Sunday, July 31, 2011

It depends on your definition of "first thing"...

"early in the morning... He prayed"
Mark 1:35

I wrote this a few years ago, when my Awesome and Amazing kids were less self-sufficient than they are now, but I think of it every now and then.  It's still so often a struggle for me.  Seems like there's always something...

In the morning, first thing, I plan to have early morning Quiet Time with the Lord.

As I start to make myself some tea, and get my Bible and a devotional book, my children wake up.

I decide if I get them breakfast, it will keep them occupied while I have my Quiet Time.

While I'm beating eggs, I realize I may as well have some myself, instead of dirtying more dishes in a little while.  

While the pan is heating up, I get clean dishes out of the dishwasher, and figure I may as well start emptying it.

When the pan is ready, I make the eggs for my children and myself.

After I finish eating, I get up to set a good example for my children, and carry my plate to the sink to wash and load, and I see I need to finish emptying the dishwasher.

After the dishwasher is empty, I go to put my breakfast dish in it, and decide I should do the rest of last night's dinner dishes while I'm at it, since I couldn't finish them last night, because the dishwasher was full.

I do some of the dishes, and then I start to wipe off the counter, but realize someone used this towel to dry off the dog, so I take the towel to the laundry.

When I get to the laundry room, I realize it's high time I did some laundry, and that I left a load in the dryer.  I reheat those, and put a new load in the washer, and then while I'm out there, I see there are several hanging clothes that are now dry and can be returned to their owners.  

While trying to make room in my son's closet for his clean clothes, I find he has too many empty hangers in there, so I set all the clean clothes on his bed, and take the hangers to the laundry room. 

While I'm in the laundry room, the phone rings.  It's a friend, but I know she's not calling to chat, because she's calling from her cellphone, so this will be a quickie, so I go ahead and answer the phone.  We chat for several minutes.

When I get off the phone I feel guilty that she's out and about, running errands, and I'm still in my pajamas, so I go to get dressed.

After I get dressed, I start to make the bed, but decide if I'm going to make this a laundry day, I should do my sheets, so I take them off the bed.

I start to put the sheets in the hamper, and realize I should just empty it, so I go to the laundry room for a basket, and start with the kids' dirty laundry. 

While emptying my daughter's hamper, I find the necklace she has been looking for, and take it to her.

She's thrilled to see it, tells me I'm the best, and wants to do a puzzle with me. 

After we finish the puzzle, my son comes in and tells me he's hungry, and I see it's time for their snack.

As I leave her room, she dumps out the puzzle to start over again.

I go out to the kitchen, and discover I never washed my breakfast dish...

At the end of the day:

* there are still dirty dishes in the sink
* the laundry has progressed, but doesn't seem any closer to being done
* all the family's clean clothes are on my son's bed
* my bed has no sheets on it
* the puzzle is still all over my daughter's floor
 I spent the whole day being Martha and never sat down for Quiet Time.

Maybe the tea was a bad idea...


~ "Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, 
for I have put my trust in You.  
Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life." ~
Psalm 143:8

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