Scripture Memory: "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." Exodus 20:12
This is perhaps one of the hardest lessons a mother will have to learn: teaching your children to be respectful and helpful all at the same time is rarely easy!
If your children are still small, include them in your daily chores now so that they will learn early on that it is very important to be a good helper. Praise your children when they do help or offer willingly to help without being asked.
No matter how old your child is, he should be required to complete a number of chores daily to help keep the household running smoothly. Children today are given far to many priviledges and much to much free time.
Make time today or over the next few days to make a family chore chart and assign every member or every child chores. You may want to have rotating chores or you may want to simply change the chores out/ add to them as your child ages.
Set Consequences.
Do not despair if your child immediately cries foul and seems bent on not doing as you have asked. For a child who is not used to doing chores, there will be an adjustment period. However, it is very important that you do not waiver in your determination to make them follow through. [...read more]
I want to apologize for the delay in getting back with the 15 week challenge. I had unforseeable events take place the required my attention. However, I am anxious to get back to business!
Scripture Memory: "Let all things be done decently and in order."
1Corinthians 14:40
Today we will be looking at the the daily order, or in other words, how you go about your day. When I was younger, I had no idea how to run a household. Many of the things I have learned over the years have come by trial and error. I have found that my greatest enemy has been lack of self-discipline. I believe this to be the case for many women who feel frustrated at home. We have talked about self-discipline in the past and I want to reiterate the importance of learning self-discipline. If this is something you still struggle with, it needs to be at the top of your prayer list!
Our Scripture memory for today says, "Let all things be done decently and in order." God is not a God of chaos. He is a God of order. When you life a life full of order, you bring honor and glory to His name. Think about it. If you walk into someone's home and there are dirty dishes stacked in the sink, clean laundry covers the sofa, stacks of magazines sit on top of a floor that obviously needs vacuuming... you would think this person does not have their life together. However, if you walk into someone's home who has their house tidy and smelling like fresh baked bread or cookies and they have a smily on their face to greet you - you know they are doing something right.
We have put together our household notebooks so that we have sheets for planning our days. On a separate sheet of paper, I want you to write down the chores you know you should be doing on a regular basis in order for the house to stay clean. [...read more]
How are you doing? We have been so busy these last few weeks! I know this is something I often say, and truly I don't have time to be sitting here. I find myself wondering how moms of lots of children find the time to actually sit down and blog on a regular basis, much less read other folks blogs! I am taking a quick break from reorganizing my dressing room. It is a huge task! I will have to share picture later.
Do you have a drawer or drawers that need to be cleaned out? Mine were no longer working for me. Some of the drawers in my dressing room had been used for diapers and other baby items - easy access for me so I didn't need to go upstairs to change diapers. However, my littlest one is no longer wearing diapers. What a bittersweet realization that my baby isn't really a baby anymore and I can have my drawers back.
I am in the process of finalizing our Fall issue of A Woman of Worth. We still have some ad space available, so I am offering a 25% off special for all A Woman of Worth text and graphic ads.
You can view the ad rates here.
If you have any questions, please email me at sales @ avirtuouswoman.org (minus the spaces.
Thanks for your support!
We began our first day of homeschool on Tueday, August 29. I suppose it got off to a fairly good start. The girls are enjoying the curriculum.My only problem has been trying to stay on schedule. It seems everything takes longer than I plan for!
We are, of course, using the Prairie Primer for our curriculum. Well, for my daughters that is. My son, who is in tenth grade this year is using the Jubilee Academy. His first day of school is tomorrow. I hope he enjoys it. He is taking such classes as Christian Manhood, Forensics, and Guitar along with three more traditional classes.
I am also trying to figure out exactly how we will be going about our learning. I love the idea of notebooking. I have put together our binders and we have already added a few things to them. This will be an adventure for sure!
I was used to homeschooling in Arizona where the laws are quiet simplistic. However, Kentucky has a more detailed law inb place so we will be keeping attendance charts and daily lesson records.
I am still working out the kinks in our schedules but I thought I would share the tentative ones we are working with as of right now:
I will let you know if we change our schedule and maybe the whys of what was not working for us.
I am really excited about this school year. I just hope I can accomplish everything I envision for the children!
On a sad note, this week was very hard for us. Our litter of new kittens contracted the cat flu and became very sick, one by one. We purchased some eye ointment for cats at the pharmacy and I applied it in their eyes several times a day. I also crushed some cefzil (antibiotic) that we had left over from one of the children. I gave them small portions of the antibiotic several times a day. What made the situation worse was that the mother cat abandoned them when they became sick and I had to nurse the kittens round the clock (every three hours). It was emotionally and physically draining.
Unfortunately, this morning the fourth kitten died. We had a total of 6 kittens and one by one they just got worse and worse. Except for the two that are left. After the first few days, these two seemed to bounce back and are active and very happy and apparently healthy. Caring for the kittens took all of my extra time this past week, but I learned a lot about kittens! It broke my heart that the four didn't make it. I prayed over them and worked so hard to ensure they regained their health.
Also, we were terribly saddened this morning by the new that Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter had been killed by a sting ray. My children, my husband and I all are just so sorry to hear that happened! Who would have thought? It seems like the world just won't be the same. How could this have happened? Stunning.
Anyhow, it is rainy outside today. Very fitting. I have lots to catch up on in the house over the next day or two. Because of the kittens I was not able to work on the 15 Week Challenge, but I do plan to get right to it asap! Keep your eye out!
