Get in the backseat, housework! My kids are riding shotgun today!
This was my prayer today at our mom's group:
"Lord, please help me to wake up each morning with the goal of teaching my kids to serve You, not with a goal of figuring out how to get my housework accomplished in record time.
Shift my focus onto my real job; the description of which reads: Raise responsible, compassionate, hardworking children that love and serve God over all else.
Teach me daily how to teach them, and how to learn from them. They are infinitely more important than having spotless bathrooms and made-up beds."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Most of the time, I spend the day trying to figure out how to distract my current toddler so that I can "finish" my housework. The funny thing is, that alone (distracting the toddler) is a full day's work, and housework NEVER gets finished; it's just a way of life. The same way you shave your legs every day or get a haircut every 4 weeks. The mess always grows back!
What a wasteful way to spend my time as the mother of young children. This all goes back to my earlier post about just "being" in the moment with my precious blessings. At the same time, though, where is the balance between this and living an orderly life? Clutter does get in the way of our hearts and minds and will suffocate us if not kept under control.
I have no easy answers. I know only this: God has called me to raise these three children, "arrows in my quiver", to spread His gospel. God has also called me to be a wife, friend, daughter, and homemaker. He has given me the gift of servant hood, hospitality, and creativity. If I daily, even hourly, turn what I falsely see as MY time over to Him, he will make a beautiful painting out of each day He has given me.
"Lord, I want to fall into You. Tear my fingers away from the death-grip I have on controlling my clutter. Unclutter my mind and heart. Show me how to unclutter my earthly space so that it's only glorifying to You, not a reflection of me."
7 readers took time to leave a thought:
Aw, you are so blessed to have such an awesome mom's group!
Good message. Put down the dust rag...step away from the dust rag...just me talking to myself outloud! ;) Thanks for the moment of clarity. It is hard though because I just can't stand a messy house!
Oh good...I'm glad you wrote it out 'cause I didn't quite hear the whole thing over the sound of kids playing/whining and the playskool radio Mylo kept pressing buttons on to hear some sort of nursery rhyme. :)
I liked group this morning...I have a feeling we're going to have a lot of laughs throughout this book. :)
spot on jolly-roger! hear hear!
i needed to read that... .thank you for sharing. Bummer i missed mom's group this morning... hopefully next one.
britt
I have no easy answers on this one also. I do think it's something many of us struggle with. I certainly do.
On another note, interesting day at the chiro. appt for little man. Many food sensitivities, supplements, and an adjustment later. We'll see what comes of it. Until next week. I'll e-mail you more later.
BTW. God made you the way you are. Don't feel bad about wanting your household to be the environment you desire. You are a loving wife and mom to want to create a household of love and cleanliness and not chaos. It's all about the balance though-isn't it. Something I need to work on myself. Hang in there. God knows your heart.
So good! Thank you! I think this is something all homemakers have to remind themselves of daily. We are so blessed to stay at home with our babies. When we look back we aren't going to think "Wow I so enjoyed that my house was clean all the time." We are going to look back and think "I wish I spent more time enjoying my kids and just forgot about the dishes more often." I think I'm going to post that prayer on my dresser mirror...
Post a Comment