We have been busy here at our house. Andy has been working long days a couple weeks doing construction and then cleaning cabins in the evenings to get them ready for new renters.
I’ve been busier than usual with the phone job and the children have been reacting to that.
In the midst of the busy times, simple is better. I’ll share three things we have used to keep our heads (and our marriage and family relationships!) together.
1. Declutter
Too much stuff in a house makes a messy house which adds chaos to any situation. The toys had been piling up again so I went through and put a bunch away. It’s wonderful! With only a small box of toys the house doesn’t get nearly as messy, and if everything is strewn around it doesn’t take very long to pick it all up.
It’s hard to teach children to pick up toys when there are so many they get discouraged a little way in. With fewer toys I’ve found that my children play more with what they have and also love to help pick them up because they are able to get that feeling of accomplishment by doing something well and completing a job.
Decluttering can also extend to the bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, etc. It’s much easier to focus on what’s important when we aren’t always picking up all the stuff around. My mind feels so much clearer when the countertops are not full.
2. Have A Day Of Rest
We’ve been having an ongoing church discussion about Sabbath, and what day it should be observed on. The conclusion has been that Saturday is actually the Biblical day to observe it, but to each his own. Jesus would have gone to the synagogue on Saturday, but as Paul said in Romans 14:5 “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.”
We drive an hour to church every Sunday. Afterward we always have a fellowship meal. It’s great, it really is, but that means we don’t get home until almost four o’clock pm. Sunday is not a day of rest for us. It’s a day of being gone all day.
For the last three weeks we’ve been observing a Sabbath on Saturday and boy has it been wonderful! We do the bare minimum and just sit around and relax! It gives us time for Bible Study, playing our instruments together, readings books to the children – things that get pushed aside in the everyday busyness.
Jesus hit the nail square on the head when He said, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.” It feels good to rest! Plus, we go into the next week with a lot more energy and deeper relationships.
3. Set Aside Evenings
When Andy leaves at six AM and doesn’t get back until six thirty, or like last night, 10 pm, it’s hard to feel connected as a couple. The last few weeks I got tired of only seeing Andy a little bit in the evening and then being busy that whole time cleaning up supper dishes and trying to get the house in order before bed.
So I made it my personal goal to try to get everything done before supper. All the dishes washed, floor swept, toys put away, etc and then just sit on the couch with Andy for the short hours he was here. Some days I reached this goal and other days I did not, but on the days I had everything done and could simply hang out with Andy in the evening it was wonderful and very good for everyone.
So these are some things we’ve learned in the stressful, busy times we’ve been experiencing this summer.
What are some ideas or tips you have to deepen relationships and focus on the important things in life even in the midst of a busy season?
The nice thing about putting some toys away is that periodically you can switch boxes and the children feel like they have brand-new toys to play with again.
I know I’ve heard the recommendation to stop all work by sundown on Sat to give you a more restful Sun, but that wouldn’t work too well for you in the summer when the sun stays up so long. I know I’ve heard of preachers blocking out Mon PM as family time, if they had to be in church twice on Sun and preach 1 or more times, that it wasn’t restful for them and they didn’t have energy to invest in their family that day either. It sounds like you’ve found a good solution to get your day of rest physically & have quantity family time, and then Sunday can be a day to be refreshed spiritually and socially.
Yes, exactly Betty Joy! Toys are so much fun and new after they’ve been put away for a while.
Also, with Sabbath it’s just been good to think outside the box and take a day of rest even if that looks different and works out on a different day than what we were used to. I can definitely understand why preachers would take a different time to rest.