Scripture Memory: "She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness." Proverbs 31:27
Today, we are going to begin the journey of putting our households in order. There is much work to be done, however, we will be taking it one day at a time! Creating your Household Management Book will take some time, so don't worry if you feel overwhelmed. It will become your best friend!
Our memory verse for today has two parts. In the first part, we are told that the Proverbs 31 woman looked well to the ways of her household. It does not tell us that this woman, a mother, did everything herself! So, if you were dreading the idea of trying to be Super Woman, have no fear. We are going to learn some simple and effiecient ways to run our homes so that our home life is a happy life. The second part of the verse tells us that the Proverbs 31 woman worked hard. She was not lazy and she did not put off til tomorrow what needed to be done today.
As women, we are called to the ministry of homemaking. God has given us a specific purpose. We may have many purposes and roles in this life: Wife, Mother, Washer Woman, Chef, Nurse, Chaffeur, Teacher, Coach, etc. Our days as wives and mothers are filled with countless activities, social events, and duties. But our first calling is to our homes and our families.
Often, housework can become a burden because when we do not work willing with our hands and put off jobs that should be done immediately. If you leave dishes in the sink to wash and put away later, it will take you twice as long than it would have if you had done it as soon as the meal was over. Folding laundry takes only five or six minutes if you do it as soon as the clothes dryer stops. However, if you allow several loads of clean clothes pile up, it can seem to be a daunting task indeed! Cleaning the carpet as stains happen is much easier than waiting until the whole room is dirty.
Procrastination is a "disease" affecting many a homemaker in this day and age. We need to put off those bad habits and arm ourselves with new ways! We want to look well to the ways of our households. We need to develop our self-discipline if we want to be keepers at home. Being a procrastinator is a form of laziness or a lack of self-discipline.
Today, I want you to get a sheet of paper and look around each room of your house and write down those things you are not pleased with. Whether it be, stacks of books, clutter, dingy doorjams, or peeling paint - write it down. This will be your go to list later in the challenge.
Next, in preparation for putting together your Notebook you will need to gather these supplies:
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3 ring binder with clear plastic window on cover
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Legal pad
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White cardstock
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3 ring hole punch
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A box of sheet protectors (optional)
In your prayer journal today, I want you to write about your feelings toward your home and housework. Write down what you would like to see happen in this area of your life. Ask God to give you a heart that is willing to work cheerfully.
Scripture Memory: "She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens." Proverbs 31: 15
At the beginning of this challenge, I encouraged you to rise early in the morning and have your daily prayer and devotion. I hope that you have learned to be fairly consistent in this.
Today, I want to talk about the importance of the early morning routine and how, if you are not acustomed to it, it can change your life! The Bible talks a lot about laziness. "Lazy hands make a man (woman) poor, but diligent hands bring wealth." Proverbs 10:4. (NIV)
We talked briefly about self-discipline and I want to touch on it again today. Having a lack of self-discipline is a form of laziness. The verse above tells us that a person who is lazy will be poor, but a person who is willing to be diligent will be wealthy. I can think of so many ways a person can be "poor." You can be poor in spirit. You can be poor in relationships. You can be poor financially. You can be poor or "lacking" in just about anything.
I have heard so many women over the years tell me, "I am not a morning person." Or, "I don't get up early." Or, "I just can't wake up!" If you are a woman with a husband and/ or family and you do not rise before everyone else, you are being self-centered and lack self-discipline in this area of your life. You will never be "rich" in your marriage if your husband must fix his own breakfast and get himself out the door in the morning. If your children must come in the morning and ask you to get up, you are robbing them of something special - a mother who cares enough to greet them in the morning with a sweet smile, a warm hug, a cheerful, "Good Morning," and a good breakfast. Mothers who do not get up in the morning are also teaching their children to be self-centered, and be lazy when they are grown.
By not waking before the family, centering your heart on Christ first, and seeing that the needs of your family are met before your own, you have shown them you are more important than them. This is not Christ like! Jesus came to serve others - not to be served. We are to follow in His example.
Perhaps you are thinking, "But, I am so tired and grouchy if I get up early!" I would say to you, "Whose problem is that? Yours. You need to force yourself to change." Change is possible.
Before I had children, I was most definitely a "night person." I loved to read books late into the night and sleep in late. It took me a number of years before I learned to simply wake up in the morning. I had to change my patterns. I had to go to bed early enough that I could get up early. I had to learn a new way. I had to learn that some things aren't easy, but become easier when you do it every day. Now, I usually wake up before the alarm goes off in the morning and I even wake up at the same time on weekends.
Successful people rarely ever sleep in late. They get up early and go about their day. I am not just talking about people who have careers and earn a lot of money. People who have neat homes, nice yards, must work hard to acheive those goals. I am sure you have heard the saying, "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man wealthy and wise." It is true!
Re-read the memory verse above. We are told that the Proverbs 31 woman rises early before the day breaks to prepare food for her family. God gave us this verse for a reason - it is important!
If you have not already made it a habit to prepare food for your husband before he leaves for work and make him a lunch, think about how surprized he'll be when he wakes up to delicious smells and a well thought out lunch. You can even tuck a note in his lunch sack telling him how much you love him or that you will be praying for his day. Men are fairly easy to please. They want to be loved and cared for by their wives. If he leaves home in good spirits; feeling like he is the luckiest man in the world with a beautiful, content, thoughtful wife at home; how likely is it that he will fall prey to temptation? He is more likely to walk away from temptation if he feels loved at home!
Continue to practice this daily. It will get easier! Ask God for the will to wake up if you really struggle. All things are possible through Christ!