{Focus} On My Schedule

Most of my childhood, my days were fairly unstructured.  There were, of course, expectations for each day-make bed, do schoolwork, help around the house--but we were never on a rigid schedule.  That lasted through high school (one of the lovely benefits of homeschooling!), but college changed my lifestyle considerably.  Now I have to be in classes at specific times each day and I have a set work schedule.  This all changes every semester, so each semester we have to adjust our daily schedule at home a little.

I was talking to a friend yesterday, lamenting how we haven't been very productive over Christmas break simply because we have no schedule (although classes start again on Monday).  I realized that if I had given myself a schedule--not necessarily rigid, but at least some structure to a day--I could have gotten a lot more done over break.  So I've decided that, for this semester, I'm going to give myself a schedule for while I'm at home, not just at class and work.

I also want to make goals when it comes to housework.  I have a hard time getting caught up on housework once life gets busy with school and other commitments.  This semester I want to stay on top of the cleaning so it doesn't get out of hand.  I know that if I don't set small goals for myself I tend to get overwhelmed and don't feel like doing anything at all, so I'll do one or two easy cleaning jobs a day, and that way I know it will all get done.

My class schedule this semester is fairly easy; I don't start classes till noon on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  My Tuesday/Thursday classes start at 8.  I want to get up at the same time every day, so I'll be getting up "early" on MWF and, ideally, have time to get a lot of things done those mornings.  Joshua has to be at class at the same time every day, 10:00.

An ideal morning for me this semester will look like this:
6:00 out of bed, get in shower
6:15 get dressed, do hair/makeup
6:30, get tea or coffee brewing, read my Bible at the kitchen table (this will give me incentive to get the kitchen all cleaned up before I go to bed)
7:00 start breakfast (I generally make quick breakfasts--oatmeal, eggs, or something I've prepared the night before).  On MWF I'll have time to make a bigger breakfast; probably on Tues/Thurs I'll eat by myself since Joshua doesn't have to leave as early as I do.
7:30 Tues/Thurs, get ready to leave for class.  I still plan on walking/biking a lot to school, even though we have the car now, but it's a 20-minute walk or a 10-minute bike, so that will give me time to get my backpack ready.
Mon/Wed/Fri: 7:30, write/publish a blog post.
8:30, pack lunch, finish tidying kitchen.
9:00, Wednesdays, get ready to leave (we'll go to chapel together on Wednesdays).
9:00, Mon/Fri, housecleaning and homework.
11:30, get ready to leave for class.

What I am NOT going to put into my schedule is any computer time other than blogging.  This weekend I'm planning on reorganizing my desk so I can put my computer away when I'm not using it, and thus cut down on the temptation to be on it so much.  I have plenty of free time during the day, when I'm already at school, to check email and Facebook.

The chores I want to accomplish weekly are:
-clean the bathroom
-clean the kitchen floor
-dust/declutter/vacuum the living room
-dust/declutter/vacuum the bedroom
-pick up/organize the closet

Daily chores will include getting the dishes all done and kitchen cleaned up, tidying my desk, and basic wiping down in the bathroom.

Monday mornings: bathroom, and kitchen floor
Tuesday afternoons (I'll get home around 4:15): pick up/organize the closet
Friday mornings: dust/declutter/vacuum living room and bedroom

This weekend I'm going to make a master chart with both of our daily schedules on it.  This will keep both of us on task, and that way we'll always know where the other one is going to be.

I'll keep you updated on how I do with this!  I'm excited and a little nervous, but I know how satisfying it will be if I can accomplish this.  My main reasons for setting this schedule for myself are so that I can {Focus} more on being in the Word, {Focus} on being a better homemaker, and {Focus} on using my time more productively.  I hope that this will also reduce my stress!

Please be praying for me and Joshua as we start this new semester!

The To-Do List that Will Change Your Life

Are you ready?  Here it is:

To-Do Today

1) Love God.

