New Book!

I finished Mother Angelica, but don't worry, I still have more to post from her. Good stuff. And I started a new book yesterday titled, "A Mother's Rule of Life" by Holly Pierlot. I gave this book to my sister-in-law 2 Christmases ago and she just passed it along to me. It's AWESOME!!

She starts off right away by claiming not to be perfect. She tells of how she was searching for that "Christian Perfection" and was having a hard time finding it. She moves into telling about how she developed a schedule for her home and actually following it and how her home finally became organized and things were getting done. She home schools her kids (she has 5) and she was ready to throw in the towel when God intervened at a Home School Conference where she heard a speech about organization. She tried it and it worked!

The backbone of her schedule lies in what an old priest told her. The Five "Ps" of Married Life:

First P = Prayer
Second P = Person
Third P = Partner
Fourth P = Parent
Fifth P = Provider

So she took this list of priorities and coordinated her schedule around it. She also uses a schedule that the nuns follow to build her schedule around. Certain things take priority over others and this list really helps us to decide what to focus more of our time on.

Isn't that neat? So that's as far as I have gone right now. But it looks like a very valuable resource for ANY mom, working, not working, working from home. We could all use a little organization and time management in our lives according to our Lord, don't you think??

So I'm excited to dig into this book. I have already started implementing some of the things I have been reading. For instance, I kept the computer off today. I still talked on the phone a little, but I also got housework done. I blogged, looked up info online, got the kids up and ready for school, did 4 loads of laundry, the dishes, took a shower, picked up my son at school, took him for a haircut, played with my kids outside, gave them lunch, and a nap! WOOHOO!! I feel so successful! And now I'm on my way outside to take some pictures for my hubby and email them out for him. Then I'm going to pick up a fish after I pick up my daughter. Today will be very productive!!

Anyway, I guess it's about putting things down so you can accomplish what you're supposed to. It's just that sometimes we don't WANT to!! :)

Pray for Little Things

How often do we pray for the little things? It's hard to remember to do that because we don't appreciate those little things as much as the big. Well, for me it's that I have to make a conscious effort to remember those little things to pray for.

I think that we also tend not to appreciate those little things that we do for each other, especially our spouses. There are things my husband does that I appreciate, that are little, but I don't say anything. But because he does those little things, like get wood in, fill our heater, come home every night, coach baseball, I know that he loves us. And I try to do little things for him in return. The same can be true of our kids too can't it? I can't even count how many times my kids do little things that are good and sometimes they go unnoticed. I know in my head that that was a nice thing that they did, but I don't vocalize it all the time. But boy, when I vocalize it, it's AMAZING how they react! They are just so proud of themselves.

My point is, is that those little things really add up. And whether we consciously know it or not, those little things are the things that we truly appreciate. So Mother Angelica wants us to ask God for those little things too. Because that's one of the many ways we can show Him that we love Him.