What Works For Us, Part 2
Sorry, this post was supposed to be next in line, but I had to sneak in the little freebie note. :)
In my previous post, I mentioned how I would explain how to go about coming up with a chore chart and how to implement it. Well, I will, but first I want to share with you what drove me to do it in the first place. I think that too often we share what we know, but we don't take the time to share with people why we have learned what we're sharing. I know that I am impacted in a greater, more personal way when I hear the personal side to the practical answers that I also need. I'll try not to ramble on, but be forewarned...it may happen!
About 2 1/2 years ago was when I really searched in earnest for a better way.I'm just a woman, who still feels like a girl inside, yet I am blessed to be a wife, and a mother. I often find myself thinking about who I am now compared to who I thought I'd be when I was young. Those two things are very different. When I was just a little girl, one Easter my Mom gave me a book, it was titled "When I'm a Mommy". I'll never forget that book. I can still remember thinking at that moment that there was nothing I wanted to for a career other than be a mother. It's just a sweet story about a little girl who wants to grow up and be a Mommy. It uses Proverbs 31 as a loose reference, and pictures the little girl taking care of her family and her pets just the way a woman who loves God would do. Proverbs 31 is a passage to emulate, to be sure, but over a lifetime, not in a month! All through school when people would ask me, "What do you want to do when you grow up"? I would always say that I wanted to be a teacher. That's really what people want to know when they ask that question, they want to hear the name of a profession, something that requires schooling, and hours of study. How many times a day do I wish there was schooling that would answer some of my daily dilemmas!Now I have the best of both worlds, I'm a mother and a teacher! It's a scary place to be in when I try to accomplish things on my own. People often say to me "I don't know how you do it", and often my first response is "Me neither!" Really, that is the truth, I don't do it, and can't do it by myself. I am only able to accomplish things as I do because the Lord is faithful to his children.
You know the phrase "I'm gonna pull my hair out!!"??? That phrase to me signifies being at your wits end (or if you haven't had a haircut in a while you might be at your "split ends".) I don't actually say that phrase, its a too much emoting for me, but I have felt the way someone feels when they do say those words. Every time that happens I'm smitten by the Spirit because I realize that I've been doing things on my own strength. I've realized, that for me I have to have a written plan. Oh, I have everything all planned out in my mind, don't get me wrong, but a real plan that is thought out and that will avert sidetracks has to be written down on real paper. Now this may not be the case for you, I'm not the smartest branch on the vine. Some people need less pruning, not me.
Most of my life involves a great deal of unpredictability. I'm all for a bit of spontaneity now and then, a variance from the norm. Those are all good and healthy once in a while, but when I'm tossed about from one thing to the next without focus, I feel defeated and tired. I sit down at the end of the day and look around at messes and disorganization and think , "How can I be soo tired and yet not accomplish anything that shows?" That's what prompted me get these chore/cleaning charts together. I have all these great kids, who are good helpers and I'm not using them to their full potential! I'm supposed to be training them and yet my example is not what I want them to learn. If I want to train them well I have to be consistent and that requires a plan. I needed a plan. I went searching for a plan. I asked friends and mentors what works for them. I read books and books and some blogs for what works for others in a situation similar to mine. Of course, I found not one that was just like mine. I had all this information coursing through my mind, yet I had no solution that was right. I had no peace. Finally, I realized what was missing in my search...I had neglected to consult my Savior. It wasn't until I had spent time praying and asking God for wisdom about how to apply what I had learned that the Lord was able to clear and direct my thoughts to what was right for me.
I still don't have all the answers and things don't run smooth as silk for me. Now I know I can relax because I have a plan in place and part of that plan is for me to first go to the Lord and ask for his help in carrying out my "plan".
About 2 1/2 years ago was when I really searched in earnest for a better way.I'm just a woman, who still feels like a girl inside, yet I am blessed to be a wife, and a mother. I often find myself thinking about who I am now compared to who I thought I'd be when I was young. Those two things are very different. When I was just a little girl, one Easter my Mom gave me a book, it was titled "When I'm a Mommy". I'll never forget that book. I can still remember thinking at that moment that there was nothing I wanted to for a career other than be a mother. It's just a sweet story about a little girl who wants to grow up and be a Mommy. It uses Proverbs 31 as a loose reference, and pictures the little girl taking care of her family and her pets just the way a woman who loves God would do. Proverbs 31 is a passage to emulate, to be sure, but over a lifetime, not in a month! All through school when people would ask me, "What do you want to do when you grow up"? I would always say that I wanted to be a teacher. That's really what people want to know when they ask that question, they want to hear the name of a profession, something that requires schooling, and hours of study. How many times a day do I wish there was schooling that would answer some of my daily dilemmas!Now I have the best of both worlds, I'm a mother and a teacher! It's a scary place to be in when I try to accomplish things on my own. People often say to me "I don't know how you do it", and often my first response is "Me neither!" Really, that is the truth, I don't do it, and can't do it by myself. I am only able to accomplish things as I do because the Lord is faithful to his children.
You know the phrase "I'm gonna pull my hair out!!"??? That phrase to me signifies being at your wits end (or if you haven't had a haircut in a while you might be at your "split ends".) I don't actually say that phrase, its a too much emoting for me, but I have felt the way someone feels when they do say those words. Every time that happens I'm smitten by the Spirit because I realize that I've been doing things on my own strength. I've realized, that for me I have to have a written plan. Oh, I have everything all planned out in my mind, don't get me wrong, but a real plan that is thought out and that will avert sidetracks has to be written down on real paper. Now this may not be the case for you, I'm not the smartest branch on the vine. Some people need less pruning, not me.
Most of my life involves a great deal of unpredictability. I'm all for a bit of spontaneity now and then, a variance from the norm. Those are all good and healthy once in a while, but when I'm tossed about from one thing to the next without focus, I feel defeated and tired. I sit down at the end of the day and look around at messes and disorganization and think , "How can I be soo tired and yet not accomplish anything that shows?" That's what prompted me get these chore/cleaning charts together. I have all these great kids, who are good helpers and I'm not using them to their full potential! I'm supposed to be training them and yet my example is not what I want them to learn. If I want to train them well I have to be consistent and that requires a plan. I needed a plan. I went searching for a plan. I asked friends and mentors what works for them. I read books and books and some blogs for what works for others in a situation similar to mine. Of course, I found not one that was just like mine. I had all this information coursing through my mind, yet I had no solution that was right. I had no peace. Finally, I realized what was missing in my search...I had neglected to consult my Savior. It wasn't until I had spent time praying and asking God for wisdom about how to apply what I had learned that the Lord was able to clear and direct my thoughts to what was right for me.
I still don't have all the answers and things don't run smooth as silk for me. Now I know I can relax because I have a plan in place and part of that plan is for me to first go to the Lord and ask for his help in carrying out my "plan".
Oh Karilee, I hadn't realized you made a new post... and now I don't have time to read it all - please know I'll check it out later! I have been enjoying your posts! I'll have to look into that free shutterfly book.
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