Of Lists and Sonshine

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. - Philippians 4:13"

I made a list.

This is a hard thing for me to do. I don't, in general, like lists. They make me feel constrained, hemmed in, a slave to the list. Some little thing in the back of my brain kicks in and I feel driven to finish the list. This may be due, in part, to the fact that I tend to be a procrastinator. I wait until the ninth hour to start working on the list and then get grouchy and upset with myself for not starting sooner. Then I get grouchy and upset with myself for making the list in the first place.

Never-the-less, I made a list.

As I get older I am finding that I don't remember all the things that I want to do. Or I forget important things like appointments and birthdays. Or I forget toilet paper. So I have found myself making lists. My husband is very proud of me. He likes lists. He likes writing down everything he needs to do on a Saturday with a little line next to it so that he can check it off when he finishes the task. He likes making the same kind of list for me on Saturdays. I hate it. I generally only get half of my things done and at the end of the day I'm left with a list of mostly undone things. I feel like a failure. It's depressing.

Never-the-less, I made a list.

Homeschooling has been a motivation for making a list. A list is like a map. If I make a list then I know what I need to teach, what the kids need to learn and whether I've successfully gotten from point A to point B.

So, I made a list.

My list for this summer is sometimes specific, sometimes very general but it is a list. It has fun things on it and things that make me tired just thinking about them, still, it's a list. It is my map for this summer and hopefully I will navigate it successfully.

Here is my list.

1. Daily devotion to the Lord, digging deep, strengthening myself for the school year ahead and seeking what the Lord most wants me to teach the children. (I Timothy 4:7b-8)

2. Organize: closet in hallway, school carts, books and shelves, cupboards under sinks, shelf in Son's room, purge!

3. Paint: both bathrooms, hallway and doors and moldings.

4. Clean carpet in family/school room and hallway.

5. Prepare Unit Studies for next year, gather materials and organize (more lists!).

6. Make homemade ice cream on 4th of July.

7. Take the kids to the lake a few times.

8. Read aloud daily with the kids, go to the library frequently.

9. Practice my guitar.

10. Sleep in on Mondays.

11. Entertain friends a few times.

12. Go to the fair, maybe even ride a ride (hee hee)!

13. Really enjoy my vacation with my husband. :)

14. Lose 5lbs. - exercise 3 -4 times a week.

15. Can and dry apples and peaches like crazy in August. Make this a family affair with harvesting, a lesson in food safety, peeling fruit, cutting it up, etc. etc.

16. Plant a small garden - have the kids help tend it daily (watering, weeding, harvesting).

17. Do some crafts with the kids.

18. Learn how to play marbles with the kids.

I think this is a list I can live with and feel okay if I don't get everything done. There are no little lines next to my list. I like that. It will bother my husband a little. But it's a list.