Finding Joy in Your Home

How do we build our homes as Christian women? How do we juggle the housework and taking care of our families WHILE actively building our homes and future generations? How can we be legacy minded with routines and schedules? Let's dive in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Sign up for our 2023 Finding Joy in Your Home Online Conference here Join our private community to chat about this podcast episode: FindingJoyCommunity.com Our Sponsor: Go to GreenChef.com/homemaking60 and use code homemaking60 to 60% off plus free shipping Our Sponsor: For 50% off your first Care/of order, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code home50 First, we need to see what Scripture says about the household. Our faith is very practical. "But as for you, teach what accords with sound[a] doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us." - Titus 2: 1-8 Our faith is meant to be passed down Duet: 6:4-9: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[b] 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. What this means: the way we live and run our households matters greatly. From the dusting, to the diaper changes. From the cooking to the cuddling up and reading a book, both the actual work and the tone in our home matters. We have a tendency in the Western Church to over emphasize the Spiritual. We focus so much on the fact that this world is not our home, that we severely neglect our physical homes in the here and now. We are so focused on the Lord coming back at any moment, that we forget the very real possibility of our great-great-great grand children growing up to know the Lord. And we know that God blesses generations of Christians. We need to think a lot more about how we are getting the faith down to our grand children, than what vacation we are taking next or the next netflix show we want to binge. So when we think about legacy, and everyday routines, and big picture, and nitty gritty, we need to focus on a few things: 1. Our own behavior and attitude is of utmost importance. It's better to live on the corner of your roof top than with a contentious wife. It's better to serve walmart pizza on paper plates and have a joyful attitude than to make a 4 course meal but to be a terrible grouch throughout it. 2. The training we do in our homes, is for eternity. In our society, it seems like since we can outsource most of the essential tasks of the home: cooking food, doing laundry, educating our kids, cleaning the house…can all be outsourced to someone else now. so we lose the perspective that how we run and manage our homes matters greatly. There are two entire generations - millenials and Gen Z who have come or are c...

It's that time of year: goal setting, planning, and starting fresh in the New Year! Last week we discussed my first step in goal planning: brainstorming! Today Jason is joining me to discuss 2022. We chat about what we thought this year would look like (and how it really ended up) and our takeaways (both the good and the bad) that we can use to shape our 2023 goals. Listen in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Sign up for our 2023 Finding Joy in Your Home Online Conference here Join our private community to chat about this podcast episode: FindingJoyCommunity.com Our Sponsor: Go to HelloFresh.com/homemaking18 and use code homemaking18 for 18 free meals plus free shipping! Our Sponsor: Get a 2 week free trial of the most amazing meal planning & prepping website here: PrepDish.com/Homemaking

The New Year is just around the corner and we are kicking off a new mini series all about planning. We are going to start off today in the brainstorming phase. Jason will join me next to discuss how we take our individual brainstorming into business and family meetings for our goals. And then we will share how to take those big goals and break them down into actionable, daily tasks! Let's dive in. Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Sign up for our 2023 Finding Joy in Your Home Online Conference here Grab my brand new cookbook in print or digital here!! Join our private community to chat about this podcast episode: FindingJoyCommunity.com Our Sponsor: Go to GreenChef.com/homemaking599 and use code homemaking599 to get $5.99 per meal on your 1st box—and your 1st box ships free!

Today I'm sharing our more treasured Balmet family Christmas traditions AND the new traditions we are starting this year. Our traditions are a work in progress and I'm also sharing a good perspective to have during the hard or overwhelming years. Listen in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Sign up for our 2023 Finding Joy in Your Home Online Conference here Grab my brand new cookbook in print or digital here!! Join our private community to chat about this podcast episode: FindingJoyCommunity.com Our Sponsor: For 50% off your first Care/of order, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code home50. Our Sponsor: Go to HelloFresh.com/homemaking18 and use code homemaking18 for 18 free meals plus free shipping! Christmas Movie List: Muppet Christmas Carol The Santa Clause #1-3 New show: The Clauses Klaus Charlie Brown Christmas Christmas with the Kranks Elf It's a Wonderful Life The Grinch Home Alone #1-3 Arthur Christmas Noelle Christmas Devotionals: The Dawn of Redeeming Grace - Sinclair Ferguson Love Came Down at Christmas - Sinclair Ferguson Behold Your King - Grant and Ericha Van Brimmer Apologia Studios Christmas Devotional - YouTube

It's the absolute best time of year to be thinking about how to use our time intentionally. We can finish December strong and head into the new year strong. But it all starts with some intentionality and some planning. Join Kayse and I in this interview today as we discuss how we can use time blocking and intentional habits to get more done that we want to do. Listen in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Join our free community: FindingJoyCommunity.com My brand new cookbook is here. Preorder your copy here! Our sponsor: Go to HelloFresh.com/homemaking70 and use code homemaking70 for 70% off plus free shipping! Our sponsor: Get 2 weeks of free meal plans from PrepDish.com/Homemaking

Cooking with kids can be hard. It can also be so rewarding. And something I try to do more and more with my own kids. This episode is tips from a mom of 7 who is in the trenches, trying to bring her kids into the kitchen more, and the tips she has learned along the way. Listen in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Join our free community: FindingJoyCommunity.com My brand new cookbook is here. Preorder your copy here! Our sponsor: Get your baby sleep essentials for 15% off with coupon code: HOME at DockaTot.com

