Monday, March 8, 2010

She Rises While it is Yet Night

Just a note before we begin. Last night as I was reading through our chapter again, God lead me to this verse for today’s devotional. So far I have been able to write in the mornings before the girls wake up. Today was different. They were up early and I couldn’t bear to sit and write about what a good wife, mother and homemaker looks like while my little ones needed my attention. So I apologize for the lateness of this blog, but I figured if I am going to practice what I have been learning, I’d better care for my family first.

“She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.”

To me, there are two lessons that stood out in this passage. The first one is that she is willing to do what it takes to care for her family. She’s not afraid of getting up early serve them. Sometimes the only time we have to get things done is when the children are in bed. For our family, the time after the children go to bed at night, is time for my husband and I. So that leaves mornings before they are up or during naptime to get extra things done. Sometimes this is time for cleaning, sometimes for sewing and sometimes for reading. The point is that as mothers, we have to take what time we have, to do all the things on our to-do-list. We need to be willing to take the time when we have it, without taking it away from our family time.

The second lesson is that we can’t underestimate the importance of, is organization in the home. While I understand that some of us are naturally gifted with organizational skills, most of us have to work at being organized. I grew up in a very organized home. I am not organized and as you can imagine, I was sure that when I got married, we were not going to have schedules in my home! Now that I have two little ones and a third one on the way, I can honestly say, much to my mother’s delight, that there is no way I could make it through a day without a schedule of some kind. Now, to be scheduled does not mean that you have to wake up at 6, have breakfast at 8, clean at 9, etc…every day exactly the same. Some may find that kind of schedule possible but I don’t. I get frustrated when my schedule gets messed up and with babies, there is no way I will be able to follow that kind of a schedule all the time. So if you are like me, your schedule may look something like this: wake up, shower, start laundry for the day, feed the baby, change and dress both girls, make breakfast, etc… You will notice that there are no times listed on my daily schedule. That is because sometimes the girls wake up earlier and sometimes they don’t. I follow an order of events instead of timing myself. That way I know what I need to do for the day but I’m not stressed out if we are getting up at 9 and eating breakfast at 11. Find the method that works for you and your family and do your best to stick to it. You will be surprise at just how much help being organized brings to your day.

Another important thing to spend the time planning for are meals. This will help in so many ways; you will save money when grocery shopping if you know what you are making for the week or month and only buy what you need and you won’t have to stand in front of the fridge right before dinner, trying to figure out what you are going make because you have list of meals ready to chose from. I have tried both ways and I have found the great benefits to planning ahead. Now I’m working on planning ahead for breakfasts and lunches too but it is a process for me. So I’m taking it one step at a time. Do what you can with what you have and your abilities.

We will talk more about planning ahead tomorrow, when we cover verse 21, but for now, ask the Lord to help you find where your weak areas are and start working on a plan to bring more organization to your home. The goals in being organized are bring a calm and peace to your home and freeing you to better serve your family and others. Children especially need the assurance that they know what to expect in their days and not just when they are babies. If they know what to expect and what is expected from them, they will be much more calm and helpful without having to try to motivate them all day long. They will know when to expect meals, when school starts each day, when they are to take a nap. So with a little planning on our part, we can bless our children with a sense of security and stability in their lives.

Blessings!

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