The Reality of a Well-Planned Day: A Busy Mom’s Confession
I have great aspirations for how our day ought to go. I’ve got a block schedule created and prominently displayed in my planner. But the thing is, life rarely goes as planned… especially if life includes four kids ten and under! The reality of a well-planned day is that it rarely goes as planned. But when your plan includes allowing God to change your plans, you can be ready to deal with whatever the day throws your way.
The Reality of a Well-Planned Day
This morning, my alarm went off at 6:30am. The plan was that I would run my husband to work (we’re a one-vehicle family at the moment, and he works less than 5 minutes from our home, so when I need a vehicle during the day, I take him to work) and then come back home and enjoy an hour or so of quiet time before needing to be “mom.” Unfortunately, the sound of my opening/closing the overhead garage door when I got home at 7:05am woke both girls up, and my quiet time was postponed.
The 10yo got breakfast for herself and the toddler, and I decided to take a few minutes to make myself some eggs and clean up the mess I made while brewing coffee… which of course ended up in my cleaning up the remains of last night’s dinner (pizza pan on the stove, toddler’s plate and tray, random dishes in the sink, etc.) that I missed in my quick clean up before bed.
By the time I was ready to sit down and eat and dig into my Bible study, the preschooler was awake and wanting breakfast. I fixed his breakfast and we both sat down at the table. I opened my journal and Bible to try and have some sort of a quiet time.
But… I discovered that my pen was out of ink, I had to remove a splinter from the preschooler’s foot, and I decided to quickly scarf down my eggs before they’re too cold to eat. It was now after 8am, and I hadn’t made it all the way through reading Luke 11 yet.
I’ve been going through this Bible study this summer thanks to the recommendation from Christin Slade, organizer of Moms in the Word.
My 8yo makes his first appearance of the day and discovers that I solved his Rubik’s Cube puzzle after he went to bed last night. He gives me a hug and grabs himself a bowl of cereal (which I had to get up and pour the milk into because it was a new gallon).
Since I’m up from the table, I clean up breakfast and brew myself another cup of coffee. (P.S. I’m loving my new coffee maker!)
At this point, I’m just hoping to make it through my Bible study before we start school at 9am. I sit back down and read a few more verses, making notes in the margins of my journal Bible.
Next thing I know, the 8yo is handing me his Transformers Rubik’s Cube, wanting me to fix it again because he twisted it and it’s no longer solved. Before I realize it, I’ve pulled up a “How to Solve a 2×2 Rubik’s Cube Puzzle” solution guide on my phone and am twisting the puzzle. A few minutes into solving the puzzle (and accidentally unsolving the puzzle), I realize I don’t need to be focused on this task right now, and I put it down to refocus on my quiet time.
It doesn’t last as the boys have taken the toddler out of her playpen and she is running around unattended, and the boys are trying to bring all the toys upstairs instead of playing with them in their room or the den.
At 8:45am, I put the toddler in her crib and grab the expandable baby gate to try and corral the boys downstairs (which resulted in them playing on the stairs) so I can perhaps at least finish my Bible study for the day.
But my brain is busy writing a blog post about it all, and so here I sit… typing about the reality of my well-planned morning.
Why do I share my well-planned day gone wrong with you?
If you’re anything like me, you have great aspirations for a well-planned day. You have an agenda or schedule in your mind (or perhaps even written down), and if your day starts to veer away from what you have planned, you probably find yourself starting to get frustrated, or even anger.
I’ve been there. I’m there too often. But what I’m learning – what God is teaching me… slowly but surely – is that my worth and success isn’t based on executing a well-planned day.
I love a well-planned day, and I believe that God is a God of order. However, I also believe that His plans are greater than mine. And often, the plans that I make don’t reflect His greater plans for my day.
Do I continue to make plans? Most days, yes. However, I am learning to hold my plans loosely and be open to God’s leading as I go through the day.
Some days, engaging intentionally with my children is more important than completing my Bible study. Some days, I need to be more diligent about waking up and starting my day in order to feed myself from the Word before the demands of “being Mom” are upon me.
What about you?
Do you love a well-planned day? Do you get easily frustrated when your day starts to veer “off track?” How do you “reset” your attitude about a well-planned day “gone wrong” in order to avoid ruining an entire day because of one five minute detour?
Join the conversation on Facebook and share your thoughts and tips…
