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Women's Fiction
To Love, Honor and Vacuum: When You Feel More Like a Maid Than a Wife and Mother

To Love, Honor and Vacuum: When You Feel More Like a Maid Than a Wife and Mother

List Price: $11.99
Your Price: $8.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An inspirational and warmly positive source of sympathy
Review: ...To Love, Honor, And Vacuum by Sheila Wray Gegorie is an emotional and spiritual "self-help" instructional to balancing the challenges of marriage, housekeeping, and financial difficulties while maintaining respect for oneself and mutual respect in one's lifelong partnership. Written from a specifically Christian perspective for women who feel "more like a maid than a wife and mother," ...To Love, Honor, And Vacuum is an inspirational and warmly positive source of sympathy and practical advice.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An inspirational and warmly positive source of sympathy
Review: ...To Love, Honor, And Vacuum by Sheila Wray Gegorie is an emotional and spiritual "self-help" instructional to balancing the challenges of marriage, housekeeping, and financial difficulties while maintaining respect for oneself and mutual respect in one's lifelong partnership. Written from a specifically Christian perspective for women who feel "more like a maid than a wife and mother," ...To Love, Honor, And Vacuum is an inspirational and warmly positive source of sympathy and practical advice.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the Best Books I've Read in a Long Time
Review: I admit I rarely read books that are targeted at married mothers. I'm not married and I'm not a mother. Go figure. But since I moved in with my parents and two younger brothers a few months ago (got laid off, minimizing expenses while looking for a job, you know the drill), my healthy, if distant, appreciation for home engineers has developed into downright deification. As an adult member of the household, I'm frequently overwhelmed by how much needs to be done on a daily basis.

Perhaps that's why TO LOVE, HONOR, AND VACUUM strikes me as one of the best books I've read in a long time. Written by home schooling mom and entrepreneur Shelia Wray Gregoire, the book is chock full of practical tips for doing everything around the home from cleaning to keeping spending in check to stoking the romantic fires. A lot of her suggestions aren't necessarily rocket science, but she presents them in a fresh way and gives the business of running a family a new spin.

One feature of the book that I found especially insightful is a section profiling one day in the life of three women living at three different points in American history. These short fictional accounts reveal that while women over the years share many of the same concerns about the welfare of their families, the tangible nuts and bolts of running a household have evolved significantly. This will be an epiphany for the many modern women harboring guilt-inducing notions that the housewives of earlier generations were better at running their households despite the absence of the time and effort saving conveniences that clutter homes today. On the contrary, Gregoire convincingly points out that these technological advances have actually added more lines on today's to-do lists.

And while all of this is helpful, the real value of Gregorie's book is in its discussion of the principles that should guide the division of labor in the home.

As the back cover says, this is no "women's lib" book and Gregorie does not fail to mention biblical verses referring to wives submitting to husbands. Nevertheless, she does a masterful job of exposing how commonly held ideas about gender roles within the home are of a cultural construction and not a biblical construction. Furthermore, she points out that these traditional gender roles aren't effective for many families existing in our modern economy. With this in mind, she suggests innovative ways to devise a truly harmonious living and working environment.

This harmonious environment is ultimately the goal of everything that TO LOVE, HONOR, AND VACUUM proposes.

"As you change your emphasis to people's comfort, rather than keeping up appearances, your attitude toward housework will probably change as well. Having the 'perfect house' as a standard can be very debilitating, constricting our ability to share with others. Maybe you'd like to invite that new couple over after church, but you can't possibly let them in your home right now because there are still crumbs on the counter from breakfast and the kid's toys are lying on the stairs.

When we think this way, we are putting things ahead of people. Creating a family friendly home means creating a home where people feel comfortable. Pastor Kevin Dowling, a friend from our hometown says that Christians should aim to be hospitable, not to entertain. Our aim is to share our homes and our lives, not to put on a show. So instead of putting your energy into keeping a perfect home that few see, try creating a comfortable one the people feel welcome in."

And, as a result, TO LOVE, HONOR, AND VACUUM offers encouragement for the overwhelmed, freedom from perfectionism, and a vision of life dominated by care, not precision.

--- Reviewed by Lisa Ann Cockrel

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Purposeful Home Management
Review: In "...to love, honor, and vacuum," Sheila Wray Gregoire shares with women a direct, no-nonsense approach to managing their homes. The strength of the book lies where Gregoire places the responsibility - with women's sinful thought patterns. After documenting historical precedent and identifying modern myths, Gregoire challenges women to examine past choices, identify root fears, choose God's truth and implement pragmatic changes. In so doing, she provides women with a Biblical methodology to exchange worldly inefficiency for purposeful living.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Gregoire's book is wise, insightful and a great read
Review: Sheila Wray Gregoire's "To Love Honor and Vacuum: When You Feel More Like a Maid Than a Wife and Mother" is an engaging read, packed with practical advice and original insights. Though this book is especially aimed at women trying to juggle children, households and husbands, even those like myself who only have the husband and the household can find useful tips on time management, re-ordering priorities, and spiritual balance.

