Finding joy in the everyday

She watches over the ways of her household (Proverbs 31:27) ****** I am not a superwoman and I don't even try to be one. I only do what I can manage and nothing more. This means some jobs are left for another day.  I only have 1,440 minutes in every day and some of that time I'm sleeping - I can only do so much.  Don't stress about the things you haven't manage to achieve today and don't try and do too much in one day. Whatever you can't manage will still be waiting to be done tomorrow. Working out what is important by prioritising your activities is a good way of organising your day. Making my husband a home-cooked healthy meal each day is far more important that dusting the house. The dust isn't going anywhere but my husband's health might! However washing the clothes on a regular basis is important otherwise we will run out of clothing. Likewise, keeping the pantry well stocked is something I need to keep on top of - not go...

I was reading an article by the Australian Institute of Family Studies on how teenagers use their time, in particular on household chores and came across this line in the conclusion “ Increasing gender equality among 15-19 year olds living with their parents was manifested in girls becoming more “ domestically useless ”, like their brothers, rather than in boys doing more. Daughters are becoming more like sons, rather than retaining an intermediate status as “useful house children ”.  The report indicates that teenage girls’ refusal to help with the housework is being driven by a feminist revolt.  They think: “ Why should I bother to do the dishes when my brother doesn’t ?” To me this should raise major concerns — what happens when these teenagers grow up, leave home and start their own families — are we going to see filthy toilets, rubbish piling up and dirty kitchens in the Gen Z households.  Will they have enough skills to run a home, care for their child...

    I was standing in the local supermarket the other day buying my groceries and I overheard a mother telling her children off . The woman sounded tired and frustrated by the antics that her children were getting up to and this resulted in her snapping at them in an exasperated voice with angry words.  We have, I am sure, all been there.  There are times when things all fall apart and we open our mouths and, words that we later regret, come out.  It may be to our child, our spouse or to someone else.  The fact is, what comes out of our mouths are not words of wisdom, far from it, nor words of kindness or gentleness.  I am very guilty of this. Yet when reading Proverbs 31:26 our words should not be rude, tense, harsh or wounding, instead they need to be edifying and helpful.  Our conversations need to be wise, gentle, pleasing, gracious: “ She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness .”   Even when life arou...

I was lying in bed this morning feeling very reluctant about getting up, I would have loved to sleep another hour — can’t do this until Saturday.  Each weekday my clock radio goes off at 5:45am (and plays me gentle classical music) and I get out of bed by 6:15 after listening to the news.   I am not an early morning person, I do not like getting up in the morning, I get no joy from it, there is no spring in my step as I “bounce” out of bed or smile on my face.  It is harder at the moment as it is dark and cold outside which is quite depressing (in summer it is much easier).  Its not that I love my bed too much, I just need a little bit more sleep.  My doctor once told me this was the most common problem in modern society.  I leave home at 7:05am so the mornings are quite a rush with showering, deciding on what to wear, blow-drying my hair, washing the dishes, feeding the cat, making the bed and general tidy up.  I try and do things in the evening...