One of the best time management techniques that we have discovered is to take a break on Sundays. Often when considering time management, we sometimes forget that the best thing we can do to manage our time well is to take a break.
When God created the world, He took a break after six days. Was this because He was tired? We know that God never slumbers or sleeps or even gets tired so the reason that he rested was to set the example for us. God has already prescribed the perfect time managment schedule for us by His example--work six days, then rest on the seventh.
When we first married, we agreed that Sunday would always be given to worship, rest and time with our family. Over the years, we have tried to define exactly what that means for us. Especially as we began to have children, we started to realize that what others did on Sunday might not work for us as a day of rest so we started making our own standards to live by. For example, the traditional large Sunday lunch did not work for us because on Saturday evenings when all our children were small, I did not have time or energy to finish the evening by preparing a large lunch for the next day. We began having our easiest meals for Sunday lunch and then we began making it tradition to have a "breakfast meal" in the evening after church.
Yesterday as I was enjoying a day of rest, I recalled one way that God taught me about taking a day of rest. Several years ago, I was working very full weeks of taking care of little ones, homeschooling and travelling. One Saturday evening, I was preparing for Sunday and was definitely ready to go to bed. The baby had been waking up every night and I was very tired. Everything was fairly complete for Sunday, and as I walked toward my bedroom, I passed the dishwasher and noticed that I had not unloaded the clean dishes. Now I know that some people are going to throw mudpies of legalism at me, but as I noticed that dishwasher, it came to my mind that I could unload that dishwasher on Saturday night instead of Sunday morning and in this small way show God that I wanted to honor His day in just another way. I really wanted to just go to bed, but I finally decided to go ahead and unload it. When I went to bed, I just told the Lord how tired I was and let it go at that. That night was the first night that our baby slept the whole night through! If I remember right, that was the beginning of his sleeping through the night. I felt that God was showing us that if we choose to honor Him, he will honor us.
How does all this relate to time management? God prescribed a day of rest because as the Great Physician, He knew that our bodies needed it. One of the most relaxing things of my week is to go to bed on Saturday night and know that now I can rest because God told me to. I don't have to feel guilty about sitting down or choosing to take a nap because God has already ordered me to do it!
Next time you are tempted to redeem the time by adding on a list of household chores or business for Sunday, relax--take a break! As my husband says in one of his seminars, "What does God want me to do RIGHT NOW?" (How many people still have one of those bright yellow stickers?!) He wants you to rest. He wants you to calm down. He wants you to redeem the time--so go take a break (next Sunday--not right now)!
Here's a thought provoking radio minute from Rick on the topic
Monday, October 19, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Time Saving Tortilla Lasagna for supper
If you are trying to redeem the time and feed a large crowd, you may want to try out this recipe that our family came up with this week. Using a basic recipe I already had, we experimented a little and came up with a hit that everyone liked. That's pretty hard to do with twelve of us! Actually, baby Paul didn't get to taste it, but eleven of us voted for it to be served again. It's a one pot meal and fairly quick to make. Let me know what you think!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
At your funeral...
My husband did a radio program on, "Who will be crying at your funeral?" The idea is that there may be a lot of people at your funeral, but only a few of them will be crying. Our priority in life should be to invest our time in those who will be crying at our funeral.
Just this week, we lost an acquaintance to a debilitating disease. Both my husband and I had admired this man for his many great character qualities, but one thing he was remembered best for was his diligence in witnessing to every one that crossed his path. Those who knew him best knew that he rarely let an opportunity pass to tell others about Jesus and what He had done in his own life.
As I have reflected on what people remember most about this man, I have been reminded to invest my life in those who will be crying, but to also make sure that the things they will be saying reflect a life well spent. As those who are crying at my funeral summarize my life, will the things they say reflect a depth of spiritual life and character or will I have been just a good person? A wife or mother can be remembered for doing lots of loving and sacrificial things for her family, but in order to really succeed, she must have lived a life that was consumed in focusing others on eternity.
Who will be crying at your funeral and what will they be saying? Will their statements reflect a life of temporary good or of eternal significance?
