"It seems to me that a critical ingredient which allows a home to be truly nurturing is the mother’s free choice to take on the role of homemaker. If she takes on that role in freedom, without any coercion from husband, partner, friends—or children—but out of her own self-knowledge of what she can and will do allied with the deep belief that this is the right course of action, then carrying a household can be a satisfying and deeply meaningful task. If the homemaker can infuse her home with her own warmth of soul, making it a refuge—a sanctuary, even—then both she and those who live in that home will flourish. Further, others who come into her home, be they relatives, friends, or neighbors, will be able to feel and experience it as a welcoming and nurturing place to be. If the homemaker or mother is the central figure upon which the strength of the home rests, then she needs to have taken up that role gladly, acknowledging it as a call of destiny."

—Donna Simmons of Christopherus Homeschool Resources

As an anthroposophist, Donna is coming from a different perspective than mine, but so much of what she writes resonates with my understanding of life as a Catholic, a mother, a wife, a woman. What she describes as a "call of destiny," I see as a vocation, and in these words from her Waldorf Curriculum Overview I see an appreciation of the quality Charlotte Mason called "atmosphere," which I have written about at great length myself. This notion of a mother "infusing her home with warmth"—yes, yes, that’s exactly right, and this is just what I needed to read as I continue packing up my home here and turning my thoughts toward the new home that is waiting for us out west.