Simplifying Your Kitchen

With the holiday season fast approaching, I am looking forward to a reprisal of my season preparation series. To get in the mood, I thought I would talk a bit about simplifying the most used (and most-visited) room in our homes, the kitchen. In the upcoming months, I am sure that there will be many hours spent cooking, whether for small family dinners or large holiday dinners. Let’s spend some time getting ready…



• Don’t try to clean the whole room in one day. Clean two cabinets, or a shelf in your pantry each day. This way it only takes 15 or 20 minutes a day, for one week and you’ll have it organized without burning out!

• Do use labels. I always thought this was silly, but here’s what happens if you don’t label each shelf… You will go away for a few days, or come down with a cold. And then someone else who doesn’t know your system will put things away in the wrong area, you won’t be able to find things for weeks. Trust me.

• Don’t mix things up all over the place. Assign one cabinet or shelf for baking items, one for spices, one for your pickles or jams. Whatever works for you, but put things together logically.

• Do remember to think about how you use the items. Put the tools and ingredients you use all the time in easy reach. That turkey roaster or fondue pot can go on the top shelf, in the back. If you use your mixer all the time, put it where you can get to it (mine is even on the counter, those things are really heavy to lift out!)


I hope that these ideas can be of some service to you. I just went through my own kitchen this week, and am feeling better every time I open the cabinets. I am planning to put labels in the fridge too! (And yes, I do have a problem with OCD, and no, I’m not joking.) Please share any tips you have, I know I always love getting new ideas (especially since with my housekeeping disorganization I do need all the help I can get.)
And later this week, I will be sharing a post on my journey to my faith. This is a very personal story, which I have been going back and forth on posting about. I have really felt like if it is something that might help one person, it is worth it to talk about.

Submitting in Marriage (part 2)

So, the last time I talked about submitting, I figured I would get some people who weren’t really into it. I know that a year ago, if someone had talked to me about submitting (especially to my fiancé) that I would have gasped in disdain.


Which is really a sad reflection, I think, on our society- isn’t it? We balk at the idea of submitting to our spouse, when we take no notice of all the other people (and their rules) we have to acknowledge and abide by. Who else should I rather submit to than the man who loves me in spite of my short temper, displeasure at housekeeping, perpetual lateness, and frequent cooking experiments with natural foods?

God loves me despite my many shortcomings. I am lucky that my fiancé’s love comes close to this. I am not perfect by any means, and am certainly no easy task to bear living with. Looking back, I am amazed by the years I spent kicking and screaming, fighting the idea of submission.

Now, for those of you who I can hear groaning in the background, I have a message:

“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husband as the Lord. … Husbands, love your wives…” Eph 5:21- 5:25

Many people do not note this verse, focusing on Colossians 3:18. Both verses clearly state that a wife is meant to submit to her husband, and a husband meant to love his wife.

But the verse in Ephesians has a prelude from the verse before it, ending with “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Eph 5:21) This relationship should be mutual, a giving in to put your spouse’s desires first.

“Love is patient, love is kind. … it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs.” 1Co 13:4- 13:5

Love does not desire it’s own selfish whims. Love doesn’t hold grudges. This is the ideal I will be striving for, and remembering to be willing to submit makes the difference.

Submission doesn’t mean laying down “like a doormat.” Submission is, instead, a conscious effort to stand up. Stand up, against common societal misconceptions. Stand up, against the mythologies of feminism. Stand up, with the Word and Truth, Stand up, with the message that the Lord has given to us. Submission in marriage is true liberation.