Just this week, we lost an acquaintance to a debilitating disease. Both my husband and I had admired this man for his many great character qualities, but one thing he was remembered best for was his diligence in witnessing to every one that crossed his path. Those who knew him best knew that he rarely let an opportunity pass to tell others about Jesus and what He had done in his own life.
As I have reflected on what people remember most about this man, I have been reminded to invest my life in those who will be crying, but to also make sure that the things they will be saying reflect a life well spent. As those who are crying at my funeral summarize my life, will the things they say reflect a depth of spiritual life and character or will I have been just a good person? A wife or mother can be remembered for doing lots of loving and sacrificial things for her family, but in order to really succeed, she must have lived a life that was consumed in focusing others on eternity.
Who will be crying at your funeral and what will they be saying? Will their statements reflect a life of temporary good or of eternal significance?
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Thank the Lord for a Great Trip
We're finally rested up and fairly recovered from our four months in Europe and Africa. We visited thirty countries and ministered in twenty one of those countries with the seminars translated into thirteen languages. I must say that it was nice to get back and hear a little English for a change!
This morning I posted a country by country review and slide show of our ministry there. God worked in marvelous ways His wonders to perform!
This morning I posted a country by country review and slide show of our ministry there. God worked in marvelous ways His wonders to perform!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
God Pays for What He Orders
For many years as we have travelled and spoken in churches, we have told people that, "God pays for what He orders," when people ask us how we afford ten children. It has been one of the biggest blessings of my life to see God pay for all the children that He has ordered for us. One example happened just this week...
One of the ways that I try to manage money carefully is by buying in bulk when I find food items on sale. Obviously, what our family considers bulk is different from most families because for us, a weekly trip to the grocery store would still be a huge amount of food to purchase. A family of our size consumes a large amount of food--especially when you consider that six of our ten children are growing young men!
Because we emptied our freezers before we left for Europe, we came back having to buy food at the going price rather than having a stockpile of food we had gotten at good sales. We buy so many groceries that this quickly makes a big difference in the food budget.
Earlier this week, we travelled to Rick's mother to visit her and while we were there, I picked up a sale flyer from her local grocery store to look for any good deals. I noticed that they had chicken breasts there for .99 a pound, and I intended to go by and get some to freeze, but we left without doing so. The next day, on a whim, I decided to shop at a totally different Walmart than usual. One of the things I like about Walmart is their price matching guarantee, so to save time, I just take the local grocery store papers in there and match the prices. I knew it was a stretch, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to see if this Walmart would match the sale prices from a competitor in Rick's mother's town even though the other store was not anywhere nearby.
I got to the meat counter and showed the lady there the ad and asked if they would match it. She said that she didn't think so because it was not really a competitor being so far away, but that she would ask the manager. To make a long story short, after a while she came back out and said that they would match the price on those chicken breasts, plus they would give me what I considered a much better grade of chicken for the same money. I took all they had and she got me more from the back of the store!
Before I left the meat department, I decided to just check on the ground beef prices and nothing seemed to be unusual. Usually I buy ground beef at a big discount and then I don't have to buy it again for a long time, but I always wait until it's a super deal. Just as I was walking away, I noticed a little sign that had fallen down into the bin of ground beef. It was a special sale sign, and I quickly started filling my cart and then called my mother and got more for her.
I knew the real test would come when I got to the cashier as she might balk when she saw the awesome deals I got on such a huge amount of food. At this point, it looked like I was running a restaurant by the amount of meat in my cart! When I got to the cashier, I showed her the sale paper and told her the manager had approved selling these chicken breasts for .99 versus the normal price which was a whole lot higher. She called the front manager and they started overriding the price on all these packages of chicken. After a few packages had gone through, the manager stopped and looked at me and said, "what was the original price on this chicken?" I replied that I wasn't sure, so she told the cashier to scan one and see. I figured that this was where the great deal was going to end, but I was hoping that this was how God was going to pay for His children! The cashier scanned the price and the manager saw that I was getting each package of chicken for about $3.50 less than the normal price. She said, "Hey, you really got a great deal on that chicken!" She helped me bag up all the chicken plus the huge amount of ground beef and I went happily on my way!
