How do I fit everything into one 24-hour day? Add to homeschooling my children (which I love), this job at the magazine (which is a joy), Bible study and prayer time (which feed my hunger), outside activities and commitments, to the more practical things like going through all the children's outgrown clothes and meal planning and cooking--I am way over my head in things to do.
Some days, it's beyond my comprehension as to how I am going to ever get it all done. The easiest thing to do is let it all go and do the same thing we always do when overwhelmed-- check out and do something easy. But then the guilt comes for not accomplishing anything and we are miserable. It doesn't have to be that hard. I have learned there are easy ways to do hard things. The hard thing of "too much to do" can be easily handled by a good schedule and prayer. We plan our ways and then let God direct our steps.
Schedules can be very useful tools, but we must guard ourselves from being so scheduled, we push aside all the teachable moments. Not only does a schedule give us balance, but we need to balance our schedule and leave room for God's divine interruptions.
Sometimes my best laid plans and schedules tend to fall apart in the implementation step. It's not because I am lazy, nor is it because I am disorganized, it is simply because I have children and I have interruptions. So should we throw out the schedules? No. I believe we should have a framework of order (as God reveals in His orderly creation) and a spirit of flexibility!
Just keep doing those daily scheduled routines as much as possible, but when you have to deviate from the plan, have a spirit of grace and an anticipation of God's divine appointments, and then forget what is behind and go on to the next thing on the plan whenever it's possible.
If you need help with scheduling, I know these articles will bless you:
Homeschool Planning Using Checklists and Schedules
Teaching Multiple Grades and Scheduling
Planning Your Years, Weeks and Days
Scheduling the Easy Way, by Terri Johnson
The 7-Step Process to Homeschool Improvement
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness ... Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. Proverbs 31:27; 31
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).