A Time to Finish and Keep Things Simple

0ur holiday travels ended last week and we are finally starting to get back to a more normal routine with school resuming again.  Meanwhile, I'm wondering how much I can accomplish before baby number four arrives (later this month?)!

Being realistic is not a strength of mine, but goals do help me stay a little more focused.  My main goals for this month (and beyond) are simple: to finish things that I've started and to let go of what is not essential.  Here are 10 things this procrastinator needs (or wants) to do between now and whenever Baby Blueberry arrives:

1. Clean and declutter the whole house.  Yes, it's an audacious goal, but it will make life so much better when it's done.
2. Pack my bag for the hospital.
3. Sort through the baby clothes I've been given.  I am so thankful for generous friends who've stepped forward to meet that need!
4. Turn in hospital paperwork.
5. Finish putting away Christmas decorations.
6. Purchase and prepare supplies for MOPS creative activities this month and next.
7. Plan a dairy-free menu for the rest of the month.  One of the midwives I saw advised me to cut out dairy now in an attempt to avoid another colicky baby with MSPI.
8. Finish several books I've started to read.   I'll put them in my hospital bag in case I don't finish them all before arrival day.
9. Make breakfast foods ahead of time.  On my list: granola, muffins, maybe waffles...
10. Cook a meal with my daughters.  We will use recipes from a book I found at the library, Wrap-N-Bake Egg Rolls: And Other Chinese Dishes.

After making progress on these high-priority items, I'm looking forward to doing some fun things too, like scheduling some craft projects to do with my kids.  And since the weather is supposed to get cold again soon, we can do several out-of-the-ordinary winter activities that we enjoyed last January.

I am linking this to Anti-Procrastination Tuesday.

10 Fall Projects that I Actually Expect to Finish

It's a sobering thought: I have, most likely, about three more months to finish any projects before our next baby arrives.  Yikes!  So I need to get realistic about what I might truly be able to accomplish, despite my wishing to do more.

1. Make acorn critters with my kids.

2. Cover four chair seats with new fabric.

3. Set up and use my grandma's White sewing machine.

4. Sort my photos and scrapbooking supplies.

5. Finish Dallas Willard's book, Knowing Christ Today.

6. Complete 31 Days to Clean: Having a Mary House the Martha Way.

7. Make homemade marshmallows without corn syrup.

8. Bake homemade pumpkin granola.

9. Replace an old shower curtain liner.

10. Observe classrooms at local elementary school/s.

What's on your fall agenda?

I'm linking this to Top Ten Tuesday

and Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays.

Summertime Crossroads

After 7 months away, I spent the morning as a substitute IEP instructor once again. I would like to transfer my confidence and enthusiasm for teaching into a drive to get my house in order, which is my real day job. For some reason, though, performing before an audience motivates me, while working on daily tasks at home does not. How can I increase my motivation at home? Any ideas?

Meanwhile, my daughters are finishing up with school, and starting next week we will have to decide how to arrange each day together. I am looking forward to these weeks, hoping to do activities that will help them develop spiritually, morally, and creatively. Yes, it is a daunting challenge, which is why I was thankful to discover a daily calendar resource in the latest issue of Thriving Family magazine. These summer months are such an important time to work on shaping their character, and I need to take all the help I can find to get on track and stay focused on what's important.

So the start of summer seems to be another crossroads for me. Will I use my time with my three children wisely and intentionally, making the most of every opportunity? Or will I drift and allow distractions to divert our attention from what we need most--obedience and a closer connection to God.

My Undoing

"Music is the companion of joy, balm for sorrow."

These words are a translation of the Latin text that Johannes Vermeer included in his painting, "The Music Lesson."  I have certainly found music to play those dual roles, and I've been reminding myself to sing more this week to comfort my weary soul.

After we had finished singing "Jesus Loves Me," my two-and-a-half year old barked out: 

"No, Bible tells me so, not you."  

Definitely cheeky in tone, his point was also instructive.  My assessments of how well I am doing should not affect my thoughts and motivation as much as they do.  Instead, the truth of what the Bible tells me should be my guide.

Though my husband and I both disdain country music as a rule, we recently discovered the soundtrack for the movie Crazy Heart.  These particular songs won us over, and I have had them running through my head since the first listen.  And then came another song, streaming from the radio in the kitchen yesterday--"Undo," by Rush of Fools.  It was the perfect answer to "Somebody Else," the lyrics of which mirror my thoughts lately, but lack the hope of redemption that undergirds "Undo."

As I look for renewal and seek transformation, I've been confronted with my performance-based notions of self worth.  Basing my life instead on God's amazing grace would be far more fruitful.   When I fall short of the standards for success that I or others set, I should listen less to the voice that condemns, and more to the words of God.  He never offers reproof without hope.  

