For those of
you who don’t know, the Hubby and I are excitedly expecting our second child
this coming January. So naturally I've been doing a lot of thinking lately.
Chalk it up to pregnancy brain (when combined with “mommy brain” is a very
dangerous thing!), but lately I've been feeling a little overwhelmed. If I take
a lazy day because I’m feeling sickish, all of the housework is still there the
next day (and the piles are even bigger!). It seems like I already have my hands so full,
so how in the world am I going to manage taking care of another little person?
Well, it all
comes down to just a few basic things, folks – priorities and time
management. And to be completely honest, I know that I could do a lot
better managing the time that I have.
Let’s take a
look at the woman from Proverbs 31. I’m putting the whole passage here for
convenience sake, but feel free to pull out your own Bible and look it up.
For
her worth is far above rubies.
11 The
heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So
he will have no lack of gain.
12 She
does him good and not evil
All
the days of her life.
13 She
seeks wool and flax,
And
willingly works with her hands.
14 She is
like the merchant ships,
She
brings her food from afar.
15 She
also rises while it is yet night,
And
provides food for her household,
And
a portion for her maidservants.
16 She
considers a field and buys it;
From
her profits she plants a vineyard.
17 She
girds herself with strength,
And
strengthens her arms.
18 She
perceives that her merchandise is good,
And
her lamp does not go out by night.
19 She
stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And
her hand holds the spindle.
20 She
extends her hand to the poor,
Yes,
she reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is
not afraid of snow for her household,
For
all her household is clothed with scarlet.
22 She
makes tapestry for herself;
Her
clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her
husband is known in the gates,
When
he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She
makes linen garments and sells them,
And
supplies sashes for the merchants.
25 Strength
and honor are her clothing;
She
shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She
opens her mouth with wisdom,
And
on her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She
watches over the ways of her household,
And
does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her
children rise up and call her blessed;
Her
husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many
daughters have done well,
But
you excel them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But
a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
31 Give
her of the fruit of her hands,
And
let her own works praise her in the gates.
My initial
thoughts on this passage are, wow! This lady sure has it all together. She’s
superwoman! There’s no way that anyone can do all that!
But a closer
look makes me realize that yes—I can be like this woman. Not literally, since I
don’t have any servants and I don’t wear a lot of linen or wool. But I can be
like her in how I set my priorities. When I take a look at all that this woman
accomplishes, and then compare it to my own life, I see the biggest thing that
stands in my way – time wasters.
What do I
mean by time wasters? They are simply anything you spend a lot of time on that
doesn't necessarily accomplish anything. Like when you say you’re going to do
laundry, but you sit down at the computer and get sucked into something and all
of a sudden the Munchkin is waking up from his nap and you didn't even start
the first load. Time wasters can be anything, and they are not the same thing
for everyone. But if you are truly honest with yourself, you know what your
biggest time wasters are.
The Proverbs
31 woman was diligent, willingly working to provide for her family. She “does
not eat the bread of idleness” (v 27). If this woman lived today, she wouldn't
spend hours on Pinterest collecting hundreds of new recipes to try or new
crafts to do in her “spare time.” She wouldn't spend time on Facebook posting
about all of the great things she was doing or tooting her own horn, so to
speak. She would probably be a lot like many of the good Christian women that
we all know. One of those women that does so much but you wouldn't know it
because she don’t go around talking about all that she does – she just simply
does it.
Today’s
society spends so much time with social media, myself included. I can’t
pinpoint exactly why it is so “big” these days. It could be that we need
validation from others for the things we do. It could be for competition –
perhaps we’re trying to show others how no one else could possibly be as
busy/overworked/etc as we are. But
whatever the reason, we need to ask ourselves, are we accomplishing anything
good with these time wasters, or are we eating the bread of idleness?
I guess my
main point is this – I don’t need to feel overwhelmed at the promise of a new
baby. He or she will simply be fit into our family puzzle and things will work
themselves out. As long as I make taking care of my family and their needs my
priority, God will make sure that I can handle it all.
I hope this
makes sense. If not, I’m blaming it on my crazy hormones!
