"The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers,not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to besober , to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home,good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed" Titus 2:3-5
*Please note: This post is from Jan. 2015 & we are not currently expecting. Just resharing an older post that needs some love.*
Now, before I begin let me say this is a touchy subject not just to me but many of you. As women we seek to be equal with man. Currently I am nearing 10 wks of my 3rd (viable) pregnancy. I have been instructed to have limited activity until 12 weeks due to a hemorrhage a few weeks ago. I also have horrible nausea & morning sickness. Normally I would be grateful to have a few weeks "off the hook" but I have been studying homemaking in the bible and striving to be more of a virtuous mother,wife,person. With this has came guilt & a worthlessness feeling.
A Typical day for me:
I typically prepare 3 meals a day, Home school 2 kiddos, Have my own bible study/prayer time (usually this is at night after everyone is in bed) Blog or working on preparing school work/projects for the next day/week, clean the house, dishes, laundry etc. Along with the normal everyday "to-do's" Some days we are gone to doctors appointments, play dates, co-ops,library or just running errands and doing household paperwork upkeep. On those days we usually do "computer school" and history/science may be a national geographic show with questions at the end of course!
So...Why does this "rest" bother me?
I strongly feel that God chose me to stay at home. I had no intentions to home school and had plans of going back to college as soon as the kids were in public school. It wasn't until I started praying about leading healthier Christlike lives that I would realize that this was for us. I was scared. I continue to pray about this till this day. My family deserves me. They deserve to have a good meal,a fun day, and a great education. My husband deserves a clean house and supportive wife. I WANT to give that to them. Not because they think so its because I think so. So when I am having a bad day or in this case a bad month I feel like I am not giving them what they need and i feel useless. The good Lord has given me this chance and I feel like I am failing him. I like order..no no I Love order. I like being on time (if not early) I like my meals planned out for the week so we only have to shop one day. ( this also saves $ on trips to town) I have to have some order. In the bible, it says "Let all things be done decently and in order" 1 Corinthians 14:40
BUT Wait... It also says For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. Isaiah 55:8 . So, of course I cannot argue with Gods plans. As bad as it makes me feel to take the back seat to homemaking for a few weeks I have to trust him & obey. I have a wonderful husband and kids that help out and understand that this is a rough time for us. I am thankfully God has chosen me to stay home with my children and home school them. It's a gift from God to have children and be able to raise/school them at home.
Here's what we CAN do:
-Pray for yourself & family.
-Plan easy to prepare meals and I promise your kids will not be mad if you feed them PB & J sandwiches & frozen pizza everyday.
-ASK for help! You Are not super-mom stop trying to be! My husband and I have already had this conversation. He knows I cannot do it all right now. He helps me prepare dinner (some nights even does it all himself!) & does laundry with my sons help! They are amazing!
-If morning sickness is an issue...Get up SLOW in the morning and have a quick snack until you feel up to fixing breakfast for everyone. Alot of mornings my son (7) fixes his and my daughters breakfast. Granted it is usually cereal or more PB & J's lol but they get fed.
-Help with cleaning but find a way to be comfortable doing it. I fold clothes but I am sitting or on my bed. I have had a few days where I "cheated" and cleaned like all day. My doctor would probably disagree with my choices but it needed to be done & I had the energy.
-READ to your kids! If you do not home school but normally play alot with your kids you can always always always read to them. I have friends who are on flat bed rest and this was the one thing they could always do no matter what.
-If you do home school you can do lessons later in the day when your energy is up and nausea is low. We chose to do this and break up lessons with breaks. It helps me to relax for a dew min. every hour or so. Also take advantage of the interweb! There's full lessons online and you can find almost any kind of work. Use this time to review or nail down math facts,sight words etc.
-Use this time to grow closer to God as I have. Life isn't always peachy don't try to tell yourself it is. Be humble. Be True. Be your best right now. That's all we can do :)
*I hope this post makes sense...I am in a very emotional state and just wanted to provide some encouragement out there for those mamas trying to do it all while pregnant!*
I just HAD to share....
