Playing House
As a little girl there was nothing more fun than playing house. I played it in the playroom where we had a proper play kitchen with small dishes and cradles for the dolls. I played it in the shifting shade of the maple trees. I played it in my secret places under an enormous bush and under the stairs. With my sisters I created houses out of cardboard boxes with curtains at the windows and scraps of carpet on the floor. But always I dreamed of my own house to keep and care for. Not a grown up house, but a little house with wallpaper, real windows and electricity. I can still see that childlike creation in my mind.
Even as a child I intuitively knew the importance of a home. I knew how to nurture even though I didn’t have all the skills. I knew that the dream of a home was the sweetest dream of all.
Now I’ve returned to the work of playing house, only this time I’m doing it for real. I still believe the dream of a home is the sweetest dream of all. Only now my dreams aren’t filled with wallpaper, windows and electricity. They are full of love, laughter, learning and light. Any house can become this kind of home.
Creating Home
I was born with an innate desire to create a place of nurturing and love for my family. As a child the materials I worked with were simple. I didn’t need much to take care of my dolls. Now it is a little trickier. There are so many distractions, even really good ones, which steal my time and my heart. For a mother to create the home she wants for her children it takes persistence and determination, but most of all it takes looking to the Master Builder.
When Nephi was given the task of building the ship that would carry his family to the Promised Land he didn’t get his orders and then rely on his own knowledge or the knowledge of the world to do the job. He turned often to the One who knew the art of building. He said, “We did work timbers of curious workmanship. And the Lord did show me from time to time after what manner I should work the timbers of the ship.”
Our work of creating homes that will transport our families to the “promised land” is no less important. We too can be shown “after what manner we should work.” That ability to be shown takes desire, but it also takes being actively engaged in the work we’ve been set to do.
Be in the Right Place
If Nephi had listened to the taunting of his brothers and left the work of building he would have never received the revelation he needed and the work would have been left undone. He had to be in the right place doing the right thing.
Sister Julie B. Beck in the April General Conference said, “Being in the right places allows us to receive guidance. It requires a conscious effort to diminish distractions, but having the Spirit of revelation makes it possible to prevail over opposition and persist in faith through difficult days and essential routine tasks.”
Each of us have difficult days and we all know that the essential routine tasks seem endless, but if we are present in our homes with our children we will be given the guidance we need. As we put ourselves in the right place and avoid distraction not only do we receive guidance, but also the work we are involved in becomes sweet to us.
I have found this to be true over and over again. It takes more than just my physical presence. It also takes my heart and mind being present in my home with my children. That is where avoiding distraction really makes a difference. When I am present I see opportunities to teach. I am filled with love. I laugh more. I discipline with kindness. I fall in love with my life. Robert Louis Stevenson put it this way.
The best things in life are nearest.
Breath in your nostrils,
Light in your eyes,
Flowers at your feet,
Duties at your hand,
The path of right just before you.
Then do not grasp at the stars,
But do life’s plain, common work
As it comes,
Certain that daily duties and daily bread
Are the sweetest things in life.
Daily duties really are the “sweetest things in life” because real life and real love are most often found in the simple, common acts we do every day.
It is this “plain, common work” that builds the homes we really want. It is being present in that work that leaves are hearts open to the inspiration we need daily.
The Possible Dream
The homes we dream of having are possible. We can create them because we are daughters of the Creator himself. When we turn to Him consistently, like Nephi, we will find that our homes are not built “after the manner of men.” But that the “workmanship thereof (is) exceedingly fine.” We will create homes that bring us safely to our “promised land.”
Kimberli Pelo Robison is a wife, homemaker and mother to six children. She has a bachelors in Family and Human Development from Utah State University.
