Homemaking – Page 3

basket with vegetables on stool in kitchen

The Power of your grocery list

Published on May 23, 2024March 20, 2026 by Alethea Awuku1 Comment

In the whirlwind of busy mum life, where time is of the essence and distractions abound, staying efficient and focused is a crucial skill that all of us mums need! Whether it’s juggling work, family, or personal commitments, mastering efficiency can make all the difference, and one seemingly simple yet profoundly effective tool in the arsenal of efficiency? The humble grocery list that we carry in our heads or on a piece of paper each time we go to the supermarket.

Whether you are are a prepper and have your list ready days before you go out, or you are a last minute scrambler, having something to refer to is so helpful when you you face an overwhelming amount of options on the shop floor. If you haven’t realised the power of a grocery list, you’re in for a treat because in today’s blog post, I delve into why making grocery lists is more than just a mundane chore, but an effective strategy in saving our time, money, and mental bandwidth!

Organisation Leads to Efficiency

As busy mums, who have our hands full with different priorities, being organised in the area of food shopping can relieve stress and anxiety when it comes to meal prepping for the family. At its core, creating a grocery list acts as a blueprint and guide for our shopping trips. It’s a curated selection of items we need, neatly organised to streamline our visit to the store. By taking a few minutes to jot down what you require before you set foot in the aisles, you’re essentially creating a roadmap that prevents aimless wandering, unnecessary backtracking and impulse purchasing. More often than not, grocery lists help us stay within the range of our budget which is also a win! I know that I am less reluctant to pick up that cute top in Sainsbury’s when I know that I came in specifically to purchase and tick off the 5 items that are on my list. If I do pick up the top, I accept that it is an extra £15 that I have added to the budget! A list helps to train us in the habit of living within our means, as well as moving with purpose and efficiency.

Minimising Distractions and Impulse Buys

In keep with my earlier point, have you ever walked into a supermarket intending to pick up a few essentials and walked out with a cart full of items you didn’t need? It’s a scenario many of us are familiar with. I then spend a few minutes when I get home trying to hide some of my purchases from my husband! (ha). Without a list to anchor your shopping trip, it’s all too easy to succumb to impulse buys triggered by enticing displays or hunger pangs (I have heard it said that you should never go to the supermarket when you are hungry because you’ll make bad decisions lol).

However, with a list in hand, you’re less likely to veer off course. You know exactly what you came for, helping you stay focused and resist the temptation of unnecessary purchases. This not only saves you money but also time spent deliberating over items you could do without. When I go to the supermarket with my sons, they are given their own shopping lists (as I am training them to be involved) and we are teaching them that the purpose of the list is to help them stay as self controlled as possible.

Maximising Efficiency in Meal Planning

A well-crafted grocery list goes hand in hand with meal planning, another cornerstone of efficiency in the kitchen and home. By strategising your meals for the week and compiling a corresponding list of ingredients, you eliminate the need for last-minute dashes to the store or frantic searches through your cupboards. Instead, you can approach your cooking and planning with intentionality and confidence. In most cases, you can also save some money because if you purchase the exact ingredients need for your meals, everything else then becomes “extra”- and extra is optional, which means it can be omitted from the list for that week.

Empowers Healthy Choices

We are always looking at ways to encourage and maintain a balanced diet for our families and here, a grocery list can be a powerful ally. By outlining your meals and snacks in advance, you’re better equipped to make thoughtful, nutritious choices at the store. Rather than succumbing to the allure of convenience foods or unhealthy snacks (que chocolate and crisps), your list guides you towards more wholesome options that align with your dietary goals. In this way, a grocery list becomes more than just a tool for efficiency; it’s a tool for self-care and well-being. I love this!

Harness Technology for Added Efficiency

In today’s digital age, the traditional pen-and-paper grocery list has evolved to encompass a variety of digital tools and apps designed to enhance efficiency. From smartphone apps that allow you to create and share lists with family members to meal planning platforms that generate shopping lists based on your chosen recipes, technology offers a wealth of resources to streamline the grocery shopping process.

