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Organizing, Simplifying and Daily Duties
I've been sorting through items as I pack them away for our move. As I've been organizing and sorting, I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I should keep and what I should toss. The more I thought about it the more I realized that there is generally a motive behind much of what we do. As Christian women our motive should always be for the glory of God.
So, I've been doing a lot of thinking and meditating and praying about what the biblical motive should be behind what I keep and what I toss. The consistent thought that continues to come back to me is this... what kind of life do I want when I move to this new house? How do I want to spend my days? Do I want to spend my days dusting a lot of knickknacks and pictures? Do I want to spend my days shuffling around stuff from one room to the next? How much time do I want to spend on my housework? And by simplifying my days as far as housekeeping goes, what would I plan to do with the time left over?
I am so eternally grateful that God's Word addresses these questions. Yes, God calls us to be keepers at home, but He has not given us just this one command. We are to be lovers of our husband and children. We all have gifts that we are to use to benefit the body of Christ. We are told to visit those in prison and those who are sick. We are to take care of the orphans and the widows. These are just a few of the duties that God has assigned to us.
Each of us has a different situation where God has placed us. There will be a difference in how I spend my days since my children are grown and gone compared to a woman who still has her children left at home to minister to. I may have neighbors living next door that God has called me to minister to, where other women may live miles from their nearest neighbor so the opportunity to minister may be more of a challenge.
I guess what I am trying to say is that I want to think deliberately about how I want to spend my days this coming year and not just blindly take each day as it comes without any thought of eternity. If I were to stand before the Lord tomorrow and give an account for today and how I spent my hours would I believe that I had spent them for His glory?
I'm reminded of an innocent last summer where I spent 5 or 6 hours making fruit cocktail to only end up with 5 jars. And to top it off... my husband doesn't even care for fruit cocktail and my children aren't home to help me eat it. So, WHY did I choose to spend that amount of time on something that ended up being useless? Because I didn't wisely think through the best way to use my time. There are things I can do in my home to save a good amount of money to make it worth my while but this was not one of those best uses of my time.
A friend recently asked me what I would take if I knew I was packing for the mission field. I had to really stop and think about that. What would I take? I'd want to take study tools, books, bibles,etc. that would help teach others about His Word. I'd need clothes, of course, but I wouldn't be taking as many as I have now. I'm still trying to think through that question to decide what would be the essentials. And if I could live with so much less on a foreign land, why do I think I need SO much stuff here?
So, as I am going through each drawer to pack away items for our new home, I am asking myself if this item is something that is really going to help me in serving my family or others or is it something that is going to require time to maintain, pack, move or dust that could better be spent on something or someone else. I'm making a choice each time I handle an item. There will be many things I keep. But, my hope is that there will be much I give away and throw away, too. I want to spend more time in God's Word and His presence coming to know Him even more intimately. I'm wanting to find more time to visit Erma, Karen and a 98 year old Sister I met this last week in a retirement home. I want to have more time to teach my grandchildren about Jesus. That takes time spent with them regularly. I want to find more time to do special surprise things for my husband to show him how much I love him. Will I end this year having served my 'things' or served the Lord by ministering to those He has put along my path each and every day.
Love to you all! May God teach us to redeem our time and days for His glory!
Georgene
A Woman that Fears the Lord
http://www.awomanthatfearsthelord.com
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