Saturday, April 27, 2013

Preparation is KEY to Preventing CHAOS


Isaiah 14:24 
The LORD Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand."


With only a few weeks away from meeting the newest Seawell baby (my due date is May 15) we are getting super excited. My "nesting" is definitely in definitely in full throttle and I am trying, somewhat, to get things in order for the "chaos" that follows weeks after having a newborn :) 

I have gone to Target and gotten some much needed new blankets and bought a baby carrier as well. But as I prepare for the newest adventure in my life I am reminded of this one undeniable truth....."PREPARATION is KEY to PREVENTING CHAOS"! True in life but highlighted especially in parenting decision making as well. 

Case in point: 
Over the past couple of weeks I strategically sought to find a solution to my boys struggling with self-control in the car rides. 
Each day we go to a park as an outlet to the high energy my boys have :) Afterwards, on most days, we will go to the store for those items I forgot on the "list" or just to peruse in the cool air (since I am 37 weeks pregnant and HOT all the time!). It seemed as if each time our seat belts were buckled that their hands were glued to each other- trying to frustrated and irritate. One would instigate and the other jump in to retaliate. SO exhausting and dangerous as I would turn around, multiple times in our drive, to discipline the kids.

But the Lord gave me a great idea to help with this problem and goes along with our theme....
"PREPARATION is KEY to PREVENTING CHAOS"
SO....
each day before heading out to the park or store, I prepare a clipboard with school work, that reviews the previous days' lesson, and have my older son work on that in the car ride on our drive. This prevents our chaos tons! 

There are 10 words he must write out and a math sheet he must do. If he is diligent and does his work then he can play once at the park. If not, then he must finish at the park bench until done. This takes preparation on my part to get the clipboard ready before our drive but it is well worth it for the peace it provides.

My other son is young and still learning but as he has watched his older brother work hard he too wants to do school work in the car, so we are working on getting some workbooks for his age (3) as well :) 

What is that "thing" that the Lord is asking you to prepare for so that the chaos can lessen?


Proverbs 21:5 
The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

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