If you have a smart phone, you can create easy lists easily. We use Google Keep, Excel spreadsheets and Apple Notes, and at times I have used spreadsheets to monitor the prices of staple groceries that we purchase every week. By harnessing these tools, you can take your efficiency to the next level, leveraging the power of technology to simplify and optimise your shopping experience. It also saves on waste as you don’t have to carry and throw away pieces of paper.

While it may seem like a small detail in the grand scheme of things, the act of making a grocery list can really help us become more efficient, organised and focus which we always want more of as busy mums! It can sometimes feel tedious to make one but by embracing this simple yet effective tool, you can save time, money, and mental energy, allowing you to approach the task of grocery shopping with clarity and purpose. So the next time you embark on a trip to the store, take a moment to craft your list—it might just be the key to unlocking a more efficient and enjoyable shopping experience.

What do you think of grocery lists? Hit or miss for you? Have you found it to be helpful relieving stress or frustration concerning food shopping?

living room interior with furniture and flowers in vase

How to be happier at home

Published on May 8, 2024March 20, 2026 by Alethea AwukuLeave a comment

This post is to encourage you to know that you can find joy and happiness being based right from home. You can thrive in your own environment when you create the conditions to help support you and your family. It takes time but it is well worth the effort.

By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established; (Proverbs 24:3)

Wisdom helps us to order our lives with intent. The virtue of wisdom has constructive, life-giving qualities. It initiates life, produces good fruit, creates, nurtures, fosters, establishes, and fills a house- a physical house, a family, and even our personal character with strength for our days.

Feed your soul the inspiration it needs

As a busy mum, it is easy to spend my down time binging on things that don’t necessarily feed my soul because I feel tired and drained after a long day with my children. As relaxing as it can feel to go through a series on Netflix in one sitting, or watch countless Youtube videos, it doesn’t truly feed my soul with the inspiration and strength that I need in the long term. After a while I am still left feeling drained which means that it’s imperative to fill myself with spiritually, physically and mentally nourishing “food”.

Finding creative ways to squeeze in things that inspire and encourage our souls has to be a real intentional effort as we seek to shape and stir our minds toward things that delight and inspire us to love our homes and families better. When we pour into ourselves well, we are not only strengthened, but the overflow is like a beautiful fragrance that fills our environment- which in turn blesses those around us.

Some helpful tips include listening to relevant podcasts while cooking, cleaning or having a shower, listening to audiobooks while taking a walk or doing the food shop, and reading books/our Bibles during morning breakfast or read aloud time with the children. Also, identifying an interest that you may have, and finding a small margin in your schedule to engage with it (e.g. exercise, leisurely reading, drawing, cooking etc) helps you to engage with the things that make you you. I’ve found that when I have given myself a little time, I feel a little more refreshed to then give of myself to others.

Taking tasks in bite sized forms to beat overwhelm

Some days just feel very blah and no matter how much you spiritualise or “speak into existence”, it can just be a very flat day that requires things to just get done. As busy mothers, the to do list is endless. As you cross off one thing on your list, five more are added and this can create a lot of overwhelm, and feelings of being buried. Inspiration can be hard to draw upon, procrastination knocks persistently at your door and you just feel like doing absolutely nothing even when you have things to do.

So how can we be happier when we have a never ending to do list? We can break down our tasks into order of priority and categories, and start tackling them bit by bit. The satisfaction of ticking a few things off creates a snowball effect that gives us momentum to tackle the other things. What are the things you want to spend your time on? Prioritise the categories, put the most important ones first and batch/ block them so you feel more accomplished as you tick things off slowly.

