Making Your Home a Haven Week 1

I have joined up with Women Living Well in the October challenge of "Making Your Home a Haven." The first challenge is to Light a candle and begin praying over your home every time the glimmer of the candle catches your eye.

I had a slight difference in my attempt to accomplish this challenge simply because we try to stay away from chemicals and "fake" smells. I personally LOVE candles and I would burn them all day every day but my husband gets headaches and my mom actually has physical pain when around "fake" scents. Now I know, there are several clean burning candles out there that shouldn't cause this problem and trust me I've tried them all and now I have a ton of candles that only get brought out to burn when my husband is gone or when I know my mom won't be in my house for a few days. Soooooo I came up with another solution! The real scents from baking or flowers do not cause these problems with my mom or my husband so I just rely on what God has given me through His own fantastic nature! I have my trusty potpourri crock and here's what I put in it to give my home that wonderful homey scent!

I have used tons of things in my little crock some of them but not limited to are:

Ground Cinnamon or Cinnamon sticks

Ground Nutmeg or Whole Nutmeg

Ground Cloves or Whole Cloves

Allspice

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Orange Peels

Vanilla (the real stuff please!)

Basically see what's in your cupboard that you would use to make something that smells absolutely yummy and throw it in!

The one I made today included Cinnamon sticks, whole nutmeg (I grated it a little bit to get the scent really going!) about a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice and orange peels. After I add what I want I fill the crock with hot water and about a teaspoon and a half of vegetable oil. This helps the water not evaporate so quickly! You can still do this if you don't have the oil you will just have to refill the water more often - like every 2 hours.

Maintaining the yummy smells do take more work than a candle does because the water will evaporate and need refilled. The spices that are loose or ground spices will collect along the wall of your crock and may burn and make a not so yummy smell! The more whole spices you use will help prevent this problem. I keep mine in the kitchen where I'm guaranteed to be every couple of hours or so and just throw more water in there and scrape the sides with a rubber spatula maybe once a day or so. Whenever it looks like it needs it.

The second part of the challenge is when ever you see the candle glimmer pray for your home. This is the real reason why I joined this challenge because there is an emphasis on not just making your home physically comfortable but spiritually comfortable. A home that is not centered upon God will surely fall! As a wife and mom and homemaker I need to care for my home by praying for it and not just cleaning it! I read in my Bible study yesterday that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor 3:16-17) and the author challenged us to clean up our hearts and minds by praying and developing my personal relationship with God. Just as I "keep house" by sweeping and cleaning, I need to sweep and clean up my mind and heart. God really used that because I so easily focus on all of the things I need to do to maintain my home and God kinda gets pushed farther and farther down my priority list. If you decide to try my potpourri crock recipes, remember to pray for your home and by doing so clean up your mind for God to be at home there too!