A Week in the Life...Day Five

I knew I should have written this post last night, or at the very least, as events happened.  I'm afraid I don't remember ALL of what I did on Friday!  I believe this was the way my day went, as far as I can recall...

I woke up and got the kids breakfast and then packed our pool bags to head to the Rec Center.  We took my niece to work, got lunch and then headed to the Goodwill to buy pants and shirts for the theatre's Sneak Peek.  Having acquired our needed items, we next headed to the pool.  We so enjoy our time in the water!  After an hour or so, we went to Wal-Mart and I treated the kids to an ice cream from the McDonald's in the store.  I was supposed to meet a friend to go walking, but plans changed a bit and I ended up at her house, drove back to my house and walked to the lake from there.  I enjoy my time with my bestie and know that our lives are so intertwined that we feel as though something is missing if we go a day without talking or texting or Facebook messaging each other (THAT rarely happens, though!)!  When we finished our walk, we came back to my house and my friend left.  I had the kids get ready for the Sneak Peek and we were soon all dressed and ready for our big night!  We had a great time performing, as usual, and our night ended as we came home and promptly went to bed.  Saturday would be much more busy!

A Week in the LIfe...Day Four

Today started off with my husband running late for work.  He sets his alarm, but I set mine as well so that I can be sort of a back up alarm to ensure he gets up and ready to go so he isn't late.  Unfortunately, I did not make sure he got up and he ran 15 minutes late to work.  My sister had asked if I might print off something for her to take for her students at school, so I ran those over to her house since my hubby did not have time to as we had planned.
Next, I came home and wrote more of my book.  My mother called and needed help with her printer, so I went downstairs to her area in the house and fixed that for her.  I printed out some worksheets for my kids to do throughout the day.  Since I was not introducing new topics, concepts, skills or materials, much of their work was practice or review.  I made sure the kids ate breakfast and then let them watch "How It's Made" for a brief time.  A little while later, I took my niece to work and had planned to attend a meeting with some business associates. But I had as I was talking to a friend, I realized that she and I needed some time together to just visit and have time away from the daily weight of our lives.  We ended up having lunch out and had a good time in each other's company.  It is so important as women and as mothers that we make sure we take care of ourselves and one way we can do that is through fellowship with our sisters in the Lord, even if it means missing a meeting because one of our sisters is more important.  I really enjoy my time with my sisters, and I make it a priority to see that we meet weekly.  We also ran over to the newly opened Goodwill in our town to see if there were any good deals, but we left empty-handed.  When I came home from a wonderful time with my friend, it was nearly time to pick up my niece from work.  We took her to get lunch and brought her home to play with her cousins.  My kids really love their cousins and look forward to every opportunity they are given to be with them!  While they were visiting and eating lunch, I cleaned the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher wiping off the counters and stove as I finished.  Before I knew it, the time came to take my niece to work and pick my sister up from her job as a teacher at a local charter school.  I so enjoy just those few short minutes I have with my sis to visit, catch up and be silly and yesterday was one of those days.  After I took her home, I realized I only had a few hours before my kids and I had to be at rehearsal for our theatre's preview show: The Sneak Peek.  If I was going to get a nap in to my long and tiring day, now would be the time.  But that didn't happen.  I straightened up my bedroom a bit and watched an episode of an old 90s television show.  By the time it was over, my husband came home from work, moved our utility trailer from the front to the back yard and the children and I readied ourselves for the upcoming rehearsal.  My husband came, too, which was a special treat for all of us.  Rehearsal was long and tiring and I don't even have a big role in the musical we are doing, "Into the Woods."  We didn't get home until almost midnight, which is unusual for our theatre.  We normally don't run that late.  When I got home I had to finish a discussion post and then I promptly feel asleep!  I woke up at 6 a.m. today, surprisingly!  The plan for today is to have a day off of school and to relax before the Sneak Peek tonight...Well, that's the PLAN!

A Week in the Life--Day Three

Today started out with a well thought out plan...and ended there.  My mom took me out for iced tea, I exchanged some shorts at the newly opened Goodwill in town and took my niece to work.  I dropped mom off to window shop at a local thrift store, ran back to pick up some much needed paint samples at home for my niece, picked mom back up, met with my friend to give her our donated items for their Silent Auction, picked up my kids and took them to the Rec Center for a little pool time fun!  Mom and I walked around the track there and then took the kids to lunch.  I also had the privilege of seeing my second oldest son and brought him lunch, too!  When we were done there, we went back to the house to drop mom off so she could take my niece to her other job, then I left for the Carbon Valley library.  We have missed our library days, but we are back into the swing of it once again.  I picked my sister up from work and got her some dinner, and dropped her off at home.  By now, it is 4:40 p.m.!  I met my husband at his part time job just so I could see him and tell him I love him and kiss him...When we were done there, I received a text message from our theatre owner and friend who asked if my teenage son and daughter could do a scene for the theatre's Sneak Peek this Friday and Saturday.  I am soo impressed with my kids ability to learn and RETAIN script lines and lyrics so quickly, and of course the teens were ecstatic to be asked to do the scene.  Now I am writing my blog, helping hte kids work on some English, then I'll move on to my book and we will soon leave for their rehearsal.  Dinner is going to be a meal out tonight, but we are so enjoying our time in rehearsals and at the theatre.  To end out the day, a friend has hired me to be her house cleaner!  AND she has two other people who may possibly be interested in using me to clean their homes!  I love it when the Lord leads and directs me in such a manner that I didn't even see the goodness and THE BLESSING coming!!!  Busy day tomorrow, too...can't wait to write about it all!