I was so encouraged to see how God always pays for his orders and it is so fun to see how He is going to do it! One more thing...I don't know if God is paying for the cashier's children, too, but I noticed she kept my sale paper. I am just guessing that on break time, both she and the manager were back there in the meat department loading up on chicken!
Now since this blog is supposed to be about time management, you can find out a great timesaving way to prepare ground beef ahead of time. No, it's not frying it all ahead of time. It's a much healthier and quicker way to prepare large quantities of meat for meals in the future. If you are interested, check out this tip on our website http://www.lifechangingseminars.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3192&Itemid=315
One of the ways that I try to manage money carefully is by buying in bulk when I find food items on sale. Obviously, what our family considers bulk is different from most families because for us, a weekly trip to the grocery store would still be a huge amount of food to purchase. A family of our size consumes a large amount of food--especially when you consider that six of our ten children are growing young men!
Because we emptied our freezers before we left for Europe, we came back having to buy food at the going price rather than having a stockpile of food we had gotten at good sales. We buy so many groceries that this quickly makes a big difference in the food budget.
Earlier this week, we travelled to Rick's mother to visit her and while we were there, I picked up a sale flyer from her local grocery store to look for any good deals. I noticed that they had chicken breasts there for .99 a pound, and I intended to go by and get some to freeze, but we left without doing so. The next day, on a whim, I decided to shop at a totally different Walmart than usual. One of the things I like about Walmart is their price matching guarantee, so to save time, I just take the local grocery store papers in there and match the prices. I knew it was a stretch, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to see if this Walmart would match the sale prices from a competitor in Rick's mother's town even though the other store was not anywhere nearby.
I got to the meat counter and showed the lady there the ad and asked if they would match it. She said that she didn't think so because it was not really a competitor being so far away, but that she would ask the manager. To make a long story short, after a while she came back out and said that they would match the price on those chicken breasts, plus they would give me what I considered a much better grade of chicken for the same money. I took all they had and she got me more from the back of the store!
Before I left the meat department, I decided to just check on the ground beef prices and nothing seemed to be unusual. Usually I buy ground beef at a big discount and then I don't have to buy it again for a long time, but I always wait until it's a super deal. Just as I was walking away, I noticed a little sign that had fallen down into the bin of ground beef. It was a special sale sign, and I quickly started filling my cart and then called my mother and got more for her.
I knew the real test would come when I got to the cashier as she might balk when she saw the awesome deals I got on such a huge amount of food. At this point, it looked like I was running a restaurant by the amount of meat in my cart! When I got to the cashier, I showed her the sale paper and told her the manager had approved selling these chicken breasts for .99 versus the normal price which was a whole lot higher. She called the front manager and they started overriding the price on all these packages of chicken. After a few packages had gone through, the manager stopped and looked at me and said, "what was the original price on this chicken?" I replied that I wasn't sure, so she told the cashier to scan one and see. I figured that this was where the great deal was going to end, but I was hoping that this was how God was going to pay for His children! The cashier scanned the price and the manager saw that I was getting each package of chicken for about $3.50 less than the normal price. She said, "Hey, you really got a great deal on that chicken!" She helped me bag up all the chicken plus the huge amount of ground beef and I went happily on my way!
I was so encouraged to see how God always pays for his orders and it is so fun to see how He is going to do it! One more thing...I don't know if God is paying for the cashier's children, too, but I noticed she kept my sale paper. I am just guessing that on break time, both she and the manager were back there in the meat department loading up on chicken!
Now since this blog is supposed to be about time management, you can find out a great timesaving way to prepare ground beef ahead of time. No, it's not frying it all ahead of time. It's a much healthier and quicker way to prepare large quantities of meat for meals in the future. If you are interested, check out this tip on our website http://www.lifechangingseminars.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3192&Itemid=315
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Thank the Lord for Clean Water
And now an advertisement...
When we were preparing to go on this trip, one consideration for me was where I was going to get good water in all the countries we were going to. Since there are so many of us in our family, buying bottled water everywhere we go for four months would be very expensive, not counting the times and places where good water might not be available. We purchased a pump water filter for the family, but this takes time to set up so it was not the best solution for having good water all the time.
