Friday, June 20, 2008

And then HE speaks...

I have had this nagging suspicion in my heart lately that I should be able to accomplish more with the hours I have been given. My house while fairly clean at the moment needs a good dose of decluttering and organizing. Part of my health problems lately stem from being surrounded by clutter and way off schedule. So far off I don't even know where my schedule is!
Enter this lovely book. I borrowed it from a friend of mine at our homeschool group late last year. She told me to take my time... that I am doing. :)

Today Mrs. George chose to touch on a very sensitive topic. Scheduling. Routines.
One management expert that Mrs. George quoted said, "A routine, makes unskilled people without judgement capable of doing what it took mere genius to do before." Let that sink in for a moment. So I can say I am incapable of organizing or keeping a nice home, but really I am just slacking off in the routine area. How hard is it to come up with a routine? Start with a morning routine. Five things to do every morning. Work on that til you master it. Then start a bedtime routine. Five things you do before you go to bed. Master that. Add in routines during the day. Pretty soon you have a *gasp* schedule. I have done this before and it was one of the most rewarding times of my life.
Mrs. George talks about Jesus' routines. She says, "He was never rushed and never breathless. He just continued moving purposefully through His schedule and through His day." I'd never thought of Jesus that way. He was a very busy man. He had a lot of work to do and a little bit of time to do it in. She goes on to say, "The reason Jesus was so unhurried was that His schedule was based on God's priorities for His life." I think we can all agree with that!
Mrs. George advises us to, "...determine God's priorities for your life and develop a schedule that is centered on those priorities." Rocket science? :)
Here is one of my favorite paragraphs from the book. "Such a schedule (based on God's priorities for your life) will certainly simplify your life. You'll find yourself not having to think so much about every detail of your day because you've scheduled in your priorities. You'll worry less about whether or not you've scheduled in your priorities. You'll worry less about whether or not you're spending your precious time on the right endeavors. You'll seem to flow from one portion of your task and portion of your day to the next. "
Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that who we would all like to be? Flowing smoothly from one portion of our day to the next? Surely, we know that is not always possible. Especially with young children, but it is a good goal to strive towards. It is needed.
"Are you unsure about what your schedule and routine should be? Then dare to take a look at the busy days of the woman described in Proverbs 31:10-31. Note when she got up, when she went to bed, and what she did in-between." She made sure her household was in order and she cared for her family. Is this really asking too much?
I am finishing up laundry this weekend. After that my challenge will be a different room or two every week. Declutter and organize. I am teaching my children to maintain our home. I will count on them to do that for the next few weeks as I get our home decluttered and organized.
See, God has been nudging me for a few weeks to get on the ball. Thus, the laundry challenge. Today He spoke to me through the wisdom of Elizabeth George.
I am going to work on my morning routine. It will be in place for Monday morning. I will work until it is established. I will do this.

I will be putting up the laundry pictures and the home ec day pictures probably Monday.

Be Blessed!

10 comments:

  1. Yup, I needed to hear this. My home is fairly clean, pretty organized, but I lack a good schedule. Yet during the times in my life when I actually stuck to a decent schedule - like you said - it was the best, most productive time in my life.

    Why don't we simply do what is best for us and our families? Oh ya, that whole "human flesh" thing....bummer....

    Well, workin' on it with ya, girl!!
    ~Lori

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  2. What a great post!! Very inspiring. I never thought of Jesus that way either. It is true though. He was never in a rush or breathless to get something done. I just described myself!! Hmmmmmm

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  3. I've never read this particular book, but I like Elizabeth George. She offers such Godly advice. I always feel better ~ more energized ~ when I have some sort of plan/schedule in place.

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  4. I set up a routine (I posted about it on my mandymom.com blog).. and it really helps. Also, to have a starting point is good. Flylady recommends shining your kitchen sink (which sounds crazy.. but it works.. because you end up cleaning your whole kitchen, which spreads to the dining/living/etc). However, I have an old porcelain sink that is chipped and doesn't "shine"... (we're remodeling.. it will be replaced) so my "starting point" is my table. When my table is cleaned off and I have a nice centerpiece, I look around and see things "from the view" of my table, and think, well, I have to clean up that clutter or else it takes away from the beauty of the table.. and before i know it.. the whole place is clean.

    When I was pregnant with my 2nd child, I use to buy really pretty exotic bouquets from Trader Joes (I lived close, so I'd walk there with my first born and we'd pick one out). The flowers, set upon my table, made me want to clean everything... because I didn't want anything to take away from the beauty of the flowers. :)

    Wow, this was long. Sorry. Novel in your comments!

    Have you read Passionate Housewives Desperate for God? That'll bless your socks off!

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  5. First time reader. Thank you for this post. A schedule is what I need - will be looking for this book. God bless you and yours.

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  6. Lori, Im glad I am not the only one with that whole "flesh thing". LOL. As always we will get through this together. :)

    Bren,thats exactly how I felt. :)

    Jodi, I so enjoy her books. She is not like a lot of popular women authors today who sugar coat it and don't rightly encourage women of their places.

    Mandymom, thanks for stopping by! I always tried the flylady thing and still actually receive her emails. The sink thing never worked for me. I would clean it and then that was the end. Weirdo, me!I absolutely love PHDFG it got me back on the right track. I have a signed copy from Mrs. Chancey. :)

    Jessica, thanks for stopping by. I'm glad it was a timely word for you!

    Lib, I know exactly what you mean. :)

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  7. Hi, Julie!

    I enjoyed your quote from EG's book. In our ladies' group from church we are reading through her book "Precious in His Eyes" and it's been a blessing to my heart. I'm glad to know of others that she has, too.

    Lately, we are working on the other end of the spectrum--saying "No" to things that God has not called us to do (i.e. He has not made these things a priority, we have). It requires some humbling and back pedaling, but in the end there is peace and abundance....with less going on.

    I'm looking forward to more installments from the "Pearables" book you are working in. I was interested to see you were using the Manners book and wondering if you'd mind sharing your "plan" on adding the extra things in.:)

    God bless,
    Krista (from Beautiful Womanhood Board)

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  8. Oh, whoops, I meant that we were reading, "Beautiful in His Eyes".

    :), Krista

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  9. Thanks for the sweet comment today :)
    Elizabeth George is my favorite author. I have most of her books and have read them all several times (honestly!) and high lited them. I LOVE her books!
    I have this one and "A Woman After Gods Own Heart" recommended on my blog sidebar! (If you havent read A Woman After Gods Own Heart...you would LOVE it! Theres a wife and mom after Gods own heart books too that are awesome)
    All her books were life changing for me and I was already very organized but her books and wisdom really changed me.
    Hugs
    Candy :)

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  10. Krista, that lady (EG) just blesses my socks off. I always learn so much from her. I am glad you are enjoying the series. I wish I was able to get it up quicker. My mom lives just around the corner and has a place on her computer where I can plug in my memory card so I have to go over there to download.
    I will talk more this week about adding in the extras. :)

    Candy, We are doing A Woman After God's Own Heart in a Tuesday morning Bible study I lead. I think it's wonderful.

    Bren, I browsed over there yesterday. It looks great. I am starting probably in July or August either The Maker's Diet or Eat Fat Loose Fat. We are going on vacation in July so I don't know if I can do it then because the foods are very restrictive. Until I can start I am working on just cutting out sugar and bad carbs.

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