If any of you recently read the The Homeschool Minute from TOS (it comes via e-mail), then you may have read Todd Wilson's article about organized people and unorganized people -- He basically said that some people are organized and some people aren't and if you aren't than you probably never will be. I have to say that I disagree with that. The point of this post is not to dispute Todd's article, as I realize he meant to bring a sense of comfort to those who aren't organized to stop fretting about it.

     I continously pray to become an organized person. Now, I am not totally disorganized. There are some habits I've created that would fall under the category of "organized person". I guess I'm semi-organized. The problem is that also means I'm semi-disorganized. I am a good wife, mother and homemaker, but I'm soooo far short of what I desire to be. That is not the devil just trying to make me feel I'm not good enough and I'm feeling sorry for myself. I KNOW there are areas where God desires changes in me, resulting in me desiring those changes in me. That is why it is so strongly on my heart.

     The areas I need changes in are discipline and structure. My time management is terrible; meal planning? terrible; School schedule? Terrible...etc. The first step in changing this is spending more time with the Lord. The second step is getting up at the same time everyday to do that. 6:00am sounds like a good time -- it will be a flesh fighter, but He's worth it. So is my family. From there on I'm going to learn and RETRAIN myself to be what I so desire to be. I just purchased The HomeManagement Binder: The Housewife's Best Friend , an e-book from Candy at www.keepingthehome.com. The Lord led me to her blog just yesterday and it was just what I needed. I have a "control journal" that I've started and it stays on a shelf looking pretty and not getting used. Some things work for some people and some things don't. So, what makes me think it's going to work this time? RETRAINING. Say it with me people, re-train-ing. I'm going to MAKE it work. It may go against my normal way of doing things, but obviously that's not working for me.  This will be a positive change into a "stress less" life.

     A few years back I heard a program where a man was talking about a book called "The Vector Principle". Though I never read it, the idea was that making a small 1 degree change in any direction could change the course of many things (think of a space shuttle changing it's direction by 1 degree -- totally off course). Let's say we're always rushing to get ready for church Sunday morning (can you imagine??? :) ). What if I made a change and made sure that all of our clothes were ironed and ready for the next morning the night before, or that our bibles and notebooks were in bags by the door, or that the baby's sippy cup and snack was ready to go. Any one of those things would make an impact and all of them would make a huge impact. Now, if I'm not used to doing them, I'm going to have to retrain myself, but it can be done.

     So you see, I'm excited about moving into this new phase. I desire to make these changes to please the Lord, my family, and myself. I think the only thing holding anyone back from becoming an organized person is the desire and willingness to finally make the change. It is not going to be easy nor happen overnight, there are many old habits to break. But I do have Jesus in me and the power of His Holy Spirit, so the only thing stopping me is me, right? Oh, and one more thing...please pray for me! :) The devil is not going to like this. Thanks!

     Jennifer :)

"If God be for us, than who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

"I can do all things through Christ which strentheneth me."  Phillipians 4:13

"Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Psam 37:4