We go to my parents' home each week. We used to go on Sunday after church. That was a lot easier when we went to the same church and out to dinner together. As the years have gone by, we have gone to different churches; I still miss worshiping the Lord together. Anyway, at first we tried to still go to dinner together and then came the day that my dh said that we needed to save some money and cutting out this $30-$40 each week would be a big help. Then my parents started going to this church that had Sunday evening services; up until a few years ago, we'd all managed to attend churches that didn't have Sunday evening services and believed those should be used as family times instead. (There was an exception or so.) At any rate, we had Sunday Family Days since I got married 20 years ago.
Last year my dad was working a 'part-time' job as a truck driver that required him to go out on Sunday evenings. My dad is really retired and this part-time job turned into a full time job; he actually retired in June or July this year. Anyway, it was hard for him to leave the family gathering on Sundays and go to work (he could decide when he went but if he went later in the evening he wouldn't be able to sleep when he needed to and a sleepy truck driver is not a safe truck driver); plus my mom had gotten involved in their church and was singing on the worship team and in the choir, so she needed to leave the house around 4 on Sunday afternoons too.
Well, when everyone doesn't get together until about 2 and then some have to leave around 4, that doesn't leave much time to enjoy each other's company. (Plus there's the changing of the clothes and getting ready to leave too.) So, we made the switch to Saturday evenings. This has NOT been an optimal solution but it is working. The one sister and her family have had vehicle problems and her new dh is pretty much, always on call and they can rarely make it. My other sister and her husband taught Sunday School two Sunday's a month and couldn't make it each week. Well, when that is the ONLY time that we get to fellowship, it isn't good. (We had been getting together a couple of Saturdays a month AND then on each Sunday prior to this switch...talk about a change...but I am FLEXIBLE and can change! LOL)
You see, we don't just tell our children that family is important. We show them that it is by setting aside time each week to visit with extended family. We also do this by staying home together during the week and not running here and there with our focus outside the home. Now don't get me wrong, we are not self-centered but just trying to stay focused on what is important in life, building family relationships. I hope that some day, when my children are grown, they will value their family relationships and make us a priority too.
Wow, what a bunny-trail! Anyway, back on track now, one day when we were at my parents' home, recently, my dad was talking about how employers have told him that people today really lack a work ethic. I totally agreed with him, especially after he told me that the man had said that people actually make an appointment for an interview and then don't even show up! I was astounded to say the least, and apparently this isn't the exception—many people do this, for no good reason. It is really hard to believe that they are doing this for interviews, just imagine what they would do if they actually got a job.
ANYWAY, I said ALL of that to share my realization I had about an hour ago. I was thinking about this again and have to admit that I have a distaste for people that seem allergic to work or only do enough to get by. Then while I was there, in that judgmental state, the Lord asked me a question . . . Do you treat your 'work' as a job? Oh No!!! I suddenly realized that although I do work around the house, I do not treat it with the same respect that I would treat a 9-5 job out somewhere! Oh how convicting!!!
This is definitely going to take some prayer and adjustments. I do much better when we are schooling, for obvious reasons but, once again, I just realized that I'm not respecting my 'jobs' the way I should. I definitely respect my homeschool 'job' and have schedules and plans to follow. But with my homemaking 'job', I don't seem to treat ALL of it right. I absolutely handle the food preparation as a job, as my weight can verify. LOL But the rest of the homemaking job seems to be doing some slide by. I'm really going to have to seek the Lord for some strategies to doing my homemaking job with all my heart as unto the Lord!!! Needless to say, I would not be a housecleaner or janitor by choice, for a paying job...I'm definitely an office job person. But once again, the Lord just showed me that I'm not even doing that aspect of my homemaking job diligently. In my defense, I don't pay the bills; I only do what is necessary to do the taxes. I also reconcile the bank statement, not a difficult job at all.
I have subscribed to Flylady in the past, and even created my own Control Journal. Of course, those routines need adjusting, because of homeschooling, quite frequently or maybe it is just that I never really finished making them. You see, true confessions now, after doing a good morning routine and homeschooling the children and getting a lunch (which is many times dinner) prepared and eaten (with reserves for dh), I feel like I deserve a break. This is where the faulty thinking comes in. For whatever reason, I feel like I deserve a LONG break. Checking email CAN be a very long series of bunny-trails. Then, because I have still 'worked', I now feel like a 'deserve' to have a little 'down time' and play a quick game (that can really last a while if no timer is set). Then it seems as if I feel that I am 'off work' after dh comes home when really there are some things I could do then.
Then there is the whole subject of school vacations. Once again, it seems as if I feel like I am on vacation when the I've scheduled a vacation for the children. And in reality I am on vacation from ONE of my jobs, but that is a time I could be getting more done in the other, the homemaking job, but do I? Not usually. Well, I have a lot of growing up to do, sad to say. I guess I just found out my New Year's resolution.
(Me and my dd, Tiffany on an easy to climb tree limb on vacation in VA in 2007.) These are my ramblings on homeschooling and whatever else comes to mind.
Counting Down
The Holidays are over and I'm not quite ready to start a new count down yet. Maybe I should start a counting up the number of days I've stayed on my "diet".
LOL)
Well, I have a lot of growing up to do, sad to say. I guess I just found out my New Year's resolution.