The Big, Bad Wolf by Lorrie Flem

Just like the hammer doesn’t get up and knock you upside the head if you don’t use it, just because you did not utilize your schedule does not mean it is not valuable and highly useful tool. Both a hammer and a schedule are wonderful tools. They are there for you to utilize when you want to. If you don’t use it for a while, it will quietly wait for you to use again at your discretion, maybe after you get back from your day at the zoo or visit to the emergency room.

Another reason I have heard for people rebelling at the thought of using a schedule is their lives have too many variables for a schedule to work. I know many families with crazy schedules who sing the praises of a family schedule now. Here is what the wife of a man who works both swing shift and day shift at his job and gets very little warning as to which hours he will be working says, “I first wrote out a schedule for our family knowing that this was a waste of time. I am so happy that I was wrong. We have two schedules and use both depending on Dan’s schedule. They make life so much better. Dan gets the sleep he needs and the children and I are much better at getting in the school time that we need now.” A PIPE DREAM MADE REAL

Since we implemented a schedule and are following our own personal plan, our lives don’t leave us feeling as if we’re in the middle of a freeway with a horse and buggy. Our vehicle is a sleek sports car (okay, it’s a bus when you have eight blessings!), Jesus is the driver, and our schedule is what helps navigate around the potholes of life. We know that roads have sections that need to be repaved and repaired, so we try to plan for them and thus are driving and steering our lives with control.

I have learned if I have a game plan or a schedule of what that pipe dream would entail, we get much more accomplished. Without a plan for our day, we are lucky to have lunch by 1:00 p.m., much less dinner when Daddy gets home. Our schedule is one of our most effective and useful tools. Just like a hammer is very effective when you need to drive a nail into a wall, a schedule is beneficial to us by showing us how we could do all of the various things we would like to in a day.

I actually have four complete schedules that we use. One is for M-W-F, May through September; another is for M-W-F, October through April; one is for Thursdays, May through September; and the final one is for Thursdays, October through April. Sound complicated? Maybe it’s a little complicated to set up, but isn’t life a little complicated? NEENIE, NEENIE, YOU CAN”T CATCH ME

If you are like I was at this point, you are thinking something like, “Oh, no you don’t, Lorrie. You are not going to convince ME to use a schedule. I ____ (insert your own reasons here).” Well, hang on a minute. Have I ever given you a bum steer?

Do you have trouble fitting in quiet time? Most mothers do, yet there is nothing that we need more than time to refuel, rest, and soak in the peace that time with our Lord gives us. In your mind imagine I show you a container filled to the top with some rocks. When I ask you if it is full you would of course tell me, “Yes.” But do you realize that we can still pour in a lot of pebbles and they would filter down around the bigger rocks? Even more would fit in if we wanted to add sand and water. Now the point of this analogy is not that a schedule will allow you to fit a lot more into a day, although that is absolutely true. The intended point is if you think about your life and what the big rocks are, by taking care of them first, the rest of your daily jobs that need to be accomplished will fit in around them.

The big rocks in my life are: personal Bible reading and prayer time, homeschool, meals, laundry, story time, and housekeeping, I work out a plan for our days by first fitting these in, and everything else sorts itself out as I work the kinks out. I often think of the verse, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you” Matthew 6:33. LOOKING BACK

Let me back up a moment here and say, I DID NOT want to start a strict schedule. I had been a scheduler for years and knew that now I was a different kind of person. I had changed my stripes and become a more relaxed home educator. A schedule would no longer be necessary and I didn’t want to be a slave to one. Not me! I wanted to have fun with our lives and do as we wanted. I had lived on a schedule, but now I knew a better way . . . I thought.

Months before, I had agreed to look at a book that had just been written about scheduling. Years ago, Randy and I had become convicted by the verse, “Let your yes be a yes and a no be a no,” so I knew I must be faithful to my word, even though by now I was sure that I wouldn’t care for this book. Being the prompt and efficient kind of person that I am, I waited until the last minute to read the book and set up a schedule for us in order to prove we didn’t like. Imagine my surprise (horror?) to find that I loved it!

I discovered again that a schedule gave me more time. We worked steadily and thus got more done. The children and I preferred the days we did follow our schedule. It was a tool to help us and we didn’t get in trouble for not following it. And best of all, a schedule actually allowed us flexibility. TIPS, NO TRICKS

To begin setting up a schedule, work on it a little at a time. Remember, a little time here and 15 minutes there will get you to the finish line. When your “dream” schedule is complete, decide to try a couple hours the next day. Don’t think you are going to start one day and go through your schedule the way you have set it up on paper. It won’t happen.

Within the first couple of hours if you find yourself off schedule. don’t be discouraged and don’t become a drill sergeant yelling, “March!” Instead, carefully keep notes of how long things actually take. Did you allow time to get things out and time to put them away? Did you overlook the fact that the 2-year-old would need training in order to have time alone? What exactly didn’t work? Adjust your schedule and try it again the next day.

In a few days you’ll have those two hours worked out so that they flow well and will be ready to add a couple more hours. Go through the perfecting process again and continue adding hours until the whole day is done. You’ll be batting 1000 sooner than you expect. You’ll love your custom schedule and don’t worry, it doesn’t even resemble The Big Bad Wolf!