I was thinking about what I posted yesterday on being able to achieve your goals only through being diligent in your efforts. I was thinking ….what does it mean to be diligent as a stay at home mom? Not all stay at home moms can have a ministry outside of the home, in fact their number one ministry should be IN the home. But what about for the mom who is home all day long with lots of little ones or even perhaps one little child with not a whole lot of outside interaction? What does being DILIGENT mean for her?
It is going to be different for every mom. We can’t look and think that our homes all have to be organized perfectly, or that our meals have to be all made from scratch, or even all our children’s clothes have to be hand made. What works for one situation doesn’t always work for another. Being diligent isn’t always about working nonstop throughout the day with no time for rest.
What do we do? We seek the Lord. We ask Him. What is it that He wants us to work on. Has your husband been complaining that the grocery bill has been too high? Can you research some ways to make some of your meals homemade to save a few extra dollars while shopping? What about just cutting back by buying store brand over name brand items? What about helping cut down on the clothing budget by buying second hand or shopping at garage sales? Can you plan some “free” family activities to do on the weekends instead of spending money? Do some research and look up ways to help cut back on spending your families paycheck.
Even though you do not work away from the home, you can help bring a paycheck by not spending all that your husband brings home by finding ways to save. Even though you budget for certain amounts, aim to cut back on some of those. I know there are tons of ways to save….use cloth diapers instead of disposables—–what???? Yes you are home all day long, it is okay and worth the extra effort to wash diapers instead of throw them into the trash. Save disposables for when you go out. Make your own coffee drinks instead of buying them—that $5 adds up over time. What about your schooling if you homeschool? Can you look for ways to cut back on what you purchase? Can you buy used? Do you really need “name brand” for the extras like history, handwriting, and science? Your child can get a well rounded education even without you spending hundreds of extra dollars on curriculum.
Look for ways to make a separate income from home. Is there something that you can do that won’t take away from you taking care of your children?Don’t do what everyone else is doing….seek the Lord to look for ways. I know for myself when He introduced me to the world of blogging, I was like, “make money from this?” I didn’t for a couple of years, but the Lord gave me opportunities to make money to help pay for it through other resources. He allowed me time to do it and I ENJOY doing it—that makes all the difference. It isn’t something I HAVE to do, I LIKE to do it.
This diligence will be different for everyone. Five years ago, my diligence was just taking care of babies. I had a 5 year old, a 4 year old, a 2 year old, a 1 year old, and baby on the way. My diligence was just making sure that I had everyone fed, laundry was done, and that I had a meal on the table for when my husband was home. Diligence will change over time. The key is to work towards something. When I started having my children be more independent, there was more time for me to do things. I started exercising. I worked on getting my body back in shape. No, it did not happen overnight, but through diligence I was able to drop a lot of weight. Now I am glad that I had done that. It took time but I was diligent in doing it. Right now, I have discovered that I really enjoy a Coke to drink. I have never enjoyed that in my life, until now. I found myself drinking one everyday. It made me feel yucky and I knew it was not in my best interest to start drinking it regularly. So I had to be diligent in not having it. It takes time. It took a few days of having an inconvenienced headache from not having it. But after a few days, I am better. Sure when I see one I want one. But I know that right now I am working on losing my last bit of weight and having that Coke is not going to help. I want my efforts of being diligent and exercising to count and work so I must stop the Coke. I can have one once in awhile but for now, I need to avoid.
That is just my little life of diligence. Avoiding Cokes–smile. I would love to say I am diligent in every area of my life….but I am a human and I am working at it.
Is there something that you can do today to start becoming more diligent in your life? Take some time to evaluate things you want to change or things that the Lord has been prompting you to do and DO IT!
Be blessed today as you start thinking about what you can be more diligent at in your own life.
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