Making Your Home a Haven

Crystal's Make Your Home a Haven Challenge is really inspiring me!  I have not been formally participating, but I have been keeping her challenge in mind as I go through my day.  With my job and Christmas and preparing for out of town guests...I've been a little overwhelmed.  On Tuesday I had to go back to work for a couple of hours after running home for dinner.  My husband and our roommate were not home that evening, and I came home to a glorious mess- dishes everywhere, the table had not been wiped up, magazines just thrown on the table, pillows all askew on the couch...it was not a restful place to come home to.

 

I had some time before I had to return to work, and I had been planning on taking a nap.  It occurred to me that maybe part of the reason I've been feeling so tired this week is that my home has not been a haven to me.  My home had become a place of chaos, and not one of rest.  Women often talk about making their home a  haven for their husbands and children, but we must not forget that the home must also be a haven for ourselves!  I put a timer on for 12 minutes (15 was just too much for me in my overwhelmed state) and I got to work.  Before I hit the timer, I lit my candle tart warmer thing.  While I took care of the dishes, stacked magazines, wiped tables, did a once over of the bathroom, my home was filling with a lovely scent.  I got everything that I wanted to get done finished in those 12 minutes, and even had time for a small nap.  I blew out the tart warmer before I left for work, and felt so much more energized.  Coming home again felt welcoming and wonderful- it had ceased to be just another thing on my to do list, and had become a place of rest again.