This is a great way to be intentional with your time particularly when it all feels like a melting pot of things that need to be done but you don’t want to do it. Intentionality is not about ignoring the things we don’t enjoy, because that creates overwhelm, anxiety and stress. It’s about the management of all the moving parts of our lives and, and taking back the control and order as much as we can. When practiced and mastered, it helps us to live in a much happier, calmer state of mind.

Take stock of all the positives and be thankful for it

We are prone to look at the negatives all the time because there are painful, challenging and frustrating things to deal with on a daily basis. A part of it is the reality of adulthood! Decide that although challenging moments are always there, you aren’t going to camp there. While dealing with challenging and frustrating things, we can still take stock of all the positive things that we do have in our lives and that we have been blessed with.

One of the greatest hacks to be happier at home is contentment. We can make the choice to be content with what we have in our lives, and how our lives look like. This can be a hard one because we live in a time where we see and know everything that goes on in the lives of other mothers and families and it can make us feel as though we aren’t enough and don’t have enough.

Taking time out to write down the things which you are thankful for will help you to realise that you are indeed blessed- everyday! Your life is unique to you and your family and accepting this helps us to truly own it and then look for ways to beautify and enjoy it!

Decide what matters

Following on from the first point, I believe that intentionality means prioritising the things that you do every single day that line up with your personal values and your personality. We get to choose the things that matter to us and this in turn helps build a life around things that we need to do in order to achieve the goal of what matters to us. For example, being outside for some period of time each day is very important to me.

I find walking to be a great form of exercise, but very therapeutic and healing as I get time to pray, reflect, release and just enjoy the movement of my body and my surroundings without feeling the pressure of passing through to get to somewhere else.

As this is an important thing for me, and even more so for my boys, I choose to make it a priority for us to get outside in nature as often as possible. Depending on the day I’ll build our schedule around it or if we are having a particularly difficult morning, I’ll pause, we’ll put our trainers on and get outside for movement and fresh air.

Knowing what matters to you and how you can make steps to achieving that can be helpful when thinking of ways to be intentional as a mother. You don’t need to have a long list of things, but just taking action on a few core areas that are meaningful to you helps you to feel grounded and in control of your life during the busy and quiet periods. Working on a family mission statement is helpful in this area as it encourages you to dig deep to identify the things of value to you and your home. Once you begin to lock in on this, it makes you happier in the home and with life.

Create a Christ-Centered Home

Last but not least, as Christians, infusing our homes with the love and fragrance of Christ brings such peace and joy that really cannot be matched. Cultivating a Christ centered home is essential to the quality and longevity of our family unit and as a multilayered and complex thing that God has ordained to be put together, there is purpose, intentionality, and beauty that can be experienced deeply when we choose to keep Christ at the centre of the home.

We can achieve this by incorporating scripture readings, prayer time, and discussions about faith into our daily routines. Playing worship music throughout the day also really helps to draw our hearts back onto God as well as helping the children to memorise songs!

How to make your home run efficiently

Published on February 3, 2024March 20, 2026 by Alethea Awuku8 Comments

One of the struggles that I’ve had, is making my home work for my family, and putting systems in place that help me stay focused with daily tasks, remind me of our why, and help me to work efficiently without the fluster. I am big on ease. I want my life to not only look like it is run smoothly, but feel it too. In order to achieve this, I realised that I had to put some things in place that would work for ME, and help me to be encouraged as I juggle the many moving parts that make up our household. So let’s dive into 5 things that I do, and would love to implement to make my home run with intent and purpose.

First things first…

It is really easy to pattern our wants and needs after another family or our closest friends who seem to have their lives figured out. While great for motivation and inspiration, I am learning that it is crucial to know where God is taking me and my family, and to be sensitive to the season that we are in. I think on things like what type of personalities live under my roof and how can I best cater to them? What do I need to watch out for that is unique to my family and the legacy that we are trying to build? What are the strengths in my children that I want to nurture, and how can I encourage growth in the weak areas? How can I keep my marriage feeling fresh? How can I keep myself feeling fresh in the busyness and chaos of it all?

