I am reading Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. It is a devotional that has been on my list to get since I heard about it on Klove a few months ago. It is absolutely wonderful. God is stirring my heart to long for Him and His Presence through this little devotional and teaching me how to have a dialog and not just a monolog with Him as I seek His face every morning. For a little taste, here is the devotion from Feb. 5:
"Seek My Face, and you will find not only My Presence but also My Peaace. To receive My Peace, you must change your grasping, controlliing stance to one of openness and trust. The only thing you can grasp without damaging your soul is My hand. Ask My Spirit within you to order your day and control your thoughts, for the mind controlled by the Spirit is Life and Peace.
You can have as much of Me and My Peace as you want, through theousands of correct choices each day. The most persistent choice you face is whether to trust Me or to worry. You will never run out of things to worry about, but you can choose to trust Me no matter what. I am an ever-present help in trouble. Trust Me, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea."
Scripture is in Italics throughout each day and there are also verse references. God has been doing incredible things lately and I will be posting as things progress, but my prayer each day is for God to "control my thoughts and order my day" and He is faithful to do just that! I challenge you to do the same. We can all get so caught up in our busy lives, but if we just stop and take a breath and ask God to order our days in the way He wants them to go it focuses us on Him instead of the craziness of our hectic lives. He'll exchange our heavy burden for His much lighter one as we focus on Him!
Showing posts with label Organizing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Organizing. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Distractions
Do you ever get distracted? Do you lose focus on what you were doing to find you go to bed and question whether you accomplished and finished any of your tasks that you set out to do that day? I do...all the time. I'm constantly multi-tasking throughout the day and I leave something I started to go take care of something else or someone else and come back later to find my 2 year old got into whatever "it" is or I forget about entirely for a few day! So...I have been thinking and praying for a solution. The solution is to live more simply! We already live a pretty simple life relatively speaking, but there are two areas of our lives we can improve on in order to bring more simple living to our home.
1. Organizing and decluttering our home (which I've already been working on)
2. Revamping our daily schedule (and being more strict with it)
Number two is definitely an area I need to work on. Since my newest blessing arrived last November and the illnesses that have plagued our family we have gotten totally off our normal routine. I have noticed that the children have acquired attitude problems as a result. Because I have not been enforcing a schedule and they have been "allowed" freedom to choose when to do chores and school they have attitudes when I tell them to do something because they think they have a choice. They have been able to choose privileges first before chores and responsibilities because there has been a lack of accountability from me! This is totally my fault and I am doing them a disservice by allowing this to continue since the unwanted behavior is then being practiced everyday instead of the behavior I want! God wants me to train my children to be hard-workers, to learn to be diligent and obedient, to be servant oriented and kind. When I allow them to choose their own schedules because I am too tired or lazy to reinforce a schedule I have put in place for our family then of course they will choose the easiest route or the most fun choice. Who wants to work hard if no one is requiring you to? This reinforces selfishness, laziness, and disobedience. The opposite of what I want in my children!
So...I am convicted by the Lord to choose the right and hard choice for me too. It's hard to keep my children accountable! I would rather take the easier route too. I would rather sleep in a little, have my coffee in the morning instead of exercising and hang out for a while. But, when I do this it's 11:00 before I know it and I've accomplished nothing! Then I feel bad for not getting more done and that's no way to start the day. I have been distracted and I've let bad habits seep into our days, but NO MORE! I know a schedule will keep me focused on my tasks and help my children stay focused as well.
A schedule will also allow me to have more time since I will be getting more accomplished! More time will free me up to do things I have been wanting to do. I have been wanting to sew and do some other projects, but haven't found the time because I'm always putting out fires? Why? Because the children are running around not having a focus or purpose either. A schedule will allow my children to have more time for things they want to do too. With summer coming I need to get us back on track. Time to get back to the basics and re-read my MOTH (Managers of Their Homes) book. If you don't know about this website, check it out. The Maxwell's are such a blessing to others with their encouragement and help for homeschooling families.
Until next time...
1. Organizing and decluttering our home (which I've already been working on)
2. Revamping our daily schedule (and being more strict with it)
Number two is definitely an area I need to work on. Since my newest blessing arrived last November and the illnesses that have plagued our family we have gotten totally off our normal routine. I have noticed that the children have acquired attitude problems as a result. Because I have not been enforcing a schedule and they have been "allowed" freedom to choose when to do chores and school they have attitudes when I tell them to do something because they think they have a choice. They have been able to choose privileges first before chores and responsibilities because there has been a lack of accountability from me! This is totally my fault and I am doing them a disservice by allowing this to continue since the unwanted behavior is then being practiced everyday instead of the behavior I want! God wants me to train my children to be hard-workers, to learn to be diligent and obedient, to be servant oriented and kind. When I allow them to choose their own schedules because I am too tired or lazy to reinforce a schedule I have put in place for our family then of course they will choose the easiest route or the most fun choice. Who wants to work hard if no one is requiring you to? This reinforces selfishness, laziness, and disobedience. The opposite of what I want in my children!
