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 Schedules. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Schedules. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Monday, November 7, 2011
Above Rubies Retreat 2011
I was so blessed to be able to attend the Above Rubies Retreat a week ago in Zephyr Cove, Lake Tahoe! My wonderful hubby more than encouraged me to go and I also was doubly blessed to go with my new very dear friend, Laura! Laura is from Santa Cruz originally and we never met when we were both living there. However, we both have 7 children and embrace the Lord's blessings with open arms. We have all the same friends from Santa Cruz, but never crossed paths in the 10+ years we lived their at the same time! Anyway, we had such a great time together listening to Nancy's message on motherhood and our roles as godly wives.
Nancy spoke about "The Overflowing Land" - in other words our homes are to be overflowing.
First, God made our homes to be "A Good Land" (Numbers 14:7) that is to be overflowing with hospitality to others and healthy foods and meals.
Second, our homes are to be "A Delightful Land" (Psalm 106:24-25) that brings God glory. Nancy says "Motherhood is the glory of the nation!" But, many mothers do not have that revelation of motherhood being glorious. Instead they despise their land only wanting their children to grow up quick or even to go to work to escape "their land" instead of delighting in it each new day. They are like the Israelites, despising their land that God brought them in to.
Third, our homes are "A large Land" (Exodus 3:8). Do you realize that when couples say no to just one child because they feel they are too tired, it would be inconvenient, too expensive, or whatever other excuse they have that is self driven, they are actually effecting thousands, even millions of people for God? One child can be a future dynasty for God! I couldn't imagine if we had said no after having just three children, we wouldn't have Jonathan, Sophie, Joshua, or Eliana!
Satan wants to minimize Israel and in the same way he wants to minimize godly families that can be Nation Changers - World Changers! He wants to minimize our land and when godly Christians use excuses to stop God's blessings upon their lives they are giving in to Satan and selfishness. There are so many verses in the Bible about children being a blessing and a gift from God. God commanded Adam and Eve to "be fruitful and multiply" and that command hasn't gone away. God's desire is to have more children in Heaven with Him! How can that be if Christians continue to say no to God's blessings for children? How can anyone refuse God and especially take part in "birth control" contraceptives when they are so clearly not from Him? Many contraceptives are actually abortificants and many babies have died through naive use of the Pill and other types of contraceptives and even Christians that are pro-Life have no idea that this happens! It breaks my heart! Read about it here.
Fourth, our land is to be "A Flowing Land." Twenty times in the Bible it talks about the land being flowing with milk and honey. Are you "flowing" in your land or are you doing your motherhood or fatherhood role "out of duty?" Are you being creative and joyful with your children each day? Are you abounding in the work of the Lord? Are you reaching out to the needy, loving your children, and loving your husband or wife? We have to constantly remind ourselves to ABOUND in order to have our land be flowing with God's love and fruitfulness!
We must strive to have a land flowing with milk. What does it mean to flow with milk? Milk in the Bible represents nourishing and nurturing. Are you nourishing and nurturing your children? Do you plan and prepare nourishing meals for your family? Do you take the time to think about what God would want you to feed your family? Or do you just quickly grab a meal full of preservatives and junk for their bodies because you are too busy running around from here to there and not being purposeful in your day?
I have to admit, I am guilty of this. I need to spend more time planning and preparing nourishing meals and am making a commitment to ask God to help me with this. It takes self-discipline to plan and also say "no" to things that have become a habit in your diet and that are unhealthy. God will bless your efforts!
God wants us to nourish and nurture our families. Are you nurturing your family? Are you comforting your children and taking the time to just be quiet and let them talk? Or are you running around commanding them and telling them what to do and what not to do all day because of your business? Stop and smell the roses with them or watch a sunset. Take time to just sit and be still and enjoy them. Read to them, play games with them, or relax with them. There is always time to do one more thing or go one more place, but we must stop and just "be" with our family to bond and make memories. Along this same subject of nurturing is lovingly managing our homes. There is something within us that wants to manage our homes each day. Do you manage well or in a "crazy state?" Are you calm? Do you bring peace and harmony to your daily activities? Or do you cause chaos with your words and attitude? The mother creates the atmosphere in her home. Do you use "sweet words" in your home management? We must manage the home with both gentleness and efficiency and seek the Lord to find out what that looks like for our family.
