Managing Your Precious Time. That’s the title of Section 5 and already I feel better. My time, and yours is precious and Abby’s “right off the bat” recognition of that is a comfort. She’s a wife and a mom; she homeschools, she writes and works from home, she has many balls in the air and she knows what we are going through because she is going through it was well. She’s not Martha Stewart, who has a staff and a production team, she’s a mom trying everyday to do her best for her family. That’s why this book, and hopefully this online study of it, is valuable.
She opens the section with Psalm 104 “You made the moon to mark the months, the sun knows the time for it’s setting,” and asks us what the Lord is teaching us about time. Think about it, how do we think the Lord, who used a seven day schedule to create the universe and ordered the days and nights and then rested, feels about time and how it should be used. I think you could ponder this for many years but it’s worth doing that. Our struggles with time and how we spend it; alone, with our spouse, as a family and as a community, are ongoing for a lifetime. Abby challenges us to remember that all of our time is a gift from God and how we use it can be our gift to Him.
How do you view the gift of time? Do you value it everyday? I don’t. Yet another way I can grow spiritually and practically.
The practical tips part of this section is worth spending some time over and even bringing to your husband for his discernment as well. Often our husbands have great insight into time management issues and their practical advice can be very helpful.
If you are following along in the book you will see that this section provides Abby’s charts which she uses to help keep her and the family on track. Blanks of these are provided at the back of the book for you to copy and use for your own family. Bonus!
There are also lists of, what should be; daily, weekly, monthly and annual chores. Very helpful.
So let’s spend the week considering how we are spending our time. Perhaps even keeping a time log to see where there is waste and what can be improved upon. Keep in mind that time to eat, sleep, and spend time with God are non-negotiable. As moms we tend to jettison those things first when we stress about time and that is the very opposite of what we should do. So don’t.
Really try to be open to how God is calling you to spend your time and then order your life in that way. Remember the question at the beginning of the question, What is God trying to teach us about time. Pray on it.
Next week we will be menu planning, with which I have a love/hate relationship so this should be good!
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