Time Management: What's Your P.L.A.N.?--Intro

I recently spoke to a group of homeschooling moms about time management and thought I'd share here what I shared with them. I hope this blesses and encourages you.
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Being a homeschool mom is no easy task. As a homeschool mom, you wear numerous hats and have lots to accomplish in a day. And no matter how much we wish it were different, we all have only 24 hours in our day. But we can learn to make the most of those 24 hours. And by learning how to effectively manage out time, we can bless our families and make an impact on our own lives, in our family's lives and ultimately on the world!

By way of introduction, I'm a homeschooling mom of 4 children--2 teens boys, 1 preteen boy and a toddler princess. We have always homeschooled and are active in numerous extracurricular activities. We are involved in competitive sports, competitive speech, music, and church. We have a very rigorous academic standard. We have a busy toddler. And on top of all that, I can't stand clutter. It is a huge distraction for me! And keeps me from really concentrating on the things that matter most in life.

So in order to manage all that I have to do in a day, I've had to learn over the years to have a plan. And throughout the course of these posts, I hope to share my P.L.A.N. with you.

So let's get started....

One of my favorite radio personalities is Dave Ramsey. He is a personal money management expert, who talks to literally millions of people on a daily basis about personal finances. I like how he shoots straight and tells it like it is. One of the very first things he counsels for those who want to manage money wisely is the need for setting up a budget. He says if you want to lose weight, then you need to track calories. If you want to want to manage your finances, then you need to come up with a written game plan. Likewise, I say if we want to make the most of our time we need to have a plan.

Over the next few posts, I hope to share 4 steps to developing a P.L.A.N. for managing time.

1. Purpose--What is our purpose for managing our time?
2. Logistics--What are all the things that a typical homeschool mom needs to accomplish in a day?
3. Application--How can we find a workable solution to fit everything in?
and
4. Negotiate--changing our plan as the seasons of our lives and life circumstances dictate.

That's it in a nutshell and if you stop reading I hope you'll at least consider these few points. But if you decide to stay and read a few more posts, then I'll go into a bit more detail on how to walk through each of these steps. And hopefully, we'll all be encouraged in the end.

Lessons from the Houston Warm-Up

We went to our first speech qualifier this past weekend. It was great. As always, lots of lessons learned. Here are just a few....

1. Speech is subjective. You never know what people will like or dislike. Interestingly, what I really thought may be offensive, was not. In fact the only comments about that element were very positive. OTOH, what I thought was obvious turned out to be the weakest element of the boys' DUO speech. So there you have it...don't assume anything.

2. I learned something about graciousness. In one of the limited prep events that I was judging, the timer did not give adequate hand signals. The competitor was very gracious and gently instructed the timer in front of the judges. This allowed us (the judges) to know that there was a reason why she went over time. And at the same time, she was able to instruct the timer for the next round.

3. Don't add or subtract anything from your topic without stating in your thesis why you are doing so.

4. For apologetics, we are on the right track! Just need some polishing!! Content is good, just need to relax and keep at it.

5. Finally, enjoy the process. I had a lot of fun just meeting people at this tournament and there was a lot of peace about the results. BTW, the boys (Z and J) went to semi-finals in DUO and JJ got 2nd place in his Oratory. It was fun reading the ballots! The things that need to be fixed can be fixed with a little work. We got some great feedback.

My favorite comment from Z's ballots was: "If I was not a believer, you would have given me something real strong to think about."

Favorite comment from J's ballots: "You have real public speaking talent!" --from a Professor of Speech Communication

Favorite comment from JJ's ballots: "Very interesting! I didn't know all that about the moon!"

I'm so very grateful for this opportunity to develop these skills in the boys. They are improving by leaps and bounds!!

New Year 2009

Here it is New Year's Eve. 2008 is almost over and 2009 is about to begin.

2008 was an interesting year.

Here are some highlights.

1. Todd and I celebrated 17 years of marriage. I am so very blessed to have my best friend as my husband. He is the BEST! And my love and respect for him continue to grow as the years go by. Every year I think--"How could I love him any more than I already do?" And every year, I love him all the more!

2. Z. played baseball for HSAA. He had a great season and will be playing again this coming Spring. I love baseball and can't wait for the games to begin. He has been growing in the Lord and in character. He excels in school. And is getting more and more proficient in speechifying!

3. J. turned 13. He also is doing well in his studies. He played HSAA football this past fall and had a blast. He is a natural in speech and was blessed to perform at the Lone Star Storytelling Festival. I can't wait to see how the Lord uses him for His own glory.