Today we are tying our mini series, In the Kitchen, to all the upcoming holidays! How can we build a strong family culture in our homes, around food? That's what we are diving into and Jami is going to share 7 practical ways they implement this in our home. The point isn't to do everything so that it looks like Pinterest, but rather, to just intentionally build those traditions and culture with food as an anchor (however that food looks for your family)! Let's dive in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Join our free community: FindingJoyCommunity.com My cookbook is launching TODAY!! It will launch sometime before midnight hopefully lol! So sign up to be notified here when I get it on sale! Our sponsor: Go to GreenChef.com/homemaking599 and use code homemaking599 to get $5.99 per meal on your 1 st box—and your 1 st box ships free! Our sponsor: Get a 2 week free trial to the best healthy meal plan company around: PrepDish.com/homemaking

We are taking a one episode break in our kitchen series, to talk about something very important: The upcoming holidays & time management. How do we juggle all the good things coming up, while making memories for our family, and doing it with joy? Listen in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Sign up to be notified of when my cookbook launches Join our free community: FindingJoyCommunity.com Our sponsor: Go to HelloFresh.com/homemaking65 and use code homemaking65 for 65% off plus free shipping!

In our episode last week, we talked about what your goal(s) for your kitchen is. This is an important first step in figuring out what to work on and when! This week, we are breaking down some of those goals into baby steps and addressing some starting points and where to jump to when you lack motivation. My goal this week is to help you have some fun in your kitchen again (or for the first time)! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Sign up to be notified of when my cookbook launches Join our free community: FindingJoyCommunity.com Our sponsor: Get a two week free trial at PrepDish.com/Homemaking Our sponsor: For 50% off your first Care/of order, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code home50 Gingerbug company I mentioned: Sandpointsodacompany.com Q: Right now, the goal of my kitchen is to make really delicious, healthy, meals from scratch but this has been so hard on a budget lately. I also am struggling to source healthy meat and dairy that's within my budget. For us, I try to throw in as many good non-meat meals as I can throughout the week. Pizza, minestrone soup, tomato soup with grilled cheese, etc. So that I can buy smaller amounts of higher quality meat. I prioritize what I can find on sale and cook around that (rather than making my meal plan first and buying what meat I want). I love cooking meals where I can stretch the meat as far as possible. So stir fry and things where I only use 1-2 lbs of ground beef for my entire family for a dinner and leftovers. I buy what I can of higher quality stuff and make my meal plan fit around that! I have also looked for ways I can save money (buying 50lbs of dried beans for example and making my own bread) so that even little extra bits can help out! Q: I want to change a ton of things in my kitchen: I work full time outside the home and struggle to get meals on the table, I love canning and preserving food from my garden, I want to find a cow that we can buy but struggling to find the farm, etc. So many things but not enough time. Prioritize, make a list, and start. Some of the goals will be years out, and thats okay! Q: I'm in a breakfast rut - do you have any relatively healthy, kid friendly breakfast meals you could pass on? Anything I can make ahead is a huge win for me. Ideas: Ezekiel waffles, egg bake, overnight oatmeal, protein loaded muffins, and pancake bake. Q: Taking the mystery out of eating healthy Our goal is just to eat real food. Without chemicals added, without refined white sugar added to everything, without nasty or harmful oils. just real food, cooked in delicious ways. And so what I always recommend, is to find something that sounds really exciting to you to learn how to make first. Maybe that's BREAD! Make healthy, nourishing and filling bread that is exciting. It might be your gateway to healthier eating. Or start with healthy desserts, that's always a fun one. Does your family LOVE soda? Try brewing kombucha or better yet, a Ginger bug! (Sandpointsodacompany.com)

We are kicking off a new section in our series here in season 2 of The Productive Household. We are turning to different areas of our home. And the first we will be diving into is really thinking thoroughly about our kitchen. This new mini series will be a little bit theoretical big picture and a little bit every day practical! Let's dive in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Have you ever thought through the goal of your kitchen? What is it you want in your kitchen? What do you want your kitchen to produce? And are those goals aligned with the stage and season of life you are in? With rising food prices, rising gas prices, and everything else rising, it's a very important time to think through: what the goal of your kitchen is? My goal: As much as I am able, with the food budget I currently have and the time I have, to eat an unprocessed traditional diet. My goal is to continually increase the quality of our food we make from scratch and move more and more of that food production to our own household. Within the next year, we want to be totally independent of grocery stores and be sourcing additional foods that we need on a monthly and weekly basis from local farms (i.e. soap from my friend who makes soap, raw milk from the farm, and eggs from another friend who keeps chickens). What this goal looked like at the very beginning: I started reading food labels. And I started just trying to cut out processed foods where I could. So back at the beginning, it just meant usually choosing a slightly healthier option at the grocery store. Looking for things that didn't have addd sugar, bad oils, or white flour. And slowly, that evolved into learning what ingredients are healthy and what aren't. It meant learning how to take real ingredients and learn to cook with them. It meant being able to read recipes that called for white sugar and vegetable oil and knowing that I could substitute extra virgin olive oil and raw honey instead. And slowly, it's meant a total transformation of my kitchen. What I want you to think through this week is: What are your goal(s) in your kitchen? Links & Resources: Another terrific podcast to listen to: Bright Hearth Join our free community and join the discussion here: FindingJoyCommunity.com Our sponsor: Go to HelloFresh.com/homemaking65 and use code homemaking65 for 65% off plus free shipping.