The Journey 1/9/12

Proverbs 31 Verse to work on: Proverbs 31:13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. (Inspired Version)

My original Proverbs 31 challenge for this verse has too much meat to it. My Proverbs 31 challenge: Go through the clothing, towels and bedding of my family and sort and organize what we have, make a list of what we need and come up with a plan to obtain it. There’s a lot of “to do’s” in there and it’s overwhelming. To keep the tasks manageable I’ve broken what I want to accomplish throughout the days of this week. This schedule works well for my family because of our size, certainly, if you have a different size family alter the schedule to work for you.

Monday: You know that pile of clothes you keep meaning to put in Rubbermaid in the corner of your basement, or sitting on your kid’s dresser? Spend 20-30 minutes going through that. Now I’m sure if you look hard enough you probably have a Rubbermaid storage container to put next size up clothes in but if you don’t then now’s a great time to buy them. January is organization month for retailers and storage containers are often on sale this time of year. Note…if you are not planning on having another baby in the next few years (ie. 1-3) donate those baby clothes! People love babies and will buy you new ones if you become blessed that way.

Tuesday: Go through Child #1’s room, seek out their clothes and check them for size, fit, stains and rips. Keep, toss, rotate or donate as needed. Make a list of what items are needed and the size. Now is also a good time to think ahead to next year (we’re getting ahead of ourselves in verses too), stores are soon putting their winter items on clearance and markdown to make room for the spring line. I won’t buy pants for my oldest (he grows too fast, who knows what size his legs will be next year!) but I’m fairly comfortable saying I’ll be good to buy 10/12 shirts for him and 7/8 items for his brother.

Wednesday: Go through Child #2’s room, follow same procedure as above.

Thursday: Go though husband and my clothes, follow same procedure as above. Last year I flipped all of my clothes on their hangers so that the hangers faced the “wrong way”, my first order of business will be to donate anything still hanging the “wrong way” as I obviously haven’t worn it in a year. Once I cull my closet, I’ll flip my hangers again for this year. I love Real Simple and they have a great .pdf of what items should make up a basic wardrobe. Check it out to see if you’re all set for the upcoming year.

Friday: Linens and Bedding Day! Check your bedding; do you have enough sheet sets for everyone? A good rule of thumb is 2 sets per person, unless you have a baby-then you need as many fitted crib sheets as you can find! Now check towels, hand towels, wash cloths and pot holders. We never have enough pot holders so I know this is something I’ll be adding to my list!

Accomplishments for the day: I cleaned out the basement area where I’ve stacked outgrown clothes and re-sorted everything into sized containers. I need to make 3 labels for them but I found clothes that will fit both of my son’s and have added to their wardrobes. I also stopped by the Good Will today and picked up a pair of shoes for my oldest. I still need to tackle the pile of clothes on their dresser (which are summer clothes that I pulled out from our trip to Florida at Christmas and have been trying to gather up from the laundry)

Personal Study Verse: Proverbs 16:3 Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established. Inspired Version

I like to look at the vocabulary of a verse. Often times I find that what I think a verse means actually is talking about something else because I didn’t understand the words. Three key words stand out to me in this verse, “works”, “thoughts” and “established”. While I think I’ve got a pretty good idea of what the verse means I still want to check it out.

Works: a : to fashion or create a useful or desired product by expending labor or exertion b : to make or decorate with needlework; a : to prepare for use by stirring or kneading b : to bring into a desired form by a gradual process of cutting, hammering, scraping, pressing, or stretching. I can safely sum it up by saying the things that I do.

Thoughts: the power to imagine

Established: to bring into existence or to prove beyond doubt

I’m not sure if I have ever read this verse before today, if I have it certainly has not had meaning for me. Today I find comfort in this verse. It puts into remembrance the song Amazing Love by Chris Tomlin and “in all I do I honor You” and one of my favorite verses Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Inspired Version.

With a nod to Mercy Me, I can only imagine what it will be like when we walk with Jesus. But He can plainly see what it will be like when we come to Him. If we do all to honor Him, then He will bring into existence those thoughts that He has imagined for us. What a wondrous thing that will be!

Love Dare: 1 Peter 5:14 says Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Inspired Version

Our love dare task today is to think about how we great our spouse. Is it with a “Hey, did you get the mail?” while we’re in another room, or grunt while we’re watching TV, do we even greet our spouses at all. While I read the Love Dare devotion I thought about that today. I compared how I greet my children to how I greet my spouse, and if I’m being honest here, and why wouldn’t I be-there’s no point in writing this if I’m not…I’ve come up lacking. I greet my youngest with wide open arms and a smile, eager to ask him about his day in Kindergarten. My oldest needs some time to transition from one environment to another unless all I want are guttural sounds from him so I’ve found that waiting a moment and inquiring in a calmer manner than my 6 year olds exchange works best. For my husband, a smile and after the children are seen to we discuss our days but…I want there to be more. After all, eleven years ago my husband made the decision to spend the rest of his days coming home to me and I want him to know how much I look forward to that time.

Accomplishments for the day: I came up with a plan for how I want to greet my husband. I’m not sharing it though, you’ll have to come up with your own for your spouse!