4. JJ is doing very well with violin. He is my sensitive and sweet child--always considering others. He still wants to be an astronaut. I'm still not sure I'm up for the adventure. But the Lord knows.

5. K. turned 2 and continues to bless us all. She brings much laughter and sweetness to our family. And she's all girl! Pink, lace and frills. She already learning how to be a hostess. At our ladies' tea I overheard her telling the guests as they were leaving, "Bye. Thank you for coming!" It was so cute!

6. We went to Disney this year with our extended family. We had fun with the family. But had some trouble with the hotel and we lost our camcorder on the trip home. So it was a hard trip. We hope to return soon to have a better experience. K. wants to see "Cinderelli."

7. I have been blessed to teach apologetics to the kids in our speech club. I have grown so much myself as I've studied. And I look forward to continued growth as I study more this year.

8. In November, we decided to look for a local home church. We were travelling too far and it was hard to maintain relationships. So we are in the process of looking for a church now. I think we have found one. But we want to go through the member's class first.

I can't wait to see what 2009 brings. I pray that we all grow closer to the Lord in 2009. May He alone be glorified in everything we think, say, do and feel!

Fairness and the Sovereignty of God

Many times we look at our circumstances and from our perspective things seem unfair.

But when we take a step back we can see that God is trying to teach us a bigger lesson.

This past weekend at the speech tournament I was in the TAB room. Let me tell you first off that those ladies back there are AMAZING! You have no idea how many things they are juggling to get everyone to the right place, to be fair and above reproach and to keep things running as close to time as possible.

I had the privilege of filing ballots so I knew how my children were doing after each round and who would be in his room each time.

Z did very well (even amongst top competitors) in the first round. But 2 things happened in the second round to off set those initial good rankings...

1. He was placed in the exact same room with the same competitors (only one new competitor) and
2. The judges asked the students to choose their topic at the judges table before going to their card box.

This 2nd thing threw Z off. And when he couldn't find the card he had chosen in his box, he had a choice
1. To give up
2. To make an appeal.

2 years ago, he would have given up. But this time, he made an appeal to the judges. They accepted it and he was able to continue. He didn't do as well in that round. BUT....I can tell you that I am more proud of him for making that appeal than any award that he could have won.

On Sunday morning I was reading through his ballots and was so blessed. When we started 2 years ago, every one of his ballots said "More eye contact" or "Don't read your card". This time everyone of his ballots said "Great eye contact" and "Confident and sincere."

What a long way we've come since the beginning.

So why the title Fairness and the Sovereignty of God? Because looking at the situation in the natural, I could focus on how things might seem unfair, but in the bigger picture and in the Sovereignty of God we learned a more valuable lesson!

I pray that the next time we are tempted to complain about fairness in any aspect of life that we will take a step back and remember that God is in control and look for the bigger lesson he has for us.

2 Natures

I thought this was a neat poem. And aptly describes the war within us. The war between flesh and sprit.

TWO NATURES WITHIN MY BREAST.
ONE IS CURSED, THE OTHER ONE BLESSED.
ONE I LOVE AND ONE I HATE.
THE ONE I FEED WILL DOMINATE!

May the spirit dominate today!

Happy?

One of the most precious things that I love about my dear sweet K is how she always wants everyone to be "happy".

This morning, JJ was spinning her in an office chair. When he stopped, she was dizzy and fell off the chair and bumped her head. We were all very sad. But JJ was especially sad that he had a part in her getting hurt. He is my sensitive child and would never hurt a flea.

But when K realized that JJ was sad, she wanted him to be happy. So she said, "JJ happy?"

It made me cry to think that even in her own hurt, she was concerned about others and their happiness. She truly is a blessing!

Aunt Shirley

My husband's aunt died last weekend. The memorial service was last Saturday. This is my favorite picture of her because it captures her personality.

Here are some of my thoughts from the weekend.

It is a great comfort to Christians to know that a loved one is with the Lord. Most of my extended family is not walking with the Lord and I do not have that comfort for them. I pray the Lord will touch them and open their eyes.

I was also just blessed by my family. All of my boys participated in some way. And they blessed many. It is such a blessing to see them grow!

I was also just blessed by my in-laws. It is amazing the sacrifices they made for Aunt Shirley. I pray the Lord will richly bless them for all that they did for her. I'm sure there will be plenty of jewels in their crowns.

Finally, I just kept thinking about how we wait to say what we really think until it's many times too late. I hope to do better. But only by the Lord's strength. I'm not good with words even though I FEEL very deeply.