Fifth, our land is a "Dependent Land." Deuteronomy 11 talks about how Israel had to completely depend on God for water and God supplied it for them. In the same way, we need to completely depend on God in our homes. We need to go to God for wisdom, help, and understanding and completely depend on him for taking care of our children, home, and husband EVERY day. When we choose not to pray for God's help and wisdom, it is only showing that we think we can accomplish what WE want by ourself and that we don't need God. We need to have a continual conversation going on with God throughout each day asking for help and wisdom in every decision.
Sixth, our land is a "Fruitful Land." When the Israelites were captive in Babylon God told them what to do...we can follow that same commands today. This is what God said:
1. Build houses and dwell in them.
2. Plant gardens and eat.
3. Take wives and have children.
4. Have grandchildren.
5. Increase (do not be diminished)
6. Seek peace, pray for the city
7. Don't be deceived!
Isn't it so simple? God's ways are so simple and yet we still choose not to follow them. We cannot pick and choose what verses or commands from the Bible we want to choose and not follow all of them based on what we think or want. For example, we cannot say well, I will follow #1 because I do want a house and #2 because I agree it's good to have a garden and eat organic. And, #3, yes I'll get married, but I'm not ready to have children yet, so I'll wait on that. #4, grandchildren, sure that will come later. But, #5, no I don't want to increase yet, that must not apply to my situation today since God wanted the Israelites to increase back then, but surely that doesn't apply today...and so on. It is a sin to pick and choose only part of what God wants. We are not being humble if we decide what God wants by only following some of his Word an not all! We need to follow the Word 100% even if it is scary. But, it is only scary if we aren't truly putting our complete faith in Him. He IS in control!
Finally, our land is a "Life Giving Land." God is a God of LIFE. We have to be pro-life in everything we do. We must strive to eat life-giving foods, not dead junky foods, and feed ourselves and our families well. We must strive to have life-giving attitudes towards our children and family and speak life giving words into them by blessing them and telling them what a blessing they are to our family and to the world! We must strive to think life-giving thoughts, not destructive thoughts that will only break and tear down ourselves and our families, taking every thought captive. And, finally we should be open to Life from God. He is the life giver and He has the power to open and close the woman's womb. He is in control of that and we should never pretend that we should be in control of life!
Nancy spoke about "The Overflowing Land" - in other words our homes are to be overflowing.
First, God made our homes to be "A Good Land" (Numbers 14:7) that is to be overflowing with hospitality to others and healthy foods and meals.
Second, our homes are to be "A Delightful Land" (Psalm 106:24-25) that brings God glory. Nancy says "Motherhood is the glory of the nation!" But, many mothers do not have that revelation of motherhood being glorious. Instead they despise their land only wanting their children to grow up quick or even to go to work to escape "their land" instead of delighting in it each new day. They are like the Israelites, despising their land that God brought them in to.
Third, our homes are "A large Land" (Exodus 3:8). Do you realize that when couples say no to just one child because they feel they are too tired, it would be inconvenient, too expensive, or whatever other excuse they have that is self driven, they are actually effecting thousands, even millions of people for God? One child can be a future dynasty for God! I couldn't imagine if we had said no after having just three children, we wouldn't have Jonathan, Sophie, Joshua, or Eliana!
Satan wants to minimize Israel and in the same way he wants to minimize godly families that can be Nation Changers - World Changers! He wants to minimize our land and when godly Christians use excuses to stop God's blessings upon their lives they are giving in to Satan and selfishness. There are so many verses in the Bible about children being a blessing and a gift from God. God commanded Adam and Eve to "be fruitful and multiply" and that command hasn't gone away. God's desire is to have more children in Heaven with Him! How can that be if Christians continue to say no to God's blessings for children? How can anyone refuse God and especially take part in "birth control" contraceptives when they are so clearly not from Him? Many contraceptives are actually abortificants and many babies have died through naive use of the Pill and other types of contraceptives and even Christians that are pro-Life have no idea that this happens! It breaks my heart! Read about it here.
Fourth, our land is to be "A Flowing Land." Twenty times in the Bible it talks about the land being flowing with milk and honey. Are you "flowing" in your land or are you doing your motherhood or fatherhood role "out of duty?" Are you being creative and joyful with your children each day? Are you abounding in the work of the Lord? Are you reaching out to the needy, loving your children, and loving your husband or wife? We have to constantly remind ourselves to ABOUND in order to have our land be flowing with God's love and fruitfulness!
