If you're just joining us, we are partaking in Courtney's 5 Disciplines in 5 Weeks Challenge. This week our discipline is time management, last week we began our journey by taking care of our bodies.
I am a working, stay-at-home mom. Why yes, I do both. I work outside of the home part-time and I keep home and rear my children full-time. I have balanced both for a little over 9 months now and have consistently realized the value and importance of time-management. Let's add a pregnancy and all the glorious weakness that comes from that state of being and I'm really in a heap of trouble here!
My planner has now become my best friend and I am suffering without the help of my handy-dandy Home Management Binder. I've been meaning to re-evaluate the one I'd previously set in place (while still being a homemaker full-time) and create a system and a binder that works for our family in this season, however in my to-do list and schedule planning, I haven't yet found the time to sit down and do that. (Surprise, surprise!)
However, I've been missing a step. There's been something terribly inconsistent about my quiet time alone with the Father. I've had it, it's been in there (though less consistently than I'd like to admit), yet I can't say that I've began each day and each morning with Him, asking for direction and His plans for my day.
"The mistake here is that we may put onto our own plate more than God would put on our plate – and as a result raise our stress levels to extremely high levels."Oh. Yeahhhhh. That makes a lot of sense.
Oops.
In this crazy busy season where I know the Father is beckoning me deeper and deeper into His heart, it is of the utmost importance that I start of the day asking for His itinerary. Life is about to get crazier. In about a month and some change, we will welcome a newborn baby whose needs will follow no (seemingly) consistent rhythm or rhyme for who knows how long. And even then, the house needs to be maintained and Aaliya Liberty cared for. Even then, all of Mommy's responsibilities stand and there's no way around it.
How can I truly enjoy and embrace that time if I don't know what the Father desires and values in my day-to-day? It's easy to get caught up in the next organization/homemaking challenge* and comparison game and all that jazz without realizing that the discontenment and the stress we feel comes from putting way too much on our plates. Jesus Christ is filled with wisdom, knowledge and mercy. He will never overwhelm or burden us with to-do's at the cost of love.
- So this week, for my discipline-challenge, I will commit to waking up earlier (at around 645am) to spend some time alone with the Father before Aaliya wakes up. I'm going to enjoy these last few precious weeks I have of this schedule before Haven comes to join us and throw us for a much-welcomed loop! I am going to daily ask the Father for His plans, and then... I'm going to stick with them. Sometimes, our home will take priority... Other times, I'm sure all will be put aside as I spend quality time with my growing way too quickly girl! And still sometimes, I will spend my day, afternoon or whatever, serving another Mommy or a friend in prayer or practical acts of service. Whatever the day holds, He is best entrusted with it. And time management, after all, begins with Him.
How do you begin your time management and establish priorities and routines?
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