How To Stay Focused - And a Free Printable!

A recent question, and one that I'm frequently asked is, "How can I stay focused?" It's really funny that people ask me this question because I'm one of the most unfocused people I know. 


But one thing I've learned in this life is that the areas in which I struggle the most, are the areas which I have studied the most, because I'm determined to overcome my struggles. Focus is one of them. It's also something that two of my children have struggled with but we find ways to stay on track. 


One of my favorite ways to stay focused is to put on music when I'm working. Did you know that music is a natural stimulant? It's amazing how quickly we get our work done when everyone is humming along to a song.  


Another way that I stay focused is following lists. If you haven't noticed by now, I'm a list lady. I have to write everything down, and then I usually have to write a note reminding myself to check what I've written down. *wink*

I'll tell you this, any day I follow a "to-do" list, I get twice the work done than I do on days that I don't. Not only do I get more work done, but completing and checking things off of a list gives me a feeling of accomplishment. I love looking back to see everything I've accomplished. It's much better than looking ahead to see how much there is yet to do, isn't it? 

So for all of you unfocused women out there, I've created a printable with you in mind. This one is a "To-Do Today" page that helps you get on track and stay on track. 

What you see below is a sample of the printable. If you click the link below it, you can view and download the  high resolution image. 

Click here to download the "To-Do Today" Printable

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene
Author of The Good Wife's Guide: Embracing Your Role as a Help Meet

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Free Printable!! Daily Chore Chart

I've wanted to create a chore chart for a while that works for both readers and their children. I decided not to fill in the description section because I know that we all have different routines. So the best thing for me to do was to leave the description area blank for you to fill in on your own.

I did however want to divide the chart into three sections: Morning, Afternoon, and Evening. I have one set of chores (or to-do's) for my children in the morning and a completely different set in the early evening, and then again a few more before bed, therefore having three sections allows us to organize the time nicely.

When I say "chores" I'm including routines that I like to write down for my kids--and you might too--like brushing their teeth, getting their homework together, putting their breakfast dishes in the sink, etc.

If you'd like to save paper, you can use one sheet for two weeks by putting two smaller X's under each day of the week.

Below is an image of the chore chart. If you'd like to print a full-sized copy, just click on the image or the link below it to access the PDF.

*Also available is a grey-scale version for those who want to save colored ink.

Click here to view and print a PDF copy of the chore chart

Click here for the grey-scale version of the same chart

If you like this, you might also check out my daily housekeeping schedule and printable.

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

If you'd like to leave a comment, visit Time-Warp Wife on facebook: Click here

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Check out my book "The Good Wife's Guide."

Free Printable - Daily Housekeeping Schedule

For those of you who follow my daily housekeeping schedule, I have created a free printable for your fridge or home-maintenance binder. This one is created at 200 dpi so that the image will be a clear and crisp print.

There isn't enough space on one page to put as detailed a schedule as the original schedule, but this one is good for those who want a quick reference.

Click the image below to view or print the high resolution image and you will be taken to the larger version of the PDF file. This is my gift to you for 2012. Enjoy!

(Below the image is also a link to a grayscale version of the image for those without color printers).

P.S. If you like this printable, please share the link with your friends. Thanks!

Click here for a grayscale version of the schedule

This letter came in as I was posting the schedule. Awesome!...

I am from a small town in British Columbia. I came across your blog through a mother-to-mother group on facebook. I was reading your blog and I stumbled apon your cleaning routine. At first I was taken back, but the more I read the more it seamed do able.

Well I tried your 53 steps to a cleaner bathroom and my bathroom looks great. I also washed the walls from top to bottom. My husband was very impressed.

I just wanted to let you know that your blog has helped me get a hold of my messy house and helped me feel proud of it. It's by no means perfect but that's life! I just felt the need to write you and let you know how much I apperciate your words of wisdom. My mother has told me many of the same things, but reading it in your blog sparked something inside me. I just thought I would share this with you.

Blessings

New Mother

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

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Five Fun Steps for Paper Organization

Image from Countryhome.com

Weekly contributor, Kim Brenneman

I truly appreciate that we are becoming a paperless society. Every time I get the option for auto-paying the bills I take it. I like to get my receipts via email rather than more paper in the mailbox. But, I still have paper piles. Mostly because we have a fun rule at our house: each child has a day of the week assigned to them for special privileges and one of those privileges is getting the mail. That “special” child gets to look at the mail first. This rule is supposed to eliminate fighting but we do have to clarify some days what day of the week it is and who rightfully gets the fresh magazine.



If I’m not close by the mail gets dumped in a pile on my desk. That’s not a good thing for my desk. But it is good that the child is not sorting the mail over the trash can.

If you have paper pile troubles here is how we take care of paper, especially if I’m around when the paper comes into the house.

1. Assign a child to get the mail. This is a fun “grown-up” task to do. There is some hidden learning in this job. Sort the mail with the child and they learn to not fall for advertising. They want to know why you are throwing away the junk mail, why you aren’t entering a sweepstakes, what credit card junk mail is and why we don’t want credit cards. It is important of course that the child knows that only mom or dad get to throw away mail because sometimes important things appear to be junk mail.
2. I already alluded to it and it is very important in eliminating paper clutter. Sort the mail over the trash can. Immediately throw away the junk mail. Get it out of the house. Try to only handle mail one time and by sorting the trash out immediately you aren’t wasting time by sorting through a pile later on. If you’ve ever had to sort through a pile of junk mixed with important things you will know how freeing it is to just throw away the junk immediately. Freeing is fun!
3. Do you have a location for bills that need paid? Clean out a desk drawer, have a special file, basket, or box for them. The important thing is that you have a location for the bills. When the mail comes in the house put the bills in that place right away. If your daily schedule allows, you could assign a certain time period for the mail coming in, mail sorting, bill paying, and filing. If you pay the bills immediately when they come in the mail, you never get a late fee for forgotten things. Personally, I have a day of the week that I use for bill paying and other home office tasks. Do what works for you—the important thing is to just do it. A friend of mine told me that her father taught his children, and even his children’s friends, a handful of “life rules” said like a mantra at the supper table. One of the rules was “Pay all of your bills the first of every month”. Know where your bills are and pay them. Paid bills are liberating.
        Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8
4. Some papers need to be kept around for awhile thus you need to file. Do you have piles? Remember I mentioned above that my children will put the mail on my desk if I’m not around? Not fun for me. When I have a big pile to sort I make it more enjoyable by putting on some music, getting some chocolate and a cup of tea around and then dedicate some time to getting through the pile. It is no longer a dreaded chore but a pleasant and freeing interlude in my day. Everything is better with chocolate.
5. Make your paper management pretty. Or cool. Or dreamy. Or whatever your style is. If it’s fun to look at you’ll take care of it. If it’s ugly, you’ll want to avoid it. The other day in the local big box store I saw some cute and clever office organization tools. This morning a friend had pinned on Pinterest a cute mail holder made out of a recycled house shutter. I looked around some more on Pinterest and I saw wire baskets, reed baskets, and fabric covered wood boxes that people use for office organization. Be fun and creative with your home office and how you deal with your paper filing tasks.

