one thing is needful

something from my inbox:

"Hello, my name is Martha, and I am troubled about many things." Do you think Martha needed a support group to help her recognize and define her problem? Jesus defined it very well when He said she was anxious and upset about many things. Before I am too hard on Martha, though, I must say that this homeschool mom is anxious and upset about many things too. I mean, I have that transcript to finish for this child, and that test to sign that child up for, and the library room to reserve for that meeting. Not to mention the boxes of things I still need to weed through and the children to be taken to field trips and dentist appointments. Oh yes, and what about the actual schooling in homeschooling, and who's watching the baby? Who's left to do it all? Of course, it's me again! I am tempted to say, like Martha, "Bid that man therefore that he help me!" Someone, anyone--give me a hand! And I can hear that patient voice of Jesus say to me, "Deborah, Deborah, you are careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful . . ." We desperately need to know what that "one thing" is, don't we? If what we are doing in all of our busyness and running around is not needful, then what is? If what we are doing is not eternally good and can be snatched from us, then what is it that is truly good and will not be taken from us? It is simply stopping to be with Christ Himself. It is making Him important enough to stop for. What else has been important enough to stop everything for--instead of Him? You see, He knows that we cannot rest until we are fed. If we sit and dine with Him first, then we can serve with the benefit of having been filled with the Bread of Heaven and have enough left over to distribute to those who are hungry around us. This is what they need too. They don't need one more assignment or one more place to go; they need the Bread of Heaven first...



...Are you working hard to be the perfect homeschool mom, the perfect hostess, the perfect friend, wife, mother . . .? Maybe it's time to make Christ important enough to stop all of that for and sit at His feet for a while; to hear Him; to understand that He is your Life; that He IS what is important in your life; to learn how to run to Him in your need; and to believe with all your heart that He is the Christ, the Son of God; and, oh yes, . . . He loves you.

Oh, how He loves you and me! . . . ~Deborah

Deborah Wuehler is the wife of Richard, homeschool mother of eight beautiful and challenging children, and the senior editor for The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine.  dwuehler@thehomeschoolmagazine.com

and the house

...is not looking much different yet.  But today Tim and good friend Marty worked at putting a cap on the wall (I don't know professional jargon... maybe a sill?) -- something to attach roof trusses to... soon we hope... before it starts raining...

I think the piles under the tarps and snow will be wall studs... and the roof trusses are here waiting now too.

The Cattleman wanted to help this afternoon also -- so Tim put him to work with a shovel  :-)

 

These are the two stairwells... we are putting an entrance to the basement in the garage.

Today turned chillier than it has been this week, but we are thankful for the warmer weather that makes working outdoors all day much more doable.

Now, about that crane...

to do, or not to do

Not the work everyone else gave me to do;
not everything I thought I should do;
not everything there was to be done.

I'm almost intimidated by my blog after that last post!  How am I doing with keeping "First Things First"?  I'm still uncertain of what exactly is on my God-given To Do List, although there's plenty I do know He has put on my plate.

So, the 'brag' list of sorts:

• daily Bible reading
• monitoring/tutoring kids and schoolwork
• meals - supper is in the oven -- which is why I'm allowing myself to chat with you
• laundry - skipped today since the dirties were not delivered to the laundry room, but our Mt. Washmore is still a prairie-sized bunny hill - and easier for me to manage than skis  ;-)
  
• T-Tapp - twice this week {pat, pat!}

Areas to improve:

• sleep - hmm, not quite there yet on the 'early to bed, early to rise'  [confession: last week I stayed up watching 5 hours of Masterpiece Theater's Cranford online in one sitting  :o  ack!  but oh so fun.]
• prayer time is the other area so easy to neglect  :-(
• helping Tim (somehow -- I can't put roof trusses on the house or undo water damage to the plywood floor... or heal the sick calves -- See why I should be praying more?!)

More perceived needs:

• catch up the computer bookkeeping before it's time to file taxes :p (definitely not what I count as the most wonderful time of the year...)
• sewing - remember the pile of flannel for sweet baby blankets?  The pile of denim is at least as heavy and needs to become skirts and culottes for my girls.  Miss Artist and I are/were going to make several heat pad thingies as well... (actually SHE has kept up with schoolwork this month, so is making one THIS week!  yAy! for her)
  
• after chasing all over the house to remember (find where I've recorded) birth weights for all of our children, I'm reminded of the way-behind projects of baby books and photo albums
• not to mention all the cupboards, drawers, and closets that need a very thorough purging with hopes of better organization -- one of my life's goals (fantasies?) is "A place for everything and everything in its place"  ha ha ha....  