Our plan, which actually worked very well ,was to pump several gallons of water at a time so that we did not run out. However, I drink water almost continually and I very, very rarely drink any carbonated drinks. Because I am still nursing our baby, I did not want any situation where I would be without good water. I also didn't want to change water every few days.
I found what worked perfectly for our situation, and I thought that there might be other missionaries or short term trip takers that might like to know about my water bottle. The water bottle that I took for these last four months through thirty countries including several third world countries and Africa, is a bottle that has a special filter built into it. You can buy bottles with filters to improve taste and to moderately reduce chlorine, etc., but this is not what this filter is. It says on the side of the bottle, "Serious Protection," and that is what it is.
Basically, you can take any water source whether it is coming from a kitchen tap in Moldova or a river in Morocco and the filter will bring the water up to the World Health Organization's water safety standards. It is an instant filtration system as the suction of drinking forces the water through the filter. This bottle was invaluable for me as I could just walk into any place and fill it up while the others had to either stop and pump or try to find quality bottled water. Not only that, but it gave me a continual source of water that remained the same for four months.
The bottle is very durable as it has been dropped numerous times on our trip. The only disadvantages that I found was that it is just a little bulky without having a handle. Another small annoyance is that it stresses airport and other security officers a little bit when I carry it through. It is a semi transparent bottle and the filter contraption inside makes it look as if I might be carrying some highly explosive water bottle. I never was stopped in security, but it did attract a few extra stares.
If you are going on a short term trip overseas or if you are going long-term, you may want to go to Walmart.com and check it out. It's called the Sawyer serious protection water bottle. Although buying the bottle is between thirty to fourty dollars up front, it's good for 500 fill ups and since it's a large bottle to start with, it's a good deal all the way around. That's my advertisement for today. Here's the link to see the specs... http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8283710. Let me know if you try it out and if you like it!
When we were preparing to go on this trip, one consideration for me was where I was going to get good water in all the countries we were going to. Since there are so many of us in our family, buying bottled water everywhere we go for four months would be very expensive, not counting the times and places where good water might not be available. We purchased a pump water filter for the family, but this takes time to set up so it was not the best solution for having good water all the time.
Our plan, which actually worked very well ,was to pump several gallons of water at a time so that we did not run out. However, I drink water almost continually and I very, very rarely drink any carbonated drinks. Because I am still nursing our baby, I did not want any situation where I would be without good water. I also didn't want to change water every few days.
I found what worked perfectly for our situation, and I thought that there might be other missionaries or short term trip takers that might like to know about my water bottle. The water bottle that I took for these last four months through thirty countries including several third world countries and Africa, is a bottle that has a special filter built into it. You can buy bottles with filters to improve taste and to moderately reduce chlorine, etc., but this is not what this filter is. It says on the side of the bottle, "Serious Protection," and that is what it is.
Basically, you can take any water source whether it is coming from a kitchen tap in Moldova or a river in Morocco and the filter will bring the water up to the World Health Organization's water safety standards. It is an instant filtration system as the suction of drinking forces the water through the filter. This bottle was invaluable for me as I could just walk into any place and fill it up while the others had to either stop and pump or try to find quality bottled water. Not only that, but it gave me a continual source of water that remained the same for four months.
The bottle is very durable as it has been dropped numerous times on our trip. The only disadvantages that I found was that it is just a little bulky without having a handle. Another small annoyance is that it stresses airport and other security officers a little bit when I carry it through. It is a semi transparent bottle and the filter contraption inside makes it look as if I might be carrying some highly explosive water bottle. I never was stopped in security, but it did attract a few extra stares.
If you are going on a short term trip overseas or if you are going long-term, you may want to go to Walmart.com and check it out. It's called the Sawyer serious protection water bottle. Although buying the bottle is between thirty to fourty dollars up front, it's good for 500 fill ups and since it's a large bottle to start with, it's a good deal all the way around. That's my advertisement for today. Here's the link to see the specs... http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8283710. Let me know if you try it out and if you like it!
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