After I started milling the flour, I also started doing cloth diapers. Big surprise I know, but, I really liked doing it. But my knew found fun diminshed when we were blessed with a new washer. Little did I know that front loaders aren't the best for cloth diapers.....actually, I had to quit using them because they did not wash well any longer :( Anyways, that was just alittle blip on the radar but just one more little "old-fashioned" way that snuck into our home.
Shortly after my cloth diaper adventure, I finally saved up money to buy a book I had wanted for ages. I ordered it and eagerly waited for it to arrive. It took days and days and finally...........it was here. Then it took me at least 3 months or so to pick it up and read it (Life is so interesting with kids and at this point I had three) But once again, God's timing was perfect for me to read this book. I bet you are wondering what the book was. It is called, "Rite of Passage Parenting" by Walker Moore.
I would highly recommend that everyone (married, single, kids, no kids) read this book at some point. I know it says its a parenting book but I gleaned alot from it personally. I will have a full book review on it another time. For now I want to focus on one part of the book.....Outsourcing.
Moore talks about how much Americans outsource....someone else to teach and take care of our children and elderly, Betty Crocker for our cakes, Green Giant for our frozen foods, maids cleaning our homes, restaurants cooking our meals, and the list goes on (I wish I had the book to give you some of his examples but I lent it to a friend)
As I was reading this chapter, it made me think of a couple of things.....1.) What am I outsourcing that I should be taking care of myself? and 2.) If I am outsourcing some of my duties, what am I doing with the extra time I have? These two questions helped me do two things.....cook more from scratch (not just things with flour in them) and limit the computer. It's amazing how lazy I realized I was and how much time I was wasting throughout the day.
I often get asked the question, "How do you do it? You homeschool, have 4 children under 6 years old, make all of your own bread and still have time to scrapbook, blog and have girl game nights. ( I have one more thing to add to my list but I don't want to spoil the adventure :) I never have any time. I'm too busy" the person replies. My thought is, "What are you busy with?" I will constantly reevaluate that question with my life in everyday comings and goings. I like to keep it simple and fortunately, I do not struggle with saying "no" to too many commitments.
God is definitely my Rock everyday...I need Him and He responds to my calls of desperation. To be honest, we don't have a tv to be distracted by. We will watch an occassional movie but that is it. I think that is a huge factor to the productiveness of our days. I have learned to make useful the time during the day which I was being idle/lazy (like taking a nap when all my kids are sleeping through the night is not needed or my weakness, being on the computer too long researching one more thing).
Outsourcing was another interesting and convicting part of this adventure and I am still idle in some areas of my life but at least I can identify them now and work on them........
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