Priorities
As things have been so busy the past weeks, I have been thinking about what it is that takes up so much of my time. During this season in my life, I live by three priorities: God first, then my husband and then my children. I have based this on the verses from Titus 2 where the older women are to teach the younger women to love their husbands and children. After this I can reach out into the community. As my children grow older and become more independent, I know I can reach out more, but at this stage of life they take up a huge part of my life, especially since we homeschool.
I have found myself so tired and behind on things in the home these past few weeks, and I have been wondering why this is so. One reason is that it is that time of month, and I need to slow down a bit to take that into account. I have looked at all my activities and weighed them up against my three priorities. One thing I am continuing to cut back on is my time on the computer. It is sooooo easy to visit blogs and join egroups that take up a lot of time. It’s a good thing, if done in moderation. Over the past months I have gone to no mail with some egroups because they were just taking up too much time. This week I again felt God gently prodding me to slow down with my internet use, and spend that time in my home. I know that when we get the farm I will be much busier again. Maybe this is all in preparation….
I have been spending time sewing as well. These past weeks I have sewn some simple bags, two pillow cases to match a bed cover I made for Elizabeth, and I have started on a summer dress for her. In the business of it all I wondered - should I be doing this sewing? Does it fit in with my priorities? Why don’t I just go and buy these things, instead of spending my time on them? I read this post this morning over at Down to Earth:
It confirmed to me why I do these things. Why I bake my bread, cakes, cookies. Why I cook from scratch. Why I sew for the children. Why I don’t just go and buy these things from the shop. It all takes time, time that is precious for me. But I am showing my children that we don’t just have to go and buy things - we can do it ourselves. We can use what we have, what God has given us. I have a cupboard full of fabric. I have patterns. I have the knowledge to sew things myself, things that are better quality, fit better, and last longer than what I can buy in the shop. Doing these homemaking things fits into the priority of loving my children. I am teaching them a different way of life.
So I don’t get enough time to blog… so I don’t get enough “me time” (whatever that is!) - I am loving and training my children.
Elizabeth is already learning. Yesterday she made a beautiful dress for her Barbie doll. She has a box full of fabric scraps. She decided they were too wrinkled, so first she ironed them. Then she used them, some ribbon and some velcro to make a dress. She is watching me and learning from me. She has pocket money and could easily use it to buy clothes for her dolls from the shop. But she is enjoying the thrill of making them herself.
My priorities…. God, Hubbie, Children and then everything else….. sometimes it is hard to see that what I am doing is worthwhile, but deep down I know it is.