I’d start by asking yourself some of these questions, because the answers will reveal the parts that will make up the unique blueprint of your family, and this can be built out from. Straightaway, it gives us work to do in forming a framework, and putting systems in place to help support our family’s overall goals and dreams! This makes me feel excited!

Creating an efficiently run home involves a combination of organisation, consistent communication, and consistent use of smart management.

By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established
Proverbs 24:3

There’s a practical side to it such as decluttering and physical organisation to help keep your house tidy and organised, and there is also a functional aspect which is the scheduling, spiritual input, sensitivity, planning and reviewing.

So let’s start!

Hold regular family meetings to write down and talk about your big why.

When Stan and I were courting we sat down and wrote out our dreams for the family that we desired to build. It was such an exciting time- not knowing what the future would look like but partnering together and with God to cast a vision for a life that would bear good fruit and bring fulfillment to us as a couple. We wrote down big ideals and let our hearts reach for them before they were even made manifest in the flesh, and this gave us a common focus. We are 8 years in now, and have reviewed, edited and added new things to our vision as our family has expanded and we are living the reality of it all.

When we decided to walk down the home education path (after our second son was born), I naturally didn’t know where to start. A wise older woman told me to remember that my family and I are part of a bigger plan that God has and that our home is a base for success. So with that in mind, Stan and I wrote out our new family mission statement which included who we are as a family, what we desire to do and be, where we want to go, how we hope to get there, the principles that govern our household and why we wanted to pursue certain paths. We needed a space where we could dream and plan out how we were going to create incredible moments with our tribe and the statement did just that.

This document that you work on (and keep updating) is such an impactful declaration that helps to shape and give a visual of how you want to live out your days. It clarifies direction, purpose, focus, values, beliefs, identity and motivation. It’s a great way to hold us accountable and remind us of the good and the big in the difficult moments and seasons. For me, it has helped me to be efficient in running my household because if it isn’t in or near our plans, we don’t need to spend time or energy on it! I feel immense gratitude and appreciation when I visualise this plan that God has permitted us to create. We share some of these points with the boys as our desire is to have the whole family on board with the vision and moving as one. Eventually, as they grow older, I look forward to hearing and adding their input into the mission statement. What a privilege!

Plan out your meals.

Another big very practical area that can really make me feel stuck, but is so important to running my home efficiently. If I don’t have an idea of what everyone in my house is eating for the week, it creates overwhelm for me as the questions and requests of “so what’s for lunch today?” roll in. It also takes up more time for me. You may be great at thinking on the spot, and enjoy the spontaneity- I am not one of those women! I need to have a rough idea of what I have in my fridge and when I am going to cook it so it reduces stress and helps me to move with ease and good timing on our busy days of sports, swimming, church, and social events.

Having a weekly meal plan helps me to incorporate a variety of foods and flavours into our diet. This helps prevent monotony and we look forward to certain days where we will really enjoy! Our favourites are traditional Ghanaian food such as beans stew and plantain, jollof rice with meat or chicken and yam and stew. The boys aren’t too keen on their vegetables (ha!) but when I plan their meals, I remind myself to add one or two greens so they can get used to seeing them! A meal plan also helps me to prepare for and create additional special moments on certain days if I want to because I have left room in my brain for this- rather than filling it with stress and overwhelm. For example on Fridays, we’ll usually have chips night, and because this has become a little tradition, I add on salads, vary the protein option or add salad options if I want to for that week.

Make grocery lists.

Tagging on from the previous point, making a grocery list is a very important aspect of keeping your financial goals and budgeting in check, and knowing exactly what you need to purchase before you enter the supermarket. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve gone into the supermarket without a list and just wandered up and down the aisles picking up random things that don’t seem too expensive. When I get to the till, I start sweating and doing the hard work of eliminating items as they are being scanned into my bag. It has all been a little chaotic a few times, and I have now learned my lesson! It’s all too easy to get distracted and double your shopping bill this way so I have learned to be more mindful and ask myself questions as I walk around.

