Finding Joy in Homemaking – The Mundane Tasks of Homemaking

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I’ve been thinking about finding joy in homemaking and the mundane tasks of homemaking a lot lately. Those two things are sort of an oxymoron. The word mundane gets thrown around in the homemaking and motherhood community on social media. I’ve been hearing it a ridiculous amount on some of my favorite podcasts lately so it’s likely why it’s been on my mind.

I’m feeling very conflicted about the word. On one hand I long for the mundane, the simple life, a routine, finding confidence in the pleasure and work of motherhood and homemaking. But on the other hand, I am so tired of the mundane. I’m tired of the consistency of laundry, washing windows that never seem to stay clean for more than 10 minutes, dishes, meal making, homeschooling, animal caretaking, and answering the same questions for what seems like the thousandth time.

So today, we’re going to explore the joy of homemaking and I’m going to show you what the Bible says about the mundane tasks of life and how we can use these everyday simple tasks to glorify the Lord and find joy in our calling as mothers, homemakers, and Christian women.

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What Does the Bible Say About Finding Beauty in the Mundane

Let’s start with Philippians 2:6-10 and 1 John 2:6

 Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

I know what you might be thinking. What do these verses have to do with the mundane!? These verses don’t just apply to the homemaker and mother, but rather to everyone who is claims Christ as their king.

Often the mundane tasks of homemaking feel like a servant’s life. We feel jipped or wronged by our family and busy household as they continue to disregard our efforts. They just keep making messes that we have to clean up. They keep eating the food that we have to then go and purchase again. Our daily to-do list seems to have the same things on it over and over again.

If you’re anything like me at one time or another you may have thought something along the lines of: If I was here by myself, I wouldn’t have to do any of this! All of this I do for my family!

Exactly. If 1 John 2:6 is true and we are to follow Christ’s example and walk in the same way that he did, then we have a true servant’s life to lead. Look at verse 7 of Philippians 2. Jesus was a servant and he emptied himself out for his calling.  

No doubt that it’s uncomfortable, but as we look to God’s Word, we see over and over again a call of servant living. I’m not talking about being a doormat where we are constantly walked over and disregarded, but rather a heart of servanthood where we look to Jesus as our example and find true joy in our role.

Biblical Womanhood

We can’t go much further without discussing what Biblical womanhood is. Years ago, I did a study at John Piper’s church at Bethlehem Baptist in Minnesota titled “Biblical Womanhood in a Postmodern Culture,” written by Linda Linder. It was a challenging study, and I will admit that I pushed back on a lot of what I was learning about a gospel-centered home.

The study defined Biblical womanhood as this:

The state of being a woman who is devoted to the God-breathed truth of the Bible, embracing her feminine design as ordained by God in His Word, and echoing the eternal relationships within the trinity.

In addition, there are five marks of a Biblical woman:

1. A biblical woman stands on the Word of God.
2. A biblical woman trusts the Word of God.
3. A biblical woman obeys the Word of God.
4. A biblical woman reflects the Word of God.
5. A biblical woman rejoices in the Word of God.

As the study went on, my notes in the study guide became more intense and the pages blackened with ink. What is fascinating to me is that what was challenging to me at the time has naturally become my convictions as I have lived out motherhood and homemaking.

As you seek biblical womanhood, align yourself with God’s Word. It’s okay to make mistakes and struggle with certain standards of the modern church. When we seek the Holy Spirit, spend time in God’s word, and prayerfully seek the truth, we will gradually understand what biblical womanhood is.

Understanding what biblical womanhood is and living it out are two very different things. I don’t disagree with any of the statements that I just recited. I believe in the inerrancy of scripture and the calling to biblical truth, however, when the rubber meets the road and I’m called to live out love, joy, peace, patience etc. when a grubby little one-year-old disobeys me for the 10th that day, my sinful response naturally turns to anger. Yet as biblical women we are called to have a gentle and quiet spirit.

Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—  but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

1 Peter 3:3-4

Does the aroma of your home reflect this gentle and quiet spirit?

Practical Tips for the Ordinary Days of Homemaking

Let’s chat about three tips for changing our mindset when the ordinary days of homemaking leave you with discontent.

Focus on Doing the Next Right Thing

Do the next right thing. How do we know what the next right thing is? Well, it helps to know what our calling is and what we alone can do.

You see, I might be called to make video content about homemaking and motherhood, but I alone am not the only one who can do it. There are thousands of others making content and probably doing it better than me! Do you know what others cannot do? They cannot be Wyatt’s mom, they cannot be Wests, Wylders, or Waylin’s mom. They cannot be Dan’s wife. Those are job titles and callings that have exclusively been given to me! The same goes for you.

Honestly, this might be a bit controversial so please understand what I’m saying, if are married, have children, and are in a home you have been called to be the keeper of that home. Now the specifics of that calling are up to you, God, and your husband, but I do believe that even if you are called to be outside of the home in the workforce your calling is also to be a keeper of your home.

I’m sure I could flush this out a bit more than this and maybe go deeper into the specifics, but I’ll just say that I think that we make this topic way too black and white. There are not just two options. Either you’re a stay-at-home mom or a working mom. There are so many beautiful gray areas. I’m so grateful for those women who are called to be in the workforce as nurses, doctors, lawyers, etc. We need those women. However, I also think that we have been called to be nurturers of our family and keepers of our home regardless of where in that gray area we stand.

When we focus on the next right thing we need to know what our ultimate calling is. When a mothering task comes up while I’m also doing a household task, the mothering task trumps the household task. Honestly same goes for my working life. By knowing our calling and our titles like ‘mother’, ‘homemaker’ ‘content creator’ ‘teacher’ etc we will better know what the next right thing is.

Change the Word ‘Have’ to ‘Get’

There is beauty in dirty dishes. I just lost some of you, didn’t I?

You see God gave me the strength to pick up the dirty dishes that my family just made, wash them, or place them in the dishwasher. He gave me the strength to cook the food that my family just ate to dirty those dishes. God blessed us with the resources to put that food on our table for our young boys to consume. By his grace he gave us the jobs and careers to be able to work for that money that in turn put the food on the table that I was able to cook, my family was able to consume, and then those dirty dishes were made.

There is beauty in the mundane because there is always a heavenly process of provision that those mundane tasks and made.

A practical way to change our mindset is changing one simple word and that word is ‘have’ to ‘get’. You get to do these things, they are a privilege! You get to do the dishes, you get to make the beds, you get to do the laundry, you get to love on your children, you get to love your husband, you get to live in this home and minister to these precious people.

Everyday life is hard work! Our homes need constant attention and I’m under no illusion that the tasks get boring and draining amid so many other responsibilities. However, we are truly blessed to have homes and changing our mindset from ‘have’ to ‘get’ is a simple way to help our hearts understand the gift of homemaking. Remember to look at the ‘big picture’ and remember that this joyless or mundane task is just a small obstacle in a much larger story!

When you change ‘have’ to ‘get’ you will also find an opportunity for worship. A simple way to make a mundane task into a life-giving task is to turn on some worship music or a favorite podcast. You will find that there is so much joy in changing your negative attitude to a positive attitude.

I once heard a comedian or maybe it was a pastor, I’m not sure, but he stated that women were multipliers. Now at first, I was like ‘woah’ dude you better be careful with what you say next. But he went on to say that when women are given something they multiply it. They are given a house and they will make it a home. They are given a husband they will create a family.

You ‘get’ to be a multiplier and it’s a God-given privilege, not a burden!

View Homemaking and Motherhood as a Ministry

I love this tip because it gives us purpose. Your homemaking is a ministry. There are people under your roof and these people are eternal souls. A mundane task like folding laundry can serve our families in profound ways. Not only is your family clothed, but you are setting an example for them of a good work ethic, perseverance, and time management.

