At the Well - A God Honoring Schedule

Sunny from A Damsel No Longer in Distress. will be our hostess today for At the Well. The discussion today will center around schedules:

Preparing a God Honoring Schedule... with No Regrets.

Some questions to consider are:
1. Have you ever planned your day, week or month, then regretted making the commitments you’ve made, wondering if your plan was the right one?

2. Have you ever wondered if you should’ve said “yes” to one person and “no” to another and just weren’t sure what the best thing to do was?

3. Who or what does your schedule represent? Does it represent you, your affinities, or your love for Christ?

This should be a very interesting topic. In my home and life, I love order. Schedules work well for me and I can plan and fill to the brim activities for the day, week or month in a heartbeat. But in my gusto to be efficient and pleasing to everyone, I have said "yes" a bit too quickly, added this event to my calendar and when the time came, regretted this. Many times I feel the need to be a support or help to many good causes. If the children are involved in a group or a sport, I would attend the first meeting to show support, end up volunteering for a position and then realize the family time and other things I would need to give up to fulfill this position and experience regret and the realization that I did not seek the Lord's direction in this and this was not what I needed to be doing.

Since by nature I am a people pleaser and have difficulty saying "no", I could make myself dizzy questioning whether I did the right thing. But there is one secret I learned... you cannot make everyone happy, so the best thing is to try to make happy those most important to you - family.

Several years ago I read several books by Elizabeth George which made a huge difference in the way I schedule and prioritize. Some of the suggestions I try to live by are to set and live by priorities. A sample list is:

God
Husband
Children
Family
Home
Church
Others

If when making a scheduling decision and "an others" priority - maybe a shopping trip with a girlfriend would be at the same time as a chance to spend time alone with "husband", the higher priority rules.

In scheduling the things that are most beneficial to me are not rigid schedules, but "routines". Routines are the act of doing the same things at the same times and they eventually become a part of the daily routine. They are not set in stone, but will get completed in a more relaxed manner. Women are encouraged not to be idle, and I have found ways to incorporate into my routine ways to get things done all through the day by simply staying busy. While talking on the phone, you can wash the dishes, fold the laundry etc. Through the day, I always try to be doing something because when evening comes, my family likes me to stop and be with them.

The most important part of scheduling should be prayer. Seek the Lord and His direction. There is nothing too small to ask Him. "Should I be involved in ??", "What part should I play in this ??", "What should I do today that will glorify You?" Plan your day in prayer, bringing the things before the Lord and asking His blessings and order for the day. And above all; don't make any decision without prayer! Ask for time to think and pray about it. If we continually seek God and His ways, He will guide us in everything and our schedule and lifestyle will truly represent Him.