2) Love others.

3) Love yourself.

That's it.  Really.  It's that simple.

Not convinced?  Jesus put it another way:

"Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.  One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?'  Jesus replied: '"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself."  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'" Matthew 22:34-40

Have you ever seen the acronym for the word "JOY"?
Jesus
Others
You
It is a little corny, but it's true.

When we have our priorities in the right order--in this order--good things will happen.  GREAT things will happen.  When God is first in our lives, everything else will fall into place.

How does this play out in our everyday lives?
My prayer every morning is, "God, let me honor and glorify you today, in everything I say, do and think."  Putting God first means doing everything for him.  It means making him the most important person in our lives.
Then comes everyone else.
And "everyone else" has to be prioritized, too.  If you're married, this means your husband (or wife) should come first after God.  Not your boss, your coworkers, your friends, your teachers, or your parents.  Your husband.  If you're a mother (or father), your children are next, after your spouse.  Then your family, friends, and everyone else.
Then you.  This doesn't mean that you neglect yourself entirely for the sake of other people.  I'm not suggesting or condoning that at all.  Of course you need to eat, bathe, and rest--and take time to do things for yourself.  Notice Jesus didn't say, "Love your neighbor just like you love God."  He wants all that love for himself. :)  No, he said "Love your neighbor as yourself."  Jesus doesn't want us to hate ourselves!  In fact, in Ephesians Paul wrote, "In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.  After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church..." (Ephesians 5:28-29).
We are to love everyone else just as much as we love ourselves: taking time for them, doing things for them, taking care of them, treating them with love, kindness and respect.

This will play out differently in each person's life.  My usual morning routine is, make breakfast for my husband, have devotions with him and pray together, and after he goes to work I do my writing and blogging for the day.

I don't keep this to-do list perfectly, of course.  I struggle every day with putting God first.  It's easy to remember that my husband needs clean clothes, good food, and time with me, but God doesn't have the same physical presence...so he's easier to forget, unfortunately.  But that's no excuse on my part.

The wonderful thing about all this is, God will and does bless us when we put him first.  And even when we fail, he still loves us, blesses us, and forgives us far more than we could ever ask or imagine.


Linking up with these lovely ladies today:
New Life Steward; Women Living Well; To Love, Honor and Vacuum; Deep Roots at Home; A Wise Woman Builds Her Home; Raising Homemakers; The Houtz House Party

Stretching My Spirit

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community..

OK, are you ready? Please give me your best five minutes on:::

Stretch…

Most mornings when I wake up, I stretch--my arms above my head, my back, my legs.  It's a way of readying my body for a new day, transitioning from sleeping to wakefulness.  It tells my body what my brain already knows: It's time to get up, start moving, start the things that need to be done today.

What if I stretched my spirit, too?

I confess, my spiritual habits have been lacking lately.  I do devotions with my husband every single morning--I read the Scripture passages, sometimes nearly a whole chapter, he reads the devotion, and we pray together.  But I haven't been reading my Bible on my own much recently.  And my first thoughts in the morning aren't always prayer.

This morning my husband and I both woke up feeling way better than we had when we went to sleep.  So my first thought was this morning, "Thank you, Jesus, for helping us feel better!"  I was singing the Doxology in my head when I went to make breakfast.

But it's not always that way.  I wish it were.

Exercise of the body takes discipline.

So does exercise of the mind--or of the spirit.

It will take discipline for me to remember to stretch myself spiritually each morning, and throughout each day.

But I know that's something God wants me to do.  So when I pray and ask for his strength, his courage, and his help to do so--I know he'll answer that prayer.  God wants me to be closer to him, and I know he'll help me as I seek to approach him more and in a deeper way.

Stretching my body feels so good every morning.  I know stretching my spirit will be even better.

Linking up today with:

Lisa-Jo Baker (of course, with FMF); Your Thriving Family; Consider the Lilies; finding joy; Susan Godfrey