Don't forget to sign up for our Super Summer Swap!Remember when I was going on vacation and I had all those books that I was planning to read? Well, I still haven't finished them all!
I do want to tell you about the Mangers of Their Homes book and a devotion book that I read, both my Steve and Teri Maxwell of
http://www.titus2.com/.
I borrowed Managers of Their Homes (MOTH) from a homeschooling friend, because my post-convention budget had no room for anything else last month! So, I read it pretty quickly so I could get it back to her. I will definitely be purchasing my own copy of this book! It is SUCH an encouragement to me!
The main idea in the book is making a schedule for your family. She recommends 30 minute slots, and schedules her whole day. While it seems radical and rigid, you can see so much good in it once you read everything she has to say. There is scheduled free time, but being a homeschool family, free time is first filled with things that don't get done during the scheduled time (for all those dawdlers!).
She realizes that life happens, and she addresses that beautifully in her book.
Here's a biggie for me - I LOVE the computer! I love blogging - doing mine and reading others (LOTS of others!). I love all the wonderful homeschool ideas on the web. I love email. I love facebook. It just all adds up to A LOT of TIME!! So, I sat down and started writing down all the things that I wanted and needed to accomplish every day and week. I scheduled some time on the computer in the morning, about 15 minutes around lunchtime, but that's it. When I wrote everything down, I had time left over! I had homeschool time, planning time, cleaning time, cooking time, eating time, laundry time. . . lots of chores that "I don't have time for". When I put it all down on paper, I realized how much time I waste each day!
So, as part of my homeschool planning, I will be tweeking what I've already written down as our schedule, and I will beging training my family and myself to have more productive, fun days!
Having a schedule for us is like having workboxes - it makes you realize that you CAN do the fun stuff in life!
The other book I read by them is called
Just Around the Corner. It is encouragement for homeschool families. They have a Mom's corner and a Dad's corner. I only read the Mom's Corner. I can't tell you how encouraging and challenging these articles were to me! I think when the Maxwells come to my area this fall, I will be purchasing the second book of devotions!
I won't tell you much about what's in the book, but I will tell you about one day that really spoke to me. It's about revering our husbands. When I began reading, I thought to myself - I don't have a problem with that. I respect my husband! (Can you see me puffing up?!) So, as I continued to read on, she stated that
revering our husbands is much deeper than
respecting our husbands.
Here are some questions I wrote in my journal to myself.
~Do I nag my husband?
~Do I try to manipulate him to do thing my way?
~When he suggests something, do I often have a "better" way?
~Do I truly trust all of his decisions? (he is responsible to the Lord in his decisions, not to me)
~Will I be more concerned with following the Lord and His Word to me as a wife than I am about having things go my way?
One more thing, I know that my husband loves the Lord, so I can trust what Romans 8:28 says. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love Go, to them that are called according to His purpose." I have to remember that God may be showing him something that He is not showing me. I have to learn to put my trust in the Lord, and thus in my husband.
Whew! How's that for deep thinking on a Friday?! I would really encourage you to check out the Maxwell's ministry at
http://www.titus2.com/.
These are my opinions on this material. I was not asked by the Maxwells to review their materials. I recieved no compensation for this review.
I plan to plan out each week on the weekend so that I don't spend forever each night plundering through deciding what to pull out for the next day.
