Home Management: Simplified & Streamlined, Remember the Goal

I've really enjoyed doing this series with Rachel. Examining different aspects of my home management and figuring out how I can spend less time on them has been really helpful.

Over the course of this series we've:

-Tracked our time use, created time budgets, and developed simple routines
-Organized our kitchens
-Stocked our freezers
-Revamped our menu planning systems and worked on getting breakfast and lunch on the table faster
-Worked on decluttering our homes
-Developed cleaning routines that work for our current season of life

We've covered a lot of ground!

I think any time we undertake something new, it's really important to consider the goal. Why do we want to simplify and streamline the management of our homes? I want to spend less time on cooking and cleaning (and other household management tasks) is because I don't clean for the sake of having a clean house. I clean, cook, and organize as part of my ministry to my family. 

Having a clean, smoothly running home is a means to an end--creating a welcoming, warm home for my husband after a day's work, a lovely place for my children to learn and grow and create memories, and a place we are able to exercise hospitality,  a place we can do life in a Christ-honoring way.

God has given us our homes, our families, and the twenty-four hours we have each day and He calls us to steward them well. Ultimately, the goal in all of the tasks we undertake as homemakers (and any other roles we fill) should be to glorify Him.

As we close out this series, I am looking forward to continuing to use the ideas we've discussed in the management of my home, especially as we get ready to welcome a new person into our family in just a few weeks. I'll need everything (besides snuggle time!) to be as simple and streamlined as I can make it!

Be sure to visit Rachel at Intentionally Simple this week to read her concluding thoughts.