Making My Home A Haven

This week Tammy builds on previous weeks routines and adds being loving to your family.

This is something I've always worked hard on; I don't ever want to fall into the trap of treating strangers or acquaintances better than I do my husband; something I've seen with others and which could be easy to do. I'm finding it especially difficult now because I think the pregnancy hormones are making me extra cranky - I can tell that things I would easily ignore irritate me so much more. I have to consciously remind myself that those things are not a big deal and I'm just overreacting.

I think this also makes me think of some of my feelings during my mother-in-law's most recent visit. She messed up my morning routine every day she was here you see, and I had to almost mentally slap myself for getting frustrated that she was trying to - horrors - talk to me while I ate my breakfast and then during what is normally my devotional and Bible reading time. Thinking about the fact that I'm trying to grow spiritually and become more Christ-like made it pretty obvious, even to me in my early morning cranky state, that I needed to close my books and respond to her. No, my morning routine never got completed those days, but it was only three days, and she didn't have to return to her home upset that her daughter-in-law would rather read spiritual materials than speak with her.

Sad that I actually had to point this out to myself, isn't it?

I'm also generally easily irritated by little things and I'm slowly getting better at reminding myself to look at the big picture and that I love my husband, whether or not he closes cabinet doors or whatever else it might be that annoys me. Would I rather have a loving home with the occasional kitchen cabinet left wide open or a husband upset at being nagged to shut the doors. Another one where it's sad how slow I am to get over myself and act with love.

This might be a little off track of where Tammy was taking her idea, but it's what her post brought to my mind...