Steps to Creating Sanctuary
Step Five - Planning
On Monday, I posted four steps to help women begin to create sanctuary in their home, and this fifth step is actually the one where a woman puts some feet to the fourth step: setting a plan and prioritizing those habits and routines.
If habits (refreshing your spirit) and routines are not given a value (organized priority-wise) and if they are not scheduled in they won't become part of habit and routine that are needed to create sanctuary in the home.
If I didn't plan to make a plan (by setting the time aside - even daily - to evaluate and calendar) then I'd probably be victim to everyone else's plan. Because, I tend to be random, spontaneous and can easily fly by the seat of my pants, I've learned that I am far more productive and on-purpose with a plan - for the day, for the week and for the times and seasons to come.
Good planning starts with thinking about the end and back tracking to the present.
What helps me plan for today, is keeping in mind my Big Picture - personal mission statement. It forces me to ask questions about the interruptions (that always come) in my day. I ask questions like: is this a God-interruption with an eternal value or is it an interruption of the "people-pleasing" kind? Will this interruption serve an eternal purpose and if so, is it a TP (top priority) for this moment or can it wait? Will this interruption interrupt my TP of husband (caring for his needs, seeing that he's respected, and made to feel like my TP)?
When I plan my today and my tomorrow, I keep in the forefront of my thinking my personal mission statement. I become prioritized and have confidence that I'm on-purpose because of that mission statement. There are certain TP's that fill the spots of my day and time over other possibilities. I want to lay my head on my pillow at night knowing that I was on-purpose.
Crystal is absolutely right when she says that a plan is to be a guideline, not a slave master. Doesn't it always happen - the unexpected. Sick kids (Crystal shared her recent moment with sick ones), change in plans, computer glitches, car's breakdown and so forth. So, if something comes into my day, that I'd not planned on, I can evaluate it if it's a YES or a NO based on how it lines up with my ultimate Life Mission (statement).
What are my TP's? I'll pass that along in Creating Sanctuary - Step Six - Priorities. :-)
Morning Routine . . .
Beds made, dressed and looking cute :-
Breakfast - Oatmeal
What have I refreshed my soul with today?
Psalm 25: 14
What will I serve for dinner?
My mom's Potato Soup
What else will I do?
Go for a walk. 1.3 miles
Finish the Mentoring Women's Web site and upload it today. Any prayer would be great!
Mail orders for hard copies of PPMM.
Do some other office paper work. And.....quiet my soul to greet my husband with a kiss when he walks in the door after doing battle outside the four walls of our sanctuary.
Got a comment? Question? Post it.
