Musings

This is my second in-depth exposure to this book . It was lent to me a couple years ago, at which time it was read and partially implemented. When I pulled it out again, I was going to review it with the intent of giving it a negative review. I felt that it was unrealistic and extremely rigid. As I began to go through it fairly, the Maxwell’s changed my mind. There are chapters covering the organization of children’s days, school, chores, kitchen, and summer. Chapter 5 concerns scheduling babies, which, regardless of your theory of baby-rearing, still helps you realize that time must be set apart in your day to take care of your precious bundle. Because the Maxwell’s are coming from a Biblical worldview, her opinions on many matters are encouraging. When she answers a question concerning the stress of regularly disciplining the younger children she includes “I truly believe that my continued perseverance in not growing weary in these child training issues will be blessed by ...

I love music, and I want my children to love music. So what do we do? We listen to music! For the parent who wants lovely God honoring music as a part of home (and car) life, but can’t sit at the piano singing our favorite worship songs, hymns, and spiritual songs all day, this presents a conundrum. In our household there are routinely classical or hymn CD’s going. And when I say Hymns, this is the Hymn CD from the Together for the Gospel conference worship, so it is just piano and 3,000 men singing. I like this, and I like that my kids are getting solid hymnody reinforced at home. We all understand that music is a powerful medium for memorization. We know that there are several music CD’s that teach history, math, geography and science (which is fabulous!), but what is our primary desire for our children? To know the word of God.  If they know it, we can teach them to understand it. The Holy Spirit can use it in their souls to draw them to Him, and to sanctify t...

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:5-7 ESV This is the deepest cry of my heart. I know that it must be important to you too! I read these words, and inspiration swells like an orchestral piece in my mind. How, today, I will live devotionally so my children will see how I love my Creator and Redeemer, and how I will teach them to as well. Then they rise…and a lovely chaos ensues…all thoughts pertaining to anything other than food, clothing, tidying, breakfast, and the order of the day try to flee. We have different strategies for coping with these distractions. I am guessing that you have some sort of Bible time routine with your children, or that they attend AWA...

Like many of you, I had only heard of placental abruption (when the placenta tears away) in the second and third trimesters. When my midwife diagnosed me with this at 10 weeks, I did what all pregnant Mamas do. Opened up my search engine, and called friends who had been pregnant, miscarried, or were "in the know." Just as a point of information, the placenta is an organ that is created during pregnancy, and acts as a go-between for me and the baby. It provides all the nutrients for the baby for the entire forty weeks, and in a few more weeks will completely take over hormone regulation so I can stop feeling like I have the stomach flu. It is so amazing, that in many cultures, the new mother eats it after birth. Our modern take on this is encapsulation, which I think is gross. Point of clarification: I don't think encapsulation is gross....I think eating it in any way is gross. MOVING on... Part of this can tear away, causing a significant amount of bleeding, and ...

Here I am, sitting in a local coffee shop, drinking coffee, writing, calling, organizing, being. My sweet husband is home with my darlings, which allows me this hour and a half break. This week has been great! I have been rising early, seeking my God first, making my household a generally pleasant place to be. We started schooling again this week, so Gabriel and Abigail are loving that, and Hannah is not. She thinks it ridiculous that attention be focused anywhere else. Tonight I have to fold laundry to keep up on that challenge, make dinner, tidy up before some boys come over to hear the doctrine of God as presented in the scriptures elaborated upon by Nate. Time to Go!

Remember the great Laundry Challenge? Well, unlike the Great Breakfast Challenge (which perhaps should be renamed "Breakfast: Accomplished-Sometimes Twice"), it remains an elusive, un-achieved goal. Perhaps I should rename it "Clean Clothes Confronted"- no, in actuality the dirty clothes are being confronted - and put through quite an ordeal. It isn't only them being agitated over this. The good thing about the word 'confrontation' is that it  puts me into a more aggressive planning mode. I know what I need to do. Get a better system. Right now I have two baskets. One for clean, one for dirty. I run three types of loads: darks, lights, and towels with bleach. My single basket overflows before there is enough to run one of these loads. This makes me look and feel more behind than I am. Tomorrow I am going out.... The good news is that last week I was great until Wednesday. Then I never folded Thursday's until Friday....you get the picture. Right n...

Going into our marriage, we both thought that I would make lunches.You know, the kind that you pack for your husband to take to work? Well, I did. This went rather well, overall, until my first pregnancy. After that, it became hit and miss. More miss. He got used to making his own lunch, in addition to breakfast, and I got used to going back to bed with a baby. Five years went by. Two weeks ago, I started adding breakfast to my menu planning (my two week rotation has been going pretty strong!). I have been getting up, making his breakfast and lunch, then either making my tea for my Bible reading, or going back to bed….depending on what time he leaves. I am really happy about this! Of course, I have to menu plan, or I stumble around my kitchen aimlessly looking like a mole. If I can keep it up for another two weeks, in December I am going to add something else. The great laundry challenge. I am terrible at laundry. Half of the time my husband does it. The other times I create amazin...

This evening I completed my new two week cycle for dinners and breakfasts. I began doing this about two months ago. It is SO much easier for me to stick with. First of all, let me extol the virtues of menu planning. Your grocery shopping is more efficient, saving you time, money, and waste. This is especially true if you choose more than one dinner that will feature your newly purchased (and not part of your usual fare) asparagus or red bell peppers. You do not have to stress every day, hoping you have the ingredients for whatever it is you are craving. When your darling husband comes home and casually inquires concerning that evening's repast, you do not answer with the dreaded, brain emptying, "UMMMM" before you try to pitch tomato soup and tuna melts as an option that was planned. In this area it becomes extremely helpful to network with other lovely wives you know to see what they do. For some reason, every time that I have a baby I feel that I am completely start...

So...This is week two of my Project Discipline. Week one went smashingly well. My Zest for new endeavors and my commitment to starting the day with the Lord kept me going. Week two didn't go so well. However, I am recouping my losses tomorrow. I have decided to address the truth that has been lurking behind my hurried, slovenly, and grumbly household. This truth is not one that is new, nor is it one that is even shocking to me. I AM A LAZY HOUSEWIFE. I have been convicted of this fact before, and at the time I had no idea what to do...how to get control, how to have a well ordered household, how to teach my children systematically.... Unfortunately ( or should I say, thankfully), this is not the case anymore. I have a plan, I have charts, and I know WHAT to do. I just need to implement it. Two startling pieces of advice came to my ears this week. The first is: Do just one thing. Every day, once you have that down, add something else. I still haven't decided what this one thing...