We must strive to have a land flowing with milk. What does it mean to flow with milk? Milk in the Bible represents nourishing and nurturing. Are you nourishing and nurturing your children? Do you plan and prepare nourishing meals for your family? Do you take the time to think about what God would want you to feed your family? Or do you just quickly grab a meal full of preservatives and junk for their bodies because you are too busy running around from here to there and not being purposeful in your day?
I have to admit, I am guilty of this. I need to spend more time planning and preparing nourishing meals and am making a commitment to ask God to help me with this. It takes self-discipline to plan and also say "no" to things that have become a habit in your diet and that are unhealthy. God will bless your efforts!
God wants us to nourish and nurture our families. Are you nurturing your family? Are you comforting your children and taking the time to just be quiet and let them talk? Or are you running around commanding them and telling them what to do and what not to do all day because of your business? Stop and smell the roses with them or watch a sunset. Take time to just sit and be still and enjoy them. Read to them, play games with them, or relax with them. There is always time to do one more thing or go one more place, but we must stop and just "be" with our family to bond and make memories. Along this same subject of nurturing is lovingly managing our homes. There is something within us that wants to manage our homes each day. Do you manage well or in a "crazy state?" Are you calm? Do you bring peace and harmony to your daily activities? Or do you cause chaos with your words and attitude? The mother creates the atmosphere in her home. Do you use "sweet words" in your home management? We must manage the home with both gentleness and efficiency and seek the Lord to find out what that looks like for our family.
Fifth, our land is a "Dependent Land." Deuteronomy 11 talks about how Israel had to completely depend on God for water and God supplied it for them. In the same way, we need to completely depend on God in our homes. We need to go to God for wisdom, help, and understanding and completely depend on him for taking care of our children, home, and husband EVERY day. When we choose not to pray for God's help and wisdom, it is only showing that we think we can accomplish what WE want by ourself and that we don't need God. We need to have a continual conversation going on with God throughout each day asking for help and wisdom in every decision.
Sixth, our land is a "Fruitful Land." When the Israelites were captive in Babylon God told them what to do...we can follow that same commands today. This is what God said:
1. Build houses and dwell in them.
2. Plant gardens and eat.
3. Take wives and have children.
4. Have grandchildren.
5. Increase (do not be diminished)
6. Seek peace, pray for the city
7. Don't be deceived!
Isn't it so simple? God's ways are so simple and yet we still choose not to follow them. We cannot pick and choose what verses or commands from the Bible we want to choose and not follow all of them based on what we think or want. For example, we cannot say well, I will follow #1 because I do want a house and #2 because I agree it's good to have a garden and eat organic. And, #3, yes I'll get married, but I'm not ready to have children yet, so I'll wait on that. #4, grandchildren, sure that will come later. But, #5, no I don't want to increase yet, that must not apply to my situation today since God wanted the Israelites to increase back then, but surely that doesn't apply today...and so on. It is a sin to pick and choose only part of what God wants. We are not being humble if we decide what God wants by only following some of his Word an not all! We need to follow the Word 100% even if it is scary. But, it is only scary if we aren't truly putting our complete faith in Him. He IS in control!
Finally, our land is a "Life Giving Land." God is a God of LIFE. We have to be pro-life in everything we do. We must strive to eat life-giving foods, not dead junky foods, and feed ourselves and our families well. We must strive to have life-giving attitudes towards our children and family and speak life giving words into them by blessing them and telling them what a blessing they are to our family and to the world! We must strive to think life-giving thoughts, not destructive thoughts that will only break and tear down ourselves and our families, taking every thought captive. And, finally we should be open to Life from God. He is the life giver and He has the power to open and close the woman's womb. He is in control of that and we should never pretend that we should be in control of life!
Here's Nancy, Eliana, and I on our last day at the retreat!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Managing our Homes God's Way
I love the straight-forwardness of the book of James and my Yearly Bible Plan has me reading through James this week.
I have been struggling with a lack of self control lately in some areas that God wants me to change in regards to how I run our home. Change is always hard and I find it's even harder when dealing with old habits that are hard to break. I realized after reading the following verses that my lack of self control was actually disguising itself as "temptation" since it was causing me to follow my own desires and be dragged away from God's desire for me. My lack of obedience to making the changes was actually sin.
Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. James 1:14-15
Isn't it amazing how many ways we can be tempted to do something we know we shouldn't and how that temptation can drag us away from what God wants us to be doing and then grow into actual sinful actions? As a Mommy my #1 priority is to be the Manager of my Home by supporting my husband in every way possible, caring for my children, and running my home efficiently. But, oftentimes, I am tempted to do other things that are more inviting and easier like being on the computer, sleeping in, and eating unhealthy foods (to name a few), that "drag" me away from my God-given duties as a Mommy.
Some things that God has placed on my heart lately to change in relation to managing our family are: having family devotions morning and evening, having a weekly Shabbat meal, eating healthier as a family, and being more accountable with how we spend our time each day. But, alas, each of these three areas require self control in order to accomplish the new habit of devotions, Shabbat meal, better eating, and time management. I love what Peter says in I Peter 1:13-14
So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
Isn't it true that when we don't exercise self control to do what God wants (or attempting to live a Holy life) we are simply satisfying our own desires? God makes it so simple! In everything we do we have to make a choice: 1. Do what God wants or 2. Satisfy our own selfish desires.
As Mom's we need God's help to manage our homes. If He is calling you to a higher standard or to a different way of doing things like starting to have devotions twice a day or eating healthier foods, then you need to go to Him to seek how He wants you to do it. That may mean it looks different from your friend's way of doing things because God has a plan for your family. God promises to give us wisdom if we ask:
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. James 1:5
So, we need to pray for wisdom on how to manage OUR homes and we need to obey when He shows us how. Let's start obeying today and managing our homes God's way!
I have been struggling with a lack of self control lately in some areas that God wants me to change in regards to how I run our home. Change is always hard and I find it's even harder when dealing with old habits that are hard to break. I realized after reading the following verses that my lack of self control was actually disguising itself as "temptation" since it was causing me to follow my own desires and be dragged away from God's desire for me. My lack of obedience to making the changes was actually sin.
Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. James 1:14-15
Isn't it amazing how many ways we can be tempted to do something we know we shouldn't and how that temptation can drag us away from what God wants us to be doing and then grow into actual sinful actions? As a Mommy my #1 priority is to be the Manager of my Home by supporting my husband in every way possible, caring for my children, and running my home efficiently. But, oftentimes, I am tempted to do other things that are more inviting and easier like being on the computer, sleeping in, and eating unhealthy foods (to name a few), that "drag" me away from my God-given duties as a Mommy.
Some things that God has placed on my heart lately to change in relation to managing our family are: having family devotions morning and evening, having a weekly Shabbat meal, eating healthier as a family, and being more accountable with how we spend our time each day. But, alas, each of these three areas require self control in order to accomplish the new habit of devotions, Shabbat meal, better eating, and time management. I love what Peter says in I Peter 1:13-14
So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
Isn't it true that when we don't exercise self control to do what God wants (or attempting to live a Holy life) we are simply satisfying our own desires? God makes it so simple! In everything we do we have to make a choice: 1. Do what God wants or 2. Satisfy our own selfish desires.
As Mom's we need God's help to manage our homes. If He is calling you to a higher standard or to a different way of doing things like starting to have devotions twice a day or eating healthier foods, then you need to go to Him to seek how He wants you to do it. That may mean it looks different from your friend's way of doing things because God has a plan for your family. God promises to give us wisdom if we ask:
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. James 1:5
So, we need to pray for wisdom on how to manage OUR homes and we need to obey when He shows us how. Let's start obeying today and managing our homes God's way!
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...
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Schedules and Time Management
Boy have I been lazy lately! I have always loved schedules and being orderly, but over the years I have had to learn how to relax a little because I'm married to a very spontaneous man who doesn't wear a watch and who loves living in the moment! However, the Lord is changing him lately and he has been telling me that I need to be stricter with the children and get them back on a better routine and schedule. I guess I have gotten too lax! So...we are adding more structure to our lives. Today was the first day of our new routine and it went really great! I am taking baby steps and praying a lot! Here are some changes we are making...
1. Get up on time. In our house that means by 8:00 am. None of us are morning people and we have gotten into the habit of sleeping in too late.
2. All of us will eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. We will follow the meal plan for the day that I have made in advance. I make a meal plan, but have been lax in enforcing it lately for breakfast and lunch and as a result the older children have been eating what they want which is a lot of times very unhealthy. Also, when we stick to a plan we save money in the long run!