Our goal here is to enhance our shopping experience (actually enjoy it), beat overwhelm and to work efficiently. If we know what we need to buy for the week because it is on a grocery list, we can also reduce food waste, use up all of our ingredients at home before repurchasing and prevent impulse purchases that we later regret. Checking my cupboards before I leave my house is such a useful exercise and I have removed items from my grocery list that day because already had them available in our house!

Don’t forget to delegate.

Remember, this is our home. We are working hard to make it run smoothly and to be enjoyable for all of the people living in it. When it comes to the area of delegation I used to find it a challenge asking my husband and my sons to help with anything because I thought that it was the womanly ideal to do it all by myself- until burnout and overwhelm told me something else. I came to a realisation that even though in our household it is my overall responsibility and privilege to manage the household, rather than over loading myself, I had to create management systems that would make it possible to run the house well, work efficiently and with ease, and also enjoy the work.

Delegation is a natural must according to the needs of our house and how my husband and I choose to run it. One of our family goals, is to work as a team to keep our home environment clean and comfortable and in order to achieve this, we all have to work together in our areas. We want to normalise hard work and daily responsibilities so the boys all have small tasks that they complete each day with our help such as sweeping the floors, tidying up their toys, putting their books away and making their beds everyday.

Roles and responsibilities gives the family a shared ideal, contributes to a more efficient, harmonious household, and encourages teamwork. We don’t issue rewards when tasks are complete because our perspective is that this is a very natural part of life and we should have pride in wanting to keep our environment well. We do recognise and express gratitude for each person’s efforts when a task is completed well as this encourages a culture of appreciation and mutual respect for each person’s contribution to the overall family goal. Most of the time the boys are enthusiastic to complete their tasks when we encourage and remind them that in doing so they are keeping their space nice and neat.

Create shortcuts/hacks and reminders.

This is an area that I want to implement more in my home. We have what we call a command centre in our kitchen- which is essentially big white board that I use to detail the boys weekly schedule (sports, learning and routines), and jot down reminders and scripture for the day or week. Displaying important information, schedules, and to-do lists gives easy access and a snapshot to all family members to see what our week looks like and it is helpful to keep things moving during the week.

When it comes to hacks, I want to get better at this! Living with multiple children can make it hard to feel like the house is clean and organised most of the time- It just won’t be if your children are at home with you full time so in this area I currently implement the 2 minute reset rule.

Usually at midway point in the day, we’ll have a quick reset and tidy up of toys, shoes, the kitchen and the boys play area to prevent these tasks building up into huge mountains by the end of the day when I am feeling really tired.

I hope you have enjoyed reading some of the tips on how to keep an efficient home, and maybe you’ll find one or two of the points helpful. Comment below and let me know what systems you put into place to help you run your home efficiently!

Crafting Timeless Moments: A Christian mother’s thoughts on creating special family memories

Published on January 29, 2024February 2, 2024 by Alethea AwukuLeave a comment

One of the big things on my heart is to create and experience special moments with my most favourite people- my husband and my 3 sons. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to plan creative and unique experiences that I pray will be etched onto our hearts for years to come.

Bringing us closer together as a unit is a worthwhile pursuit and deeply fulfilling to my mama heart. In a world filled with distractions and an easy inclination toward busyness, I can see already at this early stage of my families journey that it is essential to carve our moments that will strengthen the bonds between the five of us. In this blog post, I wanted to share some fun and faith-filled ways to build special memories with your family.

Document your family journey

I am sure like me, you have thousands and thousands of photos of your family on your phone! I try my best to not just be present in the moment, but to capture it for us to look back on and remember. That moment of remembering is so powerful for me as I lie in my bed at night and look back, and when we sit together to recall a family holiday or adventure that we were on together. Creating a beautiful roundup of your life, year upon year in photobook format is a great way to display and celebrate special memories.

