Intent...

It's quiet here at home.
A rare moment of me being alone in a particular room.
Mal is "freshening up" after her daily walk.
MaKayla is away tutoring.
Kyle is gone to work. :(

The sun shines brightly through the windows.
Bath water runs.
Laundry is in process.
School is complete for the day.
A text comes in saying MaKayla made is safely to her destination.
David Nevue softly plays on the CD player.

Today has been a productive day.
I am learning...

Even being a full-time homemaker, I can find myself wasteful of time. Lacking in determination. Falling short of completing tasks. Unfocused. Jumping from one thing to another. Unproductive.

At the first of the year I made a list of certain things in my life that I wanted to work on. This was one of them.

For myself, there is nothing more discouraging or frustrating to me than when I come to the end of the day and I have several things started, but very few finished. When I reflect on the hours that God has given me and I can pinpoint minutes-upon-minutes that I have wasted and not only the minutes-upon-minutes but I know what I have wasted those minutes upon. When I look back on the wastefulness of my time and realize what I could have gotten accomplished. When I can see the things that should have gotten done. In short, I look back on the day and I have regrets... I see that I fell short... I realize that I have been an unfaithful steward...

I find that the days that I am most productive... the most focused... the most fruitful... are the days that I have started with intent.

intent - fixed with strained or earnest attention, as the gaze or mind;
having the mind, gaze, or thoughts fixed on some object
or with some purpose in view

Days that I have started:
*with exercise
*with prayer
*with praise
*in the Word
*with God as my hub
*with God as my helm
*with a list of tasks that God has entrusted to me
*putting others first and myself last
*being diligently mindful of what the day "looks like"

I am also recognizing & discerning the things that I allow to steal my time...
*computer time - all encompassing (e-mail, facebook, news, blogs, ect)
*piddling
*jumping from one task to another without completion
*current jigsaw puzzles on the coffee table :{
*phone (cell or otherwise)

I keep in mind that each day is going to be different.
Divine interruptions happen.
Down time is refreshing (in moderation).
Communication with the outside world is imminent.

I remind myself often that my day belongs to God and not to myself.
Therefore I am open to whatever direction He chooses to take my day.
At the same time, I am becoming more diligent & determined to stay on task with the duties & responsibilities that He has entrusted to me unless He otherwise reveals something different I should be doing. In being diligent, I am teaching MaKayla & Mal what it looks like to be a homemaker. In being diligent, Kyle comes home to a sane wife & a half-way organized, clean & orderly home. In being diligent, the Lord is glorified through the work of my hands & the determinedness of my heart, mind & spirit. In being diligent, I can end my day feeling like I have been a good steward of the time & resources that God has graciously blessed me with.

I am realizing the richness of focus.
I am finding the fruit of determination.
I am learning the satisfaction of diligence.

It's a day-by-day process but, little-by-little, I am arriving.

The diligent find freedom in their work;

the lazy are oppressed by work.
Proverbs 12:24
(The Message Bible)