Household Management: Or Lack Thereof

"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."  Proverbs 31:14-17

It's been a crazy couple of weeks here since school started back up again.  I think that we're finally getting into a groove with the school time- we know what we're doing and how our day is going to go, but where I'm really having issues is with everything else!  I need some lessons in household management, and when I went to my faithful first lady in Proverbs 31, I was dismayed to read that she had maidservants.  That meant that she actually had assistance in caring for her household.  Something that I don't have, and I honestly don't really want anyway.  I couldn't imagine having someone else do what I need to get done.

And yet, I'm having issues with my time.  My blogging is suffering in the morning, because I'm sleeping a little later- which is necessary, because by the time I crawl into bed I'm exhausted!  We do our schooling together, and by the time we're done I have very, very few precious hours to cram everything else into before we dash off for dance classes or church for the evening, and there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day.  The housework isn't the only thing suffering either.  I do my Bible reading during my lunchtime- a time when I am guaranteed to be sitting and taking a little break.  Except that I haven't been doing that much either!  Some days I skip lunch entirely, because if I don't take the 30 minutes to eat something, that's a whole bunch of something I can get done.  Other days, I eat lunch in small handfuls, while I'm working to accomplish something else.  It's pure craziness, and while this post may seem like I'm whining, I'm really not.  I love homeschooling my kids, and I love that they love our evening activities. Those are not going to change.

But what I am doing is spending what little time I can praying about this, because I clearly need some wisdom.  And some supernatural energy to get everything accomplished that needs to get accomplished in a weeks time.  I've actually had days where I told the kids to pull something out of the dirty hamper that's "not too dirty" to wear again because the laundry has fallen behind!  And don't get me started on the spiders that are ruthless in their attempt to entirely swathe my home in cobwebs...

Anyway.  Sometimes I think my blog posts make me come across as saintly or all-knowing, and today I just thought I'd throw out some humble pie.  I am so far from perfect, and while the crazy life is a good fit for us, I need some wisdom in how best to approach those small, small bits in between the craziness. God knows, and it's most definitely His grace that keeps me from turning into a maniac some days. 

God is good, all the time.  And when I reflect on that for even a moment, I just feel like everything is all right, that it's okay if the dishes wait just a few more hours.  Because it's God's Goodness that is most important in my life- and if unexpected company ever drops in, I can believe that whoever it is will not see all the clutter and disarray and un-vacuumed floors, and instead will focus on the joy and the goodness that our home is bathed in. 

But I would still like that wisdom and supernatural energy to get everything back to rights and kept that way.