Redeeming the Time

I I read a blog post recently by Patty over at babynumber10,  entitled "The Little Moments" that just hasn't let me go. Patty is a stay at home mom to 11 kids(!) and baby number 10 has down syndrome.  She chronicles some of their daily life on instagram as well as her blog.  This particular post is nothing earth shattering, she just reminds us there are little moments in our day we can redeem and use to be productive.   It is just practical, and maybe even for some blatantly obvious, but for ADD people (like me), it challenged me to think.  To think about how I spend my time going throughout my morning and to rewire my natural tendency. 

For those who don't understand what it is like to live in an ADD brain let me fill you in somewhat.  We spend a lot of our time feeling overwhelmed.  Overwhelmed by what all there is to do, and feeling like there is no clear direction in which to do it.  This in turn leads to avoiding issues, like getting the mail because you don't want to have to deal with sorting and paying out all the bills from your daughter's birth (by the way don't do this, it leads to a VERY full mail box and a grumpy mail man).  I do little things like this every day, avoiding them because when I think of everything that needs to get done all together and the time it is going to take me to do all of those things I freak out a little in my head.

Now I know all of you rational, sane, organized people are sitting there thinking "if she would just do it when she first thinks about it, she could avoid this problem" to which I would tell you you're absolutely right.  I know this, deep down I really do, and I desire to change which is why I think this post struck a cord with me and hasn't left.  Here is an excerpt from her post.

Keepers of the home have a lot on their collective plates - and if we were to enter that noble profession, Mrs. Smith forewarned us, we should continually be looking for opportunities to seize the "little minutes" of our day.

What are "little minutes", you say ??

Glad you asked.

Little minutes are the moments in between the big minutes ... that make up our days.

If big minutes are the chunks of time we spend each day devoted to the big tasks : washing the dishes, folding the laundry, cooking dinner, mopping floors .... then little minutes are the moments we have in-between these things : straightening a bookshelf as we return a book to its place, grabbing all the pencils in the junk drawer and securing them with a rubber band as we answer a phone call, wiping the spots off the mirror with a paper towel as we brush our teeth - so many little ways to redeem the time.

Mrs. Smith taught us that there were untold little minutes in every day - and if we paid attention and made room for them, they would be one of our greatest keys to success in the art of homemaking.

So now for the past few weeks I will randomly hear my own version of a mantra as I tell myself to "redeem the time" and try to do those little things when I actually see they need doing.  Redeeming the time comes in the tasks of hanging up clothes when I am putting away all other laundry, wiping window seals in the dining room at least once a week while I am wiping the table down, taking items back to the appropriate rooms, etc.  

So often as a homemaker I feel like I am running in place and falling further and further behind.  This job has made me realize I can't do everything, my house may not ever look "pinterest worthy" or the way I would choose for it to, I mean come on, we live here.  However, in the middle of the love, and chaos, the big moments, and skinned knees, there are ways to attempt to stay on top of stuff and make our home an enjoyable place to be for everyone.  

A God Who Speaks

Isn't God just amazing?  I mean literally just wonderful.  He loves us all so much and cares about us in such intricate ways and on a personal level.  Example A, He speaks to each person differently according to what is going on in their life right now.  I know, I know, this is not an eye-opening statement, most people who follow Jesus know this, but stop for a second and take the time to think about it.  I mean honestly think about the fact that God deals with me according to what is happening in my own little world (which is the smallest it has ever been in terms of size or what I do since I stay home, but the most full it has ever been because, well, I stay home), and yet with someone else, even someone who is essentially at the same place in life, He is talking to about something totally different.

 Ok so I am going to take the long way around to get to the point, just stay with me for a paragraph or two and hopefully it will all connect.  Here we go; I love reading blogs, especially from people I know/have met/ have a relationship with.  I have some great personal friends with wonderful blogs.  Take for instance my friend Jen, who has lost MANY pounds using weight watchers and has not only one blog, but two.  One for her personal life (found here), and another to chronicle her journey as well as give out helpful hints and other goodies (found here). Her blogs are so uplifting, and she is so spirit led, I am always challenged to listen to God and spend time in prayer more after reading her blog(s).

There is another blog I read written by my friend Meagan.  Meagan and I went to college together, then ended up in the same sunday school class (along with Jen) for a season, then had babies around the same time (both boys), and have become stay at home moms.  Needless to say our lives have started looking somewhat more alike then probably both of us ever thought they would.  She is a blogger, a great writer and when she blogs I am so excited to read what she has to say.  You can find her blog here (and I strongly suggest you do, good stuff), and read about what God has been teaching her lately.

This long intro brings me to this point.  Although Meagan and I are pretty much going through the same experience in life, God is using this time to teach us things that are different and uniquely ours.  For Meagan it is being vulnerable and real with people (strange because I have been dealing with this myself lately, but she lays it out perfectly), while for me God has really been speaking on being diligent.

Diligence is a word I never really would have thought about had I not been at this place in life right now.  I have always been a hard worker, and self motivated if I were doing something for someone or some other cause (such as sports, for a team/coach).  However, when it comes down to me just being my own motivation I am really not so good.  My ADD (literally, really have it people, not just saying it) kicks in and I start on one task, yet don't finish it before I move onto something else (hence the last sentence in this paragraph that I didn't finish writing before I wend to put in the links to Jen's blogs), or I focus only on one task and neglect other things (hence the writing of this blog entry when I have a half unloaded dishwasher).  This is where I fear I am failing and I do not want to pass this along to Reid.  So God has really been speaking to my heart lately on being diligent, staying until I get not one job done, but many jobs done.

I have been granted the gift of time by staying home, time I must use to make my house a home, time that I have to do things that HAVE to be done and not be dog tired doing them at the end of the day after working for 8 hours.  However, this gift of time can (and often does) turn into idleness on my part.  Time that I spend looking at facebook, reading, or watching T.V.  Don't get me wrong none of these things are bad, but when my house is neglected more than it receives attention then it becomes a problem.  It is easy to fall into the trap of idleness and not even know, and then not want to get up out of it.  However, it is something I must do.

So here is my experiment, a week of diligence, where I go to bed feeling good that I have accomplished many tasks around the house, not just managed it kinda clean it and get a little bit of supper on the table.  A week spent with my time going to more than just me and what I want to do, but to my family and what is best for them.  We will see how this goes.

Isn't it wonderful that God is a purposeful, diligent, God who we are completely vulnerable to, who sees every part of us.  Thank you Jesus for speaking to me, about me.