Skip to main content

Busy Work vs Productive Work

Today was a busy one! But I managed to have a lot to show for it. I cooked a nice breakfast for the family. I don't usually do all that. I just normally feed the children. But The FlowerChild is staying hungry and it is affecting her attention span so I am trying heavier meals. We had eggs, hashbrowns, sausage and biscuits. I think I could get used to that! Afterwards I cut The Fisherman's hair before he headed to work. Then I cleaned up the kitchen and did some laundry. I also got a loaf of bread in the machine to bake. While that was going we started school time. School was finished by early afternoon.

The washroom is about halfway cleaned up now. I still have a PILE of clothes to do something with. Some are maternity and the rest are the children's clothes they have outgrown.

Lunch was soup and sandwiches. Afterwards we read aloud for a while. The FisherMan braved the cold for a few minutes when he got home and took the girls out. It was just too cold to take little SmileyFace out.

I made a new recipe for supper tonight. It turned out sooo good! It was a Mexican soup made with pork. I cooked a pork sirloin roast in the crockpot Sunday. We ate it plain for lunch. Then I made soup today. We will have BBQ sandwiches another day to finish it off. I put the soup in the freezer. I can cook the liquid down some and make some echiladas out of the leftover. The FisherMan had a meeting tonight so he left right after supper. But the children went to bed fairly easily and quickly. They all seemed tired.

So have your children ever complained because a teacher gave them "busy work" instead of something they felt mattered? Have you ever felt that way about housework? What about life? Ever felt like you were just staying busy but not really getting anywhere? Sometimes the key is not to look so much at the activity itself but at the results it will bring. Just as busy work at school helps a student master skills busy work in the home helps a family master order and peace. The so called busy work in life can be discouraging if we are not careful. But instead of getting angry at the teacher (God) we need to look at at the results He is bringing to us. What skills are being mastered in your spiritual life? Has it become "busy work" making you feel as though you were just going through the motions? If so, step back and prioritize your activities so that you will see the results you are looking for. It is miserable to stay busy constantly and yet feel as though you are not producing anything.

Busy Work: Focuses on the work itself. Anything to keep that person busy.

Productive Work: Focuses on the outcome of that work. Look for the fruit!

Look through the areas of your life and transform busy work into productive work! It's sometimes as easy as changing your attitude!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Season of Pregnancy (updated)

I know. I have been neglecting this blog. Horribly. That's not the only thing that has been thrown by the wayside lately! It is only for a season though. Pregnancy means you must be patient with yourself and accept that sometimes you must let things slide. That also means that you have to plan in order to conserve your energy. I know if I am going somewhere later today then I don't need to rush around and try to get a lot done in the morning. Priorities must be in order. Although the morning sickness is better it isn't totally gone at this point. Whoever named it that anyway? The main thing I have been dealing with is fatigue. My blog shows it. My laundry shows it. My house shows it. Ack, everywhere shows it! I simply do not have the energy to do the bending up and down required to truly clean up, do laundry, and the vacuuming/sweeping etc. It's quite depressing actually! So I do a little here, do a little there. I manage the necessities such as homeschooling, cooking, ...

Latest on GuitarMan

I haven't made a practice of sharing photos with a full facial view on here. However the GuitarMan isn't too worried about that LOL! With many of you praying for him I thought you might like to have an idea of who he is. He is still in a lot of pain. His fingers are all black and blue and his entire hand is swollen. His hand is cut straight across his fingers and across the bottom of his hand. Once again, very obvious what could have happened. He's blown away by everyone caring and checking in him and the prayers on his behalf. He says to thank you all!

Power Bills

We lucked out last month on our power bill. We received a credit on our bill which helped tremendously. A lot of folks were shocked at how high their bills were, however. I can't blame them! Some of the figures I heard were outrageous! $500-600, one even $1200! One thing that got me was that many of these people work outside the home and their children are in school or daycare so the house stands empty all day. Not only that, but their families are much smaller so things like the washer, dryer, or stove would not be used as frequently. Shouldn't their bill be lower than ours? I think it has everyone trying to come up with ways to save on power. There are some things that are a given. Good insulation and windows go a long way towards helping lower a bill. When we first moved into our home the windows were very old. Some were cracked or even broken. The church eventually replaced them which was a huge blessing! But what were we to do in the meantime? Well, one way is to buy th...