Have you ever felt physically present but mentally MIA? Are you sometimes just going through the motions? It has been one of those weeks for me. I told my husband it feels like my brain is on vacation. We go through the lessons, I cook the meals, I even read books for story time but the fire, the energy, the passion that I usually feel is just missing this week. I think this may be the Lord’s way of getting my attention, or my mind realizing that I have officially joined the “big family” club 
. I feel like the “old lady who lived in a shoe” who had so many children she didn’t know what to do
I am realizing that there are certain changes I must make in the way I manage my home and home school. There have been a lot of changes besides the new baby, and the need for planning ahead and organization is just not optional anymore.
As I have been praying and thinking this week I have come up with a list and believe it will help me meet the higher level of challenge I feel I‘ve come up against:
#1. PRAYER – I must lean on the Lord and be sensitive to His voice. I want Him to guide all my decisions, planning and time management. Only this will guarantee success in my home the way He defines it.
#2. Home Management Binder - I am working on a Binder to help me simplify yet organize the running of my home and the education of my children. A friend told me of this great resource and I will be spending the next couple of weeks working on it and look forward to implementing and using it. I know this will probably become an essential tool for me!
#3. Planning Ahead – When I don’t do this in my home my days are just chaotic! I need to take this essential step of management and education just as seriously as it is taken in the corporate world. I MUST be intentional and set specific times aside for planning and strategizing for the following day/week. I also need to teach my family to respect this time. This will involve me pulling myself away and regrouping.
#4. Prioritizing My Time – I need to be very prayerful over every item I choose to add to my “To Do List”. I need to prioritize making sure that there is always time for God, my husband, my children and MY REST!!!
I am still praying over this list and I am sure there are items I will be adding in the near future. If there is anything you have learned in your journey that will help me or others please don’t hesitate to share. What management skills have you learned since being a parent? In what ways has the Lord stretched you as you have learned to run your home more efficiently? What changes or tools have you learned of and have implemented that you have found to be essential to your daily life?
I think the Home Management Binder will grow to be one of the most important and essential changes I will and MUST make and I look forward to using it. Right now, what I look forward to the most is for my brain to check in so I can put it back to work ASAP !
Hey Jane this was a good one, it made me start to think about things here at the plant.
I love your blog and all. It inspires me as well as the rest of the mothers to do better. You set a high standard for what mothers should be and be doing as well as what you expect from your kids. However, I read your mini bio and I noticed you said you were raising “leaders of a generation” and I was thinking, isn’t that a little much? What if they fail? Just wondering
Your secret admirer…
Thanks for your encouraging words! I am humbled and appreciate you taking the time to visit and read the blog
I absolutely agree with you. My boys may fail and I know they will definately make mistakes (big and small) along the way. By “leaders in their generation”, what I simply mean is I hope to raise them to be men that refuse to follow anyone but their Lord. My goal, though I may not reach it, is to raise them to set their own standards, to be men of integrity, with strong convictions, and who march to the beat of their own drum.
Even now at this age, whenever they refuse to follow the crowd and instead make decisions based on their relationship with the Lord, they are being leaders.
We are called to be holy, set apart, light in this world…so in that context, I believe we are all called to be leaders, where ever we are.
I know what you mean about getting organized! It is so necessary. I have found that the most important thing, as you mentioned, is to ask for God’s help.
My own brain went on vacation a long, long time ago- I’m still waiting for its return! lol
God bless!
Wow, so I guess I shouldn’t keep my hopes up…it might not come back as soon as I thought
I started working on the Home Management Binder two days ago and already feel the relief! I think what has me feeling scattered at times is trying to remember and manage so much in many areas. Though I have a lot more work to do on it and have not been officially using it yet, it’s already helping to have certain things down on paper.
I look forward to sharing parts of it once Im done