Be fun and creative with the necessary tasks of life. Paper is part of life, instead of looking at the piles as though they were the enemy, see them as an excuse to eat a bit of chocolate, drink some tea, and listen to some uplifting music.

Image from MarthaStewart.com

Blessings,


Kim Brenneman

Kim is the joyful wife of Matt and the blessed mother of nine children.

When not busy homeschooling and farmschooling, she enjoys writing, gardening, cooking, reading, sewing, and crafting.

Kim lives on a farm in Iowa where her family grows beef cattle, corn and beans, and operates a micro-dairy selling cheese at farmer’s markets. She loves to write and speak about her passion for home and family. She is the author of Large Family Logistics: The Art and Science of Managing the Large Family. She blogs about the same subject at:
http://largefamilylogistics.blogspot.com.

If you'd like to leave a comment, visit Time-Warp Wife on facebook: Click here

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Hey - I'm over at Roo Mag today sharing, "3 Ways to Change Bad Eating Habits"

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Getting Organized and Energized!!

Create Office Space in a Closet
Better Homes and Gardens

Weekly Contributor, Kim Brenneman

Clutter and disarray suck the energy out us. We can’t see the forest for the trees. Emotionally attached to our stuff and our homes and our families and their stuff we can’t see where to start. Looking at our messy homes can be mentally exhausting.

When we live in a state of order and have the discipline to keep things in their proper place then we are free for other pursuits. We can spend a couple of hours whipping up some deliciously fancy cupcakes in the kitchen, start a home business, make lawn furniture with old pallets, learn photography, and a hundred other things. Looking at a cluttered mess though, we spin around not knowing where to start and escape it in some manner. It’s easier, in that moment, to look on Pintrest at great ideas than it is to put the house in order so that we can do the great ideas.

Let’s get started on clearing the way so that we can have some fun doing, not just looking and thinking about it!

Get a piece of paper and a pen.

• Goals are always a great motivator so first get an idea about what it is that you want to do when you have the time to do it. Write your goal in big letters across the top of the page.
• Identify the rooms or areas of your home and what happens in each area. Write it down on the paper.
• Go around your house with a basket or box and take the appropriate things to the appropriate place, i.e. staplers, scissors, and pens in the office area, books to the bookshelves, current magazines in a basket by the spot where they are read, trash in the trashcan, and unused and unnecessary stuff goes to the thrift shop.
• Look at each area of your home with your paper and pen in hand. What needs to happen for each area to be more orderly and organized? If you have trouble with this then take a look at an organizing web store such as www.containerstore.com, check out this post, "9 Organizing Ideas" or do a search on Pinterest and you will find multiple pictures that will inspire you with a plethora of ideas. Write down on your paper what will work for similar rooms of your house. Do not be overwhelmed but click through to the original site and learn how the person did it. Often it is with “found” materials and paint.
• Not only does your home need to be organized but it needs to stay that way. This boils down to the discipline of keeping things where they belong. Give yourself and your family a couple of mottos to live by: “Don’t lay it down, put it away,” and “Everything has a place, when everything is in its place.”
• Keep your home clean with a daily clean up time. At our house we have a list of daily chores and every day at the same time everyone does their cleaning chores. “Many hands make light work.” On your paper, make a list of the daily cleaning chores for each room and assign it to a person. This isn’t hard labor, it’s fast, and it’s simple: Straighten, Dust, Sweep.
• Every week, or month, take an hour to make a menu plan and a grocery list. Now you know what you are going to eat and you don’t need to think about it. Don’t throw out your menu plan but use it again another week or month!
• Every morning do a load of laundry and if you have a bunch of kids, like I do, then switch loads every time you change activities during the day. That way, you keep up.

Now that things are in order and you keep them in order with some new family mottos, organization and a daily cleaning time you have more time.


Blessings,


Kim Brenneman

Kim is the joyful wife of Matt and the blessed mother of nine children.

When not busy homeschooling and farmschooling, she enjoys writing, gardening, cooking, reading, sewing, and crafting.

Kim lives on a farm in Iowa where her family grows beef cattle, corn and beans, and operates a micro-dairy selling cheese at farmer’s markets. She loves to write and speak about her passion for home and family. She is the author of Large Family Logistics: The Art and Science of Managing the Large Family. She blogs about the same subject at:
http://largefamilylogistics.blogspot.com.

If you'd like to leave a comment, visit Time-Warp Wife on facebook: Click here

And you can also find Kim on facebook too: Large Family Logistics

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Home - It Reflects Who We Are and What We Believe

Image from TranZforming Products

Weekly Contributor, Kim Brenneman

Not that you should be flashy and flamboyant, elegant and opulent, but dinged up and dingy is an eye sore. Look around the common-area of your home. Do you like how it reflects your family?

In recent years my family was busy with a medical crises, a high-needs baby, starting a goat dairy business, and just plain old real life with a bunch of kids. Maintenance of the house was taking a back seat to everything else. Then my sister got married. On our farm. We have a pretty farm so it should have been no big deal, right?

Here’s an exercise for you: Get in your car and drive away and then drive up to your house not like it’s your house but like you are a guest arriving at a wedding. Or simply walk outside and then walk up to your house like you are a guest. Open the door and pretend you are a guest.

What do you see first?
Where do your eyes land?
What does your house smell like?
What do you hear?

Your home is a reflection of who you are as a family. The good, the bad, the ugly.

Before my sister’s wedding on our farm our eyes were opened anew to what our place looked like. And it looked like a lot of busy people lived here. We saw that we hadn’t done much home maintenance in the last few years. Parts of our landscape were overgrown and parts were empty because whatever was there originally died. The wallpaper in the kitchen hadn’t survived the last five children very well and was way beyond another repair. Walls hadn’t seen fresh paint in years. It was dinged up and dingy but we were so accustomed to it that we didn’t notice.

We spent last spring sprucing the place up. It was fun working together as a family towards a fun and beautiful event. When it came time maintenance inside and for redoing the walls inside I wanted everything clean and bright, Spartan, Quaker. As the song goes, “Tis the gift to be simple, tis the gift to be free...” My life is full and I don’t want any unnecessary clutter. That is a reflection of who I am right now in life. I want my life full of experiences and events with my loved ones, not taking care of material stuff.

