Renewed Strength for a New Strategy

The Dilemma: 

We've been in our new house for just over 2 months now. Would you expect my house to be unpacked and perfectly organized by now? Maybe you don't expect that at all and maybe I shouldn't, but the truth is that I feel like the chaos is eating devouring me alive! 

We moved in and we started school right away. Was that such a good idea?

We usually do school in the mornings and chores in the afternoons. By the time we're done with all of that, it's time to get dinner going and spend time with Papa Man (as the kids call him). So where does the unpacking and organizing come in? I have no clue. We've taken a week off from formal school lessons so I can get some of that done. I did not get very far... or so it seems. So we've taken a couple of more days off (and that's partly to do with visiting the state fair).  

With all that being said, I have been seriously struggling these past 2 weeks. I feel hopeless a lot, my appetite has decreased (not so bad for the weight I'm trying to loose) and if I have a chance to sleep, I'm taking it. Self-pity is taking over and I've given in to the thoughts of "I shouldn't be homeschooling, I'm not creative or active enough. I'm not good enough. My kids need a better Mama (and teacher)."   

All of this has dragged me down, indeed. 

The Plan:

God is so good and gracious to gently call me back to Him and to show me a few adjustments that need to be made. First, He has reminded me that I am His and He loves me no matter what. He also reminded me to stop depending on myself (once again), and to rely on Him. He reminded me to trust, to be confident in Him with ALL my heart, not relying on my own understanding and to acknowledge Him in ALL my ways and He will direct and make my paths straight. (Prov. 3:5-6) I CAN do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength! (Phil 4:13)

Next, He has dropped a new plan of action into my mind. A different approach to manage the task of homeschooling and homemaking. I must make it a matter high importance to get up early in the mornings to spend time communing with God Almighty. I cannot pour out His love to my children unless I am filled up with it myself. That comes by spending quality time with Him. This is not only for my children's sake, but it is vital to my very soul. 

How do I undertake homeschooling, cleaning the house and unpacking/organizing? The solution the Lord gave me is so simple, I am astonished that I didn't think of it earlier and on my own! 

The curriculum we are using this year has us doing lessons Monday - Thursday. Friday is set aside for exploring nature and being outside most of the time. Handwriting and reading is the only school lessons we do on Fridays and that takes very little time. Therefore, I can spend majority of Fridays (and Saturdays) working on unpacking and organizing. So we will do school work and chores Mon.-Thurs. and unpack/organize Fri.-Sat. giving it all a rest on Sundays.  Brilliant.  Thank You, Lord!

The next task is to come up with a schedule, a little more rigid than just a routine. We've always had a routine, just not one that sticks to the clock.  My husband has been telling me that I really need to get a clock schedule for us and to stick with it. He means for us to go to bed at a specific time each night, get up at a set time each morning, eat meals at the same time every day, etc....  We've been pretty good about getting the kids to bed somewhere between 8pm and 9pm every night. Sometimes they get to bed earlier, sometimes later, depending on how our day has gone, but rarely later than 9pm. 

I have this "thing" about making the kids get out of bed in the mornings. I have felt that if they need a little more rest, then let them rest. However, I am running into a problem with that. Adelle is more than willing to just sleep to her heart's content... kinda like me. So it's becoming a downward spiral to super laziness. Not ideal. Not my goal. I am seeing that maybe my husband is correct here. So these next few days I will be in prayer about what time we should do what and just how specific this clock schedule will be. My goal is to implement this new strategy come Monday. 

What I am about to say is said a lot, but one can't help it when it's true: 

God is good ALL the time! 

All the time God IS good!