Well, Tim is home already.  Time to be an attentive wife - or at least let him use the computer.  =)
First, here's a peek at one of my Christmas gifts from him -- I'd better save some for tax season!

Ciao!

first things first

I have glorified thee on the earth:

I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

John 17:4

Not the work everyone else gave me to do;
not everything I thought I should do;
not everything there was to be done.

At each season of life, we need to stop and say, "Lord, what is your agenda for my life this day, this season?  What are your priorities for my life?"

There IS time in every 24 hour day to do everything that is on God's "to do" list for my life, for that day.  There's time in my lifetime to do everything God has assigned to me.

Are we being purposeful and intentional in the way that we spend our time?

God's order of what matters most:  spirit, soul, body.
We naturally tend to reverse the order.

{{...I am finally sharing my summary of First Things First, a series by Nancy Leigh DeMoss on Revive Our Hearts...most of this is directly quoted from the transcripts...}}

---P-R-I-O-R-I-T-I-E-S--- 

P = Pray

Pray for wisdom and strength to know and to do God's agenda.  Grace to deal with the inevitable pressures.

But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, 

that we should not trust in ourselves, 

but in God which raiseth the dead...

2 Corinthians 1:9

O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear;
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.

R = Review & Receive God's priorities for our lives

The Number One Priority is our relationship, our walk with God.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 

and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  

Matthew 22:37

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; 

and all these things shall be added unto you.

Matthew 6:33

And he [Christ] is the head of the body, the church: 

who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; 

that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Colossians 1:18

Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part...

Luke 10:42

Nancy's father had a motto, "No Bible reading, no breakfast."

Relationship with God means that I need to make time in His Word, time in prayer, time in meditation and time with God's people.  If I'm too busy to cultivate my relationship with God, then I'm too busy.  Something is wrong and something has to change.  Ask God to show you through His Word what is His job description for your life at this season of your life.

For me as a wife and mother, my Number Two Priority is my relationship with my husband.  My third priority is my household -that's my children and our home.  As these priorities are in place, then I can find time for outreach, for ministry to the poor and needy.  (See Proverbs 31 and Titus 2)


I = Inventory

Stop and think about what our priorities really are and what our schedule really is like.

Make a list of all current responsibilities.  Keep a time log for a week.  What you find may surprise you.  Evaluate each activity --
Does it contribute to, or help me fulfill, the priorities that God has established for my life and for our family?
Am I doing these things for the right reasons?

Is God pleased?

O = Order 

We want to learn to order our schedule and our activities according to God's priorities for our lives, for this season of our lives.  Determine what is really important, and then live your life accordingly.

If we don't make our priorities determine our schedule, then our schedule is going to determine our priorities.

Have you seen the illustration where you fill the jar with the big rocks first, then many of the smaller ones can find room as well.  If you put the small rocks in the jar first, you won't have room for all of the big ones.

Put the first things first.

Order my steps in thy word...

Psalm 119:133

R = Resist "the tyranny of the urgent"

In his little booklet by this title, Charles Hummel says that the problem isn't that we don't have enough time; it's really a problem of priorities.

"The important tasks rarely must be done today, or even this week, but urgent tasks call for instant action."

We need to learn to recognize the difference between what's urgent and what's important.

Are we busy?  Busyness is not a virtue.  The question is: Are we busy doing the important things?

We have to learn to discern which interruptions are from the Lord and which are not.

And I sent messengers unto them, saying, 

I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: 

why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?

Nehemiah 6:3

I = Input

Get input from other people.  Did you ever stop to ask your husband to help you with your list of responsibilities, to help prioritize that list?  Be willing to listen to counsel, and to be accountable to others as they give input.


T = Take advantage of the time God gives you.

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Ephesians 5:15-21

Foolish people live for the moment without thinking about the future, but wise people are always making decisions in light of eternity.  Foolish people live for themselves, but wise people live for the glory of God and for others.

That doesn't mean we can never relax or have fun.  But when we are having recreation it should be intentional.  It should be for a purpose of a higher priority.  That's why you have to know - what is the season of life, and how can I take advantage of the moments God has given to me in that life?



I = Identify time robbers.

What are the time robbers that are sapping my energy, robbing my time, and keeping me from doing the truly important things in life?

Television, novels, catalogs, email, internet, telephone,... people, children's activities?
"What are God's priorities for our family?"