Nine people currently live in my home, sometimes eleven. Add family and friends on the weekends and it’s full. The common life for us is full of good times, food, games, laughter... The furniture is minimal, the walls are still bare after the painting last spring. My goal is to give thought on what I want on the walls. What says faith and family, hope, love, and life?

In Deuteronomy 6 God instructs the Israelites:

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

God gives them several instructions on what to do with these words and says this in verse 9:

"You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

At the very least, when a person comes to our home, they should be able to immediately sense that followers of the LORD live here, that they love Him, they love each other, and they love others.

We can do this in outward signs with the art that we put on our walls. I have free-hand painted verses on our walls and recently ordered lettering from fruitfulvinecreations.com. We can create photo displays of family and friends and the love we share. We can hang beautiful paintings and drawings and arrangements that represent and interpret God’s creations. The view from our windows can direct the eye to the beauty of God’s world outdoors. We can change that view with our landscape design using God’s trees, bushes, and flowers.

Beyond wall art we must give thought to the music that is playing in the background of our homes. Last week I was listening to upbeat catchy music on Pandora while I was doing some work and realized that the words of the song were worshipping the creation not the creator. What kind of message were my children receiving with my choice of music? The next day I found myself listening to some mellow music that fit my mood but the words were downright depressing and untrue when held in the light of scripture. Again, I gave thought to the spiritual state of my home and changed stations.

Some days it takes conscious thought to love the LORD with all my might. It doesn’t come automatically with the sunrise. It does come far more easily when we are reading the living Word every day. That is how God talks to us and teaches us. How can we expect to know Him and live for Him if we don’t spend time listening to Him?

Each small choice I make has an impact on me and my home. My choices are a message to my children and to all who enter my home. The common things of the home that represent our family and who we are fall to the home decorator and the home keeper. If your family is Christian then let His light shine through thoughtful choices in the common things of the home.

Blessings,


Kim Brenneman

Kim is the joyful wife of Matt and the blessed mother of nine children.

When not busy homeschooling and farmschooling, she enjoys writing, gardening, cooking, reading, sewing, and crafting.

Kim lives on a farm in Iowa where her family grows beef cattle, corn and beans, and operates a micro-dairy selling cheese at farmer’s markets. She loves to write and speak about her passion for home and family. She is the author of Large Family Logistics: The Art and Science of Managing the Large Family. She blogs about the same subject at:
http://largefamilylogistics.blogspot.com.

If you'd like to leave a comment, visit Time-Warp Wife on facebook: Click here

And you can also find Kim on facebook too: Large Family Logistics

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Home-Management Binder? Here are a Few of Your Ideas!

Since some readers expressed an interest in starting a home-management binder, I decided to ask the readers in my facebook group what they have included in theirs. I'll give you a few of their ideas in just a second, but before I do, here are a few of my printables that you can use to get started: 

Condensed Housekeeping Schedule

Daily "To-Do" Pages with Month at a Glance (new printables monthly)

Weekly Meal Planning

Weekly Chores for Life (Inspiring Prayers)

And:

Several Organizing/Cleaning Schedules Are Available in my eBook, The Good Wife's Guide

After reading through your ideas, I intend to add more printables to this list in the very near future. The response was an incredible source of information. Thank you!! Now here's what some of you had to say:

"Mine used to be simpler, but it eventually got to the point where I had to split it between two binders. I'd added some of our favorite standby recipes to it and it became, uh, overstuffed after a couple of years :-D But my current binder has my housework routines/reminders, frequently used phone numbers, birthday reminder list and a legal pad. Very, very critical (for me) is a pencil pouch holding some pens. If I didn't hoard pens in the binder, I'd never be able to find one when I needed it!" ~ Susan

"I have a regular household binder and this year I created a Christmas binder after reading about it on a blog. Since I no longer have children at home mine is pretty simple.The sections I have are: To Do, Schedules, Information, and Meals. My Christmas binder was awesome this past Christmas. It really made life easier. In that I have sections: To Do with a December calendar, To Give (presents to buy/make) To Mail (stamps, address labels and names and address lists) To Thank (keep a list of gifts given to me and baked items people gave me) Party Menu and Recipes. I printed all the recipes that we seem to make year after year and printed them on decorative paper. I also have copies on plain paper in my regular recipe binders but this way I do not have to dig through them all. I will continue adding to this each year.  Also keep a clear pocket that zips in the front of each binder for receipt--big help. Hope these ideas help." ~ Carol

"I am in the middle of making mine. Found some good stuff here: DonnaYoung.org" ~ Laura

"Mine is rather simple....my kids are grown and married, but I enjoy having a home-management binder anyway. I have a section for each month with a calender and daily work sheets for each day of the month, and weekly menus. I do alot of home canning so I have a section for planning my gardening and canning. I have a section with a list of pantry stock on hand and items needed." ~ Misty

"I have my routines, cleaning schedules and bills to pay. I have them all in clear sheet protectors, so I can check things off with a dry erase marker." ~ Jamie

"I have the following sections: calendar, inspiration (poems, articles,etc to encourage me as a mom and wife), to do (weekly, daily, month lists), health (medical info, contacts for docs, etc), money (budget section), recipes, menus, projects, crafting (scrapbooking inspiration), gifts (list for birthday and Christmas), Bible (reading plans, etc)....my grocery is a separate binder as I coupon and have a binder for my coupons and include flyers, and lists in there. I also have a separate one for Christmas planning, and a separate one for preschool curriculum as I run a family child care program in my home weekdays." ~ Shirley

"My sections include--or WILL include: weekly meal planning/ingredient list for shopping (still working on that), daily/weekly cleaning checklist, calendar to write appts/activities on (with a page for writing birthdays/anniversaries of special people/extended family, contact list/church directory, ideas to remember (includes where i can write what my hubby/kids might like as gifts for their bdays), projects and what I need to finish, book authors I like, books I want to read, etc." ~ Becoming God's Gift

"I don't do anything consistently. Two best books I've read on the subject are "Sidetracked Home Executives" (old book) and Flylady's " Sink Reflections." ~ Lisa

"Great topic. I keep schedule and daily routines separate. My household binder has a section for each person with copies of birth certificates, ss cards, and person specific info. Then it has a section for "doctors/medical insurance" with names and numbers of doctors and medical insurance policy information. The next section is for passcodes - a listing of all of those online accounts with login information. The next section is "document locations/will/taxes." This lists where to find important family papers and has copies of wills and recent taxes. I have a section for banking, with bank contact info and account numbers. There is a section for insurance policies, with carrier information and policy copies - for home, auto, and life. Then have a utilities section. This includes phone numbers, account numbers and logins. It took a little while to collect this info into one place, but it has been nice to have it all in one binder. Should anything happen to my husband or I, I didn't want our household management to become a burden." ~ Sharon