3. We all do our chores together. In our house that means three times a day...Morning Jobs, Day Jobs, and Night Jobs. I have also been slacking in this area with keeping the children and myself accountable, but not anymore :)
4. Mom gets up before the children (7:30) to exercise and then spend some time in the Word. I am currently re-reading The Power of Motherhood by Nancy Campbell of Above Rubies. Love it!
5. Everyone in bed by 9:00 pm. Mom goes to bed by 11:00 or earlier.
6. Last, but not least, be thankful and joyful in all we do. Show the children by my example that I am thankful that I am able to take care of them and our home on a daily basis. More is caught than taught!
If I can stick to these basics our days go so much smoother. Here's a look at our basic schedule by the hour that I'm trying to stick too. We did pretty good today.
7:30 Mom wakes to exercise and spend time with God. Older girls read Bibles in bed.
8:00 Morning Jobs: make bed, shower, get dressed, brush teeth, brush hair, help buddies (older coupled with a younger child), feed pets, and general clean up.
9:00 Eat breakfast together and have Bible time as a family. Clean up kitchen.
10:00 All kids start school. Mom works with non-readers.
11:00 Continue school
12:00 Lunch and clean up
1:00 Continue school for older children. Quiet time for younger children.
2:00 Monday: Baking Day
Tuesday: Gymnastics for older four children while Mom runs errands
Wednesday: Library Day and other errands
Thursday: Music Day: Practice praise and worship songs
Friday: Sewing and Arts/Crafts Day
3:00 Snack and outside play time or continue errands/above classes
4:00 Day Jobs: Clean up province (area of house that each child is assigned to clean up), put away personal items, clean up room, put away laundry, help buddy
5:00 Get ready for dinner. Cooking class and etiquette. Set the table.
6:00 Eat dinner
7:00 Clean up dinner and have Family Bible Time and worship
8:00 Night Jobs: Clean up stuff, baths, jammies on, brush teeth, brush hair, prayers.
9:00 Lights off. Older girls may stay up until 9:30.
Mom does laundry off and on throughout the day.
1. Get up on time. In our house that means by 8:00 am. None of us are morning people and we have gotten into the habit of sleeping in too late.
2. All of us will eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. We will follow the meal plan for the day that I have made in advance. I make a meal plan, but have been lax in enforcing it lately for breakfast and lunch and as a result the older children have been eating what they want which is a lot of times very unhealthy. Also, when we stick to a plan we save money in the long run!
3. We all do our chores together. In our house that means three times a day...Morning Jobs, Day Jobs, and Night Jobs. I have also been slacking in this area with keeping the children and myself accountable, but not anymore :)
4. Mom gets up before the children (7:30) to exercise and then spend some time in the Word. I am currently re-reading The Power of Motherhood by Nancy Campbell of Above Rubies. Love it!
5. Everyone in bed by 9:00 pm. Mom goes to bed by 11:00 or earlier.
6. Last, but not least, be thankful and joyful in all we do. Show the children by my example that I am thankful that I am able to take care of them and our home on a daily basis. More is caught than taught!
If I can stick to these basics our days go so much smoother. Here's a look at our basic schedule by the hour that I'm trying to stick too. We did pretty good today.
7:30 Mom wakes to exercise and spend time with God. Older girls read Bibles in bed.
8:00 Morning Jobs: make bed, shower, get dressed, brush teeth, brush hair, help buddies (older coupled with a younger child), feed pets, and general clean up.
9:00 Eat breakfast together and have Bible time as a family. Clean up kitchen.
10:00 All kids start school. Mom works with non-readers.
11:00 Continue school
12:00 Lunch and clean up
1:00 Continue school for older children. Quiet time for younger children.
2:00 Monday: Baking Day
Tuesday: Gymnastics for older four children while Mom runs errands
Wednesday: Library Day and other errands
Thursday: Music Day: Practice praise and worship songs
Friday: Sewing and Arts/Crafts Day
3:00 Snack and outside play time or continue errands/above classes
4:00 Day Jobs: Clean up province (area of house that each child is assigned to clean up), put away personal items, clean up room, put away laundry, help buddy
5:00 Get ready for dinner. Cooking class and etiquette. Set the table.
6:00 Eat dinner
7:00 Clean up dinner and have Family Bible Time and worship
8:00 Night Jobs: Clean up stuff, baths, jammies on, brush teeth, brush hair, prayers.
9:00 Lights off. Older girls may stay up until 9:30.
Mom does laundry off and on throughout the day.
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