Welcome to a new series on Huntress At Home!
So far this year, I’ve done two series that centered around my mission statement for Huntress At Home:
- Harboring a Warm & Peaceful Home
- Understanding & facilitating how my children learn & grow, aka, Intentional Parenting
(If you would like to read the entire mission statement for Huntress At Home, check it out HERE!)
My third goal is all about being a change agent for your home. Or, as I have coined it within my H.U.N.T.E.R. acronym:
Naming and addressing areas for growth and improvement in my home and family.
What do I mean by that? As a SAHM, I consider one of my main jobs to be training my children up and nurturing my husband, as well as our home. As wives and mothers, especially SAHMs, we spend the most time at home in the thick of life with kids, chores, bills, etc. So it is up to us to evaluate the way things are operating in our home lives and identify areas that can be better, more efficient, more edifying.
Naming Areas for Improvement
Whether it is tantrums, poor communication with my husband, or a bad system of organization in the kitchen. And especially areas for improvement within myself! As they say, you can’t fix a problem if you can’t first put a name to it. So that is the important first step. See something that isn’t working and put a name to it.
Addressing Them
Phase two is to address the problem. The way that I like to do this is to make goals, flow charts, plans of action, you name it. I really get into the process. So much so that I’m not always great at execution despite having elaborate plans. *Note to self: need to address THAT personal flaw.*
So this time is no different. I’ve made a list of goals I want to work on in this area of identifying and addressing areas for growth in my home and family this year. One for each life category. Some of them are actual areas I want to improve. Some of them are ways I want to go about improving certain areas. If that makes sense.
1. Document and share our progress on life experiments (career)
Some of my favorite bloggers either by request or by their own inspiration try out trends or challenges and report their progress/experience to their readers. I’ve always loved trying new ideas on for size and I’d love to make this part of my writing. After all, the whole point of Huntress At Home is to inspire stay-at-home moms to be the best homemakers they can be.
2. Pray for my husband daily (marriage)
I do pray for my husband, but I would really like to be more intentional about it. I remember watching War Room and just being struck by the idea of having written prayers for my husband as a way of solidifying what exactly my hopes and dreams are for him.
3. Work on character development with my kids (children)
I am so excited for our home version of preschool to begin in the fall. Homeschooling has been one of my biggest aspirations for my children because there is ample time to spend on things that are so much more important than academics. One area is the development of a Godly character. Too often parents depend on the church to teach their kids how to be Christlike. And more often than not, that approach fails and their kids grow up and leave the faith. Because it was meant to be our job as parents all along.
4. Get involved in edifying social activities (friendships)
I really want our family to get involved in more of the ministry opportunities in our church. And outside the church, too! It has been tough being in this season of small children, but I am hopeful that we’ll soon be able to do more together as well as individually. For example, I’m excited that my oldest will be able to participate in Awana for the first time this year!
Related: Dear SAHM, Get Out of the House
5. Implement storage solutions and purge excess (home)
I have never reached a point where I am happy with the way my home is organized or the amount of stuff we have. It is always an area I’m improving. Of course, this year is no different. I’m really hoping to get the clutter under control this time. And then organize it once and for all. (Yeah right.)
Related: How to Keep a Clean Home with Kids
6. Work to cut expenses and save money (finances)
I’ve been spending a lot of time this year and last year replacing many of our disposable purchases with zero waste options. I want to radically reduce our plastic consumption, but on top of that, it’s a great way to save money.
7. Balance my plant-based diet with my husband’s preferences (health)
I have a degree in nutrition so I’m constantly evaluating and re-evaluating our diets. I like eating plant-based, while my husband is a big meat eater. And our boys are somewhere in between. Since there are 4 different diets I have to cater to this is definitely an area for improvement. I want to figure out the best ways to balance all of our diets without adding a ton of stress on myself.
Related: My Plant-based Fridge & Snack List
8. Work toward more frequent and diversified family activities (leisure)
This kind of rolls in with doing more edifying social activities. But sometimes I just want our family to get out and explore more. We live in a very culturally and historically rich part of North Carolina and I’d love to be brave enough to take the boys more places. Cause staying home every weekend is getting old.
9. Study and adopt more Christlike characteristics (faith)
Another thing I will obviously never be perfect at. Suffice it to say, I really really want to add more time and space for my quiet time in the morning. I’m so tired of feeling rushed through my time with God. And I want to spend more time focusing on my personal growth as a Christian, which takes time.
I would love to spend more time on word studies and go deep into Biblical concepts and integrate those into who I am rather than just glossing over verses to get the general idea.
10. Define my self-care practices & style (personal)
Finally, I want to improve other ways I take care of myself. I want to get in the habit of regular self-care. Things like nail care, skin care, reading for fun, what I like to wear. Right now everything is so random. Actually, I was getting a pedicure as I typed this and I can’t remember the last time I did something like that for myself. Actually, yes I can. It was a massage from my best friend, but still, that was something someone else did to take care of me. And I want to learn to take better care of myself.
What are some areas in your home and family that need to grow or improve? How do you plan to address those things? Do you identify with any of the ones I mentioned?
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