The Sacredness of the Ordinary: Finding Holiness in Homemaking

The rag was damp and cool in my hand, and I was wiping down the kitchen table for what felt like the thousandth time that week. It was Wednesday evening. The dishes were done, the homework was put away, and the floor had crumbs that would reappear within the hour. I ran the cloth across the same spot I always start with, the corner near the window where the light hits the wood just right. And I thought about how many times I have done this exact thing. How many times I have stood in this same spot, with this same rag, making this same motion.

Twelve years at this table, wiping, sweeping, folding, loading, unloading. The same tasks over and over. And for a long time, I thought that meant they didn't matter.

Finding Spiritual Meaning in Housework

I used to divide my life into two categories. There was the spiritual work, the stuff that felt like it counted. Scripture study, prayer, church callings, temple trips. And then there was the other stuff like the dishes and the laundry. The endless cycle of picking things up and putting them back down. I thought the second category was just the price of admission. The thing you had to get through so you could get to the real work.

But I've been sitting with Alma 37:6 lately. The verse that says by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. I've read it a hundred times, but I always applied it to faith and repentance. I never applied it to the rag in my hand.

What if the small and simple things include the wiping and the folding and the sweeping? What if the repetitive work of homemaking is not a distraction from spiritual life but a form of it?

Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. (Alma 37:6)

I'm not saying a clean kitchen is the same as a temple recommend. But I'm saying that the way we care for our homes might be closer to worship than we give it credit for.

How to Make Homemaking a Spiritual Practice

I started experimenting with something I call prayerful doing. It sounds more formal than it is. I just started using the repetitive tasks as a time to pray. Not the formal kind of prayer with folded arms and closed eyes. The kind where you talk to God while your hands are busy.

Folding laundry became a time to pray for each person whose shirt I was holding. Scrubbing the kitchen floor became a time to ask for patience. Loading the dishwasher became a time to give thanks for the food we had eaten, even if it was just spaghetti again.

It didn't change the task. The laundry still needed folding and the floor still needed scrubbing. But it changed what I was doing while I was doing it. The task became a container for something else.

I wrote about this idea in The Quiet Power of Family Rhythms and The Ministry of the Messy Middle. The way the small repeated practices of a home shape the atmosphere of a family. The rhythm of care is itself a kind of prayer.

LDS Perspective on the Value of Stay at Home Mothers

I know there are days when this work feels invisible. I've had those days. The kind where you spend the whole morning cleaning the kitchen and by lunch it looks like nothing happened. The kind where you wonder if anyone notices the folded laundry or the wiped counters or the fact that dinner appeared on the table again.

I think the Lord notices. I think He sees the work that no one else sees. He doesn't need a clean house, but He knows what it costs you to keep showing up to it.

There is a holiness in the consistency. In the fact that you reset the same space every single day, not because it stays perfect, but because you care enough to try again. That is the pattern of the gospel. Repentance is just resetting. Coming back to the same place and trying again.

Balancing Cleaning and Spiritual Growth in the Home

I haven't figured this out perfectly. There are still days when I resent the repetition. When I fold the same load of towels for the third time in a week and I want to scream. When I wonder if I am wasting my life on tasks that will be undone by morning.

On those days, I try to remember that the value is not in the finished product. The value is in the act of caring. The cycle of tidying is a reflection of the cycle of renewal. We constantly reset our homes and our hearts. The effort itself is the point.

I also try to remember that my children are watching. They are learning what it means to care for a space. They are learning that love looks like a clean towel and a made bed and a counter that is ready for the next meal. They are learning that someone showed up for them, over and over, in the small things.

Sanctifying the Ordinary Tasks of Motherhood

The kitchen table in our house has held a lot of things. Homework and birthday cakes and bills and coloring books and arguments and prayers. It has been wiped down more times than I can count. And I used to think the wiping was just maintenance. Something you did to get to the next thing.

But I've started to see it differently. The table is more than a surface. It is the place where our family life happens. And wiping it down is more than cleaning. It is preparing the space for whatever comes next. A meal. A conversation. A quiet moment with a cup of coffee before anyone else is up.

The ordinary tasks of motherhood are not obstacles to the sacred. They are the context for it. The sacred does not happen in spite of the dishes. It happens through them.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I stop feeling like my housework is a distraction from my spiritual life?

The shift comes from realizing that service and love are not separate from your chores. They are expressed through them. When you do a task with the intent to bless your family and create peace, the act of cleaning becomes a form of worship. It becomes a spiritual exercise in humility and love.

What does the theology of small and simple things mean for homemaking?

It means that God is not only found in the big moments like temple visits or general conference. He is also found in the consistent small acts of care. A warm meal, a tidy bed, a patient response to a child's question. These are the small and simple things that build a foundation of faith and security for a family.

How do I deal with the frustration of repetitive chores that never seem finished?

Try shifting your focus from the result to the process. The cycle of tidying is a reflection of the cycle of repentance and renewal. We constantly reset our homes and our hearts. The value is in the consistent effort to bring order and peace back into the space, not in the final product.

with love, Melissa