"I'm splitting mine in two this year. One will be my shopping binder. The other my household. I have sections for coupons, rain checks, shopping lists, pantry and freezer inventory, master list for shopping, items we need ( things watching for bargains, clothes or shoe needs with sizes for next season...etc). I have daily, monthly, and seasonal cleaning list, garden sections, animal care and info, any quirks the house has or things that need to be fixed, spruced up, or added. I keep personal things else where since I take my binder out in public when i go shopping and wouldn't want to leave personal info behind on accident." ~ Nicky

"I have 3 notebooks (Occasional, Writing, & Daily) and my system combines digital & paper systems. I blogged about it here, "Create Harmony Using Digital Paper" but I really should update it with better photos. I've been thinking about doing a short series with more information, but haven't yet." ~ Jennifer

"Here's a tour of mine: 'Country Mom to Four'" ~ April

"I'm not at all as organized as I need to be, but I keep a calendar of all the children's activities, holidays and appointments handy because that usually affects my cleaning and how elaborate a meal I can cook that day. I have a list of meals with ingredients that I use to plan my menus and blank shopping lists. (I try to plan meals for a month at a time because when I buy in bulk I save money). I also try to keep an updated list of the prices of goods that I buy in different supermarkets so that I can budget properly. (I shop around a bit because prices differ so much and I can save). My schedule for cleaning and laundry, which is always in pencil because I have to be so flexible (I spend more time on the road sometimes than at home). I also keep a copy of my monthly budget with reminders of birthdays, anniversaries etc. I know there's room for improvement so I eagerly look forward to everyone else's ideas." ~ Lisa Maria

"My main Household Planner has dividers and then sub-dividers:

1. Main Divider) Finances (sub-divider) Checkbook Register (sub-divider) Budget & I also have a pocket 3-ring folder which velcros shut that contains my stamps, pre-labeled envelopes for the water bill I can't pay online, and return address labels. 
2. (Main Divider) Meal Planning (sub-divider) Menus (sub-divider) Grocery Shopping (sub-divider) Nutrition.
3. (Main Divider) Cleaning
4. (Main Divider) Address Book
5. (Main Divider) Pantry
6. (Main Divider) Personal - Individual family member information
7. (Main Divider) Ideas 

I have a separate Recipe Binder, Garden Binder, and Homeschool Binder. I have another binder that I keep all my home canning information in. I keep the garden and canning separate, because the garden binder tends to get dirty.

I'm always in the process of changing things around as the seasons in my life change. Plus my hubby got me a color printer, so I can't wait to update my binder with some pretty things." ~ Pam

"The only thing I would add is that I use plastic page covers and write on them with a dry erase marker or a CD pen. That way I can erase what I wrote and use the page cover over and over. This saves on paper." ~ Rosilind

For those of you who missed my radio interview the other day with Julie and Marsha from Grace Cafe, you can listen to the podcast here! Click the image below.

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

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How to Run a Kitchen That Says, "Love is Cooking Here."

Weekly Contributor, Kim Brenneman

Recently, on a cold wintry day, the children and I were cooking up a storm in the kitchen. A giant chocolate chip cookie baked in a cast iron skillet. Every child under the age of eight had a turn in putting ingredients into the bowl. A slow-cooked roast was in the oven alongside the skillet cookie. I was sautéing onions and garlic to go into a vegetable dish. Potatoes were boiling. So of course with all this stovetop work I had the fan on.

Matt came in from choring and cheerily said, “I smelled love when I walked to the house!”

Contrast this with yesterday when late in the afternoon I realized it was too late to do my original supper plan. What I threw together wasn’t that great and didn’t get done in time. I got out cheese and some other lame things to hold the hungry bellies for another hour. Then the supper was so ill-received that I bribed them with ice cream for dessert if they would just eat the little bit on the plates.

The difference between the two days fell squarely on my head. I didn’t follow through with my plan. I wasn’t in the kitchen at the appropriate times. I rushed and didn’t try to make the food good but simply wanted to get it over with. All this translated into grumpiness all the way around. I was originally irritated at being interrupted from my other work in order to make food. “How dare it be time for supper!” Then I was annoyed that I hadn’t done the prep work for the original meal plan. “How could I be so dumb?!” Hungry people are grumpy whether they are growing or already grown. We were a grumpy growly family. Being served a least favorite food that isn’t cooked well is a recipe for whining. Love was not flowing and only by the grace of God and a heartfelt supper prayer did we salvage the evening.

Today the supper hour is going to be better. You better believe it! I have a plan and I’m sticking to it. There is an herbed roast in the oven, slow and low. The children have choir this afternoon which will put us home late and my plan is to roast potatoes and sweet potatoes when we get back. There is still a good salad in the fridge but I need to make a new dressing for it. Matt will get home before I do and my goal is to have the kitchen clean and ready for me to sweep in and promptly finish the preparations with help from my older children. Supper will be on time and delicious!

I love my family, I want them to eat yummy nutritious food, I want to be happy when I make them food, and I want them to be happy when they are eating my food.

I have learned tips over the years that make kitchen and meal management easier. Here are some of them:

• Keep a well-stocked pantry.
• Make a meal plan. Keep it simple. For example: Italian every Thursday, roast chicken on Saturdays, dessert on weekend nights only.
• Take time every week to go over your meal plan, look at your pantry, and make a grocery list.
• Every single day: do meal prep for lunch and supper when you’re cleaning up breakfast. Do it again at lunch. Late in the afternoon go to the kitchen and do the rest of the supper preparations.
• Know your grocery store and save time by making your list so that it corresponds with the aisles in your grocery store.
• Use your slow cooker as much as you can. It saves you money because you can buy less expensive cuts of meat. It saves you time because generally it is cooking all of your food at once. It saves you mental angst because you start supper early in the day and don’t have to think about supper until right before the meal.
• Keep your kitchen organized. Like with like. Knives where you cut food. Tea bags near the tea kettle. Glasses near the water. Rarely used things out of the way.
• To keep your family healthy start with these tips and think about each meal as a multi-vitamin and mineral for your family.
• Don’t buy boxed and packaged food. It’s expensive and by learning to make things yourself you will save a lot and be serving your family more nutritious food.
• Buy extra virgin olive oil and only cold-pressed oils. Buy butter instead of margarine. Never buy shortening.
• Make your own salad dressing and save big time.
• Make your own vegetable, chicken, and beef stock. It’s virtually free, you've already bought the bones when you bought the meat in the first place.
• Eat yogurt or kefir for your health. Make your own to save money.
• The least expensive vegetables are also very nutritious! Buy potatoes, cabbage, carrots, beets, other root vegetables, zucchini, onions, garlic, green like kale and chard, and broccoli.
• Eggs are brain food and a cheap protein. Serve them daily in some shape or form—they are very versatile!
• Soups made from your own bone broth and full of vegetables are inexpensive and extremely nutritious. Throw your leftover meat and vegetables into a pot with broth for an easy and yummy soup or stew.
• “The whiter the bread the sooner you’re dead.” Make your own fresh ground whole wheat bread or buy bread with the least ingredients and the most grams of fiber. Invest in a grain grinder and Bosch mixer. Organic whole grains are a fraction of the cost of their store bought equivalent.
• Make brown rice, not white. Invest in a rice cooker for perfect rice every time. It will convert those who think they don’t like rice.
• Depending on your culinary level or place in life. You may be feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. Stop and take a deep breath. You can do this. Print a calendar page and grab a pencil. Write down your husband’s favorite meals spread throughout the month. Then include the rest of your family’s favorite meals. If you are using packaged foods for those meals then make it a goal to learn to make them new and improved in a healthier way. There are many tutorials and modified recipes on the internet that can show you the way. Soon it will be easy for you and your family will be healthier!
• If you have open days on your calendar then use them for trying new recipes. I recommend keeping it simple and using the slow cooker. Also save the slow cooker meals for days when you have to be out of the house. Put your meal together before you leave, and come home to the smell of supper cooking!
• Tomorrow, when we’ll be home all day, I have a Kitchen Day scheduled. The children and I will be cleaning the kitchen, cooking up a storm, and making yummy smells flow out of the stove vent that say, "love is cooking here."

