Homemaker.

Homemaker, Homekeeper, Housewife, Stay at Home Mom, Home Manager, Chief Family Officer...

Whatever you wanna call it, that's me and I wear the title proudly, and I think I found the secret to making housework more enjoyable.

Did I get your attention?

Hopefully after reading this you don't think I'm a complete kook or stop reading my blog, but I found the secret, for me, to be APRONS.

First, take a minute to read this email that my mother in law sent me. It's a little long, but so worth it:

I don't think our kids know what an apron is. The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven. It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears. From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven. When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids. And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms. Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove. Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls. In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees. When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds. When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes. Send this to those who would know, and love, the story about Grandma's aprons. Or it can be a good history lesson for those that have no idea how the apron played a part in our lives.

REMEMBER: Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw. They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron. I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron...But Love !!

Whoa. I have always adored aprons, and every once in a while I'd get on my apron kick, but after reading that..

Now I wear one every. day.

In the morning, after I've had my little chat with Him, I put it on. I keep them on hooks in the laundry room, where I can see them, and I have a variety to choose from. I've gotten new, cutesy aprons on Ebay and Etsy and I've hit the thrift stores and the antique stores to get the real deal.

The thing is, whenever I put it on, I'm telling you something happens to me. Call it servant's spirit or the spirit in knowing that I am keeping tradition alive, whatever it is, it works.

I want to do more, I'm filled with more pride in my home and how I take care of it throughout the day, and I have found myself drying my daughter's tears with the end of it, wiping off my hands after washing them in the sink, as opposed to wasting another paper towel.. I just love the way it feels. I have made homemade bread all week-in my aprons-and you just can't beat that feeling. It's like I just know this is where I am meant to be and this is my uniform.

Do you feel this way or is it just me?

Try it and let me know if it changes your spirit. Oh, and try some pearls, too ;)

"Whatever it is you do, work at it with all your heart..."

Colossians 3:23-24