1. My priorities were completely out of sync. I had become selfish with my time. My husband and my 3 girls took the back seat to many projects, work, and hobbies.
2. Despite the deepest desire to spend time with my King, I had a pitiful and shameful attendance record spending time with him.
3. I have a part-time work-at-home job that has seasons of craziness, and during those seasons I mismanaged my time (with selfish desires-see #4) and my family felt the brunt of the consequences.
4. I have slept far too much in place of keeping my house running smoothly.
5. I have allowed myself to become as disorganized as I have ever been in my life, and my entire family has suffered.
6. As a result of all of the above, our finances are a mess.
Why do I care to share all these dirty little secrets with you? Confession is soul cleansing. Accountability is necessary.
After reading many New Year's blogs that have everyone focusing on a word for 2010, a scripture verse bounced into my head. I don't do well with resolutions, and even some of the chosen words I read made me cringe. Not because I didn't like them, but because they cut too close to the heart.
I have determined that if I meditate on and follow this verse, all of the above shortcomings can be resolved!
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."
Colossians 3:23
So in the last few days I have done the following:
1. Bought a 5 subject notebook to begin using as a prayer journal, one section for each member of my family.
3. I stayed off my computer for 2 days while I cleaned K and A's rooms from top to bottom. I took out all the half folded clothes from their dressers, reorganized, and put them back. K still had summer clothes in her dresser :(. Rearranged K's room to give her more floor space and desk space. Washed sheets in both rooms and cleaned their closets.
4. Began making a Control Journal from The Fly Lady to create a cleaning routine.(this is long past due as cleaning is my least favorite thing to do!) Also started Control Journals for my kids to handle their chore responsibilities on a rotating basis.
5. I have created "office" hours for when I will be working at home, and it will not include any hours when my family is home from school. (Hubby is a teacher)
There is still much to do, but I know a year's worth of backsliding cannot be corrected in one week. However I am feeling a great anticipation of things already beginning to change, and my heart is feeling better.
Cheri, bless you for your transparancy and honesty. How hard is that?! You know, I could post this same confession. I think it is hard to be structured when it just is not engrained in us. Not that we don't know we need to do it, but I am a classic Sidetracked Home Excecutive! If there is something ELSE to do than what needs to be done, I will always (ok, not always, but sometimes) I will chose the other things to do rather than what I NEED to do. You have chosen some fantastic ways to get some structure in, but do not get discouraged or overwhelmed. Better to choose a few to make into a habit than a lot and get overwhelmed. :) Give yourself credit when you have achieved a few and give grace when it doesn't fall all into place overnight. Thank you for posting this. love ya!
ReplyDeleteThank you for being transparent and sharing.
ReplyDeleteI really need to work on my Prcrstination.
I said that out loud the other day, and my husband said,
"okay, there is an resolution for you!", and I told him that I had already made my goals, and that wasn't one one of them. Lol.
Well, it needs to be!
I could say much of what you said, as well. I love fresh starts, don't you? Thank you for linking up with our Fresh Year, Fresh Start today.
ReplyDeleteWow, I could have written at least 75% of this (I work outside of the home and hubby takes care of the finances)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your heart and I know you can stick to your plan, in Jesus' name!