Serving others together

When we do something good for others, we open up our hearts for God to do a work within us. When we invite others to come alongside us to serve, it seems as if there is a tangible knitting of our hearts with theirs. Serving others in any capacity as a family creates hearts that are missional and that have found a bigger purpose. This is an area of my personal life that I haven’t explored much but I want to learn. One way of doing this is through hospitality and opening my home to friends, families and even strangers. Preparing dishes to fill the hearts and bodies can create wonderful bonding experiences and memories, and helps foster community.

Establishing family traditions

When I gave birth to my first son I started thinking of family traditions that were unique to us, practical, special and that could be easily added without much overwhelm. Here are a few things that we do while the children are still very young:

Saturday breakfast, evening mealtimes (if daddy is at home)
Friday games night and chips
Sunday movie nights
Morning Bible reading/short devotion
Regular nature walks
We plan a trip either abroad or within the UK once a year.

These are a few things that we have started with consistently. They mean a lot to us and I look forward to seeing how it grows over the years!

It’s thinking about legacy. Pondering on and implementing the experiences that etch deep imprints into the hearts of those that we love and even ourselves, so that when we are long gone, the memories and traditions carry on a flame as a reminder of relationship and the privilege God gave us to know, love and celebrate one another.

Acknowledging milestones and celebrating one another

This is an area that is not only a great way to foster a positive and supportive family culture, but also add significant personal meaning to the individual being celebrated. They feel seen, valued and cared for and that’s the aim.

Timeless Family Bonding: Insights from a Christian Mother

Published on January 29, 2024February 27, 2024 by Alethea Awuku1 Comment

Document your family journey

Serving others together

Establishing family traditions

Saturday breakfast, evening mealtimes (if daddy is at home)
Friday games night and chips
Sunday movie nights
Morning Bible reading/short devotion
Regular nature walks
We plan a trip either abroad or within the UK once a year.

These are a few things that we have started with consistently. They mean a lot to us and I look forward to seeing how it grows over the years!

Acknowledging milestones and celebrating one another

Cultivating a Christ centered home

Published on January 6, 2024 by Alethea Awuku1 Comment

Before I was married, I often wondered what my family and home would be like.

I wanted to share the things that were on my heart during that season of my life which have helped anchor and carry me into my current season of being a wife and mother of three boys.

All families are filled with back to back experiences of having to navigate through very REAL issues. all of us, whether active or passive are affected by what goes on within our family unit.

There are times of joy, disappointment, pain, anger, resentment, bitterness, success, loss and so much more and through all this drama, somehow Christ has to be at the centre!

The family unit is a beautiful, multilayered and complex thing that God has ordained to be put together to the glory of His name. There is purpose, intentionality, and beauty that can be experienced deeply when we choose to keep Christ at the centre of the home.

With eyes and heart heavenward it is assembled together to fulfill the purpose of God for each individual and as a unit. Gracefully reflecting the heart beat of God towards us as His children, His bride and as humanity.

The Gospel is Christ

The Gospel is Christ and His truth displayed to the world. It celebrates that fact that in Him we have been awakened and made alive to the rich and surrendered life that He already planned for us to live. The Gospel is the sweet aroma of the fragrance of Jesus Christ poured out like hot oil onto the dry and barren land of our hearts. In this pouring; love, grace and mercy collide to bring us to our knees in unashamed repentance. We wonder what kind of love is this? How can I deserve such a love? How can I share this with others?

What a Christ centered home looks like

So my heart leans into this, pondering on what a Christ centered home and life looks like.