Bad attitudes - moodiness, complaining, whining, and an ungrateful spirit?

Ask God to help you approach your tasks with joy and in the fullness of His Holy Spirit.  You'll find that your day really does go further.

Plan your day, but then ask the Lord to direct and control those plans.  Learn to be discerning and wise.


E = Experience this season and this moment fully.

Whatever it's time to do right now, do it with all your heart.  Be focused; be all there.

Ask God as you're in whatever the season is to make you a woman of joy, a woman who is full of the Holy Spirit and who enters into whatever experience God has given you at that time.


S = Sabbaths

We need to take periodic time-outs - time to get refreshed, to regain perspective, to reflect, to evaluate where we are, to reprioritize as needed, to make adjustments in our schedules.

Regain your perspective on a daily basis, on a weekly basis, and periodically, throughout the year.

Being in the center of God's will is what is really refreshing.  So make sure that you are taking those moments here and there of sabbath rest, to stop and ponder what God is doing in your life and what He's saying to you.

S = Sensitive and Surrendered to the Spirit of God

Let God direct your day.  The Lord really can be trusted.  Trust Him in relation to the interruptions.  Trust Him in relation to the opportunities.  Yield yourself to Him.

Jesus, I am resting, resting,
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.

May our lives testify to the peace and the order of the Christ who lives within us.  

May our lives bring glory to God.

***With all due credit to Nancy Leigh DeMoss ~ series titled "First Things First" from January 2007.***

aha moment

I'm still mulling over my kitchen dilemma.

This is the dreamy kitchen that inspired me. 

• Zone 1 = food prep
• Zone 2 = baking
• Zone 3 = cooking
• Zone 4 = cleanup

But if you look really close, you might see on the inset floorplan sketch that Maggie's kitchen measures 22x16.  That's just. plain. huge.  The article doesn't even show her pantry? or hutch? whatever is on the non-highlighted wall.  So while I knew that I couldn't recreate her kitchen, I wanted to learn from the Zone Idea.  The left-to-right made sense to my brain, and that's how we worked it out in our 'final' kitchen plan in September.

But now with the wall ovens idea looking much more appealing to me, I think I have to reverse my layout.

 
Tim says to put the frig on the stove wall, and the ovens/cooktop on the frig wall.  I need a new picture.

Aha!  What I really need is my driveway uncovered with snow, some warmer(!) weather, and our sidewalk chalk!

MSN Weather says it's 3 (three) degrees above zero here. 

I think I'll find the old pad of graph paper.  Otherwise I might have to stand on my head or something dangerous like that...

kitchen

This is an 'artistic interpretation' of how our kitchen might look... I don't have a color scheme dreamed up yet (my daughters have ideas of course), but I do know that I don't want dark countertops  =)  and appliances will be white, not $tainle$$ $teel.  And, of course, the perspective sort of skews how accurate this appears.  For example, the counter to the right of the stove is more like 18" wide if I remember correctly.  And there's about 12" between the stove and the corner.  So, this layout works with my basic 30" stove.  But my hubby is encouraging me to consider wall ovens, which means a cooktop as well.  Hmmmm, any kitchen designers out there??  ;-)  I like my cooking area on that wall, but need to work out if it will fit if we change appliances...  Since our local kitchen cabinet shop isn't open today, I'm asking you  =)   According to my math, with 30" wall ovens I have 30" left for the cooktop, which leaves no open countertop on that wall (other than the corner).  We don't want to put the cooktop in the island.  I was planning all my mixing and prep work for the refrigerator wall with the island available for rolling out/shaping bread/etc.  And the island would serve as a buffet when we have friends over.  (I have two mixers, grain mill, big blender, microwave (in upper cabinet) etc. that would live on the 'prep' counter -- unless I should put the cooktop there?  or the wall ovens?  Put the wall ovens on the sink wall (in the corner somehow?)   ugh.  I don't like coming up with a Plan B after the fact...

Mostly thinking out loud here -- but hoping someone might have a good idea for me!

Thanks for listening!  (Now for the lesson plans I've been avoiding...)

PS. Conny, I'm limited to free formats  =)

talk to me

Question of the Day:
What do you all think?  Good format change,  or not?

And, Happy New Year!

I haven't determined yet what limits I must impose on myself regarding this blog... but pretty sure that I need to reduce my time spent here.  I'm re-reading Nancy Leigh DeMoss's series on First Things First.  Hope to share something beyond the link, but that will have to do for now!  ;-)