Our lives have changed considerably over the past 5 months. We went from being fully employed in the ministry world to being sometimes half, sometimes none, sometimes a lot employed in the real world. I hesitate to use the labels "real world" and "ministry world" because that insinuates that the ministry world is not real. If you ask anyone who is or has been in ministry they will quickly tell you that the ministry world is far too real sometimes. But none the less they are two different worlds.
When we decided to resign our position at our church, it was extremely difficult. On one hand we loved our church and loved being a part of what God was doing there. But on the other hand we could see that God was showing us, through different things, that it was our time to leave.
Once we left our church, I believe we had grand expectations about what God would do with our obedience... But instead....He has placed us in a holding pattern while He teaches us some lessons. I would be tempted to complain about what God is doing right now, but....I can see and feel what He is teaching us. He is molding our hearts and opening our eyes to be able to view things through new lens.
I have been chomping at the bit for a while to get back into writing, but I just haven't had the words to put down. A full heart and a ton on my mind, but no words to write until now.
I recently heard a sermon by John Piper while he was at Passion 2013 click to listen/watch
titled Embracing Suffering. He spoke about enduring suffering vs. embracing suffering. It is definitely a wow! sermon that is worth your time. Now I by no measure can call what we are going through "suffering" but I can definitely call it chaos. Many days hubby and I are flying by each other trying to home school, feed, love, have fun and not ruin our children. The other days when we find that we actually have a moment to spare, we are too tired to really do anything.
So how do you do more than "just survive"? How do you embrace the chaos that many of us live in, rather than just enduring it? Life has been busy in the past, but not like this. We were busy in ministry because the job or the church demanded it; but we are busy now because we are paid hourly and each hour provides for a need of ours. Definitely a different perspective that I am incredibly grateful for God allowing us to see.
Back to answering my questions....
With kiddos you can't just survive. If you do "just survive", you will wake up one morning and they will be graduating from high school and you will have missed out on SO much. But working, cleaning, shopping, cleaning, sleeping, cleaning, cooking, much less church and or volunteering in one, doesn't allow for much time to BE with anyone...kids, spouse, God, friends,etc. It is a tough job to balance it all.
I use another blog sometimes and it is called Intentional Chaos. It is a place where I blogged about intentional ways that we spent time with the kids. Most of the time it is through Family Nights. These nights are always themed something crazy and include food, movies, dress up and games around that theme. It is a fun way to include some intentional family time into a busy life. We would just stop doing "whatever" for one night and be intentionally chaotic to have som family fun.
But how do you stop doing something when everything you do serves the purpose of providing for your family? You don't. You learn how to do those things that you HAVE to do in a way that is fun and inclusive for your family. You learn how to spend time together without spending money. You learn how to live simply, by simply living life together.
Somethings that I do to help with a busy life are no different than what I used to do. One thing that I have done for a while is Menu Planning. It is a life saver. I was constantly stressed out at dinner time. Cooking the actual meal didn't stress me out, but coming up with what I should cook would stress me out. It also keeps the kids from continually asking "Mom!!! What's for dinner???" Which would also stress me out. So here is how I do Menu planning- I use forms off Donna Young's website. If you have never been there then you are missing out. She has a form for everything!! Menus, calendars, hand writing practice etc. I recently made a binder that includes a calendar, shopping lists, and menus. I keep it out of the way on the counter and I write in it anytime I need to add something to the grocery list. I make my grocery list according to my menu. It helps keep buying under control. You don't buy anything you aren't planning on eating that week. I shop for two weeks at a time so all I need it two menus. I used to put dates on my menus but I have now stopped dating my food planning menus. That way if I am not in the mood to make a new menu I can just pull out one of the old ones and use it.
I love cook books and Pinterest even more :-) So I keep blank menus in my binder for when I see new recipes I want to try. I just add them onto the menu. So I always have a working menu going on. I will write the recipe on the back of the menu or just write "pinterest" after the title, that way I can remember that I pinned it to my Recipe board on Pinterest.
This week I wanted to try a new menu but didn't really want to sit down and come up with everything new. So I named this week "Favorites week" I went to each one of the kids and asked what their favorite meal was (that we eat at home :-) and then I made our menu.
It looked like this:
Sunday- Left overs - No Cooking :-)
Monday- Chicken and Steak on the grill with veggies. (Hubby and My favorite :-)
Tuesday- Noodle Pizza - PeyPey's favorite Pre-made pizza crust, one bag of cheese and a box of PastaRoni. Not the healthiest but with a salad it keeps you from a carb coma.
Wednesday- Hamburgers and Mac n Cheese - Bear's favorite
Thursday- Potato Soup in the Crock pot -Bay's Fav.
Friday- Breakfast-Eggs, bacon, biscuits, hash browns - Shel's fav.
Saturday- Quiche and Asparagus
So for this week I literally came up with 1 thing to cook. AND each one of the kids feels special because they have a night that THEY came up with. ou should see the smiles when I am making ttheir favorite. It is a way that I have embraced our chaos of planning meals with the family and included the kids in the task.
Life is CRAZY no matter what world you live in. But it is up to you if you will just pull yourself up by the boot straps and endure it OR if you will run to the chaos and embrace it.
Some may say that we are promised prosperity, goodness, and favor but the Bible speaks differently. So to put my hope in the things of this world or in the things that this world can bring me would be foolish. Instead, for the here and now I will look only to Jesus and allow him to help me embrace this chaotic world. But I will certainly keep my eyes looking forward, because this world is not my home. And in the meantime I will embrace the chaos.
Rev. 21
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place[a] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,[b] and God himself will be with them as their God.[c] 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
~LL
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