In the midst of all this inner turmoil, Rachel's bookshelf challenge this week forced me to take a long look at our shelves.  They are slovenly by anyone's account.  It's tempting just to resign myself to their condition and continue trying to ignore them, but maybe I won't.  I think they reflect something of the state of my heart as well.


The first bookcase is the best of the lot.  It goes downhill after that.  Also, anything you see that has remained orderly is my husband's doing.  

 

Hallway bookshelf

  

 Living room shelves

 

 Shelves downstairs

(I should hang those wedding portraits too, while I'm at it.)

Will I be able to tackle them all this weekend? I hope so.  Turning on some upbeat music should help me while I'm at it.  I would like to post the "after" pictures next week.  Yet whether I succeed or fail in this project, I'll strive to think on (and sing about) God's changeless love. 


So what songs have been a companion or balm for you this week?

Time for a Blogcation

Unable to find a common thread of thoughts for the week, I am sharing my Friday Five:

1 . The Bittersweet Blessings of Adoption

Many splendid friends have graced my life, several of whom happened to be adopted. I'm so thankful that they were, for they have meant so much to me and the many others who love them dearly. I've also come to know several adoptive families at my church in the last two years. I am delighted that now my children are receiving similar blessings, growing up with friends who came to us through adoption.

What prompted me to remember how grateful I am for those who adopt and were adopted? This touching post, by Steady Mom.

2. Company's Coming

To be hosting my sister in law's family of five for Thanksgiving next week is a happy and daunting prospect. They are coming in from Chicago next week. I am longing to manage my time better so I can have things prepared before their arrival. The first step toward that transformative goal? A better prayer life. "I need Thee every hour..."

3. The Return of Sock Hunting Season

Snow I don't mind, but how I despise hunting for socks! On the bright side, after doing the necessary weeding Rachel proposed, I can chop the strays up and help my oldest daughter make this uber-cool jump rope. I will post the results after we complete it. Meanwhile, I bought 12 new pairs of kids' socks this week. If I can still find 10 out of 12 pairs when we ring in the new year, that will be a triumph to celebrate.

4. Wish List Update

Two of the three wishes I shared last Friday are in the process of being granted. The third, "to arrive early and at peace" is still a struggle. Getting up from my computer, by God's grace, would be a way to progress. It is humbling to fail so repeatedly at doing the simplest of things. Punctual arrivals, well-coiffed hair....everyone else is managing, it seems, but me.

5. The Temptations of the Blogosphere

My, am I ambivalent about blogging lately! It motivates and distracts me. It gives me a mode of accountability and offers an avenue of escape. I need to get away for a time and receive some wisdom and healing from above. So if you don't see very many posts during the remainder of this month, that's the reason. I plan to schedule a few posts ahead of time, and then focus on those tasks and people that should get more of my attention.

Simple Tip of the Week: Using Kids to Compact Your Leaves

Step 1: Fill a bag.

Step 2: Grab a kid.

Step 3: Enjoy some smiles.

Step 4: Remove kid.

For more fun ideas, hop on over to Works for Me Wednesday!

Where O Where Have My Little Socks Gone?

Socks can be quite revealing. Show me your sock drawer and I will see how meticulous you are. In our house matching socks are a feat to be celebrated.

My exultation in having pairs for both of my daughters in hand came to an abrupt end one morning last week; they were gone an instant later. Poof! No socks. Not just one stray sock vanishing as they often do, but four socks. Two lovely matched pairs gone.

Socks seem so simple, and yet remain so hard for me to manage.

But wonder of wonders, this week the missing socks resurfaced! Yet even I am aghast at where they had lodged. At least they were clean.


The essence of my current haphazard existence is captured in this photo. Still, I honestly don’t think I would have put them in that drawer if I had not been lacking so much sleep. The simple act of going to bed would doubtless save me much untold grief.

Now, where did I put my can opener?

The simpler the task, the harder it is to do well

It's remarkable really, that I know how to blog, do social networking, post classified ads, and purchase products online, yet the simplest of tasks--going to bed at a reasonable hour--I cannot seem to do on a regular basis.

My thoughts on the trouble of going to sleep were captured almost perfectly by a recent Momsense article by Susan Bezse Wallace that I found via an e-mail newsletter.

In the article, she poses the questions "What do you do after the kids are in bed? What should you do?" She then proceeds to admonish me to "consider whether your nighttime activities are helping or hurting you the next day." Well, I certainly have done that, but bad habits are hard to break. Still, I shall try to take her advice to heart. I plan to print out the article and post it near (or on!) my ever-tempting computer.