my children to paint. Not that they really needed a lot of instruction, as most children can pick up a brush, dip it in water and paint, and then drag it across a piece of paper, but most of their works have been abstract and required more than a subtle title to tell the whole story. And I’ve also not been teaching them by instruction, I’ve been teaching them by example. I took it upon myself to make two Egyptian banners for decoration for our VBS next week. I’ve been drawing bugs, eyes, pharaohs, birds, etc., and then filling them in with paint. I am NO artist. But my kids think I am.

They also think I’m the “best cooker ever.” They’ve told me over and over when I serve them anything from their favorite of macaroni and cheese and hot dogs to my homemade cinnamon rolls. My husband jokes that we’ll never get rid of them because they won’t be able to find a girl that can cook like me. I tell him they’ll be the ones doing the cooking because I intend to teach them. No one should go through life being unable to cook at least a few favorites for themselves.

My children also look to me to clean up messes beyond their scope, mend stuffed animals by sewing them up, and plant and grow flowers and such in the yard. They come to me with bloody wounds they need me to bandage, dead animals they want me to bury, and inflatables they know I can amply fill with hot air.

I’ve also tried my best to pass on my faith to them. They ask about God and how to look things up in the bible. They weave heaven into their pretend stories while playing. They know that earth is only their temporary home, and think perhaps it may be so too for their stuffed animals.

So even though I’ve held work positions that, at the time, seemed very important, I think Mr. Lee’s quotation holds a lot of truth for me.

I have come to realize the trade off for my working was paying others to do my family jobs. I want the kids to have great memories from their times at home. I want them to remember that they were always loved by their parents. I want them to remember me taking care of them. And for that to happen, I have to be there.

Plus, they are my ticket to a nice nursing home some day. I need to stay on their good sides!

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6