Blessings,

Kim Brenneman

Kim is the joyful wife of Matt and the blessed mother of nine children.

When not busy homeschooling and farmschooling, she enjoys writing, gardening, cooking, reading, sewing, and crafting.

Kim lives on a farm in Iowa where her family grows beef cattle, corn and beans, and operates a micro-dairy selling cheese at farmer’s markets. She loves to write and speak about her passion for home and family. She is the author of Large Family Logistics: The Art and Science of Managing the Large Family. She blogs about the same subject at:
http://largefamilylogistics.blogspot.com.

If you'd like to leave a comment, visit Time-Warp Wife on facebook: Click here

And you can also find Kim on facebook too: Large Family Logistics

If you would like to have Time-Warp Wife delivered to your inbox daily, simply click here: Subscribe to Time-Warp Wife

Weekly Chores for Life and a Free Printable

Weekly Contributor, Kim Brenneman


What do you think about while you do your work? Where are your thoughts while you’re washing the dishes? Folding the laundry? Vacuuming the floors? Today I stumbled upon this in my stash of good stuff to read. I think it deserves to be printed on nice paper, framed and hung in a place of daily viewing.

You can view and print a ready-to-print copy here: Click to view printable or copy and paste to your own document.

WEEKLY CHORES FOR LIFE

Author unknown

Monday - Wash Day
Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and vanity, so I may serve you with perfect humility through the week ahead.

Tuesday - Ironing Day
Dear Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles of prejudice I have collected through the years so that I may see the beauty in others.

Wednesday- Mending Day
O God, help me mend my ways so I will not set a bad example for others.

Thursday - Cleaning Day
Lord Jesus, help me to dust out all the many faults I have been hiding in the secret corners of my heart.

Friday - Shopping Day
O God, give me the grace to shop wisely so I may bless my family with contentment and happiness and all others in need of love.

Saturday - Cooking Day
Help me, my Savior, to brew a big kettle of brotherly love and serve it with clean, sweet bread of human kindness.

Sunday - The Lord's Day
O God, I have prepared my house for you. Please come into my heart so I may spend the day and the rest of my life in your presence.




When we go about our work we must not see it as a horrid chore...

“Grin and bear it.”
“Grit your teeth.”
“Just get it over with.”

We should see that work as an opportunity to talk to God about life.

I really don’t like to do laundry. I like it done but I don’t like the process of doing it. When we have to do the unpleasant work we should use it as a time of prayer and thanksgiving. “Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and vanity, so I may serve you with perfect humility.”

Every day and every minute of every day we should be praying. It is the will of God for us to do that.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

How do we do this? Is it practical? I say, yes. It is a habit of the mind. Instead of talking to ourselves, talk to Jesus. When you have a question, ask Him. If you run into a little problem, “Help me please.” And always, “Thank you Jesus.”

Do you know someone, or are you this person, who is caught up in a cycle of depressing thoughts? Perhaps it is about an event or maybe a series of bad things that are a part of her history but she has a litany going on in her head of these bad things. When she opens her mouth it all comes spilling out, rehearsed in her head a million times. She’s stuck in a spot, a habit of “Poor me.”

Or, a person or place can trigger a series of unpleasant memories that start to roll around in our mind. Anger builds yet again at that person. “Help me, my Savior.” “O God, give me the grace.” “Dear Lord, help me.” Talking to Jesus, giving it to Him, turning our thoughts around is the way to overcome habits of the mind that bring us down.

When we’re having a day when it all seems to be going wrong, everything we touch falls apart, we say, “O God, give me the grace.” He will help you. He will show you His mercy. He will bless you through someone else. Your problems may not be instantly solved but you will know His presence with you when you start talking to Him.

Sadly, drama sometimes finds its way to our front door. Family, neighborhood, church, work—drama seems to happen everywhere. “He said,” “She said,” “Can you believe...” “And then...” “She did?” Add to this some “analyzers” and you get all sorts of diagnoses and names for the sins in the drama and why the drama unfolded.

Then there are the players that tweak the drama a little bit higher with some wide eyes and “I heard...” “Did you hear?” “It’s terrible!” “Can you imagine?” “Lord help us all!” The “ambulance chasers” feel the need to “help” in some sort of sick reflected glory sort of way.

How do you stop thinking about and getting sucked into the titillating sordidness?

Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. 1 Timothy 5:13

Stay home (including the internet and phone).
Be busy at home (get busy in a home and family project).
And renew your mind.

But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:20-24

In reading the rest of the Ephesians passage we learn what the focus of our renewed mind should be on. When we focus on good we can’t be thinking about evil. The two are not compatible. There can be no darkness where there is light. Where the light of Jesus shines there is agape love.

And when we’re doing our work we ought to be in prayer for our husbands, our children, our extended families, our church, our friends and neighbors, our community, our country, on and on... When something comes to mind, turn it over to God and pray about it. The thing that comes to mind does not have to be a problem in order to pray over it. It could be a thanksgiving or blessing.

Pray that we would be a blessing on all those we serve everyday with the work we do day in and day out. And as we work let’s pray that God would work on us.

Blessings,

Kim Brenneman

Kim is the joyful wife of Matt and the blessed mother of nine children.

When not busy homeschooling and farmschooling, she enjoys writing, gardening, cooking, reading, sewing, and crafting.

