“The Schedule” : Friend or Foe?
With the return to work and school means a return to our family following a schedule to get all the things done in a day that we want to get done. I based our family schedule on a book by Holly Pierlot entitled A Mother’s Rule of Life: How to Bring Order to Your Home and Peace to Your Soul. I highly recommend it. The basis of the book is that 1.) It is possible for your family to live according to a schedule, 2.) such a schedule will order the day and create peace within your home, 3.) many good opportunities are lost due to the lack of a family schedule, 4.) A family schedule can improve your marriage and relationships with your children because those things which previously could “never happen” now have a set time on the schedule to make sure they occur. *This could be as simple as a set time for husband and wife to talk & spend time together ever day (not meant to make the husband/wife relationship something either has to “stand in line” for, but it happens every day because it is listed on the schedule. )
People often wonder how I have the time to accomplish everything i do. Most just completely “freak-out” when I tell them I am a homeschooling mom with five kids. The secret is the schedule. Our family’s schedule can be found here: basic-winter-2009-schedule . “The schedule” can be liberating when followed, because it ensures that we use each moment thoughtfully and wisely, but occasionally it can become a monkey on my back of endless structure and demands (that is when we take a day off from it). I have always enjoyed a more free-flowing existence more than structure… sometimes I know I HAVE to stick to and enforce the family schedule because it’s the right thing to do for others. I undertake it for the sake of the souls placed in my care. It is with this thought that I realize the work God has given me to do is absolutely designed to get me to heaven. The schedule is a tool one can use to get there. Whether or not I use it is up to my free will. He leads me, but doesn’t drag me. He respects my free will, and watches me silently as I grumble about if only my carcass was more diligent, if only I would cooperate more with the grace He freely offers me, I could accomplish so much greater things. As I age, I realize one of the biggest regrets of my life is the time I have wasted, not using each moment to the fullest to accomplish some greater good. May 2009 be lived out with diligence to my responsibilities. The schedule can help me do this. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
