Priorities

Things seem to slowly be coming together.

I'm not really sure why I do some of the things I do. Or if there is a name or word for why/how I handle things.

I have a lot to do in my home. The list is daunting.

The (younger) girls are at an age that is crazy busy. Julia is learning to drive. And aside from that she is a fifteen year old girl that is involved in many healthy/fun/uplifting activities. Jillian is 12 and really coming into her own. She is starting to enjoy all the girly stuff. She now talks on the phone, texts and messes with her hair. She too has many, many church and/or co-op activities.

My husband works at least 6 days a week. He is involved in 2 different weekly ministries that are NOT church specific and at least 4 that are specific to our church.

We have chosen in our life to rarely, rarely eat out. This sounds silly. I know lots of people who say they rarely eat out and then pick up fast food on the way home. Or buy frozen dinners from the grocery. The thing is, we *rarely* eat out. Literally maybe 3 or 4 times a year. We almost never eat frozen dinners. Most of our food is made from scratch. Not that I grind the wheat for all of our bread (though I do that from time to time) but that I literally cook breakfast, lunch (which is sometimes sandwiches, and sometimes not), and dinner *7* days a week.

That's a lot of cooking. I spend my time in the kitchen. Probably on average 2-3 hours a day. And I'm grateful that I get to do this. But on top of the actual kitchen time, there is the planning and shopping time. And I'm a bargain shopper, so add that extra time to the mix.

And I've posted chore charts for the girls and I here before, and the girls do quite a lot. But there are several areas that I'm on my own. For obvious and not so obvious reasons I suppose.

I do all the laundry.

I do 95% of the cooking.

I pay the bills.

I do all of the shopping.

I keep the calendar. (This is a much bigger deal than you might imagine. I'll try to write more about it at a later time.)

I, of course at this point, do all the driving. (And this year the co-op schedule is ridiculous. I'll post about that sometime soon as well.)

I keep the school records.

I tend (or not) the garden.

The point is, I'm reasonably busy just in general. And then I have church obligations and committees on which I sit. There is much prep involved in at least 3 of these.

And it feels like somehow over the course of time, my priorities have gotten smudged. I've been spending way too much time on things other than my home. And my home is showing the signs of neglect.

There are things in my sidebar that are not directly related to my home. But these are things that I have committed to do and so I will do them. And when they are done, things are going to be considered very carefully before I commit to anything else at this season of my life that does not directly relate to my home or family.

I'll still continue (for the time being) with the areas at my church that I volunteer/participate. But only so far as it doesn't interfere with my true mission field.

My family and home.

Some may view this as selfish. So be it. I have to do what I feel is right for me and my family. And I really feel the call to focus on home. To live in the moment with my family. To not only perform the duties at home, but to make memories with them. To love my family. To love my home. To take the time to appreciate all that I've been given. Instead of rushing through one thing to get to another.

No more.

So here's to a new beginning. I hope to blog about it along the way.

The life with which I have been blessed is entirely too beautiful to only give it a passing nod.

It's time to stop and focus.

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Comments

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I get the most lovely comments and emails most times. People asking questions or helping me to clarify things that I've written that may not be as clear as I'd thought they were.

Of course I sometimes get the odd comments as well. I don't publish them because they seem to be computer generated or just so off the wall that I have a hard time following them.

But then sometimes I get a comment that I feel like deserves more of an answer than what I can give in the reply section underneath it.

On January 2 of this year I got this anonymous comment in regards to My Homemaking Philosophy Post:

"I agree with ou on some parts but why must everything have something to do with God ? Not everyone believes in God .I am one of them I believe in myself.AgainI do think along the lines as you do that home is work but I believe in myself and not God."

I didn't respond to it at the time because the blog wasn't active, but I didn't want to put it through either and not respond to it. I wish the person had left an email address so that I could write them personally, but they did not.

While I don't feel obligated to answer every question I get, something about this one sorta got to me. And I've thought on it off and on since I received it.

Why must everything have something to do with God?

I went back and reread the post and while I do mention God and prayer, it certainly didn't feel like the theme of what I had written.

But I am so honored that someone read it that way.

My diligent, constant prayer is that someone may see God's light shine through me or my family.

I want God in every thought. In every action. In every inaction. In every word that escapes my lips and the ones that I'm able to hold back.

I want God in every breath I take.

I see God in the clouds and in the wind and rain. I see Him in the stunning blue sky and the rays of sunshine streaming though the leaves. I see Him in the dew on the grass and in the new spring buds on the trees. I see Him in the splendor of the leaves blowing off the trees in late fall.

I hear Him in the rushing of a river and the crash of the ocean waves. I hear Him in the singing of the birds and the giggles of little children. I hear Him in the quiet of the seasons first snowfall.

I feel God in the quiet of the morning and the quiet of the night. I feel Him as we gather at church or with friends. I feel Him so strongly when I watch my husband be the father to our daughters that I'd always hoped. I feel Him when things are going perfectly. And I feel Him when things feel like they're falling apart. I feel Him when I'm on my knees praying and sometimes even when I'm writing a blog post.

So why must everything have something to do with God? Because everything does have something to do with God.

I hope that anonymous somehow finds their way back here and can feel the prayers for them. Knowing God is unlike anything you'll ever be able to find on your own.

May the peace of God surround you this and every day.

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Nourishment

I can remember when I was young I thought that when I became an adult I would know things. I didn't know how. I never really thought about how. Just that somehow when I reached adulthood that many of life's mysteries would somehow magically be revealed to me.

Ha.

When that didn't happen, I set out to find answers. And when I'd formulated opinions I was ridiculous about defending them. I wasn't very tolerant of those that didn't share my belief's. Because, after all, I was now "grown up" and I was right. Right?

And then I came to a point in my life, not too awful many years ago, where I started to realize that I didn't have the inside scoop on all important things in my own life, much less on anyone else's life. That was a humbling time.

And through the years since that time, I've come to realize how very little I know. That the old saying about walking a mile in another's shoes before you judge has tremendous merit.

So now I try, and often fail, to love my neighbor as myself. No matter what their choices. I try to avoid being judgemental. I often fail at this too. I believe that loving our neighbor is one of the most important things we can learn here on earth. We're commanded to do it after all.

A lady recently approached me talking about various things in her life. Hardships. I was startled because I didn't know the woman at all. She certainly didn't fit into the surroundings. I stopped and listened to her, but my body language was terrible (I thought about it after the fact). She obviously had problems other than the ones she was talking about. And she picked me to share with. And I know that I wasn't nearly as embracing as I should have been. It was a safe area. My husband was close. There was no need to fear her. And yet I did. Because she was so different. And came at me so suddenly.

I talked to my husband on the way home about how Jesus would have acted with this woman. And I felt shame. While I was sweet to her, I certainly didn't do all that I could have done to touch her life.

These are the area's that I am trying to work on in my life. Loving my neighbor, especially the less-loveable ones.

And living in the past. But I'll save that for another day.

As a funny aside, when I started typing this post, I had every intention of talking about food and our dietary changes lately. And why I've not done a Menu Plan Monday. And the fact that we're having out of town company tomorrow for several days and how to feed them when we're eating so differently. That's why I called it "nourishment". I had absolutely no intention of speaking about these things that have been on my heart. But it's what I typed for some reason.

But there are other kinds of nourishment. So I think I'll keep the title.

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A Link

I was really convicted while reading this post in Camilla's Blog today.

I encourage you to read her words on this topic and see if you're not touched in the same way.

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