Managing the Busy Family Tips Part 2

Happy, Blessed Easter Weekend Friends!  What gorgeous weather the Lord has blessed us with this Resurrection weekend.  Our family enjoyed a short road trip to spend time with family this afternoon.  We were particularly excited to try out our brand new Ford Transit van.  

I hope that you too are enjoying beautiful weather and the joy of the Risen Lord this Easter weekend. I thought I would post part two of helpful tips for managing the busy family.  These are just random  ideas of things that have been helpful in our family.  :)  

This tip goes along with the topic of the new van.  We keep paper lunch sacks and a small trash can in our family van.  This is very helpful when we go through a drive-thru.  I just take all the food, divide it into individual sacks and then send all the sacks throughout the van.  The trash can is great and can be emptied after each car ride.  

Another small thing that has really helped our family is using Drink Bands.  I ordered bands, similar to these in the picture, online and they have been great.  Each of my children has their own color, and this way we can easily find the correct glass/cup.  These bands go through the dishwasher and have held up well.  We leave our glasses/cups on the counter throughout the day so that each child uses the same glass/cup all day long.  I cannot imagine the number of glasses/cups we would otherwise be using.  I know some moms use insulated thermoses giving each child their own color.  Whatever system used, it is just so helpful to have each family member only using one glass/cup/thermos for the day.  :) 

Since tomorrow morning is Easter Sunday I'll share a tip for getting out the door on Sunday mornings.  

Through the years I have learned the hard way how important it is for me to prepare for Sunday church the day or night before.  We go to a church where we eat lunch at church between the morning and afternoon services.  This means that not only do I need to prepare clothing for our family but food preparation is also necessary.  I TRY to have all food packed by Saturday night, shoes set out, clothes hanging in a designated place, baby bag packed, etc.  This is a lot to do on Saturdays, but it really pays off during the flurry of getting a family of nine dressed and doing lots of little girl hair before we can leave.  Sometimes I am more successful at this attempt than at others, but I really have to have at least some of these things prepared or we would never get off the farm in time to make the hour drive to church.  I really dislike leaving for church all stressed out, and my husband really dislikes being late so this Saturday prep time is time well spent.  We definitely reap the benefits on Sunday morning.  

It is also not helpful to have children running all over the house and messing up their clothes and hair before leaving.  We have had a routine of getting the little ones dressed and then putting on a sweet, uplifting, Christ focused video before leaving.  This way they are sitting in the living room waiting for departure instead of creating messes or other catastrophes before leaving.  ;)  We try to be intentional about videos and how much time our children spend watching them, but this time right before leaving has been helpful.  You could also occupy little people by having an older child read to them.  The idea is just having something for them to be focused on before leaving the house.  This way they are not overflowing sinks, getting into food, and creating all other types of upsets before the family departs.  Well, I hope these few ideas have been helpful.  May the Lord give us all much joy, hope, and rejoicing in the remembrance of His great love and grace in our lives this Easter weekend.  

A Few Tips on Managing a Busy Family

 In today’s post I want to share just a few things that have been helpful to our family as we seek to steward our days and accomplish God’s will in our lives.  Life is often busy, messy,  and imperfect in many ways, but over time I have seen that certain things are a real help to us in the journey.  As we have added more children we have had to learn how to juggle things, and I am often seeking the Lord for His wisdom on how to make it all work.  Here are some things I have found helpful over time:  

 

Teach Children to Work

  When I only had a few children I did far too much of the work on my own.  It just seemed easier to do the work than to try to get little people to do it, especially when I knew they would not be able to accomplish the tasks as thoroughly as I wanted them done.  Looking back I wish I would have taken the time to train more and would have not tried to do so much of it myself!  The best time to train our children to work is when they are young.  Little people LOVE to help, and it is good to get them started early even if they don’t do the jobs quite as well as we would like them done.  It is all about training when they are young so that they will grow in skill as they mature. 

A good question to ask is, “Who is the youngest person in our home who can do an adequate job at this task?  For example, “Who is the youngest member of the family who can carry the towels to the bathroom and put them away?”

