His Word in My Heart: August 2010

I do realize that August is over half gone, but nonetheless I do have a verse to share…

Last week, I accidentally took a week off from blogging. For me, writing is like exercising– the more days I skip (assuming I exercised every day {wink, wink}), the harder it is to go back. I planned to do a “digital fast” on Wednesday, with no facebook, blogging, reading blogs, etc. Instead, I prayed for Daisy and for a friend of a friend’s father who has Lyme disease, and also for fresh vision for my own writing. It was good! And after that, well, I just ended up taking a few more days off. So, here I am, back and ready to finally share August’s verse with you.

I am really trying, in the Lord’s strength to be less of a time-waster these days. I’ve been studying Titus and Proverbs 31 lately and this verse really stood out to me as one I needed to be trying to live out in my life. I really believe the Provers 31 wife is an example of the kind of godly wife I’m asking God to make me into (it’s a process, as Nancy Leigh DeMoss says), and I think this is a good starting place for me.

If I had a dollar for every minute lost to “eating the bread of idleness…” yikes. I’d be living in a cottage by the beach off that income.

I work well with deadlines. As a literature student and a teacher, everything I did was based on a timeline, with due dates and a strict syllabus/calendar. I think one of the hardest things about my job as a homemaker is that the work is ongoing. You all know how it is… just when I get through all the laundry, the basket in my closet is almost full again. Same thing with the dishes, with picking up and straightening the house.

And as much as I love blogging, I’ve wasting away many precious minutes online. That’s not to say that I’m going to cut myself off from the blogosphere, but every now and then I just need a fresh reminder of keeping a balance, and using my time (online) wisely. Sometimes, hopping from blog to blog or actually getting caught up in my reader is a great way to unwind and chill out. I just need to make sure I have some priorities in place.

One priority is exercising my own writing skills, along with sharing inspiration and encouragement with those of you that grace my blog with your reading time {again, thank you}. It’s a vision I feel like the Lord has put in my heart, and confirmed over and over, that no matter how many readers I have, there is a purpose behind my blog and what I’m doing. I don’t count my work on my blog as idle work, if I’m being wise with my time with it and not letting it overtake everything else.

In one of Carolyn Mahaney’s messages on Titus, she said something that really spoke to me:

“There is time to do everything God is calling me to do.”

Time is just another way the Lord provides for me. This month’s verse is a reminder to me that in order to really have that quote fulfilled in my life, I have to do my part, too. I have to force myself into not eating the bread of idleness, but instead making the most of the time I have in my home, with my family, on the computer, in the sewing room, etc.

I’m realizing more and more, as I settle into my “career,” what that looks like for me. So I’m maximizing my mornings, and praying that Brody goes back to 6-8 uninterrupted hours of sleep, which has gone on hiatus since he was sick last week, so that setting my alarm for 6am isn’t quite as daunting. I think I also need to create more of a schedule, a life syllabus if you will, for myself, so that I can stay on track with what I want to accomplish (and with the visions God has given me), and keep my priorities straight as well.

Today I’d love to hear your verse for August, and also your thoughts on prioritizing, time management and not eating the bread of idleness. xo

Tagged as: Bible, God, His word in my heart, homemaking, monthly memory verse, priorities, prioritizing, time management