The Mystery of Time

Why is it when my house lies in a wreck I have no time for anything I need to do? When this happens I can't seem to find the time to clean, to write, or for devotional time with God. But when I get to the place that I can't stand it anymore and I MAKE time to clean it up an amazing thing happens. I find I have time for devotions, time to write, time to spend with my kids, time to bake, time for me, and time to breathe.
I have been staying up on my chores for the past two weeks. My house is spotless.... if you come over, however, still call first because this state could change any minute. lol I have so much extra time on my hands. Whoever came up with the saying that cleanliness is next to Godliness was definitely on to something.

I encourage all you women out there to try this multi-step experiment. You might get the same results I have gotten and the benefits of a clutter-free more stress-free environment.

Step One:
Whenever I get to this less chaotic place in my life without fail I have devotions the morning I start the "Big Clean." The Bible says in:

Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Here in my life, once again, God's Word has proven true. The "all these things" to me are time to clean, to write, time for kids, time for baking, time for me, and time to breathe. Thank you, Jesus, for when we try You, You always are proven faithful.

Step Two:
Decide on which room to start in ( I find the cleanest room is where I begin... This way you have results in no time and this seems to inspire me to press on) do not stop until it is done. When you are finished take a break and just sit down to appreciate a job well done.

Step Three:
Don't get overwhelmed. You do not have to have your house cleaned from top to bottom in one day. You just need to make the commitment to get your life in order. If you are not done the next day just get up with the same mission.

Step Four:
If you have faithfully followed step one, two and three, you no doubt are feeling the benefits by now. Let the change sink in and Thank God for helping you discover the mystery of having time and not having time.

I believe that when we have "NO time" to do what we need to do it is because we have told ourselves this so many times we begin to believe it. We started saying this phrase to make ourselves feel better about our lack of desire to do any better. We will always have time for God. He gave us the gift of 24 hours and He expects us to put Him first in our day. If we do this He will give us the desire to be better at whatever we do. He doesn't intend for us to live in the self created chaos we women sometimes find ourselves in. God delights in things done decently and in order and He has put this heart in us. Let us quit saying we haven't the time for our responsibilities .... and rather let us start praying for God to help us master whatever task we find in our area of responsibility. When we lapse and fail remember God knows we are human and He stands waiting to help us bare our load.

Chin up. Start cleaning!!! LOL

Lesson of the Creaking Chair

Making time for devotions is probably one of the biggest struggles a Christian faces. What is the best time in the day to study God’s Word and pray? I suppose this varies for every Christian. With seven kids, one of which being two and one being 10 months old the mornings are filled with little feet getting me out of bed wanting breakfast as soon as their feet hit the floor. Sometimes this “great awakening” comes between 6:45 and 7:00 am so mornings have always been a challenge for me. Mid-afternoon is no good consistently for me either. Something always is needing attention around this time. If it gets real quiet in the house (This seldom happens) after lunch you may find me napping. Finally, I generally get to the end of my day and in utter exhaustion fall into bed between
10:30 and 11:30 pm.

For a very long time I have tried to fit time in for devotions whenever I felt I had a free moment. This method has failed me miserably. The Lord really began to deal with me concerning the excuses I would give to explain my ultimate lack of time spent with Him. One day I decided, if I had a public job ( I am a WORK at home Mom) I would most likely have to get up at
6:00 am every morning whether I felt like it or not. Why could I not show as much devotion to the Saviour of my soul?

I began my plan of action, one morning, by rolling over in bed at 6:00 and picking up my Bible. I began to read while my husband snored. The temptation to fall back to sleep was too great. My sleep filled eyes would get heavier and heavier until finally I was startled awake by the sound of my closing Bible when the hand holding it would fall over because it was attached to a sleeping body. I realized if I was going to be successful at consistency I would have to leave the bed behind to have my time with God.