                            

Freezer Meals and the Instant Pot

  I love to freeze, meats, soups, chilis, etc. and have meals accessible for dinner on busy nights.  It is such a convenience to be able to pull out a frozen soup and put it in the slow cooker and dinner is done!  I used to be a Crock Pot gal all the way until I met the Instant Pot!  I LOVE my Instant Pot for its many different functions. It is a slow cooker, rice cooker,  yogurt maker, pressure cooker, has a saute function and so much more!  I love the Instant Pot so much that I now own two of them!  This is because sometimes I like to do something like cook chicken in the pressure cooker while I am cooking rice in the second instant pot.

 

Room Time

  Every afternoon we have what we call room time.  This is a time when we shut the house down and everyone has a specific place they need to be in the house.  The older children are working on individual school work while the younger children are taking naps.  This is a time when people are not to be roaming the house; this is a quiet rest and study time for us.  The benefit to this is that the children have a quiet environment for individual school work, and I get a time in the day where things get quiet.  This is a time when I can focus on things I need to do, my Bible study time, etc.  When I’m exhausted I will sometimes take a nap myself.  This was a means of survival to me during difficult and painful pregnancies.  Basically when children in our household outgrow naps they graduate to room time.  This has proved very helpful through the years. 

Hire Help

  I used to have the notion that I wanted to manage my own home completely on my own.  It got to a point where that just was not possible.  My husband told me that he would rather I get some help and spend time training our children than that I would try to do all the cleaning and not have the time I need for the children.  Through the years the Lord has provided different means of help at different times.  For years I had a cleaning crew that came once or twice a month.  They would clean the house in a few hours time, and that was always nice to see the house looking all clean at once.   At times I have had a mother’s helper once or twice a week.  Currently I have a lady who comes twice a week to help with cleaning, laundry and help with the children.  This is very helpful in helping us stay afloat, but even with this we still have tons of cleaning and laundry.  I am thankful for the help the Lord has provided in each season. He knows what we need, and He is faithful to meet us at our point of need.  With all God has given our family to do, farm life, caring for animals, writing, speaking, serving, etc. we are in a season where some measure of hired help is a huge blessing.  If you are at that point and need and can afford help, I would encourage you to seek it out.  It is alright and might just be for a season.  May we all be seeking the Lord's wisdom season by season as we seek to manage all that He has put in our hands to do.  May we do it all for His glory!

  

Legacy Homeschool Reflections Podcast 13: Making Hymns Part of Your Homeschool

Excited to be a part of The Homeschool Fitting-It-All-In Online Summit.  Register for free here.  I will be speaking on Day 6.  Thank you for listening. ~Ruth L. Adams

In this podcast Ruth talks about teaching your children the great hymns of the faith.
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If you liked this podcast, please consider my book: Legacy - Reflections of a Homeschooled, Homeschooling Mama.
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Legacy Homeschool Reflections Podcast 12: Building Character in Your Children

Excited to be a part of The Homeschool Fitting-It-All-In Online Summit.  Register for free here.  I will be speaking on Day 6.  Thank you for listening. ~Ruth L. Adams

Character Training Rooted in the Gospel Podcast 12
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If you liked this podcast, please consider my book: Legacy - Reflections of a Homeschooled, Homeschooling Mama.
Click here to buy.

Moving From Surviving to Thriving and Leaving a Legacy

Last weekend I had the privilege of speaking at a local homeschool event, and I thought I would give a little recap on how the day went.  I really feel the Lord opened the door for me to speak there, and it was a really neat experience as I had never spoken at a homeschool event before.  Now I have sat through hours upon hours of talks at homeschool conferences, but it was a different thing altogether to be the one doing the talking instead of the listening.

  My husband and I enjoyed being at our booth and the conversations we had with those who stopped by.  There was everything from the family thinking about pulling children out of public school to the seasoned homeschool family almost done with the journey.  We were thankful for each conversation we had with those passing by.

  During my talk I gave a copy of my book "Legacy Reflections of a Homeschooled, Homeschooling Mama" away to a fellow homeschool graduate.  I always get so excited when I see homeschooling grads taking the legacy of home education into the next generation.