You can also use mundane tasks as moments for ministry with your children. This will vary depending on their age, but consider doing the laundry with your children and having meaningful conversations with them. This can be great to do with young children! Other mundane tasks can be used as teaching tools. Need to cook dinner? Bring them along and have them measure and do math problems while measuring the ingredients.

There are countless ways to make your home into a healing home so that when your family members walk through its doors, they find comfort and shelter from the storms of life. Our homes can be healing homes that truly give life to our family members. This is the ministry that you are doing! You are creating a place where the gospel can ring true in the hearts of those who enter your doors.

Don’t Forget

In order to have a relationship with your spouse, you have to communicate. The same goes for our children. Can you imagine trying to have a relationship with them without communicating?

It might be cliche, but the same goes for your relationship with God. You need to spend time in God’s Word and in prayer. It does not matter what stage of motherhood you are in, each one of us is a busy mom and each one of us has a busy household. Spending time with God is a non-negotiable habit and without a doubt, it is the most important thing as we pursue being keepers of our home and builders of our homes.

A Note on Essential Habits

Every homemaker is going to be different, but I find that there are essential habits that if I get done during my day will make my heart lighter, my mind at peace, and my to-do list checked off to my satisfaction. These will be different for everyone, but I’ll include my list here as a helpful tool.

1. My bed was made at the beginning of the day
2. Bathroom counters and mirrors are wiped down
3. My kitchen has been put to rest at the end of the day
4. The dishwasher is loaded at the end of the day and running
5. One load of laundry has been washed and put away

These are just the essentials, and they vary depending on my work schedule and season. One helpful way to keep track of the daily necessities of a home is through home management binders. I have an undated home management binder available for free on my website, or you can check out our membership where we have our 2024 binder available in printable or digital format for iPads and tablets.

We will never have a perfect house, but we can have a functional house! Coming up with your own essential habits is a high-value way of creating order in our homes.

Podcasts and Books about Homemaking and Motherhood:

Many of these are best sellers and are great to add to your reading list if you have not read them already.

1. Disciples of a Godly Woman – a great book for discovering spiritual disciplines
2. Biblical Womanhood in a Postmodern Culture
3. Risen Motherhood
4. Lifegiving Home
5. Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast
6. Homemaker Chic Podcast
7. The Art of Home Podcast
8. Homemaking Foundations Podcast
9. The Durenda Wilson Podcast (I love her podcast episode on the overwhelmed mom ep. 487!)

Finding Joy in Homemaking and the Mundane Tasks

Have you ever found that you get frustrated by the mundane tasks of homemaking and motherhood? Doing the various aspects of homemaking can feel mundane and frustrating at times, or maybe all of the time! Truthfully one task that I’m sick of right now is washing my windows. Our home is positioned in such a way that sunlight shows every streak and handprint. I have no solution for finding joy in homemaking as I wash my windows besides that it is a task that needs to be done regularly and I have to pray through my frustration and switch my mindset to find joy.

Honestly, if the biggest project of my day is to find joy in washing the windows, I am pretty blessed! However, do you know what would become toxic? If I allowed my dirty windows to dictate my emotions! Too often I’ve found that ‘mom rage’ explodes out simply because my external environment is causing me stress. Joyful homemaking will come as we continually seek the Lord in these mundane moments that cause us emotional friction.

Seek the Lord and his strength;
    seek his presence continually!

Psalms 105:4

You will find that as Christian homemakers continually seeking the Lord throughout the day will make a world of difference in our attitude and how we treat our family! Real joy comes from the Lord and not our present circumstances.

How about you? What mundane homemaking task can you find joy in this week? What is a simple way that you can glorify God in the mundane? I hope you have found this encouragement helpful as you walk your journey of finding joy in homemaking!

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