The next morning the house was in a hushed silence ( which happens rarely in a house containing so many bodies) I creeped to the living room to avoid waking sleeping lions. When I sat down in my recliner it made a creaking noise as if to protest being used so early. The sound it made brought back unexpected memories from my childhood. How many times had I heard that sound wake me in the mornings? My parents took their place in their chairs early in the morning to have their time with God throughout my memories of childhood. My parents, however, were not the only ones who came to my mind this morning. I remembered spending the night at my Grandparent’s house and sleeping on the couch only to be awakened early in the morning as my Grandfather, Riley Hensley, took his place in his oversized chair. I remembered opening up sleepy eyes to see him reaching for his Bible, placed on a table, by that chair side. I closed my young eyes and contentedly went back to sleep in the soft glow of his lamp light and the gentle sound of turning pages. All these memories came flooding back to me the moment I heard the creaking chair of mine. I was no longer alone in my living room. I was surrounded by a great crowd of witnesses. They had set the example and unknowingly had witnessed to me of the importance of this sacred hour I now spent with God. I wept as I wondered if my children were listening. I wondered if I would be that witness to them. Would I continue the legacy of the creaking chair?

Each morning now when I wake up and I think about just rolling over and falling back to sleep I remember the sound of the creak in the chair and I think to myself, “What if that chair doesn’t creak today?” Any morning could be the morning my children would hear and learn the importance of such a time spent with God. A memory could be created that would get them out of bed in the later years of their life to nurture the treasure of a relationship with the Most High God. My faithfulness now could result in a lesson taught that would one day lead them to discover the love they can experience while spending time alone with God.

Maybe you have a chair like mine that should creak tomorrow morning. God Bless.

Repair man's Surprise Visit

Our shower has been leaking from the shower head for some time now. I called a man we bought the house from (home warranty) to come and fix it Tuesday. He told me he would be there that evening to take a look at it. I spent the day cleaning my house making sure everything was in its place in every room...even the ones he wouldn't be in. The place just sparkled and then I told the kids not to breath till after he left...lol. We waited and waited and he never came. At that moment I figured my luck would be that he would just show up when I least expected him and my house would be turned upside down at that moment. You know....my bed unmade (you have to go through my bedroom to get to the bathroom in question), underwear in the bathroom floor, or the kitchen a mess with the contents of my two year old son's breakfast bowl plastered to the wall, which sometimes occurs when he decides he is finished...NOW.
Two days passed and no phone call...was he coming? Then tonight the phone rang....it was the dinner hour....Mr. Fix-it said, "I'll be right over." He lives five minutes away!! I raced around to clean the evening meal debris away. The children were still eating...Then in a flash he was pullling into the driveway....ahhhhhh! I went to the door and he had the needed part to fix the shower in his hand. He said my husband could probably put the part in himself if I preferred he didn't intrude. I assured him he would not be intruding....as my mind raced to think...right before supper I had given my littlest son a shower in our bathroom....what kind of mess had I left it in....if he fixed the shower I would have to lead him casually into rooms I had not had the time to check on...what was their current condition? I decided to protect my pride and said..."You know I would hate to inconvience you...My husband can probably fix the shower and if he needs help he can call you back." While making small talk and feeling as though I had narrowly escaped this potentially pride hurting experience...I looked down at my youngest son who had come to the door some time before and had, like a good boy, been quietly standing behind me. To my profound horror I discovered he was completely naked from the waist down. Gone were his pants and pull-ups. "Jason!!!" I exclaimed loudly, "What are you doing!" Horrified I looked at the man at my door....I wondered how long Jason had been standing there in all his glory with me trying to make small talk. This was probably the reason why the guy didn't "Want to intrude"...lol. I quickly assured the man that Jason didn't normally run around this way.
When the man was gone I had to laugh through embarrassed and mortified tears. With all my efforts to look like I had it together ....my fragile pride was fractured anyway.
Tonight...I am thanking God for kids. For if nothing else they keep us humble and remind us life isn't perfect....and if it were it wouldn't be nearly as entertaining.

