“ That which we persist in doing becomes easier – not that the nature of the task has chafed, but our ability to do has increased…” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
How true is the quote above! Sometimes, I chuckle thinking about how busy I thought I was when I had just one child! Little did I know that when I had triple the number, my busyness would escalate! But it’s funny because with three children, I seem to have more time for everything. My home is cleaner and neater than it has ever been, and my culinary skills are growing and expanding. I have somehow tapped into the secret of persisting in doing the same thing until my ability in it has increased…
Now, don’t get me wrong.
I’m not saying that I’m a domestic guru, far be it. I am always learning to do things better at home and am always fine-tuning my system to be more efficient and effective.
Somehow, I think when it comes to having a thriving home life with kids, you’ve just got to master the basics really well.
When we slide in the disciplines of the daily, we actually lose our ground and will have to for them handsomely…(imagine motherhood exhaustion, toddler meltdown, teenage tantrums, lost time…and lost keys. That’s certainly not a good formula for a happy mama!)
It makes me think that for a functioning home to occur, we just need to do what we know needs to be done well enough. They don’t need to be perfect, they just need to be managed well enough.
You see, the secret is not actually found in doing more and newer things, but just getting the basics right and well.
The basics are simple: getting meals on time, getting kids to bed early, doing family chores, having devotionals at set times, developing room time habits, teaching responsibility, being prepared for the day, not getting into the habit of rushing and hurrying…they sound so simple that we so often don’t pay attention to these basics!
Oh, how easy it is to let these “simple” things slide…yet these are the very cornerstone of a functioning family life!
When we were single and childless, we could daydream into what greatness our lives may one day be. When we are mothers of children, we just have to get up and shape up to do what is required to be done!
Having the art and science of managing our family involves doing the right thing one step at a time, one season at a time, one baby at a time.
It’s about growing our skills in the home, whatever it is that’s required.
And when the basics are conquered, further creative expressions of the home could be paved.
It’s a skill to have because it’s about your ability to navigate yourself in the midst of constant demands, and streams and streams of endless giving. It’s about having wisdom and wit in the practicalities of what is otherwise a monotonous home life. It is about living your best in the unseen moment by moment measures, without necessarily scrambling in fear and surrendering to defeat.
The fulcrum of a home that thrives is the woman that grows to hear what she ought to do in that moment of busyness, and to draw her life map of where she is today and where she believes God is leading her tomorrow.