She watches over the affairs of her
household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Proverbs 31:27
Lord, I thank You for the wisdom
You give me each day to watch over the affairs of my household. Give me energy
to accomplish my work and to keep our home organized and running smoothly. Help
me to be a good time manager and to stay centered on Your purposes. I need to
get my tasks done, but I also want to nurture and cherish my relationships.
Empower me, Lord. Help our home to be a place of order, peace and enjoyment.
Amen.
(from Prayers with Purpose for Women by Jackie M. Johnson)
I’ve gone through this
prayer book—from beginning to end—several times since I bought it 5-ish years ago. There are many, MANY prayers that speak
to me. About me. That I need to read over. And over. (This could be one I need
to read every day. Truth.) This morning, as I read this, I thought of TLC. I’ve
thought of her before—when reading this prayer. Also as I’ve read others—as
they seem to apply more to her age, time and place in this World—at this point
in her life.
TLC EXCELS at watching “over the affairs” of her household. Trust me. She’s extremely organized. Refers daily to herself as someone suffering from OCD when it comes to cleaning and keeping her home in order. Frankly, when I’m there, she wears me out! (I wish she'd influence me more and make me better at all of the things I should do at my casa!) I wasn’t much like her when I was her age.
First, I had one child.
Not two. Yes, I had three stepsons who lived with us during their junior high and high school years. (My Sweet
Husband’s—MSH—youngest son—of his four—only actually lived with us once for
less than six months.) The Guys were mostly gone during the week. School.
Sports. Work. I always had food for them to eat when they came home—but it was
futile to try to cook for them. On Sundays, I often prepared a nice meal for
all us—or MSH grilled a meal we could eat all together. Sometimes it
happened. Sometimes it was only the three of us: me, TLC and MSH. I cared nothing
about cooking. Washing dishes. Even grocery shopping. I performed all of these tasks. As needed and with a bored, unfulfilled heart. TLC is the Queen of All of Those Things!
Housekeeping? It was
hit-and-miss for moi when TLC was growing up. Again, having teenaged boys
around—and then TLC during her junior high and high school years—wasn’t always
conducive to a spotless home. I chose, early on, to pick my battles about their
rooms. Their help with chores. When I had my Bridge Club over—or a baby or
wedding shower—or a PTA meeting—I worked my fingers to the bone cleaning. Every
inch of our home—minus the boys’ rooms—would be spotless. (Those doors were shut!) That meant our home
was super clean about six to eight times a year. Winky. Wink. In between? Whatever. I made beds. I cleaned potties.
I kept up with laundry and vacuumed fairly regularly. I was mucho happier doing
other FUN things: errands around town; going to the park with
TLC; visiting with friends; attending meetings; having lunch out with My Peeps
and/or TLC and Her Peeps. I
confess to Y’all I was mostly happier out-and-about. Don’t get me wrong: I
was proud of our home and enjoyed being there. I needed, however, to flit. A
lot. It was MY OCD.
Clearly, this prayer makes me
think of TLC because she adores being a homemaker, wife and Mom. She
treasures a clean house and a lovely, healthy dinner meal. She needs her fridge and
cabinets to be organized and pretty. She craves “SMOOTH.”
Although I cherish these
qualities about my daughter, I find myself periodically telling her to STOP and SMELL the ROSES.
Let some cleaning go. Have Her Hubby get some takeout for them and give Little
Leighton (LL) a simple (frozen) gluten-free lunch and/or dinner. (LL’s quite easy to
please.)
In her defense, TLC is
trying to get more laid-back. It goes against her genes (from MSH). Against her
nature and personality. But she’s trying. That’s all any of us can ever do,
right?
Gotta scoot—gotta go hang
up some laundry and fold some towels! (I’m ready for jammies and the mindless
stuff on TV! Unfortunately for me, MSH needs clean underwear. Ha.)
Have a Terrific Thursday and Fabulous
Friday, Dearest Friends…
Smooch!