Kim lives on a farm in Iowa where her family grows beef cattle, corn and beans, and operates a micro-dairy selling cheese at farmer’s markets. She loves to write and speak about her passion for home and family. She is the author of Large Family Logistics: The Art and Science of Managing the Large Family. She blogs about the same subject at:
http://largefamilylogistics.blogspot.com.

If you'd like to leave a comment, visit Time-Warp Wife on facebook: Click here

And you can also find Kim on facebook too: Large Family Logistics

If you would like to have Time-Warp Wife delivered to your inbox daily, simply click here: Subscribe to Time-Warp Wife

Have you picked up Darlene's new eBook, The Good Wife's Guide yet? Get your copy at: TheGoodWifesGuide.com

Your Master Bedroom - The Heartbeat of the Castle

Weekly Contributor, Kim Brenneman of Large Family Logistics

The work that a home creates can become mundane and exhausting if our attitudes are not in tune with what the Lord has called us to do. We need to remember to not only care for our family and their dwelling place but we must also take care of ourselves. A physically rundown wife and mother does not have the energy to care for her home and family. Her home is one of disorder and dirt. It may not be that she is truly lazy but that she is simply worn out and does not possess the energy to move forward and do the next thing. She needs care.


At these times it would be nice to have a wife or mother for ourselves wouldn’t it? We as women must remember to take care of ourselves in order to do the work the Lord has called us to do. Along with good food and exercise, part of taking care of ourselves is creating a peaceful retreat within the home for us. We need rest, not necessarily sleep but a little bit of rest and relaxation.

The home is a retreat from the world for our families. Our role as nurturer of the family places our primary work in the home. We care for our husband and children in one way or another 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our homes are where our hearts are. Caring for children, cooking meals, cleaning rooms, and the never-ending pile of laundry keep us in constant motion.

We also spend energy taking care of the emotional and educational needs of our family. We as women need a retreat within the retreat.

We take a God-given delight in feathering our nests with color, art, handiwork, and furnishings that express our Christian values of home and family. Come along with me and add some extra soft touches to the nest. We’re going to work on the Master Bedroom and make it your special place! We’ll make it a place in the hills where you can be alone to pray. We’ll create a retreat from the world where you will want to spend time with your best friend--your husband.

"We’ll make it a place in the hills where you can be alone to pray."

Close your eyes and think about what it looks like right now. Is it cluttered? Has it become a catch-all place? You need to find a different spot for all of the unnecessary and unsightly things. This is now the room where you get re-energized. It is the last place you see when you go to sleep at night and the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning. Let it be a place of rest and peace that will give you motivation for the coming day. Get your Goodwill box and a trash bag and do the de-cluttering.

Now, give it all a good cleaning. Take down the window coverings for cleaning. Then wash your windows and blinds. This will let in the light and show you where the dirt is hiding. It also changes the perspective of the room and will help you get some new ideas on what you want your retreat to look like. Finish doing the cleaning (cobwebs, dusting, and vacuuming) all the while thinking about what you need in a retreat.

When you’re done cleaning, make a list of all the cleaning chores and divide it into daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly. Slide this paper into a sheet protector and post it on your door to remind you until you have it memorized and can do it without thinking. Make yourself some rules, i.e. only ten things allowed on your bedside table, including reading glasses, drink, book, Bible, etc. Maintain this one place in the house to be pretty and peaceful and it will be a bright spot in your home and life. This refuge will keep your being more healthy and energized for the rest of the work.

Give thought to these words while you seek out ideas to implement:

• reserved
• rest
• retreat
• recluse
• relax
• refuge

Think about the purposes of the master bedroom and write down decorating ideas. Ask yourself how to create privacy, ease, convenience, and beauty in your master bedroom. This has to suit you and your husband so think about your favorite things, what favorite objects do you want to surround yourself with?

Make a list of things that define you and your husband. For example, I love quilts. I love the connection they have with the past. I love the art and handiwork of them. I also love flowers, the color pink (I use it as an accent), writing paper-journals, the sun, lace, dark chocolate, books, and the list goes on. Think about what defines you and use those things to surround yourself with in your retreat. These things are part of your God-given personality, and they typically are things that God has blessed us with at some point in life that taught us to appreciate some wonder of his creation. Express yourself and your marriage, with these definitions, in your retreat.

What about your bedroom do you dislike? Fix it ASAP. Anything that grates on you will be the antithesis of retreat. Maybe it’s an eyesore that simply needs to be hidden. If it can’t be hidden, then put it behind you by moving the bed or your reading chair. Move things so that the eyesore will be out your line of sight.

Create ease in your room by moving the furniture to create flow. You do not want to bang your shin on the same thing every night when you get up to feed the baby. Create ease by adding cushioned seating, pillows, or a soft rug by the bed.

Move the chair that you use as a clothes rack to force a new habit of putting clothes away. Write down on your list of daily bedroom chores to put clothes where they belong.

Create ease for eyes and mood by painting the walls blue or green. Both are colors that have been shown to promote relaxation. Think of all the blues of the sky and the sea. Nearly all the plants of the field are some variant of green, and you'll see that God used them predominately when he created the earth. When we stand still and behold the beautiful outdoors we are overcome with the splendor of it. We find rest in our souls when we rest our eyes on God’s artwork. Bring some of that inside by choosing colors that bring on a peaceful mood. You can find myriad of blues and greens at the paint store. From dark to light, warm and cool, there will be a blue or green that expresses you and your idea of tranquility. When you bring ease to your retreat, as soon as you walk in the door your body will say, “Ahhhh” and you will relax.

Make your room convenient by having bedside tables with reading lights, paper, pen, and the Bible. Keep tissue and a waste basket handy if you’re allergy prone.

Use good light blocking blinds; dark rooms promote deeper, more restful sleep.

If you like to write or do some sort of handiwork, then create a place for that in your bedroom. For some people that might be bringing work into the bedroom and for others it’s bringing a restful activity that promotes a quiet spirit. Be sure to put a good light in the task area.

Put a CD player in your Master Bedroom to play peaceful music or whatever suits the mood of you and your beloved.

To make my room more convenient I have an old sofa draped with quilts that I use when nursing the baby, reading, and when we have a sick or scared child at night (with nine children, there is a limit to who fits in the bed). I also have a soft light if I need it at night.

Put your bedroom lamps on a timer to turn off when you need to sleep and come on with your alarm clock in the morning. This one convenience has improved my sleep routines immensely.

