Monday, February 28, 2011

Large Family Logistics

If you live locally you can call Laura's Home Goods and have her order this for you.  You don't even have to have 9 kids to read this-it would work even if you live in a college dorm room.  This is the most valuable resource for managing my home that has come across my path over the last eleven years.  If you have felt overwhelmed with cooking, cleaning, training your children, doing laundry, basically overwhelmed with managing your home and not having enough hours in your day, then I strongly encourage you to invest the $21.00 in this book.

Homemaking is the new topic of discussion around these parts for the next, well, however long it takes to get it talked about.

I'm going to try not to dump my entire purse out onto the table today which would leave you overwhelmed.  When I get excited that is what I do and let me tell you I AM EXCITED.  I feel HOPE.  After one week I SEE CHANGE FOR THE BETTER.  I am ENCOURAGED right now.  Life has been PRODUCTIVE.  Our home has been  ORDERLY.  There has been TIME FOR THINGS THAT MATTER, like RELATIONSHIP.

Last Monday something changed around here.  Last Monday I decided it was time to try something new.  A new way of how I do things.  A new way that personally, is not my personality.  Change can be painful at first, and I can assure you it has been a struggle for me to think outside of the box.

Last Monday when I decided to take the plunge and try out a new system I felt drained and mentally exhausted by the end of the day.  By Tuesday night I fell into bed early from all the mental thinking that had taken place over the last 48 hours.  A looming question of,  "Is this worth it to feel so worn out?", would not leave my thoughts.  "This is not coming easy to me, it is requiring  hard work and planning and it is not fun."  As a person who loves to have fun you can see the dilemma my thoughts and I were having.

Last Thursday as I sat down before lunch to play a game of Uno with my boys a glimmer of hope and joy filled my heart.  It is Thursday, I thought, and the laundry is done, the pantry is filled with the last $43 I had in my budget for the month, dinner is planned for the rest of the week, everything is tidy, and my heart feels at peace.  I never, ever feel I can stop mid-morning to sit and play a game with my children.  My hard work of only 4 days is paying off and I am already enjoying the fruit of my labor.

Life was beginning to replace Tired & Overwhelmed.

Last week my husband came home to order.

He came home to peace.

If you have been living in survival mode then I am so happy you stopped by today.

As a woman your actions, heart and attitude set the pulse and atmosphere of your entire home. That is a huge responsibility and it is a huge opportunity to be a blessing.

I'm going to go ahead and share with you the basic changes I made last week.  If you are eager to change it up around your house you can jump right in today. If you want to hang around a little to check it out that is great too.

LAUNDRY DAY:
Today do your laundry.  4 loads (or more) by 4:00pm.  If you work full time maybe just go home and do 1 or 2 loads tonight.  But do as many  loads as you can today to try to get caught up.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Anna~you are such a blessing.
love, paige

Tara said...

I LOVED sitting next to you at the retreat last weekend and getting to hear your heart about this topic. It was such a blessing and an encouragement. Your blog inspired me this morning, and I've done 5 loads of laundry! :)