  I really enjoyed the experience and just being able to offer encouragement and maybe a few fresh ideas to some younger mamas who are new to the journey.
  My talk was called "Moving From Surviving to Thriving While Leaving a Legacy."  I tried to cast vision for the important ministry of home education/home discipleship while at the same time giving some practical helps for managing the daily tasks.  I will likely play the talk on the "Legacy Homeschool Reflections Podcast" in the near future so do stay tuned.
  That is about all I have for today.  The weather has been perfect for gardening, so I need to get back outside and keep working at planting my little vegetable plants.  The girls and I spent the last couple of days planting, picking wildflowers, and enjoying the freeness and newness of spring.  Blessings to you all!

"He changes times and seasons;

    he removes kings and sets up kings;

he gives wisdom to the wise

    and knowledge to those who have understanding." - Daniel 2:21

Legacy Homeschool Reflections Podcast 11: Loving and Defending God's Word

Excited to be a part of The Homeschool Fitting-It-All-In Online Summit.  Register for free here.  I will be speaking on Day 6.  Thank you for listening. ~Ruth L. Adams

In this podcast I talk about teaching your children to love and defend the Word of God.
Subscribe on iTunes.
Click here to download.

If you liked this podcast, please consider my book: Legacy - Reflections of a Homeschooled, Homeschooling Mama.
Click here to buy.

Legacy Homeschool Reflections Podcast 10: Specific things to pray for your family.

Specific things to pray for your family.

Subscribe on iTunes.
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If you liked this podcast, please consider my book: Legacy - Reflections of a Homeschooled, Homeschooling Mama.
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May the Lord Raise Up a New Generation of Kingdom Minded Servants

Yesterday our family live-streamed the funeral of Billy Graham and watched it from our living room. I was incredibly touched to watch the testimony of a life lived for kingdom purposes.  Just last year my husband and I toured the Billy Graham Library where this service was held.  I LOVED it that they held Graham's service in a tent reminiscent of the tent revivals he preached during his ministry.  

It was so moving to see Michael W Smith, Bill Gaither, and others worship the Lord as well as the whole tent full of people singing "To God Be the Glory" along with other hymns.

The whole things moved my heart and reminded me of how I want to be faithful to the end of my earthly journey.  In today's shallow christian culture it is very common to see men of God start running the race well only to be lured into some form of compromise or enticement with pride and sin.  I am so thankful that Billy Graham lived decade after decade faithful to the cross of Christ and faithful to his family.  It is refreshing to see a man whose trajectory was one of faithfulness.  

One beautiful thing that was brought out in the service is how much Billy and Ruth Bell Graham loved each other.  She went to heaven over a decade before him, and he lived the rest of his life longing to be reunited with his bride.  What a beautiful thing that Billy and Ruth are now together again worshipping their Lord.  Seeing this legacy of lifelong love moves me to think about how I want to continue working at my own marriage.  There is something beautifully sweet about lifelong love.  When my children are grown and gone I want to still be growing in my love for my precious husband.  

Also, seeing Billy Graham's five grown children honor their father's legacy made me think about how one day my husband and I will be gone and our children will still be here.  Even after we are gone I want them to carry on a legacy of faith to future generations.  

  

It is really special to see the legacy of a man who was poured out for the gospel of Jesus Christ and who finished the race well.  

"Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all." - Philippians 2:17

Finally, watching all the Billy Graham coverage and seeing how God used one farm boy to touch the world makes me thing about who God will raise up to share the message of the cross in the next generation.  The other day I was praying with my children, and we were asking the Lord to raise up future leaders to proclaim truth.  I see so many of the stalwarts of the faith now dying off.  In recent years we have lost Elisabeth Elliot, RC Sproul, Billy Graham and others.  The world is broken and lost and needs faithful christian men and women to unapologetically proclaim Biblical truth.  Let us be prayerful that we will walk in faithfulness in our own spheres of influence and that our children will rise up and serve the Lord with kingdom-minded vision.  Let us pray that our families will walk in faithfulness for generations to come.  

Mamas, I want to close this post by reminding us all that we are raising the future leaders of the next generation.  Who knows how God might choose to use one of our children to influence the world for Christ?  Billy Graham's father was a dairy farmer, and God took Billy from the farm all around the world proclaiming salvation through Christ.  Mothering is a huge ministry not to be undermined.  Who knows how God might be preparing our children for His kingdom purposes, and He has given us the privilege of raising them up in the ways they should go.  Let us look to Christ that He may flow through us and that our legacy will impact generations to come.  May those who come behind us find us faithful.