Add beauty with art, pictures of you and your husband, fresh flowers, or other expressions of who you are and the things that you enjoy. Try to create a harmony of favorite things expressing all of the senses. What fabrics do you like to feel? What do you like under your feet? What do you want to wrap up in while you sit and peruse a new magazine? When you want a peaceful setting what do you want to hear? Guitar music, ocean waves, the breeze in the trees outside, or silence? What do you want to smell? A favorite flower, a mug of hot chocolate, the night air drifting in? What do you want to see? Blank walls, art, photography, wallpaper? Lots of drapes and luscious fabric or simple, straight lines? Dark or light? Warm or cool? Simple, elaborate, or somewhere in between? Think about these things. Get some magazines and books from the library or visit Pinterest.com to collect ideas. Don’t copy a photo of someone else’s idea of beauty. What my Master Bedroom looks like will not be the same as yours. It should be an expression of who you are and what you have available to use. Spend time in thought, with pen in hand. What is beautiful to you and why? Do what defines who you are and your needs for a restful retreat. What are the simplest things that give pleasure and rest for your soul? Bring these pieces of beauty into your master bedroom.

Put things in your Master Bedroom that express who you are as a union with your beloved. Include photographs and mementos that reflect your history together. Create ambience through soft lamps or candles for your evenings together.

Embrace your femininity and dress that way in your bedroom. Throw out the old T-shirts and boxer-shorts, this is not a college dorm room. Throw out the ratty bath robe and tattered gown of yesteryear. This is your master bedroom--the place where the heart of the family finds a restful haven. It is the heartbeat of the castle. Wear what enhances the romance and makes you feel like the queen. Create it to be a place of honor to your marriage.

The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and beside our doors are all choice fruits, new as well as old, which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.
Song of Solomon 7:13 ESV

It is natural how God created  females to feather their nests. Every mother in nature does it. We were born to nurture our families and part of this is by creating beauty in our homes. 

When the stress of constantly being needed by your family weighs heavy on you, go to your nest within the nest and spend time with the Lord of all. Take your cares to Him. Slipping away for a break in the day to read the Word, quiet your thoughts, and pray in your retreat surrounded by your favorite things will inspire you for the rest of the day. Prayer and rest bring healing to our innermost beings. We need this to remain healthy Christian women. Jesus gives rest to the weary. Go and create a haven of rest. Make it a place where you meet your Helper who enables you to be a helper to your husband.

And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Matthew 14:23, ESV

Blessings,

Kim Brenneman

Kim is the joyful wife of Matt and the blessed mother of nine children.

When not busy homeschooling and farmschooling, she enjoys writing, gardening, cooking, reading, sewing, and crafting.

Kim lives on a farm in Iowa where her family grows beef cattle, corn and beans, and operates a micro-dairy selling cheese at farmer’s markets. She loves to write and speak about her passion for home and family. She is the author of Large Family Logistics: The Art and Science of Managing the Large Family. She blogs about the same subject at:
http://largefamilylogistics.blogspot.com.

If you'd like to leave a comment, visit Time-Warp Wife on facebook: Click here

And you can also find Kim on facebook too: Large Family Logistics

If you would like to have Time-Warp Wife delivered to your inbox daily, simply click here: Subscribe to Time-Warp Wife

10 Rules & 10 Tips for the Kitchen

Are fruit flies swarming your kitchen? The kitchen is one of the most used rooms in the home and due to the nature of food preparation can be the dirtiest. There are several habits that should be part of your life to avoid having the health department condemn your kitchen, and to make it a happier place.

Ten Rules for the Kitchen

1. When you get something out, put it away. The same rule that should be applied all over the house is of course just as important in the kitchen. This must be taught to your children when they are young so that they understand that food left out spoils.
2. While working in the kitchen, fill the sink with hot soapy water. As you finish with a cooking utensil toss it in the sink or grab the washing cloth and wipe down the appliance you were using. Water is the supreme solvent and washing things before the gunk gets hard as a rock saves time later. It’s efficient.
3. The same principle applies for the countertops and stove, wipe them after each mess that you make. It takes seconds to wipe and rinse the cloth in the sink full of hot soapy water; it takes minutes of scrubbing after spills have become cemented on.
4. When preparing food, get out all the ingredients, appliances, and utensils first. As soon as you’re done and the dish is cooking put these things away again. Don’t leave to do another thing, finish the work you started.
5. Keep the dishwasher unloaded. What good is it to you when it is full of clean dishes? You can’t put anything dirty in so it collects in the sink and on the counters taking up valuable workspace. It takes less than five minutes to unload it. Race the clock. Assign a child to be the unloader. Take out the knives first and even a two-year-old can unload the silverware. It might not be perfectly sorted but it’s teaching them to help and preschoolers love to help. Crack the door to let it cool off for five minutes then call the unloader to the job.
6. Don’t put your dirty dishes anywhere but in the dishwasher. This is more sanitary and efficient. It keeps the countertops clean and attractive. It is inspiring to walk into a clean kitchen; it is depressing to have to do a deep clean before food can be prepared for the next meal.
7. If you don't have a dishwasher, give yourself the "Rule of Ten": If there are ten or more things to wash, do it now. Never have more than ten things waiting to wash. If you have a dishwasher, apply this to those items that you have to hand wash.
8. Wipe the sink after every meal. Start at the backsplash, work your way around the sink, do the faucet, then wipe the bowl, empty the strainer and rinse it.
9. Sweep the floor after every meal. If you don’t do this, the crumbs get picked up on feet and spread throughout the house making the other floors dirty. Crumbs underfoot are annoying and they attract ants. It takes just a few minutes to sweep and saves time later. Assign one of your children to this chore. Less than perfect is better than nothing.
10. Use your time with Godly wisdom. Put a scripture verse over the sink to memorize while you wash dishes. Pray for the food to be a blessing while you make it. Pray for the people who are going to eat it.

Ten simple habits. Thank God for the ones you are already doing! Now, add the rest starting with the next step you take into your kitchen. Print this article, put it in a page protector, and hang it in a kitchen cupboard. Check through the list after each meal until it all becomes ingrained in your life and has become your own personal kitchen habits.

Ten Tips to a Tip-Top Kitchen

1. To help clean a scorched pan, scrape off what you can and put enough water in to just cover the bottom, then add a bit of automatic dishwasher detergent and let set overnight.
2. To get rid of foul smelling odor from plastic containers, rinse them with vinegar.
3. To rid your kitchen of fruit flies, remove every single food item (hide them in your refrigerator), set out a glass of sweet pickle juice or wine overnight to attract and drown them. The ones that remain become very lethargic due to starvation and are easily swatted.
4. To clean dried on gunk, squeeze water over it and let it set for several minutes to soften, then wipe.
5. Take your falling-apart cookbooks to Staples and get them punched and comb bound.
6. Use vinegar for an inexpensive alternate to rinse agents in the dishwasher.
7. Pour boiling water down the kitchen drain to keep it running free.
8. To remove the smell of onion from your hands wipe the flat side of a stainless steel knife blade over them.
9. Set out a lemon to come to room temperature before squeezing to get more juice from it.
10. Put frequently used items within easy range (hip to shoulder height) for movement efficiency. Keep this in mind for children also if they are the ones to unload the dishwasher and set the table.

