I'm studying Colssians and I'm still in the first chapter. Such a wonderful glimpse of who Christ is. "He is before all things and in Him, all things hold together." vs. 17 So if this is true, then it seems to follow that He should be first in my heart. My challenge is that everything I do will bring Him honor and glory.
We've been memorizing Colossians 3:12-17 and the last verse is what has been driving me to consider where my priorities lie. "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." What a challenge!
So I continue to study my day and find ways to honor Him with my life. The problem can come when I'm so busy analyzing what I'm supposed to do that in the process nothing is done. There is a balance. At Dare2Share we learned that General Patton once said something to the extent of: "A good plan violently executed today is far better than the perfect plan waiting to be executed next week." Not sure I like the use of the word violently, but you get the idea. We must not wait for perfection before we start moving.
Just wanted to share practically some ways that I've been moving. I found once again a website talking about home-planning notebooks. Essentially these are three-ring binders that contain all the information that we need for daily living. I've done this before and when I keep up with it, it really helps me. I call it "The Brain". So as I've been evaluating what activities I should be involved in and what I should not, I've also been making a new binder. I found that for my life, a 2-inch binder is not big enough.
Last week, I found it overwhelming to think of all the things that I wanted to put in there. So I asked the Lord for direction so that it could be managable chunks, bite-sized if we return to the elephant analogy.
So I simply started with my kids' schooling. Not all of them have tests, but I wanted a calendar for each where I could see where tests were coming and not have them creep up on me. So there is a tab for each child with 3 calendar pages behind each one. I have only done the older three, but the others are there for when I get the chance. Remember it does not have to be perfect before I start using it.
Then I started on finances. It being the beginning of a new month, I wanted to do that next as I need to keep track of spending. We have had to tighten our belt, as it were, lately, and so I found a way to tighten further so that we can pay bills in a timely manner. There is an end in sight, so it makes it a bit more bearable. Oh, and food is not the way we are tightening. With three boys heading into their teens, food is essential and lots of it. :)
I also planned my week on Saturday. I took daily pages and wrote what I planned to do for exercise and for achieving my goal of getting the kids' lessons planned ahead of time. Also any cleaning that I knew would come up.
Why do I do this? Because I believe that I can do better in my finances, if I'm tracking my spending, therefore honoring my Lord, (and we'll get to the husband part of it soon). If I'm paying attention to tests and quizzes that are coming up for my kids, then maybe we can be studying ahead of time and not cramming the day of or the day before. And if I plan my week, I know that I will have areas where I'm pleasing the Lord. Planning ahead helps me go into it with a good attitude and not frazzled.
One last comment is that these are plans. They are to give way to interruptions that the Lord may bring into my life. They are not set in stone and can be set aside if sick children and trips to the doctor are necessary or if a friend has a chance to stop by. The caution there is that we need to make sure we don't always find excuses not to finish our tasks.
I ended up with more on my plate than I thought I would have today. The Awana Grand Prix is Wednesday and hubby reminded me that we can't be frantically putting on wheels the last night. Knowing that I had set aside the wheels so that they wouldn't be lost, I was confident that this would not be a problem and assured him that I would have the cars ready for their wheels when he came home tonight. Little did I know, someone found the wheels, though no one knows where they are. Have you ever read the poem, about everybody, anybody, somebody and nobody? Well, you must find a copy if you haven't. It's pretty much what happens in my house.
So consequently I pulled out the TV and now the dryer vent needs fixing before I put it back. Don't ask, it's much too long a story. Maybe you can pray that I can find those wheels, and Waterman's car as no one knows where they might be.
So I've had my fill of interruptions for today, but they are necessary and good ones.
Psalm 16:6 "The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me."
Have a great day,
Steph
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