A Week in the Life...Day Two

Feeling a little like Rapunzel from "Tangled" today...the plan was to work on our songs for the theatre's Sneak Peek that we are performing on Friday and Saturday.  By 10 a.m., we had pretty much learned our songs! My bestie came over and we visited for a bit, I managed to get some worksheets for the kids to do and promptly got a headache that I battled most of the early afternoon.
At about 6 p.m., I got a call from my sister to run errands with her.  That was a fun time and I enjoyed spending time with her since she's been working as a substitute teacher for the past 12 weeks.  We visited her friend who was in the hospital and grabbed Diet Cokes.  It was a nice evening.  My mom and I also went to get our Pampered Chef orders from my bestie and then we got dinner.  The headache only then began to subside and I fell asleep listening to my husband working on the computer...

A Week in the Life--Day One...

My day began as it normally does with me waking up as my husband gets ready to leave for work at 6 a.m.  I worked on some of my school after he left.  I wrote some more of my book and read Luke 16.  I was watching a show on Hulu when a friend called to collect some things I had gotten for her son's high school orchestra Silent Auction.  While I waited for her to arrive, I made the bed, folded some laundry and picked up the bathroom.  Then I moved to the guest bathroom and straightened it up, throwing away some garbage, tossing dirty towels in the hamper and wiping off the counters.  My friend and I visited for too short a time and after she left, I got ready for a meeting.  I assigned some school work for my kids to do while I was at my meeting and left them in the capable hands of my oldest daughter.  Upon wrapping up my meeting, I returned home, collected my sons and met a friend for a walk.  That felt so good and it allowed my daughters to spend some quality time together at home.  After returning home, we ate lunch and my friend and I picked up some food from a great couple at church.  It's a wonderful outreach to help people in the congregation and we are truly grateful for their generosity.  On the way back to my house, I picked up my niece and took her to her second job.  When I got home, I had my oldest son put the refrigerated food away and promptly got back into my truck to pick my sister up from work.  Currently, I am writing my blog and readying my children to go to our theatre rehearsal tonight.  When I get back, I plan to write a bit more of my book and am excited to introduce a new character!
That is my day so far...and to think, tomorrow will be MORE busy than today!

Links...

New inspiration for becoming a "Good Wife"

I have been reading the book, "The Good Wife's Guide" by Darlene Schacht, and I am finding such wonderful motivation as a wife and help meet!  If you don't already ready Time-Warp Wife, I highly recommend you follow Darlene's blog, Time-Warp Wife 
I thought I would include links to a couple of things I have read recently that you might find helpful in your daily life.  First, is the housecleaning schedule that Darlene has on her blog: 

Next is the daily chore schedule.  This is a customizable chore chart for parents and children and can be printed from this link: http://www.artbookbindery.net/timewarpwife/ChoreChartPrintable.pdf. 

And finally, a link to a meal-planning chart: http://www.artbookbindery.net/timewarpwife/MealPlanning

I hope that you will visit Darlene's blog and enjoy exploring all that she has to share with us about becoming good wives as God intended us to be for our husbands!!

Letting go is a sign of strength...

I recently read the saying, "Letting go is a sign of strength, not weakness."  I have thought about this saying a lot over the past few days.  As a mother, when my children have grown up and moved out of our house, I have had to let them go.  I saw my mother faced with letting go of her husband as he passed away suddenly and unexpectedly.  I have watched people I love and care for have to let go of a spouse through divorce. 
Though these are negative aspects of letting go, I believe there are also times of letting go that serve to strengthen us and make us better people!  When we let go of a certain situation and fully give it to God and put it in His hands, there is a positive connotation associated with it.  "Let go, and let God!"  Giving everything to God, shows our strength in handing the situation, the loneliness, the abandon feelings over to Him and allowing all those negative feelings to fall away...

Struggles...Paul said there'd be days like these!!

The first three months of the year were quite a struggle for me as a mom, homeschooler, student, homemaker and wife.  Members of our immediate family have alienated us and removed themselves from our lives and it has been devastating, to say the least.  My homeschooling endeavors have netted less than desirable results and I have often fallen short of my weekly lesson planned goals.  I have submitted class assignments for my own school work late and feel challenged to complete the weekly assignments by the deadlines.  My kitchen has met with dishes stacked on the counters and in the sink, desperately waiting for me to put them in the dishwasher.  I have barked at my husband for menial things such as the television being turned up too loud or his empty fast food beverage cups being left all over the house.  I have been challenged in all areas of my life in just the past 90 days!

The word struggle means this:

 

1.to contend with an adversary or opposing force.

2.to contend resolutely with a task, problem, etc.; strive: to struggle for existence.

3.to advance with violent effort: to struggle through the snow.

4. (of athletes and competitors) to be coping with inability to perform well or to win; contend with difficulty.

Thankfully, I know I am not alone in these struggles. Philippians 1:29-30 says, " For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,  since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have."  Paul struggled with the things of life and wrote about it to the Philippians to encourage them that they were NOT alone in their struggles.  Paul further encourages his friends and fellow believers " I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me." (Romans 15:30).  We need to let our brothers and sisters in Jesus know of our struggles so that they may join us in prayer that we would overcome these struggles!  Notice Paul said to join him in praying to God.  We need to actively pray for ourselves that we would see the breakthrough, too!  We also need to persevere in our praying.  Paul wrote, "We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them."  (1 Thessalonians 3:2-3).

Be encouraged today that while it may seem as though the struggles you and I are facing today are new and that at times it may appear we are going through these things on our own, we are not alone!