________________

Thank God for dirty dishes,

They have a tale to tell;

While others may go hungry

We’re eating very well.

With home, health, and happiness,

I shouldn’t want to fuss;

By the stack of evidence,

God’s been very good to us!

~ Anonymous ~

________________

Blessings,

Kim Brenneman

Kim is the joyful wife of Matt and the blessed mother of nine children.

When not busy homeschooling and farmschooling, she enjoys writing, gardening, cooking, reading, sewing, and crafting.

Kim lives on a farm in Iowa where her family grows beef cattle, corn and beans, and operates a micro-dairy selling cheese at farmer’s markets. She loves to write and speak about her passion for home and family. She is the author of Large Family Logistics: The Art and Science of Managing the Large Family. She blogs about the same subject at:
http://largefamilylogistics.blogspot.com.

If you'd like to leave a comment, visit Time-Warp Wife on facebook: Click here

And you can also find Kim on facebook too: Large Family Logistics

If you would like to have Time-Warp Wife delivered to your inbox daily, simply click here: Subscribe to Time-Warp Wife

How To Boost Self Discipline

Weekly Contributor, Kim Brenneman

Have you made your list of New Year’s resolutions? Or did you give up on that tradition years ago? When you make your resolution list, do you promptly lose it? Does your preschooler find it and use it for handwriting practice?

A classic New Year’s resolution is to be more organized. Everyone recognizes that being organized and efficient improves productivity and makes life more pleasant. But while it's one thing to make the resolution it's another to accomplish it.


Some say that people are either born organized or they're not. I agree to a point; I have seen in my own children how their brains work differently and make them better at certain tasks than others. I do believe though that everyone can become better organized and disciplined in their personal habits. I certainly have room for improvement. I have had years when I was very organized and efficient and other years where I felt as if I were drowning in mess and so tired that the thought of where to start was overwhelming. I can easily blame it on workload, babies, hormones, too many outside-the-home activities, and more. Whether you are on top of things right now or not, there’s always room for improvement.

Why do you want to be more organized? What are your goals? Who are you aiming to please? Write the answers to these question on the paper that you have been writing your New Year’s resolutions on. We want to know why we’re doing what we’re doing to help motivate us to follow through.

Work on putting life in line with God’s Word. Use Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 as a reference point in making your goals. 

Once you’ve motivated yourself with getting to the underlying reasons, let’s move forward to how we’re going to be more organized. It’s not enough to just make a goal or a resolution; we need to make a plan to reach it. We’ll work on the basics of planning the work of being organized. Sometimes planning the work can be so much fun but takes so much time that we don’t get any real work done! Keep the planning simple. Maybe you are one that hates to plan and just wants to get it done so you dive in and make a bigger mess in the process and “oops!” you forgot that people need to eat? Planning your work helps avoid those kind of “oops” moments.

While you have your pencil and resolution paper out, let’s make some simple plans. Divide your home management into different areas. Mine is divided into six:

• Cleaning
• Kitchen
• Home Office
• Laundry
• Town (shopping and errands)
• Gardening

Your life might look slightly different. Give each area of home management a day that you will focus on. For instance, Monday is Laundry Day and Tuesday is Kitchen Day at my house [you could also use the daily housekeeping schedule Darlene has posted on this site]. On the assigned day, do all the chores associated with that work on that day. This improves efficiency in dramatic way.

This is not new--I did not invent this idea. It is how our grandmothers and great-grandmothers worked. We’re recovering the lost art of home-management and we’ll teach it to our daughters. Where are your daughters by the way? Set them beside you and make these home organization plans together. Do you think they are too little? They aren't. Maybe they will only do art work beside you or practice writing their name but tell them what you are doing. Watching is learning. If you have an older daughter, let her plan the management of an area. Work on this together.

Once you have assigned each day of the week to an area of home management, make a big list of every single task in that area. This is your new organized life. You will need discipline to stick to it. That’s a huge part of establishing new habits, reaching goals, and changing your life. What are your habits now? When are you doing the lists of tasks that you made? If you aren’t doing those tasks, what are you doing instead? Identify time wasters by watching yourself and writing down every single little thing that you do. You need to replace each bad time wasting habit with one of the things on the task list for the day. Match a time wasting habit with work task and every time you start to do that old habit, do the work instead. This is called "The Put-Off, Put-On Principle" which is found in Ephesians 4.

To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. ~ Ephesians 4:22-24

A big boost to self-discipline is in changing our attitudes! How is your attitude towards your home? This is a choice we make every day. Do you love your home? Do you love the people that live there? Do you love God who gave you your life, your home, and your family?

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ~ Galatians 5:13 

It doesn’t say “through bitterness serve one another” or “through manipulation serve one another” it is through love that we serve one another. It is through God’s love in us that we can do this with joy. The things that are before us to do are His calling for us today. We are serving Him when we serve others. The Holy Spirit will help us in our calling.

God wants us to be full of His joy that comes from knowing Him (John 15). When we live in His will, when we put off our old self, when we serve Him with gladness, then we understand that the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

Serve the Lord with gladness! ~ Psalm 100:2

The best way to keep your attitude right is to spend time in God’s Word every day. We learn to know Him and love Him and how to better serve Him through His Word.

As you go about your day, pray without ceasing. He knows how many hairs are on your head, He sees the sparrow fall, and so of course He cares for every nuance of your day. Pray for strength, pray for wisdom, pray for understanding, and pray that the fruit of the Spirit will flow out of your life.

Your Christian ministry is your home! It is at the center of everything you do! Make time reading God’s Word a priority in your morning. It is your bread and water, it is your strength. Feed your spirit and in turn your attitude will be right with God. When your attitude is right, it becomes easier to put off bad habits and put on Godly habits. Our New Year’s Resolutions for being more organized are easier to achieve because we have Godly attitudes towards the ministry of our homes to others.

May the Lord, Maker of Heaven and Earth, bless you with strength and help you with your efforts to bring glory to Him in organizing your home!


Blessings,

Kim Brenneman

Kim is the joyful wife of Matt and the blessed mother of nine children.

When not busy homeschooling and farmschooling, she enjoys writing, gardening, cooking, reading, sewing, and crafting.

Kim lives on a farm in Iowa where her family grows beef cattle, corn and beans, and operates a micro-dairy selling cheese at farmer’s markets. She loves to write and speak about her passion for home and family. She is the author of Large Family Logistics: The Art and Science of Managing the Large Family. She blogs about the same subject at:
http://largefamilylogistics.blogspot.com.

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