The chapter 'In the Mood' about sex and romance is worth the price of the book. Her gracious advice in this area will help women to understand their husband's very different responses to sexual intimacy. She explains the need for genuine independence and mystery as a key to keeping romance blooming.

The book applies timeless Christian principles to the thoroughly modern predicament of today's wives and mothers. Wray Gregoire traces the differences in the lifestyles and levels of support our grandmothers and mothers had to the lives we live now where the nuclear family is often isolated from other family members in anonymous neighborhoods. She tells how those principles can still work, despite these changed circumstances, if they are applied with a proper balance. She acknowledges that sometimes certain aspects of Christian teaching have been misinterpreted to promote the idea that a woman should be like a doormat or a maid in the home instead of a loving wife in a relationship of mutual respect. She effectively shows the difference between servanthood and subservience in a way that's penetrating and original.

I found this book hard to put down because Wray Gregoire's style is so accessible and fun to read, but this is a book that would just as useful for a group study. At the end of each chapter are some deeper questions to ponder that would make ideal assignments between meetings. This book could be reread several times because so much wisdom is distilled into it, and its style is fresh enough to make rereading a pleasure.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Gregoire's book is wise, insightful and a great read
Review: Sheila Wray Gregoire�s "To Love Honor and Vacuum: When You Feel More Like a Maid Than a Wife and Mother" is an engaging read, packed with practical advice and original insights. Though this book is especially aimed at women trying to juggle children, households and husbands, even those like myself who only have the husband and the household can find useful tips on time management, re-ordering priorities, and spiritual balance.

The chapter �In the Mood� about sex and romance is worth the price of the book. Her gracious advice in this area will help women to understand their husband�s very different responses to sexual intimacy. She explains the need for genuine independence and mystery as a key to keeping romance blooming.

The book applies timeless Christian principles to the thoroughly modern predicament of today�s wives and mothers. Wray Gregoire traces the differences in the lifestyles and levels of support our grandmothers and mothers had to the lives we live now where the nuclear family is often isolated from other family members in anonymous neighborhoods. She tells how those principles can still work, despite these changed circumstances, if they are applied with a proper balance. She acknowledges that sometimes certain aspects of Christian teaching have been misinterpreted to promote the idea that a woman should be like a doormat or a maid in the home instead of a loving wife in a relationship of mutual respect. She effectively shows the difference between servanthood and subservience in a way that�s penetrating and original.

I found this book hard to put down because Wray Gregoire�s style is so accessible and fun to read, but this is a book that would just as useful for a group study. At the end of each chapter are some deeper questions to ponder that would make ideal assignments between meetings. This book could be reread several times because so much wisdom is distilled into it, and its style is fresh enough to make rereading a pleasure.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Scriptural and Insightful
Review: Sheila Wray Gregorie has done a great job with her book. She doesn't talk down to moms as an expert--she comes alongside as a fellow struggler and gives scripturally-based, insightful commentary about the role a Christian mom and wife should play in the family. I was challenged, motivated, and encouraged by her practical ideas, her warm tone, and the real-life anecdotes she shared. As a working mom, I didn't feel that Sheila "bashed" me, but she gave helpful ideas for cutting back on time away from home and making family dinners, etc., a priority. All in all, it was a delightful read. I can't wait for her next book--it's about sex, and that chapter in "To Love, Honor, and Vacuum" was my favorite! :)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Creative ideas for today's overworked Moms
Review: Stay-at-home and working moms often feel stressed about house chores, their spouse and their children. If you're a stressed-out mom and are feeling disconnected from your role of wife and mother, it's time to rearrange your priorities and focus on what's most important in your life.

"...To Love, Honor, and Vacuum," by Sheila Wray Gregoire, is just the book to help stressed-out moms learn how to improve their lives. It gives many examples, helpful tips and ideas, includes things to think about, and provides checklists to help manage your stressful life.

MyParenTime.com recommends this book -- although the book contains Christian-based ideas, this book is appropriate for Moms of all faiths. "When you feel more like a maid than a wife and mother," the suggestions in this book can help you change that :).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GREAT EVEN FOR MEN!
Review: This book, written by Sheila Gregoire, was one of my favorite reads this summer! I was, of course, somewhat skeptical than it would speak to a man, husband and father, but EVERY PAGE was enthralling. Do yourself a favor- BUY THIS BOOK, and then BUY ONE for another man. It truly pulls the curtain back and helps men dwell with their wives with understanding...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: GREAT EVEN FOR MEN!
Review: This book, written by Sheila Gregoire, was one of my favorite reads this summer! I was, of course, somewhat skeptical than it would speak to a man, husband and father, but EVERY PAGE was enthralling. Do yourself a favor- BUY THIS BOOK, and then BUY ONE for another man. It truly pulls the curtain back and helps men dwell with their wives with understanding...


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