So...I am convicted by the Lord to choose the right and hard choice for me too. It's hard to keep my children accountable! I would rather take the easier route too. I would rather sleep in a little, have my coffee in the morning instead of exercising and hang out for a while. But, when I do this it's 11:00 before I know it and I've accomplished nothing! Then I feel bad for not getting more done and that's no way to start the day. I have been distracted and I've let bad habits seep into our days, but NO MORE! I know a schedule will keep me focused on my tasks and help my children stay focused as well.
A schedule will also allow me to have more time since I will be getting more accomplished! More time will free me up to do things I have been wanting to do. I have been wanting to sew and do some other projects, but haven't found the time because I'm always putting out fires? Why? Because the children are running around not having a focus or purpose either. A schedule will allow my children to have more time for things they want to do too. With summer coming I need to get us back on track. Time to get back to the basics and re-read my MOTH (Managers of Their Homes) book. If you don't know about this website, check it out. The Maxwell's are such a blessing to others with their encouragement and help for homeschooling families.
Until next time...
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Laundry Update
Well, I am so happy to report that the Lord answered my prayers on how to do laundry in our house more efficiently! We have been doing our new method for about a month and a half now and it is working out wonderfullly! Here's what we used to do:
Three laundry bags labeled "Darks and Brights," "Lights and Whites," and "Miscellaneous Specials" were in our Laundry Room. Everyone was responsible for getting their own dirty laundry to the Laundry Room and sorting it in the right bin. I then was responsible for washing, drying, sorting, and folding. We had 8 shelves on top of the dryer for each person and they put away their laundry unless they were under 6 years old. My oldest does her own laundry (14). The problems I encountered were children would put clean laundry in the bins instead of hanging up clean clothes and I wouldn't know it until it was under the dirty ones and too late. Also, children wouldn't sort correctly and I would end up having to re-sort. We often have lost socks and mismatched clothes because they were tossed in the different bins (white shirt that goes with dark blue shorts, etc.). Not to mention I was working too hard!
New Way:
I turned those three bags around and they now read "Room 1," "Room 2," and "Room 3" to represent the three children's rooms. I have one more bag for mine and my hubby's room. Now the children put their laundry in one bag with their room label on it. As the bag fills I put all the laundry in the wash on cold (I wash the undies and socks separate - usually). I am now responsible for washing and drying and that's it! No more sorting, no more folding. Once dry it goes in one of the brand new laundry baskets (from Target) that I bought for each room and then it heads to their rooms. The children have to sort their clothes out and put it away. There are only two children in each room so only two children's clothes are in each bag or basket. Very easy. No more lost socks either! Plus! All of my children from the 6 year old on up wants to do their laundry now and they can since it's all washed on cold and they are doing their own laundry with their room mates. I haven't had the bags overflowing one time since I started this - it's working like a charm. Mon-Wed. we wash clothes. Thurs I was sheets and towels and Friday is clothes again.
I also make our own Homemade Laundry Soap.
We have been doing this (inspired from the Duggar's) for about a year and it is so easy. I encourage everyone to try it out. My 12 year old Sarah usually makes it for us too.
I'm hoping to make some more progress in the other areas. Hopefully I'll get some pics up to show before and after.
Three laundry bags labeled "Darks and Brights," "Lights and Whites," and "Miscellaneous Specials" were in our Laundry Room. Everyone was responsible for getting their own dirty laundry to the Laundry Room and sorting it in the right bin. I then was responsible for washing, drying, sorting, and folding. We had 8 shelves on top of the dryer for each person and they put away their laundry unless they were under 6 years old. My oldest does her own laundry (14). The problems I encountered were children would put clean laundry in the bins instead of hanging up clean clothes and I wouldn't know it until it was under the dirty ones and too late. Also, children wouldn't sort correctly and I would end up having to re-sort. We often have lost socks and mismatched clothes because they were tossed in the different bins (white shirt that goes with dark blue shorts, etc.). Not to mention I was working too hard!
New Way:
I turned those three bags around and they now read "Room 1," "Room 2," and "Room 3" to represent the three children's rooms. I have one more bag for mine and my hubby's room. Now the children put their laundry in one bag with their room label on it. As the bag fills I put all the laundry in the wash on cold (I wash the undies and socks separate - usually). I am now responsible for washing and drying and that's it! No more sorting, no more folding. Once dry it goes in one of the brand new laundry baskets (from Target) that I bought for each room and then it heads to their rooms. The children have to sort their clothes out and put it away. There are only two children in each room so only two children's clothes are in each bag or basket. Very easy. No more lost socks either! Plus! All of my children from the 6 year old on up wants to do their laundry now and they can since it's all washed on cold and they are doing their own laundry with their room mates. I haven't had the bags overflowing one time since I started this - it's working like a charm. Mon-Wed. we wash clothes. Thurs I was sheets and towels and Friday is clothes again.
I also make our own Homemade Laundry Soap.
We have been doing this (inspired from the Duggar's) for about a year and it is so easy. I encourage everyone to try it out. My 12 year old Sarah usually makes it for us too.
I'm hoping to make some more progress in the other areas. Hopefully I'll get some pics up to show before and after.
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