Dear Sisters,
"The tasks connected with the home are the fundamental
tasks of humanity."
Theodore Roosevelt
Writing from home can sometimes mean... not writing from
home! :) Seriously, it can be so hard to get time on the computer or
even with a pad of paper and pen that we wait for more than 2 minutes at
a time just to have the minutes taken up. There are kids to pick up,
little ones to wipe off, and meals to prepare, serve, and clean on a
ever flowing motion.
It seems at the most hectic, we experience challenges like washers
breaking down, unexpected guests, and/or dogs needing to be seen at the
vet.
Homemaking is such a mixed spice! You have so many areas all blended and
shaken and stirred into one base:) Husband help, mothering duties, meal
prep and clean up, dishes and laundry, dusting and sweeping and mopping,
keeping accounts, handling correspondence, maintenance tasks, pet care,
and doesn't the list just trail off endlessly? I don't work outside of
the home and have a time keeping all the plates spinning so I know it
must be even more of a challenge when you are keeping the plates at work
and those at home spinning! Be it that we are stay at home women or
working from in or out of it ... we cannot accomplish it all on our own
power. It isn't possible to make everything work as it should without
God running it. His guidelines for us are packed into one neat binding
and labeled "Bible" so we can learn how to follow Him.
Thankfully, we have such a Father of order, grace, wisdom and love to
guide us along.
God teaches us continually and His lesson plans work out in our daily
lives.
I've learned some things and am still being taught many in my
homemaking.
Five Lessons Learning:)
1.How to be Overwhelmed. I am going to get hit with overwhelming
feelings, situations, and times... the best I can do is understand that
and keep myself in the arms of God. When it is all too much... I cannot
stand it and I want to force it all to be as it should be... whatever it
is I'm dealing with at the time. The good news is that I am not supposed
to stand it, I am supposed to kneel at the feet of my Savior and let HIM
stand it. He can take it and I only make things worse if I insist on
carrying a load that only He is strong enough to bear.
2. Doing what I can. How many times did I let the perfectionist side of
me rule the way? If I fell back in one area or couldn't accomplish a
certain level in another, I would throw my hands up and quit progression
in all areas! My lesson learning is: to do what I can with whatever it
is I have.
If I only have 15 minutes to tackle a four day job... I'll spend my 15
minutes as fully as I can at the task. If finances are so limited that I
cannot buy the items to make the menu in front of me... I'll change the
menu and buy from what is in my wallet. If I don't have 30 minutes or
more for a good long soak in the tub, I'll saturate my senses for 10 or
15 minutes in a bubble bath or warm water tub!
"I make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes." -
Sara Teasdale
3. Taking care of me. It has been a life long battle to learn for me:
care of myself. I went through some years where legalistic thinking had
me so worn down and out that I felt it was wrong for me to buy make up,
hair care, body care, clothes, and/or anything else I didn't deem wholly
necessary. I would use whatever basic soap everyone else used, shower as
quickly as I could (after all, it would be selfish to do anything beyond
what "needed" to be done) and went through a very basic existence during
that time. I wasn't happy and I blamed that on my selfish spirit and the
more I neglected my feminine, womanly, and all otherwise "desires" ...
the more I felt selfish for not being fulfilled.
We can be filled by the spirit and not even know it bec/ we're too busy
trying to "earn" God. God isn't earned... He is a God of grace and the
only way He is present in our hearts is through that grace by Him.
Anyway, He led me through that time and I am a much brighter lady now
that I allow for some self loving gifts. I test and try out new razors
in search for those that fit me best. I have finally foregone the
ridiculous priced kind that you have to replace blades on and got tired
of replacing them anyway. Now, I try different disposables:) I buy hair
care products to suit my own head of hair and luxurious soaps as
finances allow. My tiny essential oil supply is a delight and I use
these for bath and body as well as household needs... and "wants" as
well. It isn't selfish because I'm not doing it out of a vain heart! I'm
just permitting myself to be cared for in these small ways bec/ it makes
me feel better and nurtured with all going on. Big lesson and one to
continually learn, I think:)
4. Routine care. If I will regularly attend to things in any area, they
won't build up to big jobs. There are things that need to be seen to
each and every day and when those things are done on such a basis, they
never require large amounts of time to tackle. My bathroom sink would
drive me crazy if I let it go days or weeks without cleaning it but I
would hate to scrub it and try to get it clean even then. Just wiping
down the faucet and sink each morning keeps things so clean! Same
applies to bathtubs, floors, laundry, dishes, dusting, and anything
else:)
5. Controlling time instead of letting it control me! I have battled
many time wars in the years since I became a wife and mother. I have
lost count of the times I've collapsed into bed as I ask myself where
the entire day went and what it used to run over me? Time must be
organized or it is like kudzu or some other out of control vine... it
will take over everything.
Wasted time will spill over the wise time spent and before you know
it...
there is more wasted than wise.
"You can always find reasons to work. There will always be one more
thing to do. But when people don't take time out, they stop being
productive. They stop being happy, and that affects the morale of
everyone around them." - Carisa Bianchi
Praise the Lord for not giving up on me with this bec/ it is a difficult
process for me. I have to really work hard to keep myself accountable to
how I'm spending my time and to learn the art of bringing the hours of
my day into order. I have all these hours running around like screaming
children and if I don't do something... total chaos will reign. How am I
learning to keep the hours in a nice working order? Working on them each
day for one thing...
If I make my bed as soon as I'm out of it...I've managed my time well
bec/ I don't have to take from other time to go make it up... it is
done.
If I need/want to clean, cook, read, write, play, watch, drive, and
anything else... I have to use simple math to do those things. If I have
75 things to do today and a few hours left to do them... I must place a
time for each of those 75 things to fit them all in.
"How different our lives are when we really know what is deeply
important to us, and keeping that picture in mind, we manage ourselves
each day to be and to do what really matters most." - Stephen Covey
Today, I might need to catch up on laundry after a week with a broken
machine, send in some legal forms, clean off my desk, call the vet, and
home school my daughter... I will only get it all done if I plan time
for each thing. Laundry can be started as soon as I awake and I can set
timers to make sure I'm there as soon as each load finishes. Legal forms
can be done in 15 minutes so I'll jot down to do that on my to do list.
I don't know if I'll actually have time to totally clean my desk so I'll
tackle what I can of it in 15 minutes. Five minutes to call the vet and
1 to 2 hours of home school help letting my daughter work independently
for the other 2 or so hours.
This is such a simple thing and so natural for so many that I've never
quite understood why I have to focus so much on it and try so hard. I am
seeing that it makes me depend on my wise and faithful Father and that
is always a good thing:)
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the
heaven:" Ecclesiastes 3:1
5-Point Checklist:
1. Are you overwhelmed? Relax into the arms of God, dear daughter. Give
it all up to Him and ask for His guidance in dealing with whatever it is
before you.
2. Are you doing what you can with what you have? Are you spending what
time, money, serving, and so on you do have waiting for more before
moving?
If not, evaluate what you have to work with and make an effort to make
it work.
3. Are you taking care of... *you*... ? Do you need to take out a few
more minutes a day in your bath/shower, doing your hair, or relaxing?
4. Are you keeping things in your life done on a daily routine basis so
they don't build up?
5. Are you controlling how the hours of your day are spent or do the
hours of your day control you?
The Lord knows your every need and He will provide if we trust in Him.
Lean on Him, look to Him, and love Him with all of your heart, all of
your mind, and all of your soul...
Love,
Sandy
©2004 Sandy Willoughby
