Hey Mama Monday: Let’s Get Organized, Mama

Hey Mama,

I once heard something freeing. It sounded like this: Organization is not an end goal; it is a continual action. It is not something you attain; it is something you continue to pursue. So, for those of you who think you have to “get organized” before you can feel confident about your schooling or homemaking, organization will never be a one-time reality as it is always a work in progress.

I feel like I am the last person to tell people how to be organized, but it usually starts with de-cluttering and then moves toward organization:

• On Monday mornings, I walk around the house and make a list of things that need to be done.
• I do one or two things myself and assign at least one per child until that list is done.
• I keep a bag for donations where everyone can access it. I put at least one thing a week in it and ask the kids to do the same.

• I organize and re-evaluate the kids’ schoolwork. What have they done and what do they still need to do?
• Each child has a daily schoolwork/chore chart that they have to check off before they have any free time. (My youngest kids get breaks after every subject.)
• I teach the children about order and self-control. A little training goes a long way toward peace in the home.

I have found that doing these things wards off the depression that comes from clutter and mess and disorganization. Not only is my homeschool a work in progress, so am I. I also desperately need order in my spiritual life:

• I need that Bible study time more than that Facebook surfing. This de-clutters my mind. I must set strict limits for those other lesser things.
• I must choose to make time to really pray. This de-clutters my soul as I cast all my cares on the Lord.
• I must choose to sit at Jesus’ feet to receive the strength to get up and do the next thing.
• A little training with Jesus goes a long way towards peace in my heart and home.

And for those days when your strength is exhausted from giving and giving, remember that your Good Shepherd wants to lead you by still waters and refresh your soul. The only requirement is that you come to Him.

Go to Him, then get up and do what He puts in front of you, make better choices with your time, and pray for strength to keep on keeping on. As always, ask God to give you wisdom on how to organize your home for His glory.

“She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness” (Proverbs 31:27).

Deborah Wuehler is the Senior Editor and Director of Production here at The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine. She would say she is a very ordinary homeschool mom–with one exception: she has an extra-ordinary God Who provides all she needs for life and homeschooling. She has eight children aged 11 to 29. Deborah’s mission is this: to point other homeschoolers to the Lord in all they do, think, and feel—and to confirm that they, too, can find everything they need for life, godliness–and homeschooling–in their knowledge of Him (2 Peter 1:3, 4).