Monday, August 24, 2009

My New Boss

I apologize for the rambling-ness of this post, but I think it's a good one, so I'm not going to mess with it.

This weekend was a good one.

Amy and I shot a wedding on Friday, so we had Saturday and Sunday off. Well I should say I had Saturday and Sunday off, since my job involves showing up at the wedding a few hours beforehand, taking a few hundred shots, and leaving before the reception is over to go home and relieve my hubby of the four little darlings that are trying to get away with murder in my absence. At the end of the day, I leave Amy with the memory card, and she puts in another 40-50 hours in editing. She really doesn't have "days off," but it was nice to have the weekend without weddings.

Anywhoo.

Lately, our "baby Drew has his own room plan" has been working better. He has been sleeping more, but is still waking a lot in the night. Late last week I was really starting to feel the sleep deprivation, it had been a while since I had slept well. So I went to bed early one night and only woke seven times with Drew. I was so excited at the good night, until I realized how pathetic it was that I was excited about only waking up seven times with a seven month old. (Sigh.)

Over the last couple of nights, Drew's sleeping stretches have lengthened. I have been able to get one to two consecutive hours before waking with him, and getting that extra sleep cycle has made a huge difference. Woman cannot live on catnaps for years on end. At least not without excessive crankiness and/or sitting at the park and counting heads, and then freaking out about not being able to locate a child, who is in her lap.

I went into the weekend recharged and ready. I offered to host a Scentsy party at my house on Wednesday, as I often need a deadline to get things done, and I need to get the house cleaned. Armed with a clear(ish) mind and someone else to entertain the kids, I hit the ground running and set out to accomplish things. Saturday was pretty good, but Sunday was better.

Sunday at church, our pastor Grant was talking about the ten commandments. He has been on this series for a while, and yesterday he was talking about Thou shall not steal. Now, I have never shoplifted anything, so i was not thinking I would be convicted by this sermon.

I was wrong.

Grant(the pastor, not the two year old) brought up a few interesting points of things people commonly steal that we don't really consider stealing in today's time. One of those things is time. We steal time form our employer when we do personal things on company time, like checking Facebook or (gasp!) this blog. Now, I am not saying you shouldn't be reading my blog, but if you are doing it on company time, well, that's between you and God.

But you see, I don't have an employer. Well, yes, there's Amy, but that is limited to five to ten hours a week. The rest of the time, I work for me. And I don't pay me really well. However, who am I accountable to? Well, if I believe that God gave me everything that I have (which I do,) and God gave me my kids to care for (which I do,) then my time is God's as well. If God is my boss, how's my work ethic? Do I spend a bit too much time on Facebook, or reading blogs, or checking up on MckMama on twitter to see what she's doing with her four kids? Yes, I do spend the majority of my computer time as time that I am also nursing Drew, but do I push it a few minutes past the time that he is done? And how long does that few minutes turn into something much longer than I planned?

I found that thought very convicting. If I am living in God's house that He provided for us, why haven't I finished the many projects that I have started? If Jesus showed up at my front door tomorrow, would I be proud to show Him the 90% finished paint job in the kitchen or the pile of stuff that collects in the corner of the kitchen? No, I would not. But here's the kicker. He sees that every day. I need to do a much better job with what I have been given, and I need to stop using the (justifiable) excuse that I have not slept in three years. I need to get my bum in gear and get to work.

Guess what I did this weekend? I finished hanging the curtains in baby Drew's new "room", I finished sanding the dining room and re-painted it, I got three coats of paint in the kitchen above the cabinets (one more to go will happen today!) I did all the touch up painting in the rest of the living room, I re-organized the laundry room and changed the shelving unit so I could put things away, I got all the re-usable gift bags and tissue put in a bin and found a place to keep it, I hung a shelf in the dining room and created a craft corner for the kids. And I'm not even tired.

It's amazing what one can accomplish when working for God and not yourself.

I gotta get to work. Right now, it's coloring with the kids and talking about whatever's on their minds. And later, laundry and sewing.

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

7 comments:

DJan said...

If by some chance we get to come back and have another childhood, could you please come back as my mother?

You are right: no need to mess with this post, it was perfect, and spoke right directly to me. Thanks.

the story of my life... said...

You are right. Well said my friend!

Snow Mommy said...

Amen sister!

Amy Parsons said...

I like this :)

CulyQFun said...

Great post...thought provoking.
What is Scentsy?

Anonymous said...

WOW Tiff, Im so proud of ALL the work you did! Amen Pastor Grant too!!!
Tarah

LJ said...

Thanks! I needed to hear that. This post has changed the way I think about quite a few things. Thank you!!!