To me, a Christ-centered family does not present perfection. Rather, it represents the ever-abounding grace of God that floods our lives and mobilises us into compassionate action towards one another and those outside of the fold. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you”. Ephesians 4:32
It has its gaze, hope and purpose fixed heavenward where the Father is. The Father leads this family through the vessel of the man whom He places in a position of headship and Biblical leadership to lovingly guide and steer the direction of the family as the Holy Spirit leads- to the glory of God. “Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth”. Colossians 3:2

A Christ-centered is seen through the demonstration of servant leadership and willing submission. “I will wash your feet and in doing so will show you how prepared I am to lay aside my own needs and desires to esteem you higher than myself”. “Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ”. Ephesians 5:21

It is defined, and lives according to the Word of God. Christ is so intricately, yet visibly intertwined in conversation, behaviour and everyday life between the married couple and their children. We of ourselves are not so interesting. In fact we are pretty dull. It is the magnificent Gospel that we have been given to bear that makes us radiate. “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:7

The family is filled by the gentleness of a woman who expresses mature femininity, comprehensive submission and other Godly characteristics- all which help to strengthen, bolster and support that which God has entrusted and blessed her with. She builds, she does not tear down. “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.” Psalm 128:3, “The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.” Proverbs 14:1

A Christ centered family is one where God is reverenced, and His peace, authority and presence rests upon the dwelling place of the family. “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” Romans 14:19

It’s a family which champions faith in Jesus Christ, and where parents live this out and teach it to their children to reverence, love and live in relationship with the Lord. “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

To me a Christ centered family is one that trades in the physical/temporary and fleeting things for the spiritual everlasting things. Where all are fed by the ever flowing and nourishing waters that flow from the wellspring of life, Jesus Christ. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21, “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.” Proverbs 24:3-4

I am humbled that broken that I am, God is using me.

A vision for home

Published on December 4, 2023December 9, 2023 by Alethea Awuku1 Comment

A place for belonging and becoming is important to this mama. Where hearts find a home to discover, test their limits, dream and hope. Home is base. The place intentionally and carefully built to serve us all. A place of refuge when we need shelter and protection from the harsh winds of the outside world, a safe launching pad that encourages us to try, to take the steps needed to develop skills and ideas, and the heartbeat of all things discipleship, training and refining.

When I think about my home, I envision warmth. Sacred and natural deeply rooted rhythms and traditions that have been intentionally repeated so much that they lead our days into an ever deeper connection with each other, the world around us and God. To build deep, strong foundations takes time and considerable effort. To establish, set in, and anchor hearts to all that is good and wonderful takes a mighty work of the Holy Spirit to come alongside my daily efforts.

How I long for my boys to know the powerful, soul grounding witness of the Lord in their hearts! It is my prayer for them daily. My hope and desire is that our home will be a place where miracles upon miracles are witnessed in all of our lives. May it stand as a monument testifying to the goodness and faithfulness of God to our lives.

My vision for my home is that it would be filled with love, laughter and joy. A space where learning is not only expected, but inwardly pursued, cherished, and evolving as we all change and grow. A place of cultivation rings strong in my heart. The tiling, preparing, and nurture of the souls that live under my roof is a humbling magnificent job that I know I am called to. May God give me the grace and capacity to carry this for my boys.

A place to be. To know without a doubt that they belong, and that daddy and I are committed to their becoming. What holy work!

My boys are currently 5, 3 and 1 and most days, in the chaos and busyness of caring for very young children, this ideal can feel very far away- like an unrealistic and impossible dream. However it echoes so loudly in my heart and I just cannot ignore it. Living with my children and being with them each day is quite an intimate reality to live.

We eat together, rest together, learn together, play, adventure and pray together each and everyday. We frustrate one another, quarrel, love and forgive. It’s all encompassing. A whole life. One that I am incredibly grateful for. I hope to revisit this post in a few years time to reflect on how my thoughts and desires have evolved.

Through [skillful and godly] wisdom a house [a life, a home, a family] is built, And by understanding it is established [on a sound and good foundation], And by knowledge its rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches. Proverbs 24:3-4 (AMP)