A couple of experiments

One of the characteristics of a good homemaker, I think, is that she is an irrepressible experimenter. Always tweaking her household routine, always trying to make things a little better, make things run a little smoother. Though she sticks with what works, anything that doesn't is liable to be changed, to see if it can be made more efficient, more welcoming, more homey.

I've found myself in the middle of several experiments. I blame the new year.

One of them is this blog. I had so much fun during Advent, that I decided that trying to celebrate the whole church year was a good idea. And being a writer, I thought that writing about it every day would be the best way to spur myself towards learning how to celebrate it. So far, I'm happy with this experiment. At the end of the year (St. Andrew's Day! or thereabouts), I'm hoping that I'll have laid the groundwork for celebrating the church year every year for the rest of my life.

Another one I started last week, and it came about largely because of this blog. Doing research for this blog has had me digging into the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) more than I have since I first started attending the Episcopal Church and was trying desperately to learn the order of service! And in doing that, and in thinking about how to celebrate the church year every day, I've rediscovered morning prayer.

Since I have kids, the biggest part of my particular homemaking job is taking care of my children. And one of the most time-consuming aspects of that is nursing my son, who's only 10 1/2 months old. I usually use the time he's nursing to read, but I've decided that, at least some of the time, I ought to be reading more edifying stuff than movie reviews on the internet. So, for at least the next week, I'm going to try reading the morning prayer service out of the BCP while I'm nursing Gamgee down for his morning nap. I tried it a few days last week, and I did it this morning, and so far it seems to be doing exactly what I'd hoped: it's ordering my day. Starting the day praying along with the Psalms and hymns and prayers in the BCP is starting my day with the reminder that the earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, that I am the Lord's and all that is in me is his. It's very good.

And it seems like a good experiment to start during Ordinary Time. :)


The Morning Prayer service is almost like a mini-church year all on its own. It has the same structure every time you do it (like each day has morning, noon and night), but small pieces of it changes day to day based on the season, the day of the week, which Psalm you've read last and, also, just whatever things are on your heart to talk to the Lord about, during the "other intercessions" part. I like that pattern of sameness and change. We need both.



And that's sort of the way homemaking experiments work too. You might experiment with vegetarian meals, but you still feed your family something healthy every night. You might experiment with how and when you clean the bathroom, but you still make sure that your family has a decent place to wash up. You might tweak your laundry schedule, but you still want to make sure your family has clean sheets. Sometimes our techniques change, but our big, overarching goals don't. I might learn more about what it means to obey the Lord, but I expect that even when I'm eighty, obeying him is still going to be on the top of my list of what I want to accomplish.

Lord have mercy.


So what are you all trying at home that's new and different? How's it working out?


peace of Christ to you,
Jessica