Repair man's Surprise Visit

Our shower has been leaking from the shower head for some time now. I called a man we bought the house from (home warranty) to come and fix it Tuesday. He told me he would be there that evening to take a look at it. I spent the day cleaning my house making sure everything was in its place in every room...even the ones he wouldn't be in. The place just sparkled and then I told the kids not to breath till after he left...lol. We waited and waited and he never came. At that moment I figured my luck would be that he would just show up when I least expected him and my house would be turned upside down at that moment. You know....my bed unmade (you have to go through my bedroom to get to the bathroom in question), underwear in the bathroom floor, or the kitchen a mess with the contents of my two year old son's breakfast bowl plastered to the wall, which sometimes occurs when he decides he is finished...NOW.
Two days passed and no phone call...was he coming? Then tonight the phone rang....it was the dinner hour....Mr. Fix-it said, "I'll be right over." He lives five minutes away!! I raced around to clean the evening meal debris away. The children were still eating...Then in a flash he was pullling into the driveway....ahhhhhh! I went to the door and he had the needed part to fix the shower in his hand. He said my husband could probably put the part in himself if I preferred he didn't intrude. I assured him he would not be intruding....as my mind raced to think...right before supper I had given my littlest son a shower in our bathroom....what kind of mess had I left it in....if he fixed the shower I would have to lead him casually into rooms I had not had the time to check on...what was their current condition? I decided to protect my pride and said..."You know I would hate to inconvience you...My husband can probably fix the shower and if he needs help he can call you back." While making small talk and feeling as though I had narrowly escaped this potentially pride hurting experience...I looked down at my youngest son who had come to the door some time before and had, like a good boy, been quietly standing behind me. To my profound horror I discovered he was completely naked from the waist down. Gone were his pants and pull-ups. "Jason!!!" I exclaimed loudly, "What are you doing!" Horrified I looked at the man at my door....I wondered how long Jason had been standing there in all his glory with me trying to make small talk. This was probably the reason why the guy didn't "Want to intrude"...lol. I quickly assured the man that Jason didn't normally run around this way.
When the man was gone I had to laugh through embarrassed and mortified tears. With all my efforts to look like I had it together ....my fragile pride was fractured anyway.
Tonight...I am thanking God for kids. For if nothing else they keep us humble and remind us life isn't perfect....and if it were it wouldn't be nearly as entertaining.

Family Portraits

Today I took my six children to have their pictures taken. My oldest daughter is in college in Kentucky and couldn't be present for the exciting occasion or there would have been seven kids in the photo. I can't believe how exhausting picture taking can be. Trying to get everyone to smile and hold their heads just right is quite a task....and that isn't even mentioning all the preparation before the photograph ..... making sure all the clothes being wore are clean and not of any color that would clash with the sibling sitting beside them in the picture.
While I was applying some last minute spit to strands of hair that didn't want to lay in their proper position...I was reminded how miraculous God's gift of family is. Those of us with children know just how intense the daily grind can sometimes become....family can begin to mean to us one more load of laundry to do....or an evening meal to prepare just when we think we can't take one more thing on our "plate"....but may we never forget that all those little messers, all those mouths to feed, the husband hogging our side of the bed at night is God's special gift to us, souls that will never die made in God's own image to remind us of Him. Be mindful of this when you fill that sippy cup up one more time....or when you slide to your edge of the bed with a husband snoring loudly in you ear. Thank God for the dirt and grime on little hands requiring your attention; providing you with the opportunity to look deep into your loved one's eyes a moment made to take a mental photograph.... one you'll treasure for years to come when children won't be around to ask for small favors.
Photos taken in studios will be filed away in albums confined to bookshelves or displayed in dusty picture frames...but the family portraits I think most treasured are the ones imprinted on our hearts.....the ones mentallly taken while spending time in the shelter of our homes....without the backlights, drop cloths, and adjustable stools.