Monday, November 04, 2019

Seasons in daily life

"Woman harvesting" graphic from Graphic Fairy


Hello Ladies~

For many years I have been interested in the seasons, as God gave to us.  Many Christian church's have changes through the seasons, and from hundred's of years ago this was because people were mostly an agricultural people.

Today, I see, for me, not only the changes in our seasonal church activities, but also as a woman. There are natural tendencies that happen in the fall.  Like "nesting". Or becoming more aware of the needs of the family to prepare for winter.

Reading things like homeschooling with Waldorf ways ( I didn't homeschool, but have found the rhythms of nature and celebrations according to the seasons appealing to me). Most any book you find from the 1800's on homemaking (free online with archive library.org) will show how women thought about the seasons, and how not only the food changes, but the crafting and clothing as well.

Also fascinating is how our daily life is this way.  We wake up, usually (unless you have a health project you manage) we wake with a bit of energy and it increases by noon, the high point of the day, only to feel that natural afternoon fatigue that asks us to stop for a bit and rest before we start winding down into evening meal preparations and the quiet of the evening.

I won't go into how screen time, smart phones, and blue lights affect this.  Please educate yourself though, it is proven to affect our brains.

So, back to seasons and rhythms of our day.  An article I read recently, I apologize I don't know the name of it, spoke of the daily activities being either more "masculine" which is the doing part, and more "feminine" which is the rest & nuture part.

Being a homemaker for almost 20 years, I can certainly see this in myself, but my body due to long time health limitations, requires the rest side.

I think for so many years I was/and sometimes still am, a "doer".  I can "do from sun up after prayer time, to the lights out at bed.

Now I need and long for the balance of the "feminine"  rest & nurture. I thrive when I do this.  And my moods and the transition through menopause is a bit easier.

When I was first a homemaker, after years of working, I read an amazing article that made sense. It was called "When Queens Ride by " Agnes Sligh Turnbull. The website this link is for is not the original place I saw it, but she did an amazing job putting it into a PDF to read.

It speaks of being more feminine.  We need this in our world.  Old red flannel pants - as a religious sister I know refers to the devil- does not want us, as women to be feminine, either by dress or by nature.

The drive to do, to be...takes us out of our natural desire to nurture.

I hope you will find enjoyment in the article, and look at balance your day and your seasons with what God has created. It's beautiful to see His hand in this when we abide.

Blessings to you,
Mrs. Peterson

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just read this article (Feb. 3, 2020), but am commenting anyway. I love “When Queens Ride By” and have since I was a young woman as well. I also saw the mini-drama of it on the old Loretta Young tv show long, long ago. I have thought of “When Queens Ride By” often throughout the years when trying to encourage young moms to stay home with their children and to be good helpers to their husbands at home. Thank you for the reminder.

Homemaker's Heart said...

Thank you for sharing your memory! I bet the mini-drama was a lovely visual of this story. I thought of this the other day, I tend to get impatient with wanting things done and when I try to force it...well, I look hagared and grumpy and really don't care about dinner or anything else. After thinking of this story, I changed my attitude dropped my husbands tools and tidied up. It felt so much